Page 71 of Abducted By the Highlander
The earl gave a faint smile. “We’ve known each other for years. Ye have my word I won’t hold anything ye say against ye.”
Hugh shook his head, but in the end he couldn’t hold his tongue. “Why did ye let me believe Douglas had betrayed ye and that was why I had to join yer network and find him? Why not tell me the truth?”
“It was the truth. I’d not heard from Douglas for weeks, not since he’d gone to Eire. And aye, maybe I gave the impression Douglas had displeased me, but it’s a tactic we’ve always employed, one I continued from my father, to obscure the truth and keep him safe.” The earl paused and gave Hugh a calculating look. “Do ye recall when Alan MacGregor tossed William overboard and I excluded ye from information I’d received?”
Aye, he remembered all right. It still stung that the earl had considered he might have been the one who had betrayed his own cousin,William. He gave a brusque nod, and the earl continued.
“’Twas Douglas who discovered Alan hadn’t died alongside his father. I kept ye out of my confidence, Hugh, in case I needed to send ye undercover, and the excuse that we were estranged could help save yer life if ye were recognized.”
“I see.” And he did understand the earl’s reasoning, even if he didn’t agree with it.
“’Twas only months after ye’d been in Eire that Douglas got in contact to let me know he’d tracked down the last splinter group of Torcall and Alan MacGregor’s kin and was back in the Highlands.”
“Douglas was in Fergus’s camp?”
“No. He was searching for him and heard rumors of a plot against William. Then ye sent word that ye had rescued Lady Roisin, so I guessed what Fergus’s plan had been. I knew she was safe while ye were there. ’Twas only days later Douglas discovered Fergus’s camp. Except the bastard wasn’t there.”
“I believe he’d been searching for his mercenaries when they didn’t deliver Lady Roisin.” He barely managed to suppress a shudder at how narrowly she had escaped that fate. It was galling to acknowledge the earl’s part in that by sending him undercover in the first place, but it didn’t make it any less the truth.
“Aye. But when Douglas sent us the location of Fergus’s camp, we were able to deduce where Darragh was heading, based on yer communications. Between ye and Douglas, we’ve managed to eradicate that particular threat against William, but I don’t have to tell ye the threat extended far beyond William himself.”
“I know.” Only too well.
“Douglas is concerned I want to permanently add ye to the network. I don’t.”
Hugh grunted. The earl didn’t take offense.
“I’ve other plans for ye.” The earl eyed him. “Douglas is adamant he will not wed, but I’m not prepared to let the Campbells of BalfourCastle fade into obscurity. Ye and Douglas may never be able to share the great service ye’ve done for our clan, but by God I’ll ensure ye’ll receive recompense.”
The only recompense he wanted was Roisin. And the earl was the last person he’d share that wish with.
“Come with me.” The earl abruptly strode out of the chamber and with a frustrated sigh, Hugh followed. All he wanted was to find Roisin and ask her—hell, beg her, if need be—to consent to be his wife. If she didn’t want him, what else mattered?
As they left the manor, Hugh fell into step beside the earl as they marched across the forecourt and beyond the stables to a neglected orchard, where they came to a halt.
“With closer oversight, this manor and its landholdings would be most profitable.”
Hugh didn’t doubt it. If the earl was concerned, he should install a more proficient steward, but he didn’t see that it had anything to do withhim.
“A man,” the earl added, oblivious to Hugh’s growing irritation at being kept from finding Roisin, “needs a worthy estate if he intends to take a noblewoman for a wife.”
His irritation vanished, and he shot the earl a guarded look. Had he not been able to hide his feelings for Roisin from anyone?
The earl exhaled an impatient sigh. “God’s teeth, Hugh. Ye’re as hard to please as Douglas. I’m bequeathing the manor and all its chattels to ye. To be sure, ye’ll have Balfour if Douglas continues to be stubborn, but this estate will be yers notwithstanding. ’Tis a small recompense for what we stood to lose if Fergus hadn’t been stopped. And now ye have something of worth to tempt a lady’s hand.”
Hugh cast his bemused gaze over the orchard, then slowly turned and took in the three empty buildings with the stables beyond them. Aye, this was certainly something that could tempt a lady for the potential to expand was considerable, but Roisin wasn’t just any lady.And he hadn’t changed his mind about moving to Eigg, if that was what she wanted.
The earl waited for his reply and there was only one thing to be said. “Thank ye, my lord.”
It was ironic. Had the earl bequeathed him the manor a year ago, Hugh would have believed it solved all his problems, for he would have something of worth to offer Roisin. But now, it was simply a fine estate, and he knew it wouldn’t sway Roisin’s mind one way or another.
As the earl strolled back to the manor, Hugh took a deep breath. It was time to face Roisin.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
After Freyja lefther, with instructions she should rest until supper, Roisin went to the window, with Ecne in her arms. It was foolish beyond measure that she was hoping to see Hugh in the courtyard, since for all she knew he could be anywhere in the manor or beyond, and yet she couldn’t help herself.
The more her sister’s words echoed around her head, the more she doubted that Hugh had meant his final comment to her in the way she had imagined.
