Mysty McPartland (18 page)

The only thing left
for her to do was leave and once in her chamber, she was going to start packing and planning. It would be hard to leave undetected, but she knew she could do it without being discovered. She would not stay another day under his roof and be humiliated by the rutting pig and his lover.

Crushed beyond measure, s
inking to her knees, she buried her face into the soft mattress and wept. She loved him still and it was tearing her apart to see him with another woman but she knew if she stayed it would destroy her soul completely. She didn’t know how long she cried for, but finally the tears stopped falling and, wiping her face, she rose to her feet.

Determination squared her
shoulders; she packed a few items and was ready to leave. She listened in the darkened room waiting to hear Tarrel and his mistress come upstairs. The hours seemed to drag along, but she sat up alert when she heard a woman’s soft laughter. Pain gripped her heart and slowly she made her way across the unlit chamber and, taking a deep breath, silently opened the door.

In dread
she peaked around the doorframe, she needed to close her eyes at the scene she was witnessing. Biting the inside of her mouth, she closed the door just as quietly and, leaning her brow against the cold wood, tried not to let the horrendous pain engulf her.

Finally
seeing Beatrice to her door, Tarrel was about to wish her goodnight however, before he could get the words out, the woman threw herself in his arms, started kissing him voraciously and he felt not an ounce of passion for her. In fact, he felt revolted and sickened putting his hands on her shoulders, he shoved her away.

He ignored her look of disappointment and hearing a slight sound down the hallway
, spun his head around and frowned wondering what could have caused the noise. He gaze went back to Beatrice and his lips twisted in a semblance of a smile. “’Tis sorry I am but ‘tis over between us, lass. Whatever we once shared is gone. I am a married man now and I must ask ye to leave on the morrow.”

Confused,
she stared at him in disappointment. She could see by the coldness in his eyes that he meant what he said and nothing she could do or say would change his mind. It seemed Lisa was wrong after all and there was something between Tarrel and his wife. Breathing out a regretful sigh, she gave a slight nod, turned away, and entered her bedchamber.

Very relieved when
the door closed behind his former mistress, he stood where he was and once again, he shifted and gazed down the hallway and frowned. Then shaking his head, he shrugged his shoulders and moved down the passageway to his own chamber. Not bothering to light a candle, he disrobed and slid beneath the covers. Stacking his hands behind his head, he stared thoughtfully into the darkness.

Tomorrow,
he was going to start winning back his wife’s affection, he was sick of the lonely nights in his bed, tired of not hearing her talk, miserable at the loss of her sunny smile and joyful laughter, but most of all he missed being taken to heaven in his angel’s arms.

****

The sound of the door closing still reverberated in her head long after it had happened. For a lengthy time, Dalla stayed leaning against the wall and once the household finally fell silent, she moved away, picked up her satchel, and closing her eyes for a few moments, prayed that her escape would go undetected for many hours. Hopefully, it would take most of the day before her absence was discovered.

The more hours she had between her and Tarrel would be an advantage, if she could put a day’s ride between them all the better. With luck she just
might manage to reach home safe with her father before her husband caught up with her. Her shoulders sagged perhaps he wouldn’t come after her now that he had another woman who would happily slack his lust.

With a heavy sigh and a broken heart
, she silently left her bedchamber and went down stairs. By the light of the fire, she was thankful to find the hall deserted and hurried across the room. It took her a few precious minutes to open and close the large door and once outside, she leaned against the cold wall and searched the area.

Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she waited for the guard
on the battlement to walk past and as soon as he did, she picked up her skirt and fled down the steps across the bailey and into the stables. With her breathing ragged, she stood in the murky shadows and listened for any sound of another human, but when everything remained silent, she slowly moved towards the horses.

It took
a few minutes to find her own mount and decided not to risk saddling the horse; she took the bit and placed it in its mouth as she whispered soothingly to the animal. Once she put the reins in her hand, she led the horse to the doorway and waited. Bending over, she swept up her satchel, and holding it tightly, she peeked outside.

Now came the hardest part if
, she stayed in the shadows with some luck she would go undetected until she came to the cottages. It would be the only way she could escape and with each step she took she felt her heart beating like a hammer against her chest.

It seemed like hours had pa
ssed until she finally left the last cottage behind her, but still she walked her horse. Only when she was well clear and far enough away to make sure that the hoof beats would not be heard did she mount and even though she wanted to ride as fast as she could, she forced herself go slow.

It was only when she was at the top of a small rise that she dared turn back and slowly the tears dripped down her face.
This maybe the last time I look upon his home and the people I have grown to love. Why, Tarrel, why couldn’t you love me back?
Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she turned away and kneed the horse’s sides and once she was riding hard, she turned all thoughts of her husband from her mind and concentrated on reaching the safety of her father and her home.

****

Optimistic as he came down stairs just after dawn, Tarrel hoped to have a glimpse of his wife but not catching a glance of her, he sat down and sighed. They both couldn’t keep going on like this; something had to be done to bridge the gap that was widening between them. If something wasn’t done soon it would be impossible to fix.

I want my angel back and I know the rest of the clan does as well. But how am
I going to accomplish such a feat when the woman never shares a moment of her day with me. Once Beatrice is gone, I’ll search out my wife and by God I’ll make her spend the rest of the day with me and every day until I have my angel returned to me.

With his mind now on a plan, he felt a lot better and even though it was early, he sent one of the servants up to wake his unwanted visitor so he could see her speedily on her way. Then he would start his campaign to win his wife back.

Twenty minutes later he watched
Beatrice’s coach pass through the gates, he hurried back inside and started his search for Dalla. After an hour and not finding her anywhere, he stood on the steps of his home and thoroughly searched the area. Where could she be? Well there was only one thing left to do and that was to examine every building. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long before he found her.

By noon he was rattled, no one has seen his wife at all, so again searching his home and not finding her, he started to panic. Through Duncan he sent word out to start an all-out search for
her and now he paced in front of the fire waiting for word of her whereabouts.

By midafternoon, he came to the realization that
she was gone, not only had his men not found her, but they discovered her horse missing. He sunk into the chair and bracing his elbows on his knees covered his face with his hands. His wife had left; somehow she managed to sneak off in the middle of the night and leave him without a word. Damn her to hell.

Did she detest him so much that she could not bear living with him another moment, or was her love for the other man so great
she ran off to be with him? Raising his head, he starred grimly into the fire. The fury inside of him increased by the second. Like hell he would let her run to the man she professed to love. He would find her and he would drag her back here even if she was unwilling. Damn it, they were married and she was his wife, she had no right to do this and she was going to learn that fact when he caught up with her.

Be damned if he would not let another man have what was his. Surging to his feet, he called for a hundred men to saddle their horses and be ready to ride within moments. He went to move away, but his friend stopped him. His head whipped around and he glared furiously.

Duncan stood beside
his laird and shook his head sadly, as he watched the men rush from the hall. “Are ye sure ye want to do this, Tarrel?”

“The woman is my wife and she belongs here with me.” He spat the
words out ferociously, spun away and stalked out of the hall; his only intent now was to fetch her and return her to where she belonged, here with him.

     Even though it grew dark there was enough light by the moon to keep riding,
and he didn’t have any intentions of stopping until he either caught up with her or reached her father’s home. He was certain beyond any doubt that she would run back to her father first, and it didn’t matter how much his men grumbled, he would not stop unless it was absolutely necessary.

It took two long
, grueling days of hard riding to reach finally reach his destination, both his men and their horses were exhausted. His temper was only one straw away from snapping. When he pulled his stallion to a stop in front of the closed gates, his frown was blacker than any fierce thunder storm. His gaze lifted and he saw his father-in-law on the battlement. “I have come for my wife, Kevin.”

Kevin star
ed sadly down at his son in-law, even after hearing his daughter’s unhappy story; he knew that Tarrel would waste little time in coming for his wife. And seeing the black rage on the young man’s face knew that there would only be a lot more trouble to come.

Despondent over the situation, he shook his head and leaned forward. “’Tis sorry I am, Tarrel, but my daughter doesna wish to return to ye. She is wanting to request that ye marriage be put aside.”

His hands tightening on the reins
, he could feel the dark rage engulfing him; it was a few moments before he managed to have it under control enough to speak. “There will be nay putting aside the marriage. Tell my wife to come out now.” His jaw was clenched tightly while he waited for her to appear.

However, as time slowly ticked by he was beginning to believe she wouldn’t come. Humiliated beyond his endurance that
she left him was what kept his wrath boiling and bubbling inside him. If she thought she could just walk away and have their marriage annulled she had another thing coming.

No matter how much she
despised him, he would never ever let another man have her. He no longer cared if she loved that bastard for the rest of her life, he wouldn’t ever permit them to be together. He didn’t care what he had to threaten she was coming home with him whether she liked it or not. If he had to drag her back by the hair, kicking and screaming he would. He hissed out a breath when he finally saw her standing beside her father. His eyes devoured her. 

Dalla
had already been informed that her husband arrived and she was raced up the stone steps to the battlement when she heard his cold furious words. She reached her father’s side and beseeched him with her eyes not to give into Tarrel’s demand.

When his daughter stood by his side
, Kevin took her hand and stared at her sadly. “’Tis a fact my sweet girl that ye husband will never let ye go.”

Heart tearing in anguish, cold misery settling over her, closing her eyes for a moment, she felt crushing defeat welling up inside of her when she heard her husband’s threat.

“If ye will nay
open the gates and return what is mine I will lay siege to ye home. ‘Tis nay to my liking, Kevin, but I will have my wife back.” Tarrel caught brief glances of her light hair and his anger spilled over. He never meant to threaten such a thing but now after speaking the words, he would never take the words back.

Her shoulders sagging
, she gave a slight nod of her head letting her father know to do as her husband demanded. She could never forgive herself if the people of her home were injured or killed because of her. “Open the gates, Papa.” Letting go of her his hand, she turned away and went back down the steps and into the hall to wait for Tarrel to join her.

Defeat tasted
like bitter bile in her throat, but she did not have any other choice. Even if it was the last thing she wanted, she would return to his home, no one deserved to suffer or lose their life because of her. She hung her head, closed her eyes, and prayed that no matter how much it hurt or what humiliation she would have to endure, she wouldn’t lose her dignity or her pride.

Sadly w
atching his daughter go, Kevin was overwhelmed by the protectiveness that flooded through him. He gave the signal to open the gates, then hurried down from the battlement intent on having some much needed words to his son-in-law before he let the man see Dalla.