They had been in the smaller carriage and had been with the quicker horse. So, it was no surprise to Archer that they had arrived before him.
Two seats right next to them were empty, reserved for him and Emilie. And then there, even further to the right, were two chairs that were occupied by small bodies that were currently bouncing up and down while they ate.
“We’ll be sittin’ up there,” he announced, pointing his finger toward the empty chairs at the head table.
He watched as Emilie’s eyes followed along, her brow quickly creasing with curiosity.
“Who are they?” she asked.
For a moment, he thought for certain that she was talking about Marcus and Paisly. He prepared to tell her exactly who they were, but then she pointed.
And when he followed the line of her finger, she was not pointing to Archer’s man-at-arms and the wife that adored him, but to the two children that sat directly to the right of the empty chairs.
“Ah,” Archer murmured, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd. “Those are me bairns, Louis and Aurora. Ye’re to be their new maither.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Their maither?” Emilie parroted, shock rippling through her as she gaped up at her new husband.
His brows knit together, staring at her as if she’d gone daft.
“Aye, I thought ye kent that was the reason I married ye,” he said in a slow, measured tone. “Yer parents said ye’d be a great maither for the bairns. And they need a maither in their life. They’ve spent long enough without one.”
Immediately, Emilie began shaking her head.
“They dinnae mention that.”
Children being in the mix complicated things a bit for her. Taking care of the little ones at the abbey had always been one of her favorite things to do.
She loved children, and she thrived when she was taking care of them. And, she had no doubt that these two children would be the same.
Which would only serve to make her sad and bittersweet when it was time for the annulment and she returned to the abbey.
“Let’s sit,” Archer grumbled, either not noticing or not caring about the panic that was now racing through Emilie.
He did not look back at her as he started making his way through the crowd, his large shoulders carving a path that she would be able to follow easily.
For a moment, Emilie wondered what would happen if she didn’t follow after him. Would deliberately disobeying him be something that made him wish for an annulment?
But no. She had a feeling that Laird McGregor was the type of man who enjoyed a bit of the hunt. If she pulled away from him, it would likely only serve to make him chase her. And that was the opposite of what she wanted.
Besides, the Lord commands that I am to obey me husband. It doesnae matter that I willnae be in this marriage for long. He is still me husband now, and so I must follow along with the Lord’s command.
Emilie began to move, trotting along in the wake of Archer’s footsteps quickly so that she could catch up with him. All around them, people waved as they passed.
A few of them even reached out, putting a friendly hand on Emilie’s shoulder and welcoming her to Clan McGregor.
Emilie gave them as friendly a smile as she could, but she was certain that it came out as more of a wince.
The only people who had touched her for as long as she could remember had been the other women at the nunnery. With them, the hugs and the laughs, and the braiding of hair—that all came easily to her.
But this? Getting touched by strangers, even if the touches were friendly?
It made Emilie feel as if she might jump out of her skin.
Plastering a gracious smile on her face, Emilie pushed forward, making her way toward the head table. When, finally, she reached it, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
By the time she sat down, careful to tuck the folds of her skirts neatly beneath her, Archer was already loading food from the serving trays before them onto his plate.