Page 95 of Sutherland's Secret
“Very well. Let me change my boots, at least. These are full of mud—”
“The duke said with all due haste and you were not to tarry. Sir.”
Blackwood’s back teeth came together as anger surged through him. He’d never been summoned by Cumberland. He did not want to appear before the man in muddy boots, but it seemed he had no choice. “Lead the way, soldier.”
He followed the guard to Cumberland’s office, his mind whirling as they entered the building and went up the stairs. The guard opened a door and waved Blackwood in. Blackwood nodded and stepped into the room.
The first thing he noted was the huge Highlander standing at the side of the door, glaring at him. Good Lord, but the man was heads taller than Blackwood, with impossibly wide shoulders. Why would Cumberland have a Highland warrior in his office? And then recognition hit him. This was Sutherland. Why the hell was Sutherland here? His gaze moved to the back of the room, and his breath left him in a whoosh that made him dizzy.
Thereshestood. The bitch who had laughed at him, denied him, and escaped his hold.
He’d been searching for her for weeks, and now she stood before him, looking hale and hearty and as beautiful as he remembered. Where the hell had she been for the past few weeks? Not dead as he’d hoped and prayed, that was for certain. Apparently she’d been well fed and taken care of.
He turned to glance at the Highlander standing watch at the door.Sutherland. Had she been under his roof the night when Blackwood had stayed there?
The Highlander looked at him with impassive eyes and no expression.
Blackwood looked back at Eleanor. If not for her stubbornness, he would have everything he ever wanted. Entrée to London society. Acceptance, money, and a beautiful wife on his arm.
She stood tall and regal, her head held high, all that golden hair floating around her shoulders. She looked at him with a pinched expression but that damned pointed chin held high. Blackwood looked at her brother and his severe, accusing stare. Behind them and to the side of Cumberland was Iain Campbell, who looked on everything with an air of amusement.
“Please come forward,” the duke said, motioning him with a wave.
Blackwood’s feet moved, although his head was spinning. He forced a smile at Scarbrough. “You found her, my lord. I’m so pleased.”
“Yes,” Scarbrough said stiffly. “I found her.”
“Colonel Blackwood, Lady Glendale and Lord Scarbrough have come to me with an interesting tale,” Cumberland said.
Blackwood turned his attention to the duke. “A tale, Your Grace?” His heart was thudding and his hands were sweating.
“What do you know of the accusations of treason leveled against Lord Glendale?”
Blackwood’s breath seemed to leave him all at once. He glanced at the woman. Her expression was hard and accusing. He remembered bringing her into his rooms and offering his protection. She’d been terrified and overwrought after witnessing her husband’s hanging. She should have been biddable. She should have accepted his assistance easily. Now she didn’t look at all like the woman he’d spoken to then.
“I…” His voice left him as his mind whirled. Should he tell the truth? The partial truth? Lie? He had no idea what Eleanor had told Cumberland, so partial truth was the best option.
His throat was parched, and he had to force his voice to work. His body was shaking, but he refused to believe that this was the end. He wouldnotbe brought down by a mere woman. His dreams wouldnotbe ruined because of her. He could turn this to his advantage.
“It was brought to my attention that Glendale was selling secrets to the Jacobites,” he began, feeling his way, not willing to reveal more than he needed, with the hope that Cumberland would take his word over a woman’s. Certainly Cumberland would believe one of his own soldiers. A loyal soldier, at that.
“And what did you do with this information?” Cumberland asked. He was looking at some papers on his desk as if this were an inconsequential matter.
Blackwood relaxed. Of course Cumberland had far more important things to occupy his mind. He was merely appeasing a fellow nobleman and his disgraced sister. It was becoming clear to Blackwood, and he was growing angry at Lord Scarbrough and Lady Glendale for interfering. They were wasting Cumberland’s and Blackwood’s time with this silliness. It wasn’t Blackwood’s fault that she was disgraced after her brother found her cohabitating with a Highland warrior like the whore she was.
Convinced that he was in the right, Blackwood straightened his spine and spoke with the authority that had served him well in the military. “I received information that Lord Glendale was to meet with one of the Jacobite leaders.” He schooled his face to appear sorrowful, with a touch of pity toward Lady Glendale. “Unfortunately everything was true. There was nothing I could do but arrest Lord Glendale for treason.”
Cumberland looked up at him and folded his hands on his desk, giving Blackwood his full attention and making his stomach cramp. “You say everything was true, but what was your proof, Colonel?”
“I was given a signed confession from the Jacobite himself. In return, I was assured that the Jacobite was leaving Scotland for France.”
“And the name of this Jacobite?” Lord Scarbrough asked in the haughty way that only the nobility could achieve.
Blackwood’s back teeth came together, but he smiled through it. “Unfortunately I do not remember his name.”
“But you have the signed confession,” Scarbrough persisted. “We can get the name from the confession.” Scarbrough arched a brow, telling Blackwood in one look that he thought him a liar.
Blackwood’s anger rose hot and potent, but he tamped it down, knowing that in Scarbrough’s eyes, Blackwood was simply a military man, not as good as Scarbrough and his ilk. Blackwood had lived most of his life knowing he wasn’t good enough for the upper echelon of society. Eleanor Hirst was supposed to have reversed that bad fortune.
