Amanda Scott (36 page)

Morag came in, bearing chopins and a jug. “The barley sugar be melted, Miss Mary, if ye want tae give her ladyship a dose while the men ha’ their whisky.”

Mary glanced at Diana, then went into the kitchen.

Diana was tempted to follow, for she was eager to share her thoughts and feelings and see if Mary could suggest some course to ease them through what lay ahead. But she knew she must not submit to the temptation. Duncan would like nothing better than to find the pair of them whispering in the kitchen, if he would let her leave the parlor in the first place.

Not wanting to put him to that test, she drew a seat near her mother, noting as she did that Lady Maclean had regained much of her natural color.

“What brew would that be?” Balcardane asked, paying little heed to Morag but looking suspiciously toward the doorway through which Mary had gone.

Diana said, “’Tis a decoction for my mother’s cough, sir, no more than water in which Mary has boiled a few gorse blossoms. She adds a handful of barley sugar and a bit of whisky, and I promise you, it is very effective.”

Looking nervously at Duncan, Balcardane said, “I don’t suppose she’ll try to slip away.”

“She would not get far if she did,” Duncan said. “I’ve got four men outside the house.” He took the mug Morag handed him and drew up a chair for himself.

Diana wished she dared have a dram of whisky with the others. She had a notion it would calm her unsettled nerves. On the other hand, it might loosen her tongue, and that she could not afford.

Mary came back with a glass of steaming amber-colored liquid that she handed to Lady Maclean. “Sip it slowly, Aunt Anne, and let it relax you. No harm will come to us tonight.”

Looking into her eyes and relaxing visibly, Lady Maclean said, “Thank you, my dear. You take excellent care of me.”

Duncan said, “It is no doubt tactless of me to point out, madam, that you may be in as much trouble as your son, your daughter, and your nephew, not to mention James of the Glen. Not only have you been heard to utter threats against Colin Glenure but you have yet to answer for your escape from Edinburgh Castle.”

Indignantly, Diana said, “Calder promised that if she took the oath of allegiance, there would be no more trouble over that. He did not think she should ever have been imprisoned in the first place, which just shows he can be sensible.”

“It shows, more likely, that he does not know all the facts in the case.”

“But you
must
know that Red Colin just wanted to prove he could be harsh. Someone warned him that he must not look as if he were being lenient with rebel families—his mother being a Cameron, and all—so he punished Mam.”

“Rory was one of those who gave him that advice,” Duncan said gently.

“What reason could he have to do such a thing?”

“His position dictates the reason,” Duncan said.

“Because he is close kin to Argyll? But—”

“I refer to his seat on the Barons’ Court,” Duncan said with a mocking smile. “Rory is responsible for administering western Highland estates that were forfeited to the Crown after the last uprising. He came to Appin country to see how well his factors and bailies were managing them.”

Diana stared at him in shock. “Do you mean to say he had authority over Red Colin, that he could have ordered him to withdraw those eviction orders?”

“As to that, I—” Duncan broke off at a sharp rap on the front door.

One of his men opened it at once, and Rory entered, his gaze sweeping the room and coming to rest on Diana.

Glaring at him, she said furiously, “How foolish I was to send for a Campbell when it is a Campbell who’s been murdered! Go away, sir. I was stupid to trust you, and I don’t ever want to see your face again!”

R
ORY STOOD WHERE HE
was, looking in bewilderment at Diana, unable to understand her fury. Duncan’s man had told him only that Balcardane wanted to learn the whereabouts of Sir Neil Maclean and Allan Breck, that therefore, he and Duncan had called at Maclean House, only to have Mistress Diana demand that they send for Lord Calder before she would answer any of their questions.

Glancing at Duncan now, he saw his cousin smirk. Having already seen four of Duncan’s men in the yard, Rory deduced that whatever Balcardane’s intention had been, his elder son had been amusing himself by stirring up trouble again.

Balcardane said, “Come in, lad, and let that fellow shut the door. Do you think her ladyship is burning good peat to warm the yard?”

Ignoring him, Rory moved toward Diana, who still stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him, her soft breasts heaving in anger and indignation.

Maintaining his calm, he said, “Why do you want me to leave, lass?”

Her jaw tightened, and she shot a swift oblique glance at Duncan and Balcardane, but although her throat moved convulsively, she said nothing.

Feeling his temper stir, he suppressed it, saying, “Come now. Are you afraid to speak? What’s amiss here?”

Cheeks reddening, eyes flashing fire, she snapped, “What’s amiss? You dare to ask me that when Red Colin is dead and your cousin has accused my brother and cousin—aye, and me, as well, if you please—of having murdered him!”

“Now, lass, surely—”

But having begun, she went on as if he had not opened his mouth, “You pretended to care about us! But now I learn that you possessed the power to stop those eviction notices without James’s ever having had to go to Edinburgh, or … or—” She broke off, clenching and unclenching her fists in frustration, as if she simply could not summon up all the words she needed to express her fury.

“I could not have stopped the notices,” he said evenly.

“Fiddlesticks, your secret is out, sir. Duncan has just told us that you are a Baron of the Exchequer, responsible for administering the forfeited estates here. Certainly you could have stopped them.”

“Not alone,” he said, but he might as well have spared his breath.

“To think that you professed to care about me, about my mother! You probably lied through your teeth when you said she would be safe here now.”

“She
is
safe, and I do not lie. Until yesterday I thought you knew—”

“How could I know? People spoke of your power and position, to be sure, but I assumed they meant your close kinship to Argyll. As to Mam’s safety, Duncan has just flung it in her teeth that she is still a fugitive, so whatever you may say—”

“I think we should talk privately,” Rory said curtly.

“I don’t
want
to talk privately.”

Balcardane said, “You know, lad, although we are looking to lay Colin’s murderer by the heels, what Duncan said about her ladyship is true. She is still a fugitive. Escaped from prison, didn’t she? Odrabbit it, ma’am,” he added, turning to her and raising his glass, as if he had not just been encouraging her arrest, “this is excellent whisky. I’ll warrant it cost you a pretty penny.”

Lady Maclean gasped, but before she could voice her outrage, Duncan said in irritation, “Never mind the damned the whisky.” To Rory, he added, “However much you may wish it otherwise, cousin, her ladyship
is
a fugitive. Furthermore, she has been thick with the rebels hereabouts for years, so if she was not hand in glove with the murderers, you may be sure she knows who, and perhaps even where, they are. We should take everyone in this house into custody.”

Lady Maclean’s indignation had increased visibly, and now, looking straight at Duncan, she said, “Young man, if you know aught to my discredit, let alone that of my daughter or niece, I shall own myself amazed. I have had nothing to do with murder. As to those trumped-up charges that put me in prison—”

“They were exaggerated,” Rory said when she broke off, spreading her hands as if she need say nothing more. “Moreover,” he added, shifting his gaze to Duncan, “as far as I know, even Argyll is no longer lusting for her ladyship’s arrest. We have more important items on our plate, cousin, and we can get to them just as soon as I have had a private word with Diana.”

“We are not going to have private words,” she retorted.

“Oh, yes, we are,” he said grimly. “You can come with me quietly, or I will carry you, but I will not let this business stand as it is any longer.” When she just glared at him, he folded his arms across his chest. “Well, lass, which will it be?”

She looked uncertain for a moment, glancing around as if she hoped for aid from one of the others, but no one said a word, not even Bardie.

The generally irrepressible dwarf sat on his stool, leaning against the wall with his hands clasped lightly in his lap, observing the others.

Mary stepped forward, making a gesture as if she would speak, but when Rory caught her gaze, she let her hand fall to her side and stepped back.

Lady Maclean still glared at Duncan as if she would like to treat him as she had once threatened to treat Argyll, and snatch him bald-headed.

After a long moment of tense silence, when Diana still had not said a word or stirred from her position, Rory lowered his arms and took a step toward her.

Stiffening, she said through clenched teeth, “Very well, I’ll go with you, but don’t think for one moment that you are going to influence me with soft words.”

“I’ve warned you more than once about making trouble, lass,” he murmured for her ears alone. “You’ve more likely earned yourself a scold than soft words.”

When she looked swiftly into his eyes, he gazed sternly back until she looked away again. He preferred to keep her off balance, for the last thing he wanted was a shouting match in the yard, where Duncan’s men would hear every word.

As they were leaving the house, Rory saw Mary turn toward the kitchen. He hoped she would not try to slip out to warn young Neil or anyone else, but at the moment he did not much care what she did. He could think only of Diana.

Looking down at her glossy curls as she strode ahead of him, he wondered what, if anything, she had had to do with the murder. That she had held Glenure in contempt was certain. That her mother, her brother, and her cousin had each threatened to put a period to the factor’s life was also a fact. But what frightened him most was the knowledge that, more than once before, Diana had taken matters into her own, clearly capable hands when she had felt a strong need to do so.

Outside in the shadow-filled yard beneath a dark sky rapidly filling with stars, when she stopped near the gate, he said, “Out with it now, lass. You may say what you like to me. I ask only that you keep your voice down. There is no need to entertain Duncan’s men with your assessment of my character.”

She turned to face him, and in the dim glow of light from the house, he saw anger in every rigid line of her body. “You lied to me.”

“I did not lie. I thought you knew I was a member of the court.”

“How could I know?”

“Many people know, sweetheart. I have not kept it a secret.”

“How many know who are not Campbells?”

“James does, and Ian. The lad’s a Campbell, but he talks to everyone.” He remembered that he had once asked Ian not to noise the information all over Appin, and a hint of that memory must have shown in his expression, for she looked grim.

“James did not tell us, nor did Ian,” she said, “and if Ian did not tell Mary, I doubt that he told anyone. Shall I ask him why he did not?”

“I asked him not to puff off my consequence all over Appin,” Rory admitted with a sigh. “Look, Diana, I never meant to conceal my relationship with the court. I just wanted to learn the truth about how our factors were managing the forfeited estates without making everyone nervous about my presence. My intention was to prevent trouble, not to create it. The
last
thing I wanted was stir trouble with you.”

“You should have told me straight out when we first met.”

Gently, he said, “Do you truly believe that I ought to have frightened a simple laundry maid with a complete description of my authority?”

“N-no, perhaps not.” She did not look at him.

“What would you have thought if I had told you at Stalker? Recall that you had just helped a felon escape, and that I was more concerned that Patrick might hang you if he learned of your previous activities than I was about explaining my authority. But suppose that I
had
told you then. Would you have been reassured or more frightened than ever?”

She sighed. “I would have been terrified. I was already frightened about what would happen to me if you told Patrick I was reluctant to leap into your bed.”

“Our other early meetings were brief, and our minds were generally on other matters. When I found you that first day here in the yard, you were in the midst of a pitched battle with James and Glenure. Both of them knew who I was, but when they saw that you knew me, I daresay they did not think it necessary to recite my titles to you, and I certainly don’t recite them to all I meet. Moreover, if I’d thought about it at all, I had reason to believe one of them had told you. I do apologize if I have made it seem that I meant to deceive you. That was never my intention.”

She bit her lower lip, and he took comfort from that, hoping she was sorry she had become so angry. Then she looked straight at him. “I want to believe you, sir, but although I am not thinking too clearly now, I do think you had other opportunities to be plain with me.”

“I can’t deny that, lass. In defense, I can only repeat that by the time it might have occurred to me to tell you, I assumed that you knew.”

“Faith, sir, had I known, don’t you think I would have asked for your help?”

“But I’ve explained that setting aside an eviction requires action by the whole court, and it won’t meet again until next month.”

“It might have met sooner had there been a quorum present in Edinburgh when James went there to protest,” she pointed out.

Rory sighed. “Diana, most of the others have left the city, too. Even if I had gone with James—which I could scarcely have done since no one told me he was going—the court would in all likelihood still have lacked a quorum.”

“But you might have advised him afterward. If you had discussed the matter with him, you might have discovered in time that he had brought home that thing he ought to have filed with the court.”