Page 108 of The Sinner
“Why would he do that?”
Ùna looked up, her eyes wide. “So he didn’t tell ye about me?”
Glynis was about to ask why in the name of all that was holy did Ùna find it surprising that her lover had not told his wife about her…but nothing was fitting. The lass’s demeanor was all wrong.
“He said he wouldn’t tell,” Ùna said, dropping her gaze again. “I should have trusted him.”
“Perhaps we both should have.” O shluagh, what have I done? “Let me come in, and we’ll have a talk.”
Glynis was persistent, and before long, she got the whole tragic story out of the lass. As Ùna wept on her shoulder, Glynis felt a murderous rage against the man who called himself a father and committed unpardonable sins against this poor lass.
“Why did Alex not tell me?” she said under her breath.
“He kept telling me how good ye would be with me,” Ùna said. “But I made him promise not to tell ye because I was afraid.”
“You and Seamus will move into the castle today,” Glynis said, as she rubbed Ùna’s back. “Your father has been gone long enough, and with so many of our warriors off, it’s safer for ye there.”
Alex should have told her all about this. Ùna seemed so fragile, however, that Glynis could understand that he may have been afraid to add to her distress. And he had given his word to Ùna. As she was learning, he was a man who kept his promises.
But Glynis knew those were not the only reasons Alex had not told her. Her husband had wanted her to believe in him, to trust him without needing proof.
And she had failed him.
* * *
Three days later, Glynis and Sorcha were again on the beach below the castle. The wind was sharp enough to sting her face, but Glynis felt closer to Alex with just the sea between them.
“Your father will be home before long,” Glynis said, putting her hand on Sorcha’s shoulder. “All will be well with our family then.”
Sorcha’s face lit up like the sun breaking through the clouds. Although Glynis had never told Sorcha about her plan to leave Alex, the child had sensed the tension between them.
A short time later, Sorcha squatted beside a tide pool and, bouncing with excitement, waved Glynis over. Glynis was leaning over and squinting at the spiny sea urchin that Sorcha was pointing at when the castle bell began to ring.
Gong. Gong. Gong.
Glynis’s heart went to her throat. The bell was reserved as a warning for danger. When Glynis looked up at the castle, several of the men were shouting at her from the wall and pointing out to sea. She turned and saw a ship coming around the headland into the bay.
“Run!” She grabbed Sorcha’s hand, and they flew across the beach to the path.
Gong. Gong. Gong. The bell’s toll echoed off the hills and vibrated through Glynis’s bones. She had seen that ship before. But where?
As they scrambled up the steps carved into the rock beneath the castle, Glynis glanced at the horizon. Fear jolted through her limbs. There were three sails now.
“Faster, Sorcha!”
A guard ran out the gate to carry Sorcha the last few yards. As soon as they passed through it, others slammed the gate behind them. Inside, men were rushing to fetch weapons from the armory. Bessie was waiting for them and took Sorcha from the guard.
“Take her inside the keep,” Glynis said to Bessie. Then she saw Tormond, the man Alex had left in command, hurrying toward her. He was a man of fifty with bulging biceps and iron-gray hair.
“Do ye recognize the ships?” Glynis asked him.
“Two of them belong to the MacDonald pirates,” Tormond said.
So it was Hugh MacDonald’s ship she had recognized from the time he had attacked Barra while Alex and Duncan were there.
“I have my suspicions about the third,” Tormond said. “I was hoping ye could take a closer look at it.”
“Me?”
