A Laird for Christmas (21 page)

The doctor had been to see Margaret. He had given her something that had forced her to heave up the contents of her stomach. Doing so had saved her life.

Jane felt tears deep inside her, building, gathering force until they nearly choked her. Yet she refused to let them fall. The only thing that mattered at present was her aunt.

“Should I have the healer look at you while he is here?” Lord Galloway asked, concern deepening his voice. “Your stomach?”

Her lies threaded through her pain and weighed her down. “I am recovered.” Tears scalded her eyes.

Lord Galloway studied her. “Do not blame yourself for any of this.”

Jane swallowed roughly. She could not lose another person she loved. There had been so much loss already. “If only I had stayed.…”

“Then I never would have confronted my feelings about your aunt.” He offered her a calm, serene smile. “If not for you, my heart might not feel so full it might burst.”

At his words, the grief she had been holding at bay welled inside her, spilling onto her cheeks in hot, wet tears. “Why would someone do this?” she asked in a broken voice.

“Someone wants you out of the way. Obviously they are going to great lengths to see that happens.”

“That they were able to poison the wine means they are in this castle.”

“We will find them,” he assured, “before they succeed.”

Jane brushed the hair from her face with a shaking hand. “I will not give them a chance to harm Margaret again.” She met Lord Galloway’s gaze. “Will you take her away from here? Away from me? On her own, she will be safe.”

“Not… going,” Margaret rasped. Her eyes fluttered open and she drew a labored breath.

“Margaret.” Lord Galloway’s eyes glittered brightly.

Margaret’s gaze found his, as she noticed he was in the room. “You stayed… with me?”

“Always.” The passionate force of his voice almost convinced Jane he could hold back death if he choose to. He stroked Margaret’s cheek softly.

“Jane.” He turned to her. “There is something I need to tell you.” He lifted Margaret’s hand and placed a kiss upon the back of it with tender care. “I am withdrawing from the competition.” He set Margaret’s hand down and reached up to brush a lock of her hair off her forehead. “My heart is here, with your aunt.”

Only an hour before she had thought herself incapable of feeling ever again, but to her surprise stirrings of hope blossomed. “I could not be happier for you both,” Jane said with a smile.

Margaret blushed at her newfound love. “Let us hope… your heart… survives our first night… together.”

Lord Galloway laughed and pressed a kiss to Margaret’s lips. “Then you had better hurry and get better so we can find out.”

Jane rose from the bed and headed for the door. Three was suddenly a crowd in the small bedchamber. She needed to leave them alone. Her aunt would be safe in Lord Galloway’s care.

News of the attempt on Lady Margaret’s life moved through the castle like a flame on dry kindling. Upon hearing the news, David raced into the field where Nicholas and Jules were sparring. “Lady Margaret has been poisoned.”

“Is someone with her?” Nicholas asked, stopping his sword midstrike.

David nodded as he tried to catch his breath. “The doctor is here.”

“Does Lady Jane know?” Jules sheathed his weapon and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

David nodded. “Lady Jane and Lord Galloway are with the doctor and Lady Margaret.”

“How did this happen?” Nicholas’s face darkened.

“Someone poisoned the wine intended for Lady Jane with hemlock,” David said with a frown. “Lady Margaret drank it by mistake when she took Lady Jane’s place during her time alone with Lord Galloway.”

“Lady Jane switched places with her aunt?” Nicholas asked in a puzzled tone.

Jules’s lips lifted in a half smile. “That is good news for the rest of us.”

“Perhaps,” David replied.

“Where is Bryce?” Nicholas’s gaze narrowed. “Where was he when all this happened?”

Jules shook his head. “Bryce has changed or at least I pray he has.”

“Has he?” Nicholas asked. “Or does he want us to believe he has?” He raked a hand through his hair. “God’s teeth, when will this end?”

“When Lady Jane marries.” David verbalized what he knew the others were thinking.

“Then we had best see that happens soon,” Jules exclaimed.

David nodded. “Our worst fears have been confirmed. Whoever wants to harm Lady Jane lives within the castle.”

Jules trapped David’s gaze, his own unflinching. “Then why are we standing around here? Let us split up and go find Bryce, or the villain, or both. We must do something.”

“Agreed,” Nicholas said. “I will go to the keep and gather the servants. I want to find the girl from yesterday, Clara, and see if she has someone who can vouch for her whereabouts this afternoon.”

“I will go through the kitchen, searching for any sign of hemlock or other poisons.” Jules set his jaw. “That is the last time someone will get at her in that manner, if I have anything to do with it.”

“I will take the grounds,” David stated. “Be suspicious of anyone and everyone.”

“Even ourselves?” Jules asked with a frown. “I would hate to think one of Lady Jane’s suitors would harm her.”

“Bryce still has the most to lose,” Nicholas stated.

Jules nodded. “Let us not convict him until he has a chance to explain his whereabouts.”

Below stairs, Jane entered the great hall to find Nicholas pacing like a caged animal before her staff. Not a flicker of emotion disturbed his austere features, yet Jane could clearly hear his mental cursing. He had been questioning them for the past hour while she had been with her aunt.

“Any closer to an answer?” she asked, even though she already knew his response.

“No,” he said, keeping his gaze upon Clara.

Her eyes were rimmed in red as was her nose, and she clutched a plain white handkerchief in her hands. She sniffled and dropped her gaze to her feet. By the look of things, Nicholas had not spared her feelings in his interview.

Jane frowned at the girl. It did seem rather odd that a lethal concoction be found in a bottle of wine intended for her consumption only a day after Nicholas mentioned that someone might use poison to harm her. “Tell me what you know.”

“Most of the servants saw nothing unusual. Clara might have something to tell us if she can ever move past the dramatics.” Nicholas frowned, his steady, impossible-to-escape gaze on the girl who used to work in the kitchen.

Clara sniffed again and looked up to find both Nicholas and Jane staring at her. “I swear on my life, I had nothing tae do with that poison.”

Nicholas stood before her. “Unless you would like to be relieved of your duties permanently, it is time to tell us everything you know.”

Clara paled, then nodded.

“Start with your afternoon. Lady Jane and I both saw you at the midday meal. What did you do after that?”

Clara looked down at her fingers. “I cleaned up after the meal and helped with the dishes.”

“You were asked not to go back into the kitchen.”

“I did what ye asked. I stood at the doorway and passed things through tae Marthe,” she said, adding a sniffle for emphasis.

“Clara has not been back in the kitchen since ye banned her, milord,” Marthe confirmed.

“Go on,” Nicholas encouraged.

“I spent most of the afternoon in the great hall, cleaning the floor and preparing the tables for the evening meal. ’Twas there that Ollie asked if I’d help clean the ashes from the fireplaces above stairs.”

Nicholas looked at Ollie, who nodded his confirmation.

“I paid attention to that task and that task alone as I was—still am—terrified to lose my position altogether.” Her gaze flicked up to Nicholas. “I’d finished three rooms, and just set to enter Lord Galloway’s chamber, when I saw something very odd.” She paled further and met Nicholas’s gaze. “I’ve heard tales of Her Ladyship’s ghost, but I’ve never seen her myself.”

“You saw my mother?” Jane interrupted. She had heard the servants talk of an image of her mother haunting the north tower and hallway. Jane had gone there many times over the past several years, hoping, praying to see the specter herself. Despite her longing, her mother had never appeared.

“I was in the north hallway.” The girl shivered. “I’ve heard the other servants talk about seeing an image of yer mother.” She wrapped her arms about her waist. “ ’Twas her, the ghost had to be her.”

Jane reached out, feeling suddenly unsteady, and caught Nicholas’s arm. She wanted to believe in the miracle that her mother had somehow appeared. Yet she had known long ago that her mother would never smile at her again, never again call her “my angel.” At the thought, old grief welled up and threatened to spill over. Jane tightened her grip on Nicholas’s arm and fought for control.

Nicholas pulled her close against his side as he continued. “Describe what you saw,” he demanded.

“I only saw her from the back. Long blond hair. A blue skirt. A shawl about her shoulders. I’d swear ’twas the Lennox tartan.”

“You never saw her face?” Nicholas asked.

Clara’s shoulders slumped. “Nay.”

“So you might not have seen the ghost of Lady Lennox after all?” Nicholas’s frown was back.

Clara’s eyes widened. “It had tae be her. Who else could it be? All those tales.…”

“Which way did she go?” Nicholas asked. Irritation simmered in his deep voice.

Clara grimaced. “I followed her down the hallway and around the corner, but once I turned the corner, she was gone. Vanished.”

“Have you ever seen Lady Lennox before today?” Nicholas asked.

Clara’s face turned ghostly white. “Nay, I’ve only heard the stories.”

“So you have no reference by which to judge if this were truly Lady Lennox or not?”

The girl blinked. “Nay.”

“What time was all this happening?” Nicholas asked.

She paused as though caught up in thought. “Around dusk. I hurried tae get all the fireplaces cleaned before the men finished their supper.”

“Did you hear anything odd during this exchange?” Nicholas pursued.

Clara frowned, hesitated, then said, “Aye.” The word stretched, became stronger. “After Lady Lennox disappeared around the corner, I heard a soft creak and felt a whoosh of air, but by the time I made it into the hall both the sound and the air were gone.”

Nicholas narrowed his gaze on the girl. “Was there anything unearthly about the woman you saw?”

Clara drew a shallow breath and shook her head. “From the stories, I had expected her to be floating above the ground or something.”

Nicholas turned to Jane. He gave her a gentle smile. “Would you like to see the place where Clara claims she saw your mother, or would you rather wait here?”

“I would like to come with you.” Jane straightened, once again feeling her legs under her. She stepped away from Nicholas. She ignored the sensation of loss that came from his absence. “Where are the other men?” Jane saw a vague shadow of disappointment in Nicholas’s sherry-colored eyes.

“Jules is turning the kitchen over, looking for signs of poison. David is searching the grounds. Bryce and Colin are missing at the moment,” Nicholas informed her. “If there is anything more amiss, we will find it. In the meanwhile, let us have Clara show us where she saw this apparition of your mother.”

Jane dismissed the rest of the staff, then turned to follow Nicholas and Clara up the servant’s staircase. She tried not to think about Nicholas. There were plenty of other things she could think about. She drew a sharp breath as she battled the memories with all the powers she possessed. She searched deep within herself for some time in the castle that did not lead her back to Nicholas.

The problem was she had lived within these stone walls all her life. Yet it was the times she had spent here with Nicholas that had turned her rather dull and ordinary existence into something of a dream. With him at Bellhaven,
the walls never seemed so cold, or the space between them so empty. The memory of her time with Nicholas was set apart in her mind in a brief, shining moment.

She remembered what it felt like to have hope, however transitory. When she had looked into Nicholas’s eyes she had felt comfort, and for the first time in her life she had experienced her own strength when his hand wrapped around hers. In him she had found a sliver of contentment in a world that largely ignored her. She had felt important, like someone thought she was precious and worth fighting for.

But he had not fought for her in the end. And what was once magical ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving her to face the true emptiness that was her life, especially after his betrayal. For better or worse, she was the keeper of Bellhaven—its ancient walls, its legacy, and its people.

Jane reached out and touched the cool stone as they passed from the stairs to the hallway outside the north tower. She had transferred all her hopes and dreams from one particular man to the castle that would remain long after both of them were gone from this earth. She had honestly thought that keeping the estate running smoothly would do it, would fill her with the same sense of satisfaction she had experienced in Nicholas’s arms.

Looking at him now, at his dark brown hair and chiseled face, his powerful body, his confidence, she knew she had been wrong. Her steps faltered as she took in the whole of the man who had been thrust back into her life. For a heartbeat she could not think about who might be trying to kill her or what was at stake if she did not marry soon. All she could think about was the past and how much she had loved this man.

He turned to smile at her.

Her heart lurched.

She said she had forgiven him for hurting her with his rumors, and she had. But would she ever trust him as blindly as she had before? Fear stood in her way when it came to Nicholas. He had not thrown stones or daggers at her head, or tried to poison her food, but he had killed a part of her two years ago—a part of her that he had created, nurtured, and claimed to love.

“Is this where you saw the figure?” Nicholas asked Clara.

The girl nodded. “Then she disappeared around that corner over there.”