A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) by Stephanie Sterling Page B

smile.
     
    “ Would you like to stop the coach, so that you can place me back there where you found me? ” she asked softly, possibly trying to tease, and staring up at him with eyes that Lachlan was sure were now flecked with blue.  She was so beautiful … he thought as he remembered the first time that he ’ d seen her, damp and wretched, and he ’ d still thought her pretty, well now she was truly dazzling.
     
    “ Don ’ t be silly, ” he said gruffly, dragging his gaze away from Muira ’ s up turned face so that he could scowl at the opposite seat.
     
    “ I ’ m sorry, ” she said quickly.  “ I didn ’ t mean to make you angry. ”
     
    “ I ’ m not angry, ” Lachlan sighed.  “ I ’ m- ” he wasn ’ t even sure himself what he was, but he thought it might have something to do with the fact that Muira seemed so certain that he was going to let her down.  “ I wish you ’ d have a little more faith in me, that ’ s all lass, ” he sighed eventually.
     
    Muira tilted her head to the side and regarded him curiously.  “ What do you mean? ” she asked uncertainly.
     
    Lachlan dragged a hand through his hair.  “ This wasn ’ t a set of circumstances that I ever envisaged, Muira, I ’ ll grant you that, ” he sighed, “ but now that we are man and wife I want you to understand how seriously I take that position- how seriously I take the vows I made to you and God in that chapel. ”
     
    “ Oh, Lachlan- ”
     
    Muira was looking worryingly close to tears again, so Lachlan continued hastily: “ what I ’ m trying to say, is that I think it would be best if we stopped- ” he paused to find the right word, “ - dwelling so heavily on the exact circumstances of our marriage. ”
     
    It didn ’ t mean that he was forgiving her.  It did not mean that he was forgiving her …
     
    Muira ’ s face appeared to take on a hopeful hew, but she still didn ’ t seem ready to trust her good fortune.  “ But- won ’ t that be rather difficult, I mean, once we get to Eilean Donan Castle and everyone there knows- ”
     
    “ But how will everyone there know, Muira? ” Lachlan asked her carefully.
     
    “ Well, when you tell them- ” she began with a puzzled frown.
     
    “ What if I don ’ t tell them? ” Lachlan sighed heavily.
     
    “ You mean lie ? ” Muira gaped.  “ But- but why would you do that? ” she blurted.  “ I mean you hate liars! ”
     
    Lachlan lent back in his seat and shut his eyes for a moment.  “ I do, ” he growled, “ but- ” he paused.  “ You ’ re- we ’ re going to have to life among these people for a very long time, ” he sighed again.  “ And if we tell them- well, MacRaes have awfully long memories. ”
     
    Muira gave her head a small, but hopeful nod.  “ What would you tell them though? ” she asked.
     
    “ That I haven ’ t quite work out yet, ” Lachlan confessed, shooting Muira a roughish smile.  “ But by the time we arrive I ’ ll have thought of something, don ’ t you worry, ” he assured her, reaching out to give her hand a light squeeze.
     
    Lachlan hadn ’ t known it was possible to feel shivers through a woman ’ s glove before … he released Muira ’ s hand quickly.  If she ’ d noticed anything odd then she didn ’ t show any sign of it.
     
    “ Well, if you don ’ t, we ’ ll just have to tell them the truth, ” she said bravely, and Lachlan caught himself smiling at her again.  “ I can cope with that, ” she added, and Lachlan wasn ’ t sure who she was trying to convince – him or herself.
     
    “ You won ’ t have to, ” he promised.  “ I ’ ll look after you, Muira, ” he murmured, and meant it, and then slowly, almost so as not to frighten her, he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
     
    He waited for her to pull away, to ask him why, so when she leant into his embrace he didn ’ t know quite what to do, or what to say either, when she quietly whispered thank