Page 58 of Highland Crown
Blair shrugged. “He’s heard not a word from us. Our ways of doing business ain’t quite the same. There’s respect both ways, to be sure, but we each keep our own counsel.”
Cinaed was relieved. He didn’t want to be explaining anything more about Isabella. She was his, and that was all Searc needed to know.
“Will Lachlan send my wife’s family to me when it’s time?”
Blair frowned. “I wouldn’t say that’s exactly what the laird has in his head. Them lassies are honored guests andtreated as such. Whenever ye want them, ye can come and get them. Not for me to speak for him, of course, but I believe that’s Lachlan’s thinking.”
It was all becoming clearer. Cinaed had to go to Dalmigavie to get Isabella’s sister and daughter. That was why Lachlan took them. And hewouldgo, for her, when the time was right. But there would be no dealing. No waiting about there.
First, he needed to free Jean’s nephew. He’d seen these men in action. He knew they were a match for twice as many British soldiers.
“It’s a few days off, but I have something to do and I could use your help with it.”
“We’ll be here, Cinaed. Just say the word.”
With a curt farewell nod, he started to turn back toward the house, but Blair stopped him.
“The Mackintoshes of Dalmigavie celebrate yer return. And we’re not the only ones who’ve been waiting for ye.”
He knew. He knew. If all went as planned, he’d be buying a ship tonight and get back to the business of smuggling arms.
CHAPTER17
Hospitality to the exile, and broken bones to the tyrant.
— Sir Walter Scott,Waverley
Isabella never moved from the window. Though she was at first concerned, fascination quickly set in as she watched Cinaed’s interaction with the Highlanders outside.
At one point he was surrounded, and she feared he would hardly be able to defend himself against them. Watching from above, however, she quickly realized no one meant to do Cinaed harm. She thought they were actually forming a protective wall around him. They sent attentive looks in every direction, like watchmen safeguarding a valuable jewel.
Still, she breathed easier when Cinaed was done talking and moved back toward the gate. He paused beneath their window and looked up. Their gazes locked. It might have been her imagination, perhaps not, but she sensed he was pleased with whatever he’d heard outside.
Isabella turned from the window, ready to go down, but she stopped. Her intentions were forgotten when shesaw Jean sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. Her lips were moving, as if she were saying a prayer or whispering to herself. Her trembling hand was rubbing a token of some sort, a gift from her nephew. What the token represented, Isabella didn’t know. Jean never allowed her or anyone else to see it or touch it. The treasure was kept in a pouch around her neck. During the long days and nights when Isabella was caring for Cinaed, she’d seen Jean doing this exact same thing.
Her heart ached when she thought of how her troubles had disrupted the lives of John Gordon and his aunt. Whatever Sir Walter Scott had offered the young man to convince him to help her, it was not enough to compensate for all he and Jean had given up. And even though she had faith that Cinaed would somehow free John from the clutches of the British, the fact remained the life the young lawyer had built for himself in Edinburgh was gone forever. In the eyes of the authorities, if not the law, he would always be a marked man.
She moved quietly across to Jean and crouched before her. The wrinkles fanning out from the grey eyes were damp. The old woman’s hand trembled as she kissed the token and dropped it into the pouch. She put the ribbon around her neck and tucked it into the neckline of her dress.
She waited until Jean opened her eyes before she spoke.
“I owe you my life.” Isabella placed a hand on top of hers, softly caressing the weathered skin left by the years and the hard life she’d lived. “You’ve become the mother that I lost when I was young. I’ve never known another woman I could call ‘friend’ until you came intomy life. You’ve been my keeper since the day John dropped me on your doorstep.”
The trembling fingers entwined with Isabella’s.
“I belong to you now, as you belong to me,” she continued as a rush of emotion threatened to choke off her throat. “We’ll find John. And we’ll bring him back to you.”
The old woman nodded as a tear escaped her wizened eyes. Bending her head, she pressed a kiss on Isabella’s fingers and touched the ring Cinaed had given her to wear. Drawing their hands to her lips, Isabella returned the loving gesture, kissing her friend’s hand.
“Go and fix yer face,” Jean said as gruffly as she could manage, patting away a tear from Isabella’s cheek. “Ye don’t want to be shaming me now.”
She smiled and went back to the mirror, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear and straightening her shawl. She took a deep breath and thought about all that could go wrong during this dinner.
Jean came and fussed with the dress and arranged the shawl around her shoulders. Finally, she stood back with her hands on her hips. “Not that I’ve ever seen one afore, nor am I likely to, but damn me if ye don’t look like a queen.”
Isabella shook her head. “Well, I don’t want to be shaming you,” she said, smiling. “I should go down.”
The older woman went back to the window. “I saw ye watching yer husband talking to them Highlanders in the lane. Kindly find out for me what trouble he’s planning now. I’m thinking it’d be comforting to know beforehand, unlike that last time.”
