Page 47 of Highlander's Captive Bride
“So, what’s all this secrecy, then?”
“Ye willnae believe what I’m goin’ to tell ye, Jamie, but I assure ye, it’s the truth.”
Jamie’s brows shot up. “Why, that sounds serious. What’s going on? Ye’re nae getting wed, are ye?”
“Shut up, ye fool, and listen,” Bellamy huffed. “Last night, Daisy found out what’s been making Elodie sick.”
“She has?! Why, that’s grand news, Bel,” Jamie exclaimed, gripping his friend’s arm tightly. “And can she heal the lassie?”
“She disnae need healing.”
“What? What d’ye mean?”
“She was never sick. She was being poisoned. Some bastard has been putting belladonna in her food and drink.”
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Jamie leaped from his seat and faced Bellamy, his mouth open, his eyes wide with shock. “Ye’re nae jesting with me? Because if ye are, ’tis a bad joke,” he said.
Bellamy shook his head again. “I only wish I was jesting. But it’s all true. Someone’s been poisoning the wee lassie all this time. She hasnae been sick at all. And they’ve almost killed her.”
“By the Wee Man!” Jamie exclaimed, sitting down again, his elbows on his knees. He turned his head to Bellamy. “But who, Bel? Why?”
“I cannae answer the first question, although I intend to find out. As to the second, can ye nae work that out for yerself?”
“Someone who has a score to settle with ye and used Elodie to get to ye,” Jamie said.
“Correct.”
Jamie was quiet for several moments. “Well, ’tis still good news that Elodie is going to be well again,” he said eventually. “What are ye goin’ to do about the culprit, then?”
“That’s what I’ve come to speak to ye about. Do ye have any clue who it might be? Have ye noticed anything when ye’ve been about the castle or visiting Elodie?”
Jamie shook his head. “Nay, but then, ye’re nae looking out for such a thing, are ye? It could be anyone.”
“Who hates me the most?”
“The Pearson family and Clan McGowan. That’s all I can think of.”
“But they’re all dead. We ken that because we wiped them all out ourselves for what Lachlan did to Bridie. Nay.” Bellamy sighed, putting his hands on his knees. “It cannae be them. It must be someone else.”
“Well, I cannae think of anyone else who hates ye. Yer reputation’s solid everywhere else, and we’re on good terms with most of the clans,” Jamie said, sounding puzzled.
“What matters is that someone within me castle has been poisoning me daughter. If I can find them, I can find out who’s behind it and deal with them.”
Bellamy then proceeded to tell Jamie what had happened the night before when Elodie had suffered the worst seizure yet, and how the particular characteristics of the convulsions had given away its cause to Daisy. Following that, he outlined the plan he had already set in motion.
“So, I want ye to keep a close eye out for Elodie, Jamie. Watch what’s going on around her chambers, see if anyone’s up to anything fishy. Ye ken what I mean,” Bellamy finished.
“Aye, of course. I wouldnae like to be this poisoner when ye catch them, whoever the bastard is.”
“They’ll beg to die by the time I’m finished with them,” Bellamy promised with a savage twist of his lips. “There’s something else I want to discuss with ye.”
“Oh?”
“Aye. It’s about Daisy. She’s been so good to me and Elodie. She’s done everything I demanded of her, despite the fact that I kidnapped her. And she’s worked tirelessly to find out the cause of the sickness. What I’m saying is, I trust her completely, just as I trust ye. She has even agreed to stay on, to help me smoke out the poisoner, even though I swore to set her free once she had diagnosed Elodie.”
“That’s good of her, for certain,” Jamie remarked. “Seems she has lived up to her reputation as a great healer, so yer efforts were worth it, in the end.”
