Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,43
as when I am out of doors and the sun is shinin’ so bright it makes my eyes water, and I can see again. Just as clear and as beautifully as I could before. But then I blink once or twice, and it is all gone again.”
Suddenly, his stomach grew tight with a tremendous sense of dread. There was a succinct possibility that for a brief moment, if the circumstances were just right, Aeschene would be able to see him. Just the thought of her looking at him with horror-filled eyes made his stomach churn. He did not want to think of that possibility.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he went back to the reason they were here to begin with as he dabbed his forehead again with the wet cloth. Pulling the cloth away to examine it, he knew she was right, he would likely need stitches. What was one more scar among those he already possessed? “Tell me why ye believe I lied to ye?”
Lifting her chin and pulling her shoulders back, she looked him as full on as she was able. “Back at me father’s keep, ye promised me ye would never lock me away.”
He was mightily confused. “And?”
She let out a quick, annoyed breath. “And ye have done just that. ye have locked me away and I dunnae ken why.”
His head was beginning to throb more boisterously and not just from where he’d hit it on the wide beam. If he thought learning she wasn’t completely blind had been bewildering it took second place to what she just said. “Lass, I have done no such thing.”
“Ye may not have locked the door from the outside, Richard, but ye locked it all the same,” Aeschene told him. The despair in her voice was undeniable.
“I dunnae ken what ye’re talkin’ about,” he replied sternly.
Oh, what she would not give to be able to look into his eyes to search for deceit or truth. “Richard, I have sent for ye on five separate occasions. Each time, the message was the same: ye were either not within the keep or ye were too busy. Marisse and I were told we were not to leave the chamber until ye came to get us.”
“I never gave such an order,” he replied, his anger building. Not at Aeschene, but at whomever had told her such a thing. He knew before they married that her life here would not be easy. However, he hadn’t anticipated this. “And I was never told that ye wished to see me.” In truth, he had made two attempts at seeing her. Both times he was told by one of his servants that the mistress was resting and asked not to be disturbed. ’Twas true that he’d been so angry at learning she did not wish to be disturbed that he made a point of not asking after her again. He’d even gone so far as to convince himself she would have to crawl to him on her knees before he’d give her the time of day.
They had both been lied to.
He watched as clarity dawned in her blue eyes. Another tug at his heart. She was hurt and he did not like it. He’d punish whomever was responsible for lying to them.
But there was still the matter of her climbing out on a ledge just to see him. “While I cannae blame ye for bein’ angry with me, I am still furious that ye took such a chance out on the ledge this day.”
Though in truth, he had to admire her spirit and tenacity. He couldn’t think of another woman he knew who would have taken such a risk. Still, she needed to be made fully aware that such dangerous actions would not be tolerated.
Her cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red. “Ye should ken that there be times when my anger gets the better of me,” she said. “I shall do my best not to repeat this day’s mistake.”
Black Richard appreciated her honesty. “In the future, if ye think I have done somethin’ to offend, I would appreciate it if ye would come to me to discuss it. Better yet, send Marisse for me, aye?”
Because it was a most logical request, she agreed. “I ken ye need stitches. But could we please make time to talk about other things? After ye have seen the healer?”
What other litany of sins did she believe he had committed? His head hurt too much to stay and find out.