Page 48 of Highland Sword
“When I hired the carriage,” Aidan said, “I sent a messenger to Barn Hill to tell the Mackintosh men that you’re with me.”
Morrigan hoped the two hadn’t gotten involved in any altercation. Her escorts had been waiting by the stables. She thought back to when she first saw Sir Rupert coming along the path in the gardens. Nothing had seemed amiss. They were not on their guard. Perhaps they hadn’t seen the Mackintosh men waiting by the stables.
“What about Madame Laborde?” she asked.
“We’ll need to act with caution. You said she’s employed by Burney and seemed happy with the arrangement.”
“At first, that was the impression she gave me. But that wasn’t the case before I left. She was quite nervous. I think she would have come with me if the situation were different.”
“Then we’ll leave it to Searc to send someone back there. He can make whatever arrangements are necessary. Inverness is his town. He knows where he could put her that would be safe for everyone.”
Morrigan understood that it was not up to her to offershelter at Dalmigavie Castle to someone like Madame Laborde. The artist could hardly be considered trustworthy at this point. Her mind immediately turned to Wemys. He was even less so, but the blackguard was dying.
The post chaise hit a hole in the road, and she was jostled into Aidan. She tried to slide away, but he reached over and took hold of her arm. He looked into her eyes.
“As angry as I was at the sight of you in the courtyard at the jail, I am glad about what you did. It was a smart decision. And it took courage, I’m sure, to go there. You acted responsibly getting away as you did.”
Morrigan felt herself grow warm at his praise. Those moments in that garden when her desire for revenge nearly blotted out reason were still fresh in her mind. It was a weakness she needed to overcome. She’d done the same thing when she saw Wemys near Maggot Green.
She had to be smarter. Less hotheaded. She somehow had to make herself slow down and think before she acted.
“There is no bounty on my head. And even though I’m wanted for no crime, I know they would have taken me, anyway.”
“And they would have kept you until they had Cinaed in chains,” he agreed.
Morrigan frowned, thinking of Fiona. She was safe at Dalmigavie with her children now, but last spring she’d been taken by Sir Rupert’s henchmen in Edinburgh. At the time of her arrest, she had damning letters and protest flyers in her possession. She told Aidan about that now. “I know it wouldn’t have mattered that I had nothing but some of their own caricatures in my reticule.”
“Lack of evidence means nothing to them. Lack of a crime means nothing. They’d hold you, and when the time came that they’d need to, they’d charge you with crimes that carry the maximum punishment. Knowing full wellthat you’re innocent, they’d say you were conspiring against the government, abetting known traitors. They’d heap a dozen other charges on your head. It would be your word against theirs. But I can tell you one thing, if you were arrested today, Madam Laborde would never have testified on your behalf against Sir Rupert. She would have disappeared.”
Morrigan shivered at the thought of the calamity she’d escaped. “You’ve seen these situations.”
“Unfortunately, I have. I’ve been involved in a number of such cases.”
Morrigan stared at their joined hands. His grip was firm, his actions back in the Tolbooth courtyard were confident. He didn’t panic. He knew what to do. She watched the play of his thumb over her skin. A delicious twist gripped her belly. He was staring ahead, his thoughts on something else. She doubted he was aware of what he was doing.
“This is why Wemys is so important to me. His offer to testify against the Home Office is the first time one of their minions will provide evidence against them.”
She pulled her hand away and slid across the seat, creating some distance between them.
“I don’t think you should come back to Inverness anytime soon,” he continued. “Burney now knows how close he came to getting his hands on you. He’ll be on the lookout. You may not escape a second time.”
“Would they be bold enough to come to the Maggot?”
“I doubt it. Searc has too many important connections for them to come after anyone in his house. Except perhaps Cinaed Mackintosh. And they’d need a battalion to take him.”
Morrigan wasn’t in Inverness the night the hussars set the Maggot on fire, but Isabella had told her about it. The end result had been disastrous for them.
After passing Maggot Green, the post chaise turned down the lane, stopping at the gate to Searc’s house. The carts being loaded by Mackintosh men renewed her confidence. Blair appeared, coolly eying the carriage.
“You should go and tell Searc what happened,” Aidan suggested. “I’ll speak with Blair about keeping an eye out for Sir Rupert’s men, just in case.”
Morrigan agreed. As soon as the chaise came to a stop, she climbed out, not waiting for him to assist her.
Seen from the outside, Searc’s rambling house looked as dilapidated as the rest of the area. The place was actually a number of buildings joined together. A warehouse was attached on the river side. Set back a little from the main road, the buildings were surrounded by high walls. The narrow lane where Morrigan left Aidan and Blair talking ran past a gated entrance and dropped off into the Ness. There were rumors about tunnels leading off from the house in a number of directions—to the river and to a livery stable some distance from the house. But she’d never seen them, and Isabella had been quite tight-lipped on the subject.
The area inside the walls included neglected gardens and a small stable. The Highlanders’ horses were being tended there in preparation for the journey back. As she went in, Morrigan glanced up at a round, tower-like structure with a square block of a room perched on top. It was a curious place, and she’d never seen a house like it, even in Edinburgh.
Every time she came to Inverness, Morrigan spent some time inside the house. She was genuinely impressed at the way Searc used the run-down exterior to mask the shrewd and lucrative business dealings that he conducted inside.
