“Ye wouldnae do that, and we both ken that well enough,” Marcus chided.
“Tell us, Arch,” Paisly said, her voice taking on a placating tone.
Archer’s eyes flicked to her, and what he found there shocked him. There was still humor dancing on her face, but there was concern there as well.
He sighed, knowing that even though he didn’t want to talk about it, Marcus and Paisly wouldn’t leave until he did.
“She did come see me in the cellar,” he admitted. “And she was actin’ like a blitherin’ idiot. But the thing is, I ken that she’s nae.We’ve had conversations, even right after the weddin’ when we were ridin’ back in the carriage. I ken she’s intelligent.”
“She grew up in a nunnery, right?” Paisly supplied.
Archer nodded, and the woman’s eyes glazed over while she thought. She made a few humming sounds, neither of the men interrupting her while she tried to figure out Emilie’s motives.
Finally, she leveled her gaze back at Archer.
“There arenae many men at a nunnery,” Paisly considered. “Mayhaps she simply doesnae ken how to act around them. Mayhaps that’s how she thinks she should be.”
It was something that Archer hadn’t yet considered.
“Mayhaps,” he admitted finally. “But yesterday, she took the bairns out for a walk when I told her they had their studies. And we had an argument about it.”
Marcus arched an eyebrow at him. “An argument that led ye to kissin’ her?”
“I’m gettin’ to that,” Archer grumbled. “Anyway, we were arguin’ about the bairns. And she asked what I would do if she dinnae obey me orders.”
“And that’s what made ye kiss her?” Paisly prompted, her expression mimicking her husband’s.
Archer didn’t know what else to say to that, so he opted to nod instead. He wanted to groan.
The problem with everything that happened went so much deeper than what he was explaining. He knew that it did. And he also was aware that they knew that it did.
But as they always did, Marcus and Paisly were going to force Archer to actually say it all out loud. There were two people who had always been of the mind that talking about things was the best way to get them out of the mind.
It was a sentiment that Archer vehemently disagreed with. But if he refused to talk now, they would just pester him about it later.
If he ordered them to leave, they would go. But then the next time he saw Marcus, the man would make snide comments and pointed jabs until Archer was forced to talk about it.
No, evading the conversation with the two of them never worked. Not when it was something that seemed to interest them as much as this had.
If Archer didn’t talk about it now, he would never hear the end of it.
“There has been tension between us since we got married,” Archer explained hesitantly. “Or, at least I’ve been experiencin’ tension since we got married.”
Paisly nodded. “She is a lovely lass. I can imagine that makes things difficult.”
“Ye daenae even ken her,” Archer huffed, but Paisly just chuckled.
“I mean her looks,” she corrected. “She’s rather bonnie. But daenae worry, I’ll be gettin’ to ken her soon.”
Archer didn’t want to begin to guess at what the woman meant by that. If Paisly and Emilie paired up, he was certain that he and Marcus would end up wanting to jump off the nearest cliff.
Actually, Marcus would probably love it. But Archer?
Archer would want to dive headfirst into the nearest, most tumultuous sea that he could find and allow it to sweep him away.
“She’s bonnie, aye,” he admitted, nodding a bit as he considered what to say next. “But it feels like more than that. I’m intrigued by her. She’s like a puzzle that I cannae seem to figure out how it all fits together.”
Marcus shifted in his seat, the wood groaning beneath his large frame.