Chapter 9 #2
“I daenae want them venturin’ out durin’ their lessons,” Archer growled back at Emilie. “They need to learn without distractions. And them learnin’ their letters is more important than them bein’ able to identify various fish.”
“The towns ye oversee, they host Scotland’s most prized fishermen, though, do they nae?”
This fact had been another thing that Catherine had brought up earlier in the day. At the time, Emilie had been unsure how she would ever use the information to her advantage. Not when, if everything went according to plan, she wouldn’t be here for much longer.
But now?
Now the words were at the tip of her tongue, spilling out of her without the slightest bit of thought.
“Yer son will be the future Laird,” Emilie continued, forging on with the stubbornness of a bull.
“He will need to ken all about the types of fish that keep his people wealthy. And yer daughter? Whomever she marries will surely enter an alliance with yer clan. It’ll be good for her, if she kens how to help them with trade.
How to talk to her husband about the ports and what they bring in. Will it nae?”
Archer blinked at her. The expression on his face was a mixture of surprise and annoyance.
The target of annoying him hadn’t been at the forefront of her mind when she’d started this tirade. But it was a happy symptom.
Emilie knew she was right and that the points she had made had been solid. She glanced around at the children, noting that they were wearing expressions of surprise and awe.
I wonder if they’ve ever seen anyone stand up to their faither like that.
She didn’t allow her attention to linger on the children, though. She knew that bringing the gaze of the Laird to them right now would be a mistake.
Her eyes flicked back to his, finding him still watching her.
“It sounds like ye will have a lot to teach them, then.” He growled, and there was a challenge in his voice.
“I daenae want them to be takin’ away from their letters and their studies to learn about these things.
But since ye’re so passionate about it, it sounds like ye’d be just the person to do it. ”
Emilie stared at him, finding herself now completely and totally dumbfounded.
“What do ye mean I should teach them?” she asked, her voice rising a bit as the surprise got the better of her. “I daenae ken enough to teach them about these things. I daenae ken how to read the tides. The abbey wasnae close to the sea. I’ve only seen it twice before in me life. I daenae think…”
“Ye thought enough to tell me about what the bairns should and shouldnae be taught,” Archer interjected, his voice rising as his annoyance grew. “So, it’ll be yer duty to teach them.”
Emilie opened her mouth to argue, but was quickly silenced by the look her husband shot at her. She had talked herself into this, and now there was no way that she could talk herself out of it.
“All right,” she finally said with a huff of acceptance.
She turned her attention to the twins, giving them a rueful smile.
“What do ye say? After lunch, would ye like to go outside and see what we can learn? It is a nice day for a walk. I certainly enjoyed it earlier.”
Immediately, both children perked up. Louis began nodding his head vigorously, an excited smile tugging at his mouth. Even Aurora’s otherwise surly demeanor seemed to fall away as her flinty eyes began to soften.
“We can walk down toward the entrance by the rose gardens,” Louis said eagerly. “The way the firth curves, the tides stay lower there. It’s rockier, and there are pools that we can look at. It’s one of Meredith’s favorite places to take us.”
“Ye’ll be returnin’ to yer studies with Eoin after lunch.” Archer’s voice cut through the excitement like a blade, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.
Emilie blinked at him. “But ye said ye wanted me to teach them.”
“I said nothin’ about doin’ it now,” he argued in a tone that suggested talking back would not be appreciated. “Ye’ll start another time, after they’re finished with Eoin. He teaches them their numbers, and that’s just as important as their letters and learnin’ about fish.”
Without further comment, Archer pushed his chair back from the table and strode from the room. Emilie was dumbfounded.
How had he been able to see the excitement on the children’s faces and deny them the ability to pursue it?
“Eoin isnae even goin’ to be teachin’ us today,” Louis grumbled under his breath. “He has us copyin’ down things we’ve already learned because he’s tired.”
Aurora grumbled in agreement, using a fork to push a bit of strawberry around on her plate.
The two children shared a dismayed look, and Emilie’s heart gave a swift and violent tug.
How did this family become so disjointed?
The children hardly even looked at their father. Archer seemed to take an approach that kept him as distant from his children as possible.
Maybe, in the short time that Emilie planned to be here, that was something that she could fix.
“We’ll still go on our walk,” she said quickly, an idea forming in her mind as she spoke. “We can go for about an hour. And then ye can return to yer lessons with Eoin. That way, ye can do both.”
“But what about Faither?” Aurora asked, her brows dipping together as concern lit her cherubic face.
“Ye let me worry about yer faither,” Emilie said, giving the young girl a small wink.
And, for the very first time since arriving at Castle McGregor, Emilie felt a bit of the ice that seemed to wrap around Aurora begin to melt.