Page 54 of Laird of Twilight
“And so we are further in your debt, sir,” Donal MacArthur said. “Souls have been swept away in lesser floods than this week. I had a de’il of a time coming back from Edinburgh. Would have been home sooner if not for the high waters and poor roads. I feared that Elspeth had been caught in the rains, and it worried me so I traveled even faster. We are very grateful to you for helping her.” MacArthur leaned forward. “I understand you are a professor at the university, sir.”
“I teach natural philosophy, specifically geological sciences, and do research and writing on the subject as well.”
“Rocks and such, hey! A good use of a fine education. We have many interesting rocks here in this glen. Though I hear you do not spend much time at Struan House. Beg pardon, you have been viscount since your grandfather passed on a few years back? Yet Lady Struan told me her grandson kept to the city.”
“Struan House was my grandmother’s home, and she enjoyed having charge of the estate. I did not want to interfere with that, and I admit there was little time to visit her, unfortunately. I am much occupied with lecturing duties, although my research sometimes brings me into the Highlands.”
MacArthur nodded, looking pleased. He speared a roll with a two-pronged fork, slathered it with butter and jelly, and glanced at Elspeth. “Stays in the city, does the Laird of Struan,” he said, tearing off a bit of roll and popping it into his mouth.
“I realize that,” she said tersely.
In the awkward silence, James accepted another slice of cold beef in a roll, offered by Mrs. Graham, and gave his attention to cutting it in half.
“Where are the yarns from Margaret, then?” Donal MacArthur asked. “Is your cousin doing well? How is it that Lord Struan came to take you home?”
“I have not visited Margaret yet,” Elspeth said. She stared into her tea for a moment, then lifted her head, cheeks high pink, a spark of bravado in her eyes. “I stopped by Struan House first, and became stranded in the bad weather.”
“Ah.” Donal set down his fork and looked from his granddaughter to James, while Mrs. Graham sat silent. James felt suddenly like a boy caught out at school. “Why did you go there?”
“To look for the blue stone in the garden,” she said. “I thought I could find it.”
“It will be found when it wants to be found.” Her grandfather scowled. “So you went there, and Mrs. MacKimmie away and all.”
“What are you saying?” Elspeth asked warily.
“I saw Reverend Buchanan on my way home today. He told me you had been caught in the rains, that he and his father met the pair of you under some unusual circumstances, were his words.” He set down his knife. “Is there something the kirk minister knows that I do not?”
James sat forward. “Sir, Miss MacArthur did stay at Struan House. She had a mishap while traveling over Struan lands and was injured.”
“She has a twisted ankle, Donal MacArthur,” Mrs. Graham supplied. “I looked at it myself this afternoon and made her soak it in a salt bath. She must rest it and cannot walk about as usual. Did you not notice her limping in the yard?”
“Aye,” Donal said. “Injured. Go on, sir.” He fixed James with a stern stare.
“I happened upon her where she fell in the garden, Mr. MacArthur. The storm was fierce by then, and of course I offered her shelter at Struan House. My housekeeper was detained elsewhere, ah, due to the storm.”
“And the rest of household staff gone, too,” Donal MacArthur said, “due to the Fairy Riding.”
“Grandda, it could not be helped,” Elspeth said.
“Alone,” her grandfather went on. “Together.”
“Lord Struan treated me cordially, as a guest.” Elspeth lifted her chin. “Reverend Buchanan has no right to suggest otherwise.”
James noticed a spark in Donal MacArthur’s leonine eye and the man’s nostrils flared, but the older man held his composure. This was where Elspeth got her temper as well as her dignity, James thought.
“Elspeth had turned her ankle, Donal,” Mrs. Graham reminded him.
“I slid down a hill in the mud,” Elspeth said. “I could not walk.”
“An unfortunate situation,” James explained. “Between Miss MacArthur’s incapacitation, a lightning storm, and the muddy roads, travel was out of the question for two days. I would not let her risk walking home, nor could I risk a horse slipping while traveling.”
“Two days!” MacArthur thundered, setting down his custard spoon.
“Oh, dearie!” Mrs. Graham fanned herself. Then she recovered. “How fortunate Lord Struan was able to help. Elspeth could have come to real harm if she had tried to make her way home.”
MacArthur tapped his fingers on the tablecloth. “I commend you for considering the horse, and my granddaughter’s well-being. What of her reputation?”
“Sir, these were extraordinary circumstances. Unavoidable,” James said.
