***
Lyall caught up with her in the great hall and grabbed hold of her arm.
‘Let go,’ she said, trying to shake him off.
‘Not until you hear me out,’ he snarled.
‘‘What is there to say? You have a child, and you have abandoned it. Is that woman your wife?’
‘No, let me explain.’
Jealousy took Giselle, like a knife to the heart, but she kept her voice steady. ‘You don’t owe me an explanation. I am your hostage, a person passing through your life for a few weeks. You don’t need to tell me your secrets.’
‘Giselle you know we are more to each other than that. Look, there were words I wanted to say just now, but Rhoslyn has come along and ruined it.’ He sighed and continued. ‘She is not my wife. I had a fondness for her some years ago, back when she was bonnie, and it was hard to resist her charms. Rhoslyn was free with other men than me, but I think she cared for me in her own way. When I left for war, she was angry that I hadn’t offered for her, but as I said, there were others sniffing around her.’
‘And the child?’
‘Would you have me give my name to a child when I know it cannot be mine? I lay with her and went away for over a year. When I returned, the child she claimed was mine was already a few months old.’
‘Are you sure it is not yours?’
‘The timing would say otherwise. It definitely cannot be mine.’
‘But she is alone, and the child needs a father.’
‘Giselle, it is not of my blood. Should I acknowledge a child as mine just because she wants it to be so? Rhoslyn wed another man after I went off to war, and, in truth, she was free with her favours with many men before that. Now her husband is dead, and her mind is broken by grief and disappointment.’
‘And her heart is broken - by you.’
‘It saddens me to see her now, but I have done right by her. I have given her a cottage, not far from here, and protection, and she does not go poor or hungry, nor will she ever.’
‘Why would you do that, if the child is not yours?’
‘Because I was once fond of her?’
‘Fond? Is that all you feel when you lie with a woman, Lyall?.’
‘So what if it is? Women can lie and cheat, and they shift like the wind. Perhaps I should be angry at you for thinking me the kind of man to abandon my own kin. If you believe I could do that, then you don’t know me at all, and you never will. It angers me to be judged so ill by one I have tried to protect.’
‘Then we must pray news of my ransom comes soon so we can be free of each other,’ she said bitterly.
‘Aye we must,’ he said through gritted teeth, grabbing her arm in a fury.
‘Let go of me, Lyall Buchanan.’
‘Gladly,’ he said, flinging her arm away.