The pair was silent for a moment as Archer turned his back to her, lifting the front of his night shirt so that he could undo the fastenings of his kilt.
He did look quite lovely with his shirt off. I have to give him that.
Emilie flushed at the thought, shame bubbling in her belly. Multiple times tonight, she’d found herself admiring him, admiring his size, or the gray of his eyes, or the way he moved.
And all of those were things she knew all too well that she should not be noticing. Noticing those things, allowing herself to be affected by them, Emilie knew that it would only serve to keep her distracted from her ultimate goal, which was to find a way out of her marriage.
“I mentioned before that I wanted ye to care for the bairns,” Archer said as his kilt fell to the floor with a soft thud, and then he turned to face her. “They have their tutor here four times a week. Their tutor will handle all of their studies, and they are nae to miss their lessons. Nae for any reason, do ye understand that?”
His tone was stern, and Emilie nodded her confirmation.
“I understand,” she murmured.
“I am raisin’ me future heir,” her husband continued. “And Clan McGregor is a large one. We have a lot of assets and a lot ofpeople that we are responsible for. So, it willnae be good if me children are nae smart enough to handle it.”
“I understand,” Emilie said again, staring at Archer. “I’ll ensure they daenae miss their lessons.”
Archer nodded, finally accepting her words.
“Other than that,” he explained, “ye’ll be responsible for keepin’ them entertained. Ye’ll be carin’ for them, takin’ meals with them, gettin’ outside with them. Any instruments that ye want to teach them, readin’ to them… that is all up to ye, just as it would be to any maither.”
“I daenae ken how much Aurora will be willin’ to learn from me or to spend time with me,” Emilie said, recalling the way the young girl had yelled at her before storming away from the table.
“The lass is strong-headed,” Archer explained. “But she’ll come around.”
Emilie had to stop herself from interjecting. From what she had seen so far, her husband did not seem to have much interaction, if any, with his children.
She had not missed the way Louis had studied his father, clearly waiting to be acknowledged by the man who had sired him. And then, when Archer had turned away from him without so much as a word, Louis had seemed unsurprised.
Like the relationship that he had with his father was so cold, so distant, that he was used to constantly being ignored by the man.
And yet, here Archer was, talking about the children as if he knew them well.
It was all so confusing.
“Is that all ye’ll be expectin’ from me?” she asked hesitantly, terrified of what the answer might be. “To raise the bairns?”
Archer nodded. “I’ll be wantin’ nothin’ else from ye.”
Emilie’s eyes flicked to the bed of their own accord. Archer followed her line of sight and then snorted a sardonic laugh.
“I have nay plans of beddin’ ye,” he explained in an amused but gruff voice. “I already have me children. Me heir has been born. I have nay need for another, and I have nay need to bed ye outside of that, if that’s what ye’re worried about.”
Color flooded Emilie’s cheeks. It had been what she was worried about, but she had not expected him to be as blunt about it.
“All right then,” she said finally, giving Archer a quick, curt nod.
“Now, I’ll be gettin’ into bed,” Archer hiked a finger over his shoulder, indicating the four-poster directly behind him. “I daenae care if ye join me. But if ye daenae, ye’ll have to sleepon the floor. The staff will notice if ye start residin’ in another chamber, and I daenae want them whisperin’. There are night clothes for ye in the armoire on the left.”
He didn’t spare her another glance as he turned and walked to their bed. Emilie just stood there, hands at her side and her feet refusing to move.
I daenae want to sleep next to him.
Even though that wasn’t entirely the truth. She could picture it now, what it might be like to lie down beside him.
There was a draw to the idea, one that Emilie could not deny.
This is just the devil tryin’ to tempt me. But I willnae be led astray. I can remain strong in me faith, and pure in me thoughts.