“We can show them to you,” Aurora continued, and then she seemed to realize that she was bordering on being nice to Emilie.
The scowl returned, and the brows pressed together again, and Aurora puffed up her chest as she amended her statement.
“Eventually, but I daenae want to do it all today. Ye’ll have to figure out some stuff for yerself, ye ken.”
Emilie chuckled. “Of course.”
The conversation between them died out, the twins seeming eager to get down to the beach. They were so different, the two children that surrounded her, whom she was now expected to be a mother to, for however long she resided in Castle McGregor.
It hadn’t taken long for her to pick up on the differences between the twins. Where Louis was open, warm, and seemed to be excited about the prospect of having a new mother, Aurora was much more reserved.
She wondered if the twins had inherited not just the looks of one parent or the other, but their personalities as well. The curiosity bubbled within her again, and this time, Emilie did not try to stifle it.
I have a lot to learn about these children. And I daenae have a lot of time to do it in. Clearly, they’re timid around their faither, and before I leave, I’d like to help them. In some way or another.
And it was with that thought that Emilie plastered another warm smile on her face and allowed herself to be led down the dirt path toward the sea.
Archer huffed at his desk, staring down at the ledger he’d been looking at for at least five minutes without retaining a single word.
From the moment he’d walked out of the dining hall, he had been plagued by thoughts of Emilie. Granted, he had been plagued by them for most of the day, but it had only gotten worse since seeing her at lunch.
“I have to get control of meself,” Archer growled to the empty room, hoping the act of speaking would make it easier for him to focus.
It did not.
With another grunt of frustration, Archer shoved his chair back from his desk. It had been nearly a quarter of an hour since he’d left the dining hall, and still, he hadn’t been able to get control of his mind.
“I cannae let this lass do this to me,” he grunted, aggravated that he still could not get control of himself. “She may be me wife, but nay one controls me thoughts and me mind but me.”
He paced for a few moments, trying his best to focus his thoughts by using movement.
Feel yer legs workin’,he reminded himself, trying to steady his breathing and really feel the air rush into his lungs.
But no matter what he tried, the only thing he saw was a pair of sky-blue eyes and a set of pouted lips that were begging to be kissed.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Archer growled, and he whirled away from his desk toward the door.
As he turned, something just beyond the window caught his eye.
His study was just below his chambers, on the side of the castle that faced the sea. And out the window, three forms were strolling along the cliff’s edge, lingering at the border of the easternmost rose garden.
Archer squinted his eyes, trying to make what he was seeing make sense.
Because surely Emilie was not that daft. Surely, she had not defied him when he’d directly told her that the twins were to focus on their lessons with Eoin. She had not taken them on a stroll through the gardens.
But no matter how hard he stared, the image remained the same. Emilie, walking on the edge of the castle grounds with his twins in tow.
“I cannae believe this,” Archer growled, storming from his study and through the castle.
He made it out onto the grounds in record time, his anger at being defied driving him forward. Archer was on them before his wife or children were even able to register that he’d been approaching.
“What do ye think ye’re doin’?” Archer growled, reaching out and grabbing Emilie’s wrist as he whirled her to face him.
By the time her gaze fell on his face, her blue eyes were wide and startled. Her mouth, that damned, kissable mouth, had popped open in an ‘o’, and her cheeks were flushed with shock.
A smallyipof surprise fell from her lips before recognition washed over her face. He watched as Emilie quickly rearranged her features.
The shock slowly fell from her face, her lovely features quickly rearranging themselves. Her eyes were still forced wide, but now they were blinking and dull. Filled with all the intelligence of a newborn calf.