Page 90 of Keeping Kate
Chapter 25
Asoft pink dawn bloomed over Edinburgh Castle high on its towering rock as they entered the city by the West Bow, the steep and winding hill that led from the western hills into the city past the massive volcanic crag that supported the castle. The post-chaise came rolling down the twisting incline through the Grassmarket and toward the Canongate, passing through the portal kept by the City Guard. After a question parried by Jack, riding postillion on the lead left horse, the vehicle was waved through. Horse hooves clopped over the cobblestones, the air brisk and cool, and all felt fresh with promise of a new day.
Kate stifled a yawn and watched the glow of the sky over the castle rock. They had traveled most of the previous day on garrons as far as the Perth road and MacLennan’s change-house, where they reunited with Jack. After a hearty meal, they departed in the post-chaise and traveled through the night, with Kate and Alec in the vehicle driven by Jack, while Rob and Connor following on horseback. Though they stopped to rest more than once, they made good time. Rob, Jack, and Connor planned to stay at an inn in the Canongate frequented by Jacobites, despite Alec’s invitation to stay at his home, Hopefield House, in case the visiting Highlanders stirred suspicion.
Seated beside Alec, Kate wondered at his thoughts, for he watched silently and pensively through a side window—and wondered, too, what awaited in the city. In the days before her father’s exile, she had visited Edinburgh with family for a few days of shopping, theater, and concerts, but life had seemed so different then. In the two years since she had been back in Scotland, she had come to Edinburgh infrequently with her kinsmen, mostly for matters to do with the loyal cause and espionage.
Though she kept the worry to herself, she wondered with a sinking feeling if she should have stayed at Duncrieff. She could not know, nor could Alec predict, if she would face imprisonment. Yet, she was not the only one taking a risk; the others were willing to put their lives in jeopardy in order to save their comrades. She could hardly sit at home waiting for word of their fate.
Alec reached over and rested his hand on hers. “Not long ago, you thought I meant to bring you here in chains,” he said. “But I never intended for you to face the Court of Justiciary. I want you to know that.”
She looked at him, surprised. “What, then?”
“I was planning to let you go once you answered my questions. If I knew where to find the weapons, I thought to release you rather than take you to a hearing.”
“But you were ordered to do that.”
He shrugged. “If you had told me what I needed to know about who you worked with, what Ian Cameron told you, and so on, I could have puzzled out the rest. I could have found your kinsmen and talked to them about the weapons.”
She listened in disbelief. “So all this time, you let me believe I was going to be interviewed and put in prison?”
“It was the only way. It is true you are scheduled for an interview, and very likely that would lead to incarceration. But you did not want to cooperate with me, and I could not trust you then.”
“But if I had cooperated and told you all I knew—why would you have let me go?”
“Because, my lass,” he said softly, “I did not want to see you in prison ever again. I wanted you to be free, and I hoped to find a way to do that.”
She turned her hand to weave her fingers in his. “Can that still happen?”
“I will do my utmost.” He squeezed her hand. “Please do not try to escape—yet.”
“I am glad you came after me when I managed to get away. If not for that, we might never have found this. Found each other.”
“Aye, Katie-Katherine. Things do happen for a reason.”
“Even when we think something is so wrong, it may turn out for the best.”
“Indeed it may, and it will.” He leaned close, shoulder touching hers, and kissed her, a brush of the lips. A simple kiss, so tender it brought tears to her eyes. “Do not fret. I will introduce you to my family as my intended bride. They need never know the rest.”
“Do you know the Highland tradition that declares a marriage made once the promise is given? Even if it is done without witnesses, it is as good as a marriage if the couple—well,” she said, feeling a hot blush rise suddenly, fiercely, “we may have already made a marriage promise, or close to it.”
“Matrimonio consummata,”he said, looking at her for a moment, a smile quirking at his lips. He lifted her hand to kiss it. “If a promise of marriage is agreed by the couple, even privately, and consummation follows, it is a binding agreement. And our own agreement to marry was witnessed by your kinsmen, so that in itself could be considered binding in Highland tradition.”
“Is it already done, then?” she asked breathily. “What of the rest of it?”
He tipped a brow. “We can bind the promise soon as you like.” He lifted his arm and she leaned against him, glancing up at him. He kissed her hair, her brow. She smiled, watching the sunlight illuminate his profile, glinting gold over his hair. She felt a wash of contentment then, a sense of fulfillment in this perfect moment. Let the day, legal or none, bring what it must. She would find the courage to face it.
Though early morning, the streets were already busy, she saw as the vehicle rolled through the streets. Shopkeepers opened awnings and doorways, tradesmen and women swept steps, others set up carts and tables to display wares and goods in the wide, dusty High Street, lined to either side with cobbled walkways.
The caddies were out too, boys and youths willing to run here and there to carry messages or packages, fetch things, or lead people through the maze of streets, all for a fee. The lads strolled up and down the hill, some waving to the chaise as it went by. Considering the hilly streets and the towering tenements, some with a dozen staircases to climb, the caddies earned their pay, Kate thought.
She saw sedan-chair carriers on the streets too, waiting beside their chairs, ready to hire. The single seats enclosed in boxes were brightly painted and secured on carrying poles. “I have never ridden in a sedan chair,” she remarked.
Alec leaned to look out the window on her side. “It is the proper thing to do here. Ladies go about the city often with chairmen and caddies to help them. You cannot find a safer city than Edinburgh for that sort of thing. Are you willing to do what the lads asked of you?”
“Visit Ian and the others at the Castle without an escort? Aye. A sedan chair would be a good way for me to get there. I will try to get in to see them.”
“They are hoping you will charm your way in. With luck, their plan will hold. But if you do not want to do this, tell me, lass. I will make sure they know it.”
