Page 141 of Wicked Highland Heroes

Chapter Twenty-one

When Erroll closed the door to their suite, his wife whirled on him. “What are you doing here?”

“Why am I not gone to England, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Because I realized what a fool I am.”

She barked a laugh. “It is I who am the fool. By the by, what was all that drivel out there?”

Ah, here was the crux of her anger. She wanted to know why he’d professed love in front of his family.

“You certainly put your sister in her place,” Eve went on. “And you put me in an untenable position.”

“I have?”

“How much more of fool will I appear when you leave for England and I stay behind? I won’t do it, which means I cannot stay here.”

“Indeed?” he murmured.

“The least you could have done is warned me you were going to say such ridiculous things. Your family wasn’t fooled for an instant.”

Erroll frowned. “You make it sound as if a declaration of love is impossible.”

“Of course it’s impossible. The only person who didn’t see through the ruse was your sister.”

“I think my declaration of love was the only thing she did see clearly.”

“Let me make something perfectly clear, sir. I am not like my sister.”

“Yes,” he said. “And I thank God for that every day.”

“Ah, yes,” Eve said. “You did say all along you wouldn’t marry Grace. She clearly was not to your liking. Women like Laura Greenwood are more to your liking, are they not, my lord?”

Erroll grimaced. “Not more to my liking at all.”

Anger and hurt sparked in her eyes.

“What is it, love? Surely, you aren’t still thinking of the fact that she visited me in my hotel in Manchester? I told you there was nothing to that.”

“How interesting, my lord, that you should so highly prize honesty in your wife, but are incapable of it yourself.”

“Eve, if Laura said something to you—”

“I am not such a ninny as to take as gospel anything your past paramours might say to me. Your sister is another story, however. She has given me a glimpse into what it is to have bitterness consume you. I will not allow that to happen to me.”

“Eve, I will not do that to you,” he said with emphasis.

“I think I misspoke,” she said, as if not having heard him. “I cannot live with you.”

“But you said you couldn’t stay here at Ravenhall.”

She shook her head. “France perhaps, or the Colonies.”

Erroll startled. “I won’t let you go to France, much less the Colonies.”

Eve shrugged. “You really cannot stop me.”