Page 17 of Highland Jewel
Errant flakes of snow were falling and the flagstones around a streetlamp sparkled with a coat of white dust. A few carriages and carts continued to move past, and the sound of a fiddle and off-key singing emanated from a public house a few doors up. Several groups of homeless Highland families huddled for warmth in dark doorways. She wished she had something to give them, but she hadn’t a ha’penny in her reticule, only a handkerchief and her door key.
Maisie lifted her face and looked across the road at the Canongate Kirk looming above them. It was the only church she knew of in Edinburgh that had the distinctive curving Dutch-style roof. The kirkyard beside it was the resting place for Auld Reekie’s most notable dead, many of them soldiers. A group of people were leaving the kirk, going off in every direction.
“I wish we could get some of those women to come and hear what we have to say.”
Fiona shook her head. “Unfortunately, many of those churchgoers would be appalled by what we preach. Protesting against the Crown would be equal to protesting against their husbands and fathers and brothers.”
“They’ll wake up soon. They must.” Maisie buttoned her cloak. “At least, the optimist in me hopes for it.”
Her friend looked up and down the street. “And the optimist in me hopes for even one hackney cab to come by soon.”
With the darkness upon them, Fiona was happy to pay the fare to get home to her daughters more quickly. Maisie was in no rush. She preferred to walk. She needed time to calm herself after the excitement of the meeting. Before she returned home, she needed to don the mask of dullness her family had come to expect of her.
She gestured down Canongate in the direction of the abbey. “You might need to go to Carfrac’s coachworks. There’s usually a driver lurking about there.”
“You’re right.” Fiona pulled her cloak tighter around her but made no attempt to walk that way. “Have you mentioned anything about our work to your sister yet?”
It was more than a week ago that Lieutenant Campbell unexpectedly called at her house. Other than Archibald’s criticism that day, nothing else had been asked or said about it. Morrigan returned to her usual self, ignoring Maisie. Isabella was too preoccupied with her patients to remember the day of the week or what conversation she’d had with whom about what. And Archibald was only watching from afar, maintaining the same aloofness and disregard that Maisie had come to expect from him.
She tucked her hands under her arms. She’d slipped her warm, fingerless mittens to a young girl who was attending the meeting with her mother.
“I guess the answer isno,” Fiona said, replying to her own question.
Maisie had already told her about the lieutenant’s visit. She hadn’t complained, but she’d admitted that his conversation with Isabella motivated her to tell the family about her political activities sooner rather than later.
“I should tell you that Niall is a good man. But I warn you, he won’t give up. He’s like a dog that’s gotten hold of a bone.”
Maisie hadn’t seen Fiona’s brother since he called to return her reticule, though that hadn’t stopped her from thinking about him. Not only about his striking good looks, but the confidence he carried that was just shy of being arrogant. She found that tremendously alluring. He was unlike anyone she’d ever crossed paths with before. Every day since his visit, whenever she caught a glimpse of a tall man striding across a street or coming out of a shop, she’d expected it to be Niall. She wanted to see him; there was no denying it. But he hadn’t come around again.
Maisie shook off her whimsical thoughts. He would not be welcome on Infirmary Street. Her brother-in-law’s directive had been gnawing at her since the day of Niall’s visit. “What do you mean, he won’t give up?”
As the two young women stood together beneath the streetlamp, their breaths hung between them in clouds as delicate as fine lace. “This is the way he’s always been, from the time he was a child. He is younger than I am by two years, but he’s fiercely protective of me and my girls. I know for certain that whatever I ask for, he’ll move heaven and earth to provide it. He’d do anything for us. He’s as reliable as anyone could ever be. And now, by association, because of what we do together, I believe he’s determined to keep after you.”
“Do you think he wants to pressure me to quit what I’m doing?”
Fiona thought for a moment and then shook her head. “I believe he wants to make sure that your people are there if you need help. This is the way he is. He’ll argue with me about my politics. He’ll try to lay guilt at my feet. But he’ll never try to order me to stop. He’ll never say,I forbid it.”
“Forbid what?”
Both women jumped back, startled as a broad-chested man stepped between them.
“Niall!” Fiona exclaimed, giving her brother a shove. “You’re the devil, I swear.”
In retaliation, Niall took his sister in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground. “Admit it, you are happy to see me.”
“If you frighten me like that again, I’ll not be responsible for any injury you sustain as a result of your actions.”
“Pardon me. I should have greeted you with a ‘Good evening, ladies,’ in a more gentlemanly fashion. Let me try again.” He bowed. “Good evening, ladies.”
In person, he was more than impressive. He was capable of a fierceness Maisie had never encountered before. She saw it firsthand during the protest when he saved her. But he also had a casual side to him that she found endearing.
His arrival chased away the cold. When he lifted Fiona, his shoulders brushed against Maisie. She wondered for an instant what it would be like to be held in his arms, to be looked at as if she were the very center of his world.
She let out a breath and cleared her mind of such foolishness. Lieutenant Campbell was far too bossy and interfering for her to harbor any illusions about. Instead, she stood back and enjoyed the endearing banter between brother and sister.
“You really do weary me, Niall. You’re around far too much these days. Isn’t there a war somewhere that needs you?”
“Those adventures are behind me, dear sister, you’ll be happy to know.”
