Page 53 of A Husband for Esyllt
I love you.
Connor stared at Esyllt’s retreating form in confusion. His wife had just told him for the first time that she loved him. He could not have mistaken the words. Jane had taught them to him only two days before.
“Siân told me how to say ‘I love you’ in Welsh!” she had announced excitedly. “Rwy’n dy garu di.”
“Very good, poppet. But why are you telling me this? I thought Welsh was supposed to be a secret language between you and Siân, so that Uncle Matthew and I could not understand you?”
“Yes, but this you need to know, for you will want to tell Esyllt. I’m sure she would prefer to hear you say you love her in her own language.”
His throat tightened and he gave his daughter’s cheek a stroke. “That’s very sweet of you. Thank you.”
“Oh, Father, I’m so glad you married Esyllt,” Jane enthused. “Now we will both be happy with people we love.”
The whole encounter had unsettled him deeply. Had Jane noticed something in his behavior that made her think he was in love with Esyllt? She sounded so certain that her father loved his new wife... Was the little girl right?
Yes, she was. He did love Esyllt. After last night he could not doubt it anymore.
What they had done had been more than consummating their marriage or even simply making love. They had allowed their bodies to express the feelings they had never spoken out loud, or even fully accepted before.
But he did love her.
Perhaps he should follow his observant daughter’s advice and tell her as much. He smiled again. Next time he saw Esyllt, he would tell her that, as unlikely as it was, he loved her too. After all, if she had been brave enough to tell him she loved him, albeit in Welsh, he could certainly find the guts to tell her she was not alone, and he returned her feelings.
He had fallen in love with her and, in typical male fashion, had only realized it when he’d been buried deep inside her. Connor gave a snort. When he told Esyllt he loved her, he would not specify that making love had been what had triggered the realization, as she might take it as a slight on her other qualities.
But it wasn’t. True, he thought her the most desirable woman he had ever seen, and he craved the pleasure her body could offer him, but it did not make him blind to her other accomplishments. She was also generous, caring, forgiving, an efficient administrator and a fair mistress to all. The people at Esgyrn Castle respected her, which was noteworthy in itself, but they also seemed to love her, which was more unusual. She hadwelcomed Jane with warmth, without stifling her or acting as if she wanted to replace her mother. With Matthew, who God knew had not been the easiest of men to deal with, she had shown patience without ever cowering.
And with him...
She had given him a chance. English though he was, she had welcomed him into her life, her castle, her arms—and now her heart.
It was the greatest gift he had ever received, and he would strive to be worthy of it.
Connor strode to his chamber with a smile on his face. The hard times were over. No doubts, no secrets, no distrust remained in their unlikely marriage.
From now on, everything would be all right.
Chapter Fourteen
“Not asking where my brother is this morning, Lady Sheridan?” Matthew’s voice, never warm at the best of times, was today reduced to a snarl. “Could that be because you already know he’s nowhere to be found within the castle?”
Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that Esyllt feared he would be able to hear it. She felt as if guilt was etched all over her face. It certainly was carved deep into her soul, so deep she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to take it out, even if by some miracle Connor survived his abduction and then managed to forgive her.
“I... I do not—” Her mind was in so much turmoil that she had no idea what she could say, but in the end it did not matter, since Matthew cut her short.
“Spare your breath. I know thatsomeone...” His eyes glittered dangerously. There was no doubt as to who he thought that elusive someone was. “Someone gave intruders a way in into the castle last night and those intruders abducted my brother. They left a message nailed to the gate as a warning to me.”
Though she knew all that already, Esyllt forced herself to act surprised. She could tell he wasn’t fooled, which made her insides curdle. Up until today he had only been wary of her intentions, and unpleasant as a result, but not truly dangerous. Now that his suspicions about her loyalty had been proven correct, there would be no quarter.
He planted himself in front of her. Despite herself, Esyllt recoiled. How had she not noticed before that he was just as tall as Connor, and even more muscular?
“Gruffydd was here yesterday and today my brother is missing. Not only that, but you look about to faint when talking to me when hitherto you were brave enough to stand up to me. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what might have happened.” He paused. “Fool that I was, after the other day I thought you two had...”
Matthew eyed her up and down slowly and she knew he was thinking of the night of passion she’d spent in her husband’s arms.
He had thought then, as she had, that this would be a new chapter in their lives.
She swallowed hard at the notion of all she had lost. It was her fault that Matthew was now her declared enemy and Connor in mortal danger. But how could she have done otherwise?
