Hugh’s hunting sack, presumably holding her worldly possessions, at her feet.
She still wore her blue dress. What with her straw leghorn bonnet and jaunty yellow shawl, she was sure to be a sight riding on the road. Aidan doubted if she would make it to Wick, let alone London.
The pup pushed against her legs, and when that didn’t gain her attention, he barked. Ignored again, he sat and looked helplessly to Aidan for assistance.
The problem was, Aidan didn’t know what to do.
So he spoke honestly. “No one wants you to leave, Anne. Not even York.”
She stiffened at the sound of his voice, and for a moment he thought she’d ignore him, too. Then, “He’s a pest.”
“Pest. It might be a good name for him. We could change it.”
Her hands stopped moving. She squeezed the cinch strap she’d been buckling tightly. But she did not answer him.
Behind him, the good citizens of Kelwin had edged closer, the better to hear their conversation. All too aware of them, Aidan crossed over and shut the barn door.
Putting the bar in place, he said, “They’ll probably peek through the windows anyway.”
Anne had not moved, but at his words a sound escaped her that sounded half-laugh, half-sob.
He walked to her. He would have taken her in his arms, yet something about the set of her shoulders warned him to go slowly.
“I don’t want you to leave, Anne.” There, he’d said it. He meant it.
“I can’t stay.” She righted herself and gave the cinch one last tug to ensure it was tight enough.
Her insistence made him angry. “Well then, you’d best put a bridle on the horse,” he said brittlely.
“Yes, I mean to do that.” She moved to fetch one from the saddle room.
Aidan moved between her and the horse, his hands on his hips. “Hugh may not want you to ride off with his hunting sack. He’d only lent it to you temporarily.”
She came out of the saddle room and for the first time met his gaze. He was surprised how hard her eyes were. They seemed to look right through him. “I’ll send it back. Here, you can take this now.” She pulled her wedding ring off her finger and offered it to him.
He refused to take it. “Don’t expect my sister to help,” he said harshly. “She wanted a baby from this marriage.”
“I don’t want her money or yours. Some things cannot be bought.” She closed her hand over the ring and tucked it into Hugh’s hunting sack.
“Then what will you do?”
“Take a position as a lady’s companion. I believe it will suit my temperament.”
He almost laughed. “Not hardly. You are a stubborn and proud woman, Anne Black.”
“Burnett,” she corrected. “My name is Anne Burnett. I’ll have the marriage annulled in London.”
She started past him to the head of the horse, but Aidan reached out and turned her around so her back was against the roan’s body. He held her trapped with his arms, his hands on the saddle. The horse shifted restlessly.
“You can’t leave me, Anne. Not now.”
“I must.” The urgent words sounded hoarse, as if she had to force them past her lips.
He tried to make her understand. “You’ve interrupted all our lives. You are one of us now. We can’t let you go.”
“We?” she asked sadly.
“Me, Anne. I don’t want you to go.”
Her lower lip trembled, but she steadied herself. Her hand came up to rub the side of his face. “You haven’t shaved yet.”
“I rolled out of bed, heard the news you were leaving, and came here.”
Her fingers traced the path of his jaw to the curl in the hair around his collar. “And you need a haircut,” she said softly.
“Is this why you are leaving me? My grooming habits? My hair?” He released her and went to the saddle room, where he kept a box of tools. He took out a pair of shears. “Here, Anne,” he said, offering them to her. “Cut it. It means nothing to me.” He added quietly, “Nothing means more than you.” The moment he said them, he realized the words were true.
She drew in a shaky breath. He pressed on. “You’ve bullied your way into my life. You can’t leave.”
Her gaze dropped to the shears and then to the floor. She shook her head. “I can’t stay. I can’t watch what will happen.”
“You can see the future?”
“I don’t need to be a seer. I know what will happen. You are defying the English government! All of this, everything, will be destroyed.”
“Not if