“Aye, ‘tis as I thought,” Noah said. “All the more reason why I need to speak to her.”
“Ye might want to check the garden. She’s taken a likin’ to cookin’ and I believe she’s pickin’ herbs for the meal tonight,” Mary said. There was a spark in her eyes that caused Noah’s suspicions to rise. He stepped closer to her, keeping his eyes locked on hers, studying her intensely in the hope of cracking her resolve.
“Bianca told me to come here, ye are tellin’ me to go to the garden.” Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “Somethin’ tells me that I’ll nae be findin’ Saoirse in the garden, either. So, where is she?”
The nervous excitement billowing in Noah’s chest withered like a sheet of parchment catching fire. He stared at Mary, all of his previous concerns hitting him at once. The fact that Mary couldn’t look him in the eyes didn’t help.
“What?” he demanded.
Has she fled? Was I so cruel that I made her run?The worst part was, he wouldn’t have been able to blame Saoirse.
“Forgive me, M’Laird, but the Lady doesnae wish to see ye,” Mary answered in a hushed tone.
“Beg yer pardon?”
Mary drew her eyes to Noah’s face, at last. With a cold, stern glare, she cleared her throat. “Saoirse doesnae wish to see ye or talk wit’ ye, and if ye’re about to ask me why, I suggest ye think back on the day.”
Noah’s next question died on his lips.
“Och, and if ye’re thinkin’ that ye’ll find her anyway,” Mary continued, “may I remind ye that there aremanyrooms in this castle, and the chances of ye huntin’ her down are slim. I ken it’s probably nae me place, but just… let her decide when she wants to see ye again. Ye owe her that much.”
“I see,” Noah said drily. “Thank ye for yer advice, but she disobeyed my command this mornin’, and I should like to return the favor.”
Mary huffed out a sigh. “Well then, just ken that the Lady has instructed the servants to inform her of where ye are in the Castle. So, while ye hunt for her, she’ll be hidin’ from ye. She’s a wily lass, that one, and I couldnae be gladder of it. Someone needs to keep ye on yer toes.”
Noah couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt. Of course, he knew that his actions had wounded her. He just never expected that Saoirse would be the kind of person to take such measures to avoid him. That, and the fact that, in one day, she’d won the servants over to her side, including Mary, who’d been like a grandmother to Noah for as long as he could remember.
“If ye would be so kind then, please pass the Lady a message for me?” Noah scrambled to find the right words. He never expected to have to pass his apology to a servant, even one as dear to him as Mary. Yet, he found himself a bit relieved to not have to face Saoirse after all.
“Of course,” Mary said. “And what is it that M’Laird wishes to convey?”
“Tell Saoirse that I am sorry. Tell her that I shouldnae have lost my temper wit’ her this mornin’. Tell her that it would give me great pleasure if she would join me for dinner tonight.” He exhaled, not realizing that he’d been holding his breath.
Mary nodded and gave a quick curtsy, before scurrying from the library. A part of Noah wanted to follow her to find out where his wife was, but he refrained. It would do him no favors.
Instead, he moved to the settee near the fireplace and flopped down onto the cushions. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let out a heavy sigh.
“She’ll come,” he whispered. “If she’s the lass I think she is, she’ll come.”
Deep down, however, he feared that his apology was too little, too late. Perhaps, this talk of her hiding and avoiding him was just her way of buying some time as she put distance between herself, this Castle, and the foolish husband who had realized, too late, what he might have before him.
Curse ye, Caitlin McDullogh,he seethed as her image jabbed at his mind once more.Curse ye to the pits of Hell.
CHAPTER14
The rapon the door startled Saoirse, causing her to scratch the bow of the fiddle violently over the strings. The sound was piercing and hard. Looking to the door, Saoirse’s heart dropped. For a moment she wondered if the servants had given up her whereabouts. Fear racked her nerves as she moved to the door and cracked it open.
“Oh, Mary,” Saoirse gasped in relief. “I thought ye were Noah.”
“Aye, he’s returned and he’s lookin’ for ye, M’Lady, but I dinnae say a word about yer whereabouts. These lips are ironclad!” Mary whispered, slipping through the crack of the door.
Saoirse glanced over the old woman’s narrow shoulder at the hallway, half expecting to find Noah spying around the corner. Only when she was certain that Mary hadn’t been followed did she shut the door.
“Did ye tell him I have nay desires to see him?”
“I did,” Mary answered.
“And? How did he take the news?” Saoirse’s heart leaped and rattled in her chest as she moved back to the wall and placed the fiddle back in its position.