Page 63 of It Happened in the Highlands
“Lady Jo, your impatience astounds me.”
“I’m glad.” She laughed.
“And I’m shocked by your forwardness.”
“Which delights me even more.”
Smiling, he gathered her firmly onto his lap, and she met his gaze, reveling in the heat and masculinity he exuded. She wanted him. She wanted to make love to him right now in this carriage. And from what she felt through the layers of their clothing, he wanted it too.
“After,” he said, reading her mind. He laid his right fist on her lap. “Which hand?”
If he had a rosebud in there, she thought, he was truly a magician. Jo sighed, turned the hand over, and pried open his fingers. There in his palm, an intricately designed gold band gleamed. She looked at him perplexed, but for only a moment. Then her heart soared as she slipped it on.
“I was hoping you’d allow me to put this on your finger when we marry for the first time at the church in Rayneford. The vicar will be officiating.”
“Marry for the first time?” she asked, mystified. They’d already spoken of going to Baronsford, having Wynne’s family meet the Penningtons, andthenplanning their wedding. She reminded him of that now.
He shook his head. “That will be our second wedding. And we could have a third or fourth as well, if you want,” he told her. “After last night, it became clear to me that there’ll be no waiting. No long engagement. I’m yours as you’re mine. In fact, you told me yourself last night that your younger brother, Gregory, and his wife were wed twice. Do you think I would have you slighted in any way?”
“You’re worrying about my reputation,” she said, feeling her love for this man rise ever higher.
He held her gaze. “I love you, Jo. And I’ll be dashed if I allow anything to jeopardize our future together. Malicious talk, gossip, and lies will never touch us again. We shall forge a bond between us that the world will look on with awe. But if something were to happen to me today, before we marry, I want you—”
She put her fingers to Wynne’s lips. She’d die if something were to happen to him. And she understood what he was saying. After what they’d learned about her mother’s life, she shared his resolve about the future.
“And I love you, Wynne,” she whispered. “We’ll marry twice, but this is the only ring I’ll ever wear.”
* * *
The early afternoon sun slanted through the small window, and the older man’s eyes were fixed on the angular ray of light on the dusty oak floor of the upstairs room in Knockburn Hall.
“Everything will work out, Mr. Barton,” Cuffe told him reassuringly. “The captain is on his way back.”
They were supposed to come last night, he thought. He had no doubt they’d be back today.
He got up and went to a south-facing window. When they first got here, he’d seen men in the distance searching the fields. But he saw no sign of them now.
No one was happy to have the Bartons show up at the Abbey unannounced. Cuffe wondered if the doctor knew his patient was here. Perhaps he even approved. In any event, the men never came close to the Hall. They never got the dogs out of the kennels.
The three boys Cuffe approached wouldn’t say a word. They were to get a shilling apiece from him for their part in this. In the stables he told them he needed their help. Mr. Barton was at the pond with an attendant. They’d fallen on the man like highwaymen and taken him unawares. With a satchel thrown over his head, they’d gagged him, bound him, and dragged him back to the barn while Cuffe led the patient away to Knockburn Hall.
It had taken them a long while to reach their hiding place. The older man had grown winded quickly and needed to sit and rest several times. But he was good about following directions. Cuffe looked across the room at him now.
“We’ll be all right. You’ll be safe here,” he said. Mr. Barton was sitting where Cuffe had put him when they arrived, in the niche of window near the fireplace. “I couldn’t let them take you. Not after I heard them talking. That other asylum, the one in Aberdeen, it’s a bad one. I’ve seen people in the islands who suffered. Hurt for no reason. It’s not right. Spinning and beatings. Putting you in cold water. The captain wouldn’t have let it happen.”
The patient said nothing, and Cuffe wasn’t sure if he understood a word of what was said to him. His eyes remained locked on the rectangle of light on the floor.
“The captain will be back today,” he repeated. “We’re safe here. You and I both. Would you care to take a nap? Make the time pass quicker.”
He wished Mr. Barton would sleep a little. He usually did at this time of day, but the man made no move to lie down.
It was odd to carry on a one-sided conversation. He thought about when he was doing this to the captain. Not answering. Not looking at him. Acting like he didn’t exist, even when the captain was being good to him. Much like Mr. Barton was doing to him now.
Cuffe thought guiltily how much trouble he’d been to his father. His father.
“You’ve probably been wondering why no one has found us,” he said. “I come from Jamaica, you know. I’m a Maroon and we live out where no one can catch us. Not even the soldiers.”
He looked out the window again.
