Page 77 of Anice’s Bargain

“Go on with ye.” The man behind her nudged her forward.

As Anice was led inside, Drake was already being walked back into the castle.

James settled beside Piquette and gently stroked his head while speaking in soothing tones. The dog ceased his struggling and whined as Anice passed by, staring up at her with liquid brown eyes.

“’Tis fine, Piquette,” she said in a reassuring voice to the old dog. “All will be well.”

It was a lie, of course. But Piquette took comfort, as she’d hoped, and ceased his whimpers.

She tried to shove the scene from her mind. She tried not to think of how James had looked at her. Instead, she considered what she had lost: the opportunity to warn her family.

They descended the stone stairs into the dungeon. The air was icy and thick with the odor of wet dirt and mold. A shiver prickled down her back.

She had let emotions cloud her actions. When she could have continued to fight and push on, she had allowed her heart to dictate rather than using her head.

As the door to her cell swung closed with an echoing finality, all she could think of was Werrick Castle, and how greatly she had failed.

* * *

It had taken nearlythe entire night for James to calm down enough to go to the dungeon. In that time, he had refused to see his father. The old man would gloat and goad.

It was impossible to say what James might have done in such circumstances, especially when his blood already ran hot with rage. Memories of Morna dredged from the dark areas of his mind and tangled with thoughts of Anice, procured images of her lithe, fair body stretched over Drake.

James stalked down to the dungeon. It had been in his mind to see Drake first. To smash that pretty face of his into something no one would want to look upon again.

But it was not the way Lord Bastionbury had taught him. James balled his ire into his fists and made his way to the wooden door barring him from the second woman to have broken his heart.

The guard unlocked the cell and stepped back while James entered.

“Go.” James nodded to the man.

“But it should be locked—”

“She willna leave.” Of that, James was certain. His heart hammered in his chest so hard, he could scarcely hear. He bristled with impatience.

The man obeyed the order with no more protest and quickly made his way up the stone stairs.

Dread and anxiety mixed into a noxious brew in James’s gut. It churned so violently that it left his hands shaking. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out, and finally he was ready to face Anice.

He pushed through the door and found her beside the open doorway with a length of wood clenched in her fists like a club. A disassembled chair lay only a foot behind her.

James shut the door and glared at her. “First ye betray me, and now ye intend to beat me?”

She did not lower her weapon. “You betrayed me first. I only did what I had to.”

“Ach, pray tell what I could have possibly done that forced ye into Drake’s arms?” James could not quell the bitterness rising in his voice. “I did everything for ye, Anice. I stood up against my da for ye; I’ve cared for ye. I learned to read in English for ye, so ye wouldna think me too ignorant to read the book ye gifted me.”

The chair leg in her hands drifted downward slightly. “You learned to read English for me?”

“Aye, and none of it was enough.” James dragged a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “Why? Because I’m no’ as bonny as yer Drake? Because I’m too ugly and no’ good enough for ye?”

Anice blinked. “Drake? Nay, he—”

“Just like Morna.” James raked a hand through his hair again. “Ye’re just like Morna.”

Anice threw down the leg of the chair. It thunked onto the cold, wet earth below. “Damn it, James. I don’t understand what you’re going on about. What I do know is that you are conspiring with your father to reclaim Werrick. To benefit from the fall of my family.” She closed the distance between them and glared up at him. “I did trust you. I did everything I could to be a good wife. And you betrayed me.”

James stared at her in shock. Was it true? Of course, it had to be true. She couldn’t have known such information had she not discovered the plot. How had she found out? “Why Drake?” he demanded. “Why did ye leave with him?”