The accusations filled his mind before he had a chance to stop them, and he knew they were wrong as soon as he thought them. She wasn’t that type of person. He knew it now. She wasn’t. Kell did his best to keep the accusation out of his voice. “What were you doing?”
She looked very nervous. Unusually so for her, especially for a woman who had braved his wrath with out so much as turning a hair. She fidgeted, and sidled away from him, as if trying to diver his attention away from the ladder. “Nothing.” Aislinn almost rolled her eyes at herself. How could she possibly look or sounded any guiltier?
Kell sighed. He wasn’t going to trust her on this. He knew it. He just had to see what – or who – was in that loft, especially since he could hear something rustling around in the hay.
As he climbed the ladder, Aislinn nearly bit her lip off, and tried not to think about ways to stop him. She wanted to jump on his back and pull him down, but she knew she didn’t have the strength.
When he got to the top of the ladder, Kell saw what had been making the sound. It was a young woman – one he didn’t recognize. She wasn’t someone from the town or even any off the offspring of the house servants. He knew everyone around. Moving closer to her, his hand outstretched as she shrunk back, he was entirely lost until she pulled her hair away from her face.
It was Aislinn. She looked just like Aislinn.
His wife was busy sneaking up the ladder behind him, then skirting around him to go to her sister, who was visibly frightened at this hulking, if unintentionally threatening man. Keeping his voice very soft so as not to scare the girl further, Kell nonetheless never took his eyes off her, “Who is this, Aislinn?”
Aislinn hugged the other woman tightly, staring at him as if she expected him to attack them or otherwise hurt them. Swallowing hard, she answered, “She’s my sister.”
Kell sighed, running his hand over his face and up into his hair. “I want to hear all about this when we get back to the house. But first I want to take her back there and get her cleaned up.” He watched as she did some sort of organized movements with her hands, and then the girl did the same thing back at her.
“She’s not sure she wants to go with you.”
His eyebrow rose. “She told you that?”
“Yes,” Aislinn answered indignantly. “With her hands. That’s how we talk.”
He looked extremely doubtful, but didn’t say anything more. Apparently, the girl wasn’t in her right mind, and although he wasn’t sure that she belonged in the house or could be trusted to behave herself there, he wanted Aislinn to know that he wouldn’t shy away from doing whatever was necessary to take care of her sister.
Hours later, they were all in the salon – all of the brothers, Aislinn, and her sister, as well as Jenny, who corroborated Aislinn’s story about the need to hide her sister. Kell was appalled at the idea, and he quickly explained that there was no longer a need for Adelle to live in the stables. She would be given her choice of rooms – hopefully close to her sister – and everyone who would be close to her would need to learn the sign language that she and Aislinn used. Furthermore, he stated that Adelle would be given every possible privilege, and was to be treated with the utmost respect.
Aislinn couldn’t believe her ears. She had been almost single handedly been taking care of her sister for so long, keeping her away from prying, rude eyes and pitying looks, that this turn of events seemed like she must be in a dream. To not have to hide her away, to pretend she didn’t exist . . . it was a miracle, and she couldn’t believer her eyes or her ears that her husband was being so wonderful about it.
Kell couldn’t believe that she had felt that she needed to keep her sister’s existence a secret from him, although, after hearing her story he supposed he understood it a little. If he had been in her place, he probably would have done the same thing with either of his brothers. But he was glad to take that burden off her slim shoulders.
“So she’s been living in the stables all this time?” he asked, still not quite believing that someone had managed to stow away on his estate and he’d had no idea she was there.
“You can talk to Adelle, Milord. I’ll translate for you,” Aislinn offered. She was anxious that he like her sister, for some reason. It really didn’t matter – he’d been generous to a fault as far as she was concerned that he hadn’t once mentioned putting her into some sort of asylum, as she’d known so many men – and women – would have wanted to. That was why she’d kept Adelle to herself as much as possible.
“Well, it’s you I really want to question, more so than her. She just seems to have been dragged along by you. You’re the one who kept her in the stables instead of introducing her to me, right?”
Aislinn didn’t like his tone or his accusatory words. “I did what I felt was necessary. I had no idea you’d be as accepting of her as you are, and I didn’t want my sister – who, by the way, is at least as intelligent as I am if not more so – ending up in some filthy asylum. She’s not crazy or retarded; she’s just deaf and mute. But she can communicate, if you’ll just take the time to learn the signs we use.”
“I’ll go further than that,” Kell said, walking over to Adelle, who although she shrunk a little, stood her ground against the giant. “It’s very nice to meet you, Adelle,” Kell executed a courtly bow, to which Adelle responded with a beautiful curtsey. He could see her look to her sister for a translation of what he had said, but she looked at him as her hands and fingers flew in response.
“She says she’s very happy to meet, you too, Milord,” Aislinn repeated for her sister.
“As I said,” Kell continued, patting Adelle’s arm awkwardly then turning back to the collected audience, “I shall make it mandatory for anyone who works in the house to learn Adelle’s language, so that she’ll never have any problem making herself known if Aislinn isn’t available. Furthermore, I’ll have someone sent from Edinburgh to help teach Adelle how to read lips, then she’ll be able to understand anyone she meets.”
“Read lips?” Aislinn had always wanted Adelle to have that skill, but she’d never trusted anyone enough to find a teacher.
“Yes. How much schooling has Adelle had?” He was asking very intelligent, practical questions, but Aislinn was having a bit of a hard time dealing with them just the same. All of the decisions regarding her sister had been made by her alone, from a very early age. And here he was, trying to take over, not even consulting her about what she thought should be done.
But he was being incredibly wonderful. “She’s gotten the same schooling as I have. I used to teach her anything I learned once I’d mastered it.”
Kell nodded. “Good. Then there’s no need to hire a tutor, also.” He turned to his wife. “Find a suitable room for her, near us, I would think, and have it aired out.” He extended his hand to her and guided her up the stairs. “I was going to show you this today anyway, but you can use it even more now.” He helped her up a somewhat rickety set of steep, narrow stairs up to the attic of the huge house. Aislinn couldn’t believe her eyes. It looked like a furniture store. There were settees and chairs and desks and books and bookcases and vanities and bedroom furniture . . . several whole houses could be outfitted from top to bottom just from this room. “Feel free to use anything you’d like from here – decide what you want and have the servants clean it up for you. If there’s something you find you want that you don’t see here, come get me, and we’ll think about a trip to the city.”
Aislinn felt like he’d just given her the keys to the kingdom. She loved to decorate and arrange things, and she was having a hard time containing her glee at being given such a generous gift. And she might even get to do a little traveling and see Edinburgh, which she would also enjoy doing . . . despite the fact that she thought he was probably going to insist on accompanying her.
Within the next few days, Adelle had settled into a beautiful room just a couple of doors down from the room that Aislinn was being forced to share with her husband, and was bl
ossoming under all the attention she was receiving. Everyone seemed to love her as much as they loved her sister.
Aislinn had, of course, broached the idea with her stubborn husband that married couples didn’t generally sleep in the same rooms – that she needed her space for her own things, and he would, naturally, need his own room for his own possessions. The problem was that that line of reasoning didn’t really work with either of them – at least at this point. Kell didn’t much care what he wore – beyond the fact that there were certain functions at which he had to appear in full Highland gear. Other than that, when he was just working about his lands, he had several kilts and shirts that were interchangeable, and that was perfectly fine with him – he had less than no interest in owning anything more than that for any reason whatsoever.
But he insisted that Aislinn, as the lady of the house, needed more clothes. It amazed him that he was the one having to insist about it, but he was happy about the fact that she wasn’t going to be bankrupting him trying to get the latest finery from Paris every season. She needed some practical clothing – a coat that wasn’t worn to the bone in several places, some hats, and several pairs of better shoes – dress and casual. But he also wanted her to have so nicer clothes in general, even just for wearing around the house. Everything she owned – which wasn’t much – looked like it had been worn to within an inch of its life. He could well afford it, and he wanted his wife to be dressed nicely – unless she was receiving patients, and then she could wear whatever she wanted – it would become unrecognizably dirty almost instantaneously, anyway.
Even with her soon to be expanding wardrobe, however, he refused to find another bed to sleep in at night, and had firmly forbidden her from doing so. He didn’t care what convention was. His parents had shared a bed every night of their lives, as had his grandparents and their parents and so on, for as far back as anyone could remember. The nights were too cold not to huddle for warmth when one could, and that was exactly what he intended to do – at least – with his new wife.
Aislinn and her sister had done a wonderful job turning the enormous house into more of a home. The servants were expected to be more on the ball, and they were even happy about it, because they loved the woman they served. She was smart and attentive and affectionate, and she always did whatever she could in the way of doctoring without ever expecting anything in return. Working for Lord MacNaughton had always been somewhat prestigious, but now people were clamoring to be in his employ, and he knew it wasn’t because of anything he’d done.
The twins didn’t do away with any of the furniture that was already in the house – it was so sparsely furnished that all they did was add, unless something worn or truly repulsive caught their eye, in which case it was consigned to the attic, which was quickly emptied of a lot of its occupants.
A tutor in lip reading was quickly located by Kell’s man in Edinburgh, and Aislinn had begun to teach him signs that first night. He proved to be an extremely adept student, those big hands flying through the air with as much grace as even Adelle’s little hands. And he wasn’t shy about speaking to her that way, either, although he often made mistakes that had the sisters in unintended stitches. The brothers learned next, and picked up just as quickly as their eldest did. Soon their evenings were filled with conversations flowing both verbally and manually, and laughter erupting frequently both ways.
Kell was biding his time, watching his wife when he thought she wasn’t looking, holding her through the night, but not pressing his rights on her again. He preferred to let her come to him, and he was prepared to wait for that event.
At least another week or so.
That was probably all he would be able to stand. Having her in his arms every night, that firm, compact bottom pressed against his privates – it was enough to drive him even crazier than he already was around her. All she had to do was enter a room – bloody hell, all she had to do was enter his thoughts – and he became agonizingly aroused and had to shift himself all around in polite company to try to shield his reaction. His brothers were always giggling when he did that, but he refused to acknowledge their gleeful looks. If he ever did, it would be all over for the MacNaughton brothers – all three of them.
Adelle was taking some of their rabid attention away from him, though. He was beginning to wonder if one of his brothers might ask him for her hand, but then he couldn’t see that either of them was a clear favorite. Adelle had a sunnier disposition than Aislinn did – but, in his wife’s defense, he could see why she was a little more serious than her sister – but then, she hadn’t really had a lot to worry about in her life – her sister had always seen to things. Adelle was a natural born flirt, and when she didn’t want to know what was being said to her, she merely turned away from the person who was speaking at her, thus effectively ending the conversation. She had only tried that trick on him once and he had let her know in no uncertain terms that he wouldn’t put up with it any more so than if she didn’t have hearing and speech problems.
She was very careful not to do that with him any more.
But neither Grant nor Burke had put his foot down yet that Kell could tell. It would happen eventually, he supposed, probably once one of them had been culled and branded. Adelle was going to get an eyeful if she continued to try to play things that way when they weren’t competing for her affections. None of the MacNaughton men were known for their infinite patience . . . although Kell was beginning to think that he should put his own name in the hat for saint.
Aislinn didn’t seem to be warming towards him one bit. She stopped trying to get into bed with clothes on, because he had patted her bottom – hard – twice in a row when she’d done it, cuddling her back to his front while she was still sobbing and her only slightly roasted nates surrounded him with their glowing warmth. She never touched him. She never showed him any sort of affection, and never solicited any from him. She tolerated his closeness in bed, probably because she’d deduced correctly that if she’d put up too much of a protest he wouldn’t hesitate to warm her bottom again for her, even if he’d already done exactly that just a few minutes before.
He had to stop daydreaming about his wife, he chastised himself as he barely got out of the way of a rampaging bull that was heading right for him. That wasn’t the first time today he’d almost been gored to death. She had to be a witch to have gotten him so entranced. It was the lack of her that was doing it to him, he knew. If he had just insisted on his marital rights and taken her every night – several times each night – and gotten his fill of her, he wouldn’t be thinking about her at inappropriate times . . . like now . . . and church . . . and when he was trying to concentrating on the boring paperwork that went along with running a large estate . . . and when he first woke up in the morning and she was sometimes asleep against his side . . .
He was living in a state of perpetual, painful, compete arousal. His balls had gone well beyond just blue – they were working on deep purple by now. It was his fixation on his lithe, gorgeous wife that caused him to be much less vigilant than he usually was about where he and his horse were going. The horse reared unexpectedly, throwing him to the ground and knocking his head against a rock.
She hadn’t been with him for very long, but already Aislinn knew that it wasn’t like Kell to miss a meal. If he had expected to be gone for dinner, he would have told her – it was an excellent habit he’d developed, and she’d come to rely on it to plan their meals with the cook. But dinner had come and gone, and there was no sign of him. The last person who had seen him was Grant, who had thought that he was heading towards the house to do some paperwork before dinner.
Aislinn was trying to keep herself from thinking the worse, but it wasn’t working very well. In the middle of dinner, Grant and Burke took some of the footmen and stable hands and set out to find her husband. Adelle, who had been following the conversation through everyone’s translations, came to sit next to her sister and hugged her. It was a rarity that she got to comfort Ai
slinn – it was almost always the other way around. Aislinn was so strong, and generally wouldn’t accept much in the way of comfort from anyone. But Adelle wrapped her thin arms around her sister’s equally frail shoulders and just rocked her, stopping every once in a while to kiss the side of her head.
It seemed like forever before Aislinn heard the horses in the courtyard. She jumped up, Adelle trailing after her, and ran through the double front doors only to see her husband coming towards her, held up between his two brothers.
“Kell!” Aislinn couldn’t keep the exclamation from bursting through her lips. She ran to him, but as soon as he saw her coming, he straightened up as much as he could – which unfortunately wasn’t nearly enough for him to wipe that scared look of her face, nor the pained one off his own.
“I’m fine, lassie,” he breathed. Despite his considerable discomfort, he took heart at the fact that she looked honestly worried about him.
“Bring him up to the room, please, gentlemen. Sile, go to the cottage and bring me my bag. Jenny, get a bottle of scotch and some sheets to rip into bandages.”
His little wife was quite a commander when given the chance. Everyone danced to her tune, including her brothers, who were having a devil of a time complying with her orders. She had run up ahead of them, only to return to kibitz and tell them to hurry along faster so that she could get to him and treat him.
“We’re haulin’ him as fast as we can, Ma’am,” Burke informed her with a wry look. “I think you’ve put on at least a stone since Sile started cooking, Kell. You’d best cut back – ooooof!” His older brother was feeling well enough to drive his elbow rudely into his side.
The two men laid Kell down none to gently on the bed as Aislinn immediately began to flutter around him. She could see the big gash on the side of his head, but he wasn’t walking under his own power, either, although there was nothing gory that she could see immediately.
The MacNaughton Bride Page 11