Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,81
ye out of bed once since our arrival. Ye were never up this early before.”
“Things be different here,” Marisse told her as she led her to sit by the fire. “I have reasons to get up early now. Before, I wanted to sleep all the day away simply because I was bored out of my mind.”
“Well thank ye kindly, Marisse, for letting me know just how borin’ my company was,” Aeschene said, feigning insult.
Marisse saw right through her friend’s pretended wounded feelings. “Ye were not better than I,” she reminded her. “But there was not much else to do there. Here, everythin’ is different. We are not locked away.”
“And for that alone, I am ever grateful,” she said. Absentmindedly, she rubbed at her chest.
“We best get below stairs,” Marisse said as she grabbed her shawl. “I am eager to see if Colyne and Raibeart are still excited to be workin’.”
Aeschene smiled brightly. “I will wager ye they are,” she told her as they walked out into the hallway. “They are eager to prove to Richard they are mature enough to begin their trainin’.”
Marisse had to agree. “Take the loops,” she said as the reached the top of the stairs.
On the way down, Aeschene continued to compliment Colyne and Raibeart. “They be good lads. Just a wee inquisitive and wantin’ a grand adventure.” She did not see Richard, Lachlan, and Rory were already at the table breaking their fasts.
“I have to agree,” Marisse said, nodding to the men.
“Betimes, they remind me of my brothers at that age,” Aeschene said.
The room grew deathly quiet. Food paused in midair as the three men at the table glowered at Aeschene’s last statement.
“What did ye say?” Richard bit out, turning around in his seat to face his wife.
“Och!” she exclaimed. “I dinnae ken ye were here. Good morn to ye.”
Richard set his knife down and stood. “I asked ye what ye said.”
For the life of her, she did not know why he sounded so angry. “We were just talkin’ about what good lads Colyne and Raibeart are,” she told him.
“And ye compared them to yer brothers,” Richard growled. “They be nothin’ like yer brothers.”
Aeschene furrowed her brow. Marisse stood beside her looking just as confused.
“I only meant that Colyne and Raibeart be inquisitive lads, ready for adventure.”
“Like yer brothers,” Richard said with a good deal of disgust.
“Aye, like me brothers,” Aeschene said, pulling her shoulders back and lifting her chin. “Like most lads are at that age.”
“I would thank ye kindly if ye did not compare my brothers to yers,” he told her. “They could not be more different.”
She understood then, why he had taken offense. “Ye cannae compare who my brothers are now to what they were like as young lads.”
“I suppose ye will tell me they were good and proper lads?” Richard scoffed openly.
“Nay, they were by no means perfect,” she replied stiffly. “But they were at one time, just little boys.”
Richard shook his head in dismay. “Still, ye cannae compare them. While my younger brothers can be hellions on good days -”
“They will never be the rude, obnoxious brutes my brothers are?” Aeschene finished his sentence for him.
Richard fumed quietly, fully prepared to demand she never compare the two again.
“For all our sakes, I pray that never happens, Richard.”
He was, to say the least, confused.
“But Colyne and Raibeart already have one important advantage that my brothers never had.”
Raising a curious brow, Richard said, “And what is that?”
“Garrin MacRay is not their father.”
Richard watched her eyes grow misty. There was something hidden in what she had just admitted to. Something painful.
He felt every bit a louse for becoming so upset with her, for yelling, and for making an arse of himself. But it had been impossible for him to control his anger when he heard his wife comparing his brothers to hers.
Although he knew he had injured her feelings, he refused to apologize. Until he watched one errant tear trail down her cheek.
“There are things about me da that ye dunnae ken,” she said.
“Such as?”
She refused to answer. Marisse, however, was all too ready to explain. “Such as he is one of the cruelest men ye will ever meet.”
Aeschene stopped her before she could continue on with telling him just what she thought of one Garrin MacRay.
“Truly, I do not wish to discuss it further,” Aeschene said. “I do apologize, most sincerely, Richard. ’Twas not my intention to insult ye or yer brothers. I adore them, I sincerely do.”