There was no time for that now. Not when she was so close to making her plan work.
“I would go out there every mornin’ to feed ‘em,” she continued. Her voice was coming out a bit raspier now. And her throat was beginning to hurt. But Emilie did not let up.
“And I would squawk at them in their own language first. I tried to turn it into a melody. And when they would start to squawk back, I would start to sing. I thought a few of them were startin’ to catch on. But then we got married. I sure do hope Laura is keepin’ up with their singin’ lessons.”
She tugged on Archer’s arm, spurring him into motion, and they continued through the stone training courtyard. She could feel his gaze on her face, could see from the corner of her eye that her husband was staring at her sidelong.
“Ye hope the other nuns kept up with the singin’ lessons? For chickens?”
The tone of his voice said everything that Emilie needed to hear. He thought she was stupid. He well and truly thought that there was no brain inside her head.
He is goin’ to ask for an annulment any day now.
It took every ounce of willpower that Emilie had not to smirk at the sign of her victory.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Me wife is up to somethin’.
Archer was doing his very best to control his expression, his mind working as quickly as it could to figure out exactly what it was his wife was trying to do.
She was pretending. That much was certain.
He had suspected it for days now. But the things that she had said while they were on the walk had confirmed it.
It had started with the thing about the dahlias. Everyone in Scotland knew that the flower would not grow there. It didn’t get warm enough, and it rained far too much.
It had been the part about the chickens that had solidified his suspicions.
He had seen too much of Emilie when her guard was down to think that she was stupid enough to try to teach chickens how to sing.
So, his wife was trying to make him think that she was a dolt. The only thing that Archer could not figure out was why.
He no longer suspected that Paisly’s suggestion was true, though. He did not believe that it had anything to do with her not knowing how to act around men. No, this was something else, entirely.
“And the bannocks,” Emilie continued, her voice breaking as she said the final word.
He’d noticed that too. That, no matter how much she was pretending that this high-pitched tone that she was putting on was natural, it was not. And it was straining her vocal cords.
I wonder how long she’ll keep up the farce.
Amusement sparked inside him, and Archer had to fight off a ferocious grin.
Whatever game his wife was playing, he was certain the very last thing she suspected was for him to play along.
“The bannocks?” he asked, careful to allow his voice to sound curious rather than judgmental. “The bannocks at the abbey were good?”
“Aye,” Emilie all but moaned, the sound of it calling to his desire for her.
Even in this dumbed-down state she was in at the moment, his need for her was running rampant. When Emilie had draped her arm through his, the touch and the warmth of her had threatened to overwhelm him entirely.
“They nearly melted in yer mouth,” she continued on, gazing up at the sky as if remembering the taste of the pastry on her tongue.
She licked her lips, the sight of it drawing Archer’s attention to her mouth.
He’d tried to avoid focusing on it the entire time that they had been walking. Had been doing his very best not to look at her any more than was absolutely necessary. But now?
Now that his attention had been fully drawn to Emilie’s lips, it was nearly impossible for him not to want to lean in and kiss her.