Page 62 of Highland Jewel
Maisie heard the surprise and the hurt in her voice. When she told Archibald, he’d been astonished but not hurt. But Isabella was clearly pained that Maisie had kept this from her.
“You tell me that Archibald knew. Morrigan knew. But I wasn’t trustworthy enough to be your confidante.”
“It wasn’t about trust,” Maisie explained. “You had such weight on your shoulders. You were doing too much. And you were already too worried about Archibald’s politics. I didn’t want to add to that weight, to that worry.”
“I’m yoursister,” she repeated.
“A sister I love.”
Isabella started pacing across the chapel. “I’ve always worried about you. I’ve worried that anyone could take advantage of you. I worried that you were too quiet, vulnerable, helpless, timid.”
“Iwasquiet.”
Isabella directed a frown at her.
“At home, I was quiet,” Maisie corrected.
Her sister stopped in front of her. “Why? And don’t you dare use me as an excuse. You were the same when we lived in Wurzburg. You didn’t become this person overnight. You… youpretendedto be someone you’re not.”
Maisie had hoped never to discuss this. The dead were buried, along with the pain she’d hidden. Also, her mind was with Niall. She didn’t want to waste time, but seeing Isabella’s agitation now, she knew her sister would not help him until they were finished with this conversation.
“You loved our father,” Maisie blurted out. “You respected him.”
“Of course.”
“And he felt the same about you.”
The fleeting frown hinted that Isabella guessed at the direction this was going. “Our father loved both of us the same.”
“Don’t,” she pleaded. “Don’t make excuses for him or try to defend him. He and Ineverhad a relationship that was based on love and respect.”
“Maisie, you were only a child when he died.”
“I was fourteen. Practically a woman.” Maisie heard the sharp edge of hurt in her tone, but she refused to suppress it. “Our father hadtwodaughters. Perhaps he did love us both. But you were his shining star, and Inever even entered the night sky. You were so much like him in your interests and your focus. You inherited his brilliance. I was simply the pretty little reminder of my mother. In some ways, I was no more than a porcelain trinket.”
“Maisie.” Isabella pulled her into her arms.
“I’m speaking the truth, and you know it.” She clung to her sister. “My separate lives were a matter of survival.”
Isabella paused, holding her. “I am so sorry, my love.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’ve always known only love from you.”
Maisie had no tears for the long-ago past. Her mind was on Niall, and what the Mackintoshes could be doing to him right now.
She drew back. “Please help him. Help me to undo whatever it is I’ve done.”
“Why did you accuse him in the laird’s study? Those were serious charges.”
“Because… because after Fiona was arrested, neither Niall nor Archibald nor anyone else seemed to know what the authorities had done with her. She vanished.” Bitter emotions clawed at her again, for in saying the words, Maisie realized she still didn’t know if her accusation was correct or false. She couldn’t bear to have him be hurt, but she still didn’t know beyond a shadow of a doubt if she’d done wrong in exposing him. “Sometime after, Niall was approached with a bargain. He was to complete a mission for the government in return for his sister’s freedom.”
“Who approached him?”
“He never told me the names.”
“What was the mission?”
The words threatened to choke her. “I don’t know exactly. Except that…” She couldn’t say it.
