A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) (41 page)

“
Aye, us,
”
Lachlan nodded, when he
’
d finished. 
“
Liane and Bridghe were here all day.  Bridghe only went home because I threatened to call the guards and have her escorted out of the castle if she didn
’
t go home to her own family,
”
he smiled a little. 
“
And Liane should be back once she
’
s had some supper.
”

“
Your sister Bridghe?
”
Muira murmured, in quiet amazement.

“
Aye, she and Liane were both extremely worried about you,
”
Lachlan breathed softly, bending forward to lay his lips against her temple. 
“
But I was the most worried,
”
he confessed roughly.

“
Were you?
”
Muira whispered.  She felt her lips curve into the most ridiculously wide smile given how ill she was still feeling.

“
Of course,
”
Lachlan sighed, kissing her again, before sitting back down.  He dragged his chair a little closer however, so that he could hold her hand comfortably without stretching. 
“
How are you feeling now?
”
he asked anxiously. 
“
Do you want anything?
”

Muira shook her head. 
“
I
’
m just so tired,
”
she yawned. 
“
And I hurt all over,
”
she groaned unhappily, and then wished she
’
d sugar coated the truth slightly, because Lachlan looked horrified by her declaration. 
“
How long have been lying here?
”
she asked, sinking down into the pillows a little more.

“
Oh, I little under twenty-four hours,
”
Lachlan frowned. 
“
Although they may have been the longest twenty-four hours of my life,
”
he muttered under his breath.

“
I
’
m sorry I worried you, Lachlan,
”
Muira whispered, squeezing his hand weakly.

“
I
’
m
sorry I made you ill,
”
Lachlan groaned, dragging his hand through his hair guilty, mussing the already dishevelled locks into an even greater state of disarray.

“
What- you didn
’
t-?
”
Muira frowned in puzzlement.

“
God, if anything had happened to you,
”
Lachlan continued raggedly, not listening to his wife, cutting her off in fact. 
“
If I
’
d have thought for a moment that- well, clearly I wasn
’
t thinking,
”
he snarled at himself, rambling angrily at his own perceived incompetence.

“
Lachlan!
”
Muira gasped sharply, which took a great deal of her energy.  Her husband did however fall guiltily silent and listened hard to what she wanted to say. 
“
You didn
’
t make me ill,
”
she whispered.

“
I-
”

“
I was the one who insisted on sitting in the freezing cold carriage, instead of staying out by the fire,
”
she sighed tiredly. 
“
You came and got me-
”

“
You should never have been out there in the first place!
”
Lachlan growled. 
“
I should have taken you straight back to the pub the second I knew that we we
ren
’
t going to get that tree cleared in time to make it back here before nightfall.
”

“
I wouldn
’
t have gone,
”
Muira sighed, smiling slightly. 
“
I wouldn
’
t have gone anywhere without you,
”
she murmured sleepily, letting her eyes drift shut and leaving Lachlan with that softly spoken affirmation to dwell on
…

..ooOOoo..

The next time that Muira woke it was morning.  She stretched- and was a little surprised by how much better, in comparison to the previous night at any rate, she was feeling.  She looked around the room with a great deal more interest than she
’
d shown before, feeling a pang of hunger, and a definite thirst.

A glance in the direction of the chair by the side of the bed caused her heart to fall however.  Lachlan was gone.  But, maybe he was just bathing or dressing?  Muira strained hopefully for some sign or sound of her husband, buy none was forthcoming
…
although she could hear something.  A woman humming?  Liane?

It wasn
’
t Liane.  Muira was sure that she had never seen the woman who came bustling out of Lachlan
’
s study before, so she was a little confused as to why she felt as though she recognised her.

“
Ah, you
’
re awake.
”
  The woman smiled warmly at Muira. 
“
And feeling a wee bit better by the look of you?  Lachlan will be relieved,
”
she continued chattering away happily. 
“
I
’
ll send Liane to the kitchens for some plain porridge, you should be able to manage that without any trouble.
”
 

Muira listened, (slightly open mouthed it had to be said,) as the stranger talked, quickly and cheerfully.  She didn
’
t seem to require any reply from Muira herself, but was quite content to carry on both sides of the conversation alone.  When she again turned towards the subject of Lachlan, Muira managed to murmur a question.

“
Pardon, lass?
”
  The woman flashed her another amiable smile.

“
I was just wondering, where is Lachlan?
”
 
And who are you?
  She thought, but didn
’
t speak the latter aloud.

“
Gone to see the Laird, although I had a hard enough job convincing him to go!  You
’
ve got that brother of mine-
”

“
Oh!  So you must be Bridghe MacRae?
”
Muira exclaimed, relieved to be able to put a name to the face of the woman good-naturedly folding sheets at the foot of her bed.

“
Aye, that
’
s me,
”
Lachlan
’
s sister nodded. 
“
And you
’
re Muira-
”
there was a tiny pause before Bridghe added the surname,
“
-MacRae.
”

Muira nodded her head unnecessarily, but for the moment was saved from any further probing.  There was a soft knock at the door and Liane arrived.  She beamed with delight to see that her mistress was awake again, and then eagerly bounded away to fetch the porridge as Bridghe instructed.

“
Thank you for looking after me like this, Mrs MacRae, I know it can
’
t have been easy for you,
”
Muira said quietly, once she was again alone with her sister-in-law. 

The older woman looked up from her sheets at the bottom of the bed, casting a strange, surprised glance in Muira
’
s direction. 
“
Why now lass, it was no trouble,
”
Bridghe said softly, being very particular as she folding a pillowslip. 
“
It
’
s not as if I could leave Lachlan to cope alone, and I went home last night to my own bairns-
”

“
No, that
’
s not what I-
”
Muira began, but a pointed look from Bridghe silenced her on the implied
“
Cameron
”
matter.  She couldn
’
t help wondered what trouble it had really cost the other woman though- insults from some of the castle residences, a fight with her mother-?

“
I can
’
t imagine what
’
s taking that girl so long,
”
Bridghe said, frowning at the door, and evidently considering their previous topic of conversation well and truly closed. 
“
I knew I should have just gone down myself, but if Lachlan ever found out that I
’
d left you alone-
”
she paused to roll her eyes. 
“
I
’
ve never seen a man so-
”