at them before returning his gaze to Hugh. "If I find you're dealing with the MacLeods, you and I will be enemies. I am not a good enemy to have."
"Connor's your enemy, not me," Hugh said. "Deliver him, and we'll both have justice."
Chapter 6
Ilysa went up to her chamber to be alone to think. She groaned when she opened the door to find Deirdre there, being dressed by her maid.
"Have this laundered." Deirdre stepped out of her gown and tossed it to Ilysa, without actually looking at her, as if she were a common servant. "It has a tear that needs mending."
Ilysa could guess how it had torn. Her stomach hurt.
"Your mistress and I must speak in private," she told the maid.
Deirdre's fine eyebrows went up an inch, but Ilysa waited to explain until the door closed behind the maid.
"Are ye aware that your brother is negotiating a marriage contract between you and my chieftain?"
"I am." Deirdre shrugged. Then, watching herself in the mirror, she tugged a strand of hair loose from her braid to make a fetching curl at the side of her face.
"Is this what ye want?" Ilysa asked.
"Your clan is not as powerful as my father's, so Connor is a bit beneath me," Deirdre said, wrinkling her nose. "But he is undeniably handsome."
"He is more than that," Ilysa said. "He is an honorable man, and he'll be a devoted husband. Can ye promise him the same?"
"My, you are surprising, but 'tis not your place to question me." Deirdre waved her hand as if she were batting away a fly. "Do see about having that gown mended."
"Is there something ye ought to tell Connor before entering into this marriage?" Ilysa persisted.
Deirdre turned and leveled a hard look at Ilysa. Suddenly Ilysa understood. Deirdre was with child.
"Ye must tell your brother that ye cannot wed Connor," Ilysa said.
"It was my brother who suggested the marriage." Deirdre placed her hand on one shapely hip and smiled. "Connor wants the alliance. And he wants me."
"But ye love someone else," Ilysa said.
"Love?" Deirdre gave an amused laugh. "I'd hardly call it that."
Clearly, Deirdre was not going to put a stop to this. As for Connor, he could not see beyond the alliance and Deirdre's overflowing attributes. Yet when Deirdre had a child in six months - and later took a lover, as Ilysa suspected she would - it would tear Connor's pride to shreds.
Tearlag had told Ilysa she must trust her instincts and protect Connor. She made up her mind what to do.
"As ye say, 'tis not my place." Ilysa heaved what she hoped sounded like a resigned sigh and began gathering her medicines. She picked up a few at random and put them into her basket. "I have other duties. A woman in a nearby cottage is having a babe and sent for me."
"Isn't it dangerous to leave the castle?" Deirdre asked, narrowing her lovely blue eyes at Ilysa. "And why would you be the one to go?"
"As anyone will tell ye, I'm a healer," Ilysa said and lifted her cloak from the peg by the door. "There's no telling when I'll be back. A first babe can take hours and hours."
Outside the door, Ilysa leaned against the cold stone wall. Before she did this, she must set aside her feelings for Connor and be sure she was doing this because it was best for him and for the clan. Even without Tearlag's warning that Connor would not be happy if he wed before Beltane, Ilysa knew in her heart that Connor would suffer if Deirdre were his wife. As for the clan, any weakening of Connor's authority would make his tasks even more difficult.
This marriage must be thwarted.
It was nearly time for supper. Instead of leaving the castle as she had told Deirdre, she headed for the kitchens.
"I can't be seen in the hall," Ilysa said in a low voice to Cook as she joined him at the worktable, "but I must know the moment Deirdre leaves the table."
Cook raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head to let him know she could not tell him why.
"I'll tell one of the serving maids to keep an eye on her," he said, pitching his voice below the noise of the kitchen. "I'll invent a reason."
Ilysa was relieved that he understood she did not want anyone else to know the request came from her.
"You're a good friend," she whispered and squeezed his arm. Then realization dawned, and she turned to face him.