Page 8 of Highland Jewel
Fiona looked from one to the other. “Then, if I may, Miss Maisie Murray, this is my brother, Lieutenant Niall Campbell, recently retired from the 42nd Royal Highlanders. He’s just returned to Edinburgh.”
CHAPTER3
Niall Campbell’s command to the hackney driver to move was sharper and louder than he’d intended. Both women flinched.
The carriage jerked into motion, but it was only able to proceed at a crawl, stopping often as they descended toward St. Giles’ Cathedral and Canongate. Outside the window, hordes of men and women were walking along, using High Street to escape the senseless, undisciplined actions of the yeomanry in the Grassmarket.
“Thank you.” Fiona leaned forward and laid her hand on his. “Thank you for going after my friend.”
Maisie Murray sat beside his sister. Her cheeks were aflame, and she’d avoided looking at him from the moment he climbed in after her. He knew she hadn’t been hurt, but her bloodstained and torn clothing gave her the look of someone who’d been badly handled by the mob. Her hair matched the disorder of her clothing; loose golden ringlets danced in every direction. He studied her face. She was young, much younger than his sister, Niall guessed. The perfect, symmetrical arrangement of herblue eyes, pert nose, and full lips suggested she’d have a line of suitors at her door, regardless of her rank in society.
Arriving just before the dragoons decided to get involved, he’d seen and heard her on the stage. It was rare for a woman to speak publicly but, in spite of a few hecklers, she commanded attention. Dressed all in white, she was a striking figure. She was beautiful, to be sure, but she also had a passion and a presence that came across strongly. For the few moments that she spoke, he’d stood at the edge of the crowd, entranced by her.
He shook off those thoughts and scowled at his sister. He knew of her interest in the reform movement. Fiona had a fierce dedication to causes. But today, she’d been a target of the authorities.
“What you’re doing is irresponsible. Reckless. Foolhardy. You are a mother, Fiona. You have a sacred responsibility. Did you give any thought whatsoever to what would happen to your children if you were arrested?”
“Speaking there today should not have presented any danger. That protest had been announced ahead of time and permissions were obtained. It’s not our fault that some half-witted rogues in uniform decided to interfere with a peaceful assembly.”
“Who granted these permissions?” Niall asked, feeling his anger grow. “Give me the name of the blackguard. Everyone knows that Parliament has made this kind of protest illegal.”
“I don’t know the name.” Fiona shot a hasty look at her friend. “The Safety Committee of the Weavers arranged it.”
“We were not the organizers.” For the first time, Maisie Murray lifted her face and looked him in the eye. “We were invited to speak. We assumed—”
“Assumed?” Niall leaned forward, pointing a fingerat her. “You’ll not put my sister’s safety at risk based on an assumption.”
“Maisie is not at fault,” Fiona snapped. “Leave her be.”
Regardless of who was at fault, he wasn’t done with his reproaches. He’d have plenty to say to Fiona later. But Maisie, Niall didn’t know at all. He had no idea who her people were. Looking at her now, he doubted if they had any inkling of what she was involved in.
“Are you prepared to be a martyr, Miss Murray?”
“I am no martyr, but I believe in the cause we fight for.”
“Do you know what happens to people who get arrested for activities such as this?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “To begin with, they’re beaten and clubbed unmercifully. Tortured by the interrogators looking for evidence of conspiracies against the Crown. The fact that you are a woman will give you no protection. Actually, because you are a woman, the treatment you’ll take at the hands of brutish guards will be farmoresevere. Far more horrific.”
“I am well aware of it.” Her hands fisted in her lap, but she refused to cringe at his words.
“Do you know what the inside of a prison looks like?”
“I don’t.”
“They are foul places. In the best of them, rats run in and out of dank, dark cells. The air is unbreathable. The water tainted. Prisoners hold contests to count the number of maggots in their food. And women who are unfortunate enough to be incarcerated…” Niall paused and leaned forward. “Women are denied the most basic need for privacy. Denied any vestige of human dignity.”
Before he could continue, Fiona took his hand, forcing his attention back to her. Niall understood. In her own silent way, she was admonishing him for his harshness.
“I’m having a conversation with Miss Murray.”
“You’re lecturing,LieutenantCampbell,” Fiona said. “And you’ve succeeded. I’m frightened enough for both of us.”
“I only wish that were true.”
Niall loved his sister, and she knew it. He was worried about her, and she knew that too. He wanted her to give up her radical ways. But she’d told him many times that as long as the value of a woman in their society was based on the amount of hard usage she could endure, she would continue to fight.
“To be honest, I was so surprised and pleased to find you attending the protest.” Fiona put on a cheerful tone. “Imagine that, Maisie. An officer of the 42nd Royal Highlander Regiment, a decorated war hero, joining the radicals—”
“No longer a commissioned officer,” he interrupted. “And before you indulge in any more flights of fancy, I wasn’t there of my own free will. I was sent by your mother-in-law.”
