“There were no doubts before you!” she insisted.
He cast her a regretful side glance and opened the castle doors. “Bring Daffodil to my chambers,” he called to the children and then watched them race up the stairs.
He didn’t care who saw him with Silene. She’d soon be a nun and that would be the end of everything.
“I will be ootside yer door, ready to escort ye to the church.”
“Nay. I do not think ’tis a good idea. You know you are a temptation to me, yet you always insist on being at my side.”
“My desires…and yers dinna come before yer safety.”
“I will be safe going to church, Captain.”
Aha. He was back to beingCaptain.
“I do not want to see you.”
“Verra well,” he said, sounding like a hammer coming down on an anvil. “Ye willna see me.”
Silene stared atthe purple gown folded neatly on her bed. She wanted to try it on. Just one more time before she gave it away. Perhaps it would fit Louise.
She only had a few moments left before she was expected at the church. She left the gown where it was and dressed in her habit. She looked at the door. Was he out there waiting to escort her? She wiped her eyes for the hundredth time. She wasn’t doing this for her uncle anymore. She was doing it to keep her and Galeren alive. And though that was a serious reason indeed, it wasn’t the right one.
She opened her chamber door. He wasn’t there or down any of the halls. She walked, alone, out of the castle and into the late afternoon sun. She looked around at the village and the surrounding structures and trees, all cast in a soft, summer glow. It calmed her racing heart.
When she stepped through the inner gate, someone took her wrist. She turned, expecting to see Galeren.
“Uncle,” she muttered and then pulled her wrist free. “Have you come to make certain I reach the church safely?”
“Of course,” he said with a grin. “I need ye.”
“Aye, ye do,” she agreed with a knot twisting in her belly. She meant nothing to him.
“Now that we have a moment, I would like to ask you if you have seen my parents.”
He regarded her with a wry gleam in his eyes. “I was with them last month. I have taken good care of them in yer name, gel. Ye are a blessin’ to them.”
She smiled. “How is Sherman, our Spaniel? He was just a pup when I left.”
Her uncle nodded. “The dog is well, accordin’ to yer sister. He still hunts and was oot when I arrived.”
Silene closed her eyes to keep from screaming at him. He was lying. Her family didn’t own a dog named Sherman. Her uncle was her enemy. She doubted that he had visited her parents at all.
“I wish you and I could have had more time to visit and get to know each other, my lord.”
She wanted to find something redeeming about him.
“Well, ye canna live yer life with regrets now,” he warned.
She couldn’t find anything.
“Uncle, I would like some time alone with God right now.” She knew he could not deny her and claim to be pious.
He nodded hesitantly. “Verra well.” He sounded insulted that she had just dismissed him. He walked away and entered the church, leaving her alone in the coming twilight.
It was time. She looked around. Was Galeren somewhere behind a tree or cottage, watching her?
She prayed for strength but when she tried to move her feet, she found she could not budge them. She knew that if she went inside the church, she would never see the captain again. The feeling washed over her like a wave, a certainty she could not deny. It made her feel ill. She clutched her belly and cried out softly.