Page 141 of Laird of Smoke
Isabel drew in an exaggerated gasp.“You aren’tthatnun, are you?”
Ian looked up to interject, “What nun?”
“The nun Hew tried to court,” Isabel told him.
Eve’s cheeks flushed hot.
“Youare,”Isabel confirmed with delight.“Sheis.”
“That was an honest mistake,” Eve muttered.“I wasn’t wearin’ my habit at the time.”
Deirdre’s brows rose at that.
“Nay,” Eve quickly corrected, “I mean, I wasn’t wearin’ my habit, because I was wearin’ a gown.”
“So are you a nun or not?”Deirdre asked.
Eve grimaced.“Sometimes.”
Deirdre’s brow darkened.
Isabel giggled.“Och!She’s a master o’ disguise, isn’t she?Just like Adam.”
“What?”Eve felt all the air empty her lungs.Surely she’d heard wrong.“What did ye say?”
“My cousin Adam.One day he’s a monk.The next he’s a warrior.Once, at Darragh, he feigned to be a rat-catcher.He’s such a talent.He can make himself nigh invisible.”
Eve’s head was spinning.She’d somehow hoped Adam was some obscure and distant Rivenloch relative the laird barely knew.
“Are you all right?”Deirdre asked in concern.“Ian, give her your stool.”
He brought the stool, and Deirdre helped her to sit.“And bring her a cup of water.Isabel, stay here with her.I’m going to fetch the scribe.”
When Deirdre was gone, Eve dared to ask Isabel, “Adam is the laird’s nephew?”
“Aye.”
“And do ye know where is he now?”She hoped he hadn’t returned to Rivenloch.
“No one e’er knows,” she said, “though the real question iswhois he now?”
Ian brought the cup of water, and she took a long drink.
Isabel asked, “Why are you so interested in Adam?”
Eve choked on the water.
Before she could answer, Isabel made her own guess.“Och!Have you met him?If you know Hew, maybe you’ve crossed paths with Adam?”
The water made a long, cold path into the pit of Eve’s stomach.
Isabel continued.“With him being a sometimes monk, and you being a sometimes nun…”
Isabel stared at her now, and Eve got the feeling she had some gift of sight that let her peer into a person’s soul.
“Youdoknow him, don’t you?”she marveled.“You know him.And youcarefor him.”
Eve blanched.Was it written so plainly on her face?
