“I daenae care,” he grumbled, fighting the urge to rub the sides of his temples. “Ye can do whatever ye want to the castle. Paint the whole thing yellow so it can be seen for miles, for all I care.”
Emilie’s mouth popped open in surprise.
“Ye mean I can do it?” she asked, still staring at him in disbelief. “I can redo the castle?”
“Aye,” he responded gruffly. “Do whatever ye want to it. Ye daenae need to run it by me. Now, return to whatever it is that ye were doin’, so I can get back to me work.”
Emilie’s eyes flicked between Archer and the barrels of whisky behind him, as if truly noticing them for the first time. Her brows darted together, and a thousand questions lingered in her gaze.
“Go,” he growled, his headache beginning to worsen. “Before I lose me temper.”
He could feel his entire mood souring, a side effect that often came about when his head began to pound. And, as confusing as Emilie’s behavior had been, he did not want to take it out on her.
“All right,” she mumbled, giving a quick dip of her head in acknowledgment. “Thank ye.”
Emilie turned on her heel, striding toward the staircase that would take her back to the world above them. He let out a sigh as her footsteps faded from his ears.
“That woman makes me head ache,” he murmured to himself, with nothing around him to hear but the whisky barrels.
CHAPTER NINE
“Ilove this color,” Emilie said, trailing her fingers along a light pink tulip in the garden.
The petal was silky against her fingertips, and she luxuriated in it before turning to look at Catherine.
“Do ye think we might be able to use the color in one of the rooms?”
“Ye want to paint a room pink?” Catherine blinked at her, her moss green eyes lit with confusion.
It had been like that since she first left the cellar after talking with her husband. Catherine had been waiting for her just at the top of the steps, and the moment she’d seen Emilie, the young maid had insisted on giving her a tour of the grounds.
Which, of course, had taken every last bit of the morning. The grounds at Castle McGregor were vast, they were sprawling, andexpansive, and she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around it.
And all of this is mine. I live here now.
It was a thought that Emilie consistently had to push down. Reminding herself constantly that she owned none of it. That her stay at Castle McGregor was not permanent. As soon as she had her annulment, she would be heading back to the abbey, leaving everything that she’d seen that day to be nothing but a distant memory.
“Of course I want to paint things this color,” Emilie interjected, giving Catherine a soft smile. “It’s lovely.”
“I just daenae think the Laird will like it,” Catherine murmured, chewing the inside of her cheek.
Which is precisely the point.
Emilie grinned to herself, turning her face so that Catherine would not see the smirk toying at her lips. She admired the color a little longer, staring at it and imagining it on the library walls.
Or perhaps the family dining room.
Or maybe even the Great Hall.
Emilie liked the color. She hadn’t lied about that. But the fact that it would annoy the Laird, especially if she found a place of prominence to paint it?
That was the real benefit.
But that wasn’t something that Emilie could say out loud to Catherine. So, instead, she just shrugged.
“He said I could do whatever I want to the castle,” Emilie said, doing her best to sound nonchalant. “And I want to paint a room the same color as this tulip.”
Catherine still looked uncertain, but she said nothing further. Emilie turned, walking back through the garden and admiring even more of the flowers.