Page 13 of Highland Sword
She had no doubt he recognized her. One look at her and his face hardened. His stance became combative. Morrigan recalled their scuffle. Her forehead ached as she stared at his blackened eye, still swollen partly shut.
More introductions. More talk. A buzzing in Morrigan’s ears muffled the words being spoken. Devil take him. Aidan Grant bowed to Isabella, but his glare never wavered from Morrigan’s face. She’d hedged the truth with Isabella and Maisie, and he would expose her.
His step brought him closer to her. This time, she refused to budge.
He was armed with the truth, and she should surrender ground. But she wouldn’t be routed. She had to hold out, take his assault and then parry.
“Miss Drummond.” He drawled her name. He was taunting her.
“Mr. Grant.”
“You look quite familiar to me.”
“I can’t say the same thing.”
“Wehavemet.”
“Wrong, sir. You brother says we haven’t.”
“Sebastian and I have been known to travel in separate society. We’re not conjoined twins.”
“That’s quite obvious. He’s much taller.”
“And much younger.”
“And less argumentative, apparently.”
“He’s a solicitor. I, a barrister. Hazards of the profession.”
A silence fell over the group, and she realized she was tempting fate. One word from him would expose her.Morrigan’s heart raced as their gazes remained locked. He had one grey eye. The other—he should have worn a patch to cover it—looked hideous. She’d done an exceedingly gratifying job on it.
He finally broke the silence. “If you’re certain our paths have not crossed—”
“I’m certain.” She turned to Isabella, who was looking on with a curious frown.
Morrigan’s thoughts uncontrollably turned to their meeting in Inverness. The brothers had been speaking to Sparrow. But Isabella said these two were representing the Chattans. She guessed there were many people they had to interview for the court case.
All eyes were on her. She squirmed under the pressure. This wasn’t the end of it. All who stood watching their exchange had to see the tension sparking between them. There would be more questions. More answers to invent. But for right now, all she could think was that she needed to get away from Aidan Grant.
Morrigan nodded to Isabella and motioned to the cottage. “I know this is not your only patient today. We should go in.”
CHAPTER6
AIDAN
Beneath the tam and the dark brown hair, the hellion’s eyes flashed with challenge. He had a strong feeling that if he didn’t move out of her way, they’d be brawling again. The mysterious woman Aidan encountered in the alleyway in Inverness was the daughter of Archibald Drummond.
It was a very small world.
Before traveling to Dalmigavie, he’d learned a great deal about Cinaed Mackintosh’s wife. Henry Brougham’s message had informed him that Isabella had arrived in the Highlands with her sister, Maisie, who was now married to Niall Campbell, a man he and Sebastian had served with during the war. And the young physician’s stepdaughter, Morrigan, was traveling with them.
This past April, on a day of violent protests in Edinburgh, Archibald Drummond was shot dead by British soldiers swarming into his clinic, supposedly in pursuit of wounded protest leaders. Aidan’s own clients told him they were certain the Infirmary Street house was on the government’s watch list, thanks to one informer or another.Henry Brougham believed Dr. Drummond himself had been targeted for elimination. Whether that was true or not, Morrigan going after Sparrow made sense now. Clearly, she held him responsible for her father’s death.
The blackguard probably wasn’t the informer, but that didn’t change things.
Morrigan approached him, expecting Aidan to step aside, but he refused to move.
He’d never met a woman so effectively prepared for wreaking vengeance. Two days ago, in the quiet of an alleyway, Morrigan’s smooth, controlled movements were deliberate, not impulsive. She was not a novice, but rather a trained fighter. Aidan’s left eye, still swollen from the well-placed blow from her head, twitched as he recalled how expertly she’d incapacitated him before walking away. The city-bred daughter of a physician, indeed.
