Page 75 of His Highland Duchess
Aurelia pushed her lips together as if angry, but Margaret could see that she didn’t really mean it. “Well… no, I know that he does nothateus. But he does not care about us at all.”
“Your father loves you.”
“He does not act like it,” Aurelia continued, sadness now coloring her tone. “He is not himself. I have never seen him like this, Margaret.”
“What… what do you mean?”
“Lenora thinks he is sad. And maybe he is,” she shrugged, head bowed now with sadness. “And I do not want him to be.”
It broke her heart to hear her say such things. She was worried about her father. She did not understand what was wrong. “It is not that simple,” Margaret tried.
“It should be,” she pouted. “And besides…” Her face scrunched into a ball. “It is all so… so stupid,” she said. “I do not even think he wants you to leave. I know he does not.”
Margaret frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t believe a word of what he says,” Aurelia continued. “And I know he is the same. He thinks I am still a child, that I do not know when he lies. But that is all he is doing! Lying!” She scrunched her face further, her chin wobbling. “I know when helies, I can tell! He says he is doing this for us – that makes no sense!”
Margaret sighed. “When ye are older –”
“Not you too!” she pleaded. “That is what he says. But he is sad, Margaret. I can hear it in his voice.”
“Leaving will nae help that,” Margaret tried.
“Maybe…” She bit her lip. “But I do not want to stay any longer. If you go, I go. And maybe…” She looked up at Margaret, her chin wobbling, her eyes watering with tears. “Maybe then he will finally admit the truth. If he wakes up and I am gone with you, he willseethat you do not have to go because of us. That you belong here. You do! Do not say no, Margaret. Please, do not say no.”
“Aurelia…” Margaret had no idea what to say.
Her heart broke for the little girl. So confused. So unsure of what she wanted, what was happening, or how she might fix it – and she did want to fix it too, that was what hurt the most. She saw her father in pain. She saw the chaos that Margaret’s leaving had caused. And all she wished for was for everything to go back to how it was.
Was I wrong to leave without a fight? Should I have pushed a little harder?
The irony was not lost on Margaret either. That she had left to try and protect the girls, and in so doing had only made things worse. But what could she do? Obviously, she could not bring Aurelia with her. Although she sensed that sending the poor girl home would solve nothing either.
What she needed, she knew, was to speak with Lysander. Not to fight with him. Not to make decisions for him, or him for her. But to go to him, to lay out her heart and how she felt, and give him one more chance to do the same…
“Father!” Aurelia gasped suddenly.
Margaret looked up, and her stomach dropped as her heart rose through her chest. It was a strange sensation, part fear and panic, part hope and happiness.
“Aurelia!” It was Lysander. He strode around the side of the manor; his expression caught between relief and anger at the sight of Aurelia.
“I am not coming home!” Aurelia grabbed hold of Margaret and hid behind her. “You can’t make me.”
“Aurelia…” He made it halfway across the garden before coming to a sudden stop. It was as if he’d only just then noticed Margaret, the sight of her forcing his feet to stick to the ground so that he dared not come closer. He looked from Margaret to Aurelia, as unsure as she had ever seen him. “What… how did you get here?”
“I am surprised as ye,” Margaret made sure to point out. “Believe me when I say that.”
“She rode half the night, as she says it,” Catherine said, stepping between them as if she were a mediator. “It seems she missed her stepmother.”
Lysander grimaced. “Aurelia, what were you thinking?”
“I do not want her to go!” Aurelia cried out. “And if she does, I am going with her!”
It might have been amusing if it were not so sad. And confused. Margaret had no idea how she felt or how she should feel. The sight of Lysander made her heart swell and crash at the same time. A reminder of what she’d almost had, and what she had lost.
Is he happy to see me? Would he prefer that he had nae? What does he think about all of this?
Lysander looked at pains to decide what to say or how he should react. He glanced at Margaret but could not meet her eyes directly. Still standing back, he had one arm reaching out for his daughter but was unwilling to go to her.
