Page 73 of Highland Sword
“Everyone finds their own path. But for some people it takes time,” Maisie said softly. “This is just a morning mist that is obscuring the future right now. You need to keep moving forward, one step at a time. The path will show itself.”
“I pray that you’re right. But sometimes I feel like I hear a bell tolling, far off in the distance. I move toward it, thinking it’s beckoning me toward the start of something new… but then I freeze. My fear is that my past will one day be exposed and become quicksand beneath my feet.”
CHAPTER23
AIDAN
Edinburgh
Aidan listened as the bells in the tower of the Tron Kirk pealed six. Sitting back in his chair at the Bull’s Head Tavern, he wondered vaguely how many times he’d heard them ring the hour from this very spot.
Across the table from him, Captain Ian Bell took a long, satisfied drink from his tankard. It had been a good day for both of them. Bell was one of the directors of the Orphan Hospital in Bailie Fife’s Close, not far from where they were having a celebratory supper. For several years, they’d worked together in situations where a father or mother had needed a barrister to represent them in court while the bairns needed a roof over their heads. Aidan provided the legal support, and Bell saw to it the children were cared for.
Today, Aidan had successfully defended a woman arrested at a protest last month. This evening, she’d been reunited with her children at the Orphan Hospital.
The captain had been relieved when his friend returned from Inverness in time for this trial. Aidan told him about the delays in the north, about the trial of the two brothers,and about meeting the son of Scotland. When he mentioned Isabella Drummond, Bell pushed his tankard away from him.
“The doctor… Isabella Drummond? The wife of the late physician, Archibald Drummond?”
Aidan nodded. Cinaed’s name and rumors about his connection to the queen and Bonnie Prince Charlie had raced across Scotland like wildfire. He was a luminary who had suddenly appeared in the firmament, and everyone wanted to know more about him. The identity of his wife, however, was less well known. Aidan went on and explained their relationship.
Bell laid his hands flat on the table. “The entire Pennington family is indebted to that lady.”
Aidan knew that his friend had married Lady Phoebe Pennington, but he was surprised they knew Isabella. A powerful and progressive family from the Borders to the Highlands, they had for generations been a force for change. Their politics had much in common with his own.
“Isabella Drummond operated on my wife’s sister Millie,” the captain continued. “Saved her life.”
Before he arrived at Dalmigavie Castle, Aidan had heard about Isabella and her abilities as a doctor. Upon meeting her, however, he’d soon learned that her glowing reputation didn’t come close to doing justice to the woman’s prowess. She was a marvel.
As was Morrigan. He tried to be attentive of the conversation, rather than reminisce about the kiss in the garden before he left. He kicked himself for not going to her sooner. The day after Samhain. Those were precious moments that they’d lost. He missed her.
“Is there a chance you’ll see her again?”
“Absolutely,” Aidan said. “Why?”
“If you do, you can tell her that we think of her oftenand fondly. Lady Millie just had a baby boy of her own this past summer. She’s living up in Aberdeenshire.”
He was a lost man, for even the mention of babies had him thinking of Morrigan. Maybe they’d be lucky enough to have a daughter first. A lass with Morrigan’s eyes. Her strength. Her courage. He didn’t realize he was running his finger over the mark on his eyebrow until the captain remarked on it.
“If you ask me, that wee scar over your eye gives you more of a soldier’s look.” Bell raised his cup to Aidan in a toast. “To my friend, who fought Napoleon to the end and still came home unscathed to do battle in the courtroom.”
Aidan scoffed. Ian Bell had done his share of fighting on the continent, but he’d ended up languishing in a French prison in Lille after being badly injured and taken at Talavera. He and Sebastian both carried their own scars, though Bell’s didn’t show. All scars didn’t come from the battlefield.
After returning from France, Ian had lost his sister to a murderer here in Edinburgh. In the course of his search for her killer, he’d found the love of his life. Though Aidan’s knowledge of the full story was sketchy, he did know that it had taken the two of them to stop the predator.
“To my friend, who survived the French and the dangers of the Auld Reekie’s Vaults. We’ll see if you survive fatherhood.” Aidan raised his own cup. “You must be anxious to get back to your family in Fife.”
“I am, indeed. We have another bairn on the way, you know.”
Aidan smiled. “Congratulations, my friend.”
“Incidentally, I dined with Phoebe’s brother yesterday. The viscount said the word around Advocate’s Close is that while defending the two radicals from Elgin, youdragged that hanging judge Ruthven around the courtroom until he hoisted a white flag.”
“Between you and me, the man is a heartless cur. Someday, I’d like him to feel the consequences of his actions.”
“Well, my brother-in-law says the other judges in Edinburgh were quite happy to see Ruthven set back on his haunches. The man is a—”
The door opened and the captain stopped as Sebastian strode in. He spotted them and came over. Bell rose, and the two friends exchanged their customary greeting.
