Glasgow rogue, p.20
Glasgow Rogue, page 20
A short time later, after the doctor grudgingly admitted there was nothing more he could do, they descended the steps to find Ian had just returned.
“I believe your guest is on the mend, your lordship,” the physician said.
“’Tis good to hear,” Ian replied. “And I thank ye for coming so quickly.”
The doctor smiled. “Think nothing of it. I am most happy to attend to his lordship and lady anytime.”
As Ian walked the man to his horse, Annie turned to Jillian. “I was nae aware that your husband should be addressed as ‘his lordship.’ I am sorry to have blundered.”
Jillian shook her head. “You did not make a mistake. Actually, Ian hates being called that.”
Annie raised an eyebrow. “Then why does he nae stop it?”
“Well, the physician was trained in London, and there it is customary to address the aristocracy as such.”
“Aye. I ken that.” Annie felt confused. “But your husband is a Scottish laird.”
Jillian nodded. “True, but he is also an English earl.”
“What? An earl?”
“The Earl of Cantford, to be exact,” Jillian replied. “His great-grandfather fought with King George and was rewarded with a title and land in England which bordered my own. That is how I met him.”
“Your land? Ye mean ye hold the title to it?” Annie asked. “I dinnae think women could do so, although I definitely think we should be able to.”
“Well, these were special circumstances and not pleasant.” Jillian’s expression darkened as though she were remembering. “The marquis’ nephew, who would have been the heir, was…” She hesitated, her breath hitching. “…mentally unfit. I was awarded the title.”
Annie blinked. “Then ye are a marchioness? In your own right?”
“Yes.”
“Then… Excuse my asking, but why are ye here? In Scotland, I mean?”
“I fell in love with the Highlands when Ian brought me here.” Jillian smiled. “Besides, can you see my husband acting the part of an English gentleman?”
No, Annie clearly could not grasp that image. Ian MacLeod looked more like he belonged on a horse, leading a wild charge down a hill, waving a sword and sounding a battle cry. She smiled too. “So ye have an overseer tending the land?”
“Ian’s brother Jamie, who does not care much more for English life than Ian does.” Jillian’s smile broadened. “But he is more or less stuck since my sister Mari is his wife and she prefers England.”
“He must love her verra much to make such a sacrifice.”
Jillian nodded. “They are crazy about each other, although you might not know it, given that they argue at the drop of a hat.”
Annie felt a little nudge of guilt. She and Niall did much the same. Not that arguing signified caring.
“Neither of them likes admitting they are wrong either,” Jillian added.
That sounded like her and Niall too. While stubbornness probably wasn’t a great trait, it was still nice to know other women didn’t back down either. And—even better—given the right circumstances, a woman could own land. In her own right.
Hopefully, Jillian would be willing to explain how that had come about, at some time. It was information Annie could use when it was safe to return to Glasgow.
Meanwhile, the priority right now was to get Niall well.
****
Niall opened his eyes slowly, letting his sight get accustomed to the dim light of the room. He became aware that he was lying in a very soft bed of feathers, covered in a crisp sheet that smelled of fresh air and sunshine. Niall felt no pain. The last thing he remembered was the anguish of something akin to a red-hot knife searing through his leg. Was he dead? He faintly recalled a female voice singing softly to him and looked up, half-expecting to see a ceiling fresco of angels. Instead, he saw high timber beams and walls of stone. An earthly room, then.
A warm fire blazed in the hearth across from the bed. Dark blue velvet drapes were closed against a window that was probably also shuttered to keep the cool air out. A small table and chair stood near the window. On the opposite wall, a tapestry depicting a hunting scene hung over a solidly built dresser. Earthly things. No sign of an angel who had sung to him.
A creak in the far corner caught his attention. He turned as a middle-aged lady rose from a rocking chair. Had she sung to him, willing him to live? She didn’t look like an angel, but then, what did he know about angels? He only knew that melodic voice had kept him clinging to life.
“Ye are finally awake!” The woman came closer. “’Tis glad Ian and Jillian will be to hear of it.”
Ian. Reality returned to Niall with a jolt. He had been taking Annie Ferguson to safety at Arisaig, but his stab wound had forced him to change his plans. “I am at the MacLeod holding, then?”
“Aye. I am Mrs. Cameron, the housekeeper. Ye arrived two days ago.”
“Two days! I have been unconscious for two days?” Niall struggled to sit. “Did a young lady come with me? She has red hair—”
“Rest easy, lad,” Mrs. Cameron said as she provided a strong hand to help position him against the headboard. “If ’tis Annie ye are asking about, she is here, safe and sound.”
Niall breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I was escorting her—”
“Nae need to explain. Save your strength.” The housekeeper straightened. “I’ll go down to get ye some broth.”
“I appreciate that, but can ye bring something I can set my teeth into?” Niall asked. “I feel as though I haven’t eaten in weeks.”
“Broth is what ye need,” Mrs. Cameron said in a tone that brooked no argument. “’Tis the best thing to start with. Ye doona want your stomach rebelling, since it’s been without food.”
Niall gave her a smile that he used to use on his mother to wheedle another fruit scone when he was a child. “But I am hungry.”
“A good sign.” Mrs Cameron paused and then relented. “All right. I’ll put a wee piece of bread on the tray as well.” She moved to the door. “Would ye like me to send Annie up? Jillian insisted she have a bit of rest since she’s hardly left this room, but ’twas an hour ago.”
“Doona disturb her, then,” Niall said. “But if nae too much trouble, I would like some hot water to clean up with.”
The housekeeper nodded. “I’ll have some lads fetch it straightaway.”
After she left, Niall pushed back the cover and swung his legs over the bed. The injured thigh had a clean bandage wrapped around it and the swelling had gone down. Whoever the healer was, she had done a good job. He stood slowly, hating that he felt wobbly as a newborn foal. A slight wave of dizziness washed over him, but that was probably from hunger. He forced himself to move, willing his strength to return with each step. By the time Mrs. Cameron reappeared with the food, he had made it to the table and chair.
“Do ye think ye should be sitting up so soon?” she asked as she put the tray down.
“Aye. Lyin’ abed does nae help,” Niall answered.
“And breakin’ your skull open because ye are too weak to stand does nae help either.” The housekeeper tilted her head to one side to study him. “But I suppose I might as well be talking to the wind.”
“I am sure your broth will give me enough strength nae to fall on my face.” Niall gave her another smile. “It smells delicious.”
She colored slightly. “I had the cook put in a few extra herbs.”
“I appreciate that,” Niall answered. “It should hit the spot, then.”
“Aye, well. ’Tis nae much.” Mrs. Cameron sounded a bit flustered. “I’ll just go and find out what is keeping the lads with your hot water.”
“Thank ye,” Niall said again and tore into the bread before she was hardly out the door. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said the broth smelled delicious. Right now, it tasted as good as anything on a feast table. He was already beginning to feel his strength build. It took a good half hour to finish bathing and washing his hair with the water the kitchen lads finally brought up, but by the time he did he felt like a new man.
He needed to thank Ian for the hospitality and the healer as well, but the first thing he needed to do was make sure Annie was safe and well.
Opening the door, he nearly ran into her.
****
Annie lowered the hand she’d raised to knock on his door and stared at him standing there dressed in breeches and a tunic that was half-open. His face had returned to its normal color. His hair was slicked back from washing and his gray eyes were clear.
The transformation from him lying still as death and white as the linen sheet was nothing short of amazing. She closed her eyes momentarily, hoping she wasn’t having a distorted vision like she’d had with the healer. But when she opened them, he was still standing there, looking hale.
“Mrs. Cameron told me ye had awakened.”
Niall stepped back and motioned her inside. “Aye, about an hour ago.”
“Someone should have come and gotten me.”
“I told Mrs. Cameron to let ye rest,” Niall said, “and I needed a bit of time to put myself to rights.”
Annie nodded. “Ye have nae been conscious for nigh three days.”
“The last thing I remember is standing on the deck of a ship.” Niall sat down on the edge of the bed. “Mrs. Cameron told me we have reached the MacLeod, but how did it happen?”
Annie took the housekeeper’s chair and filled Niall in on what had taken place and how they’d feared for his life until the crone had come with her healing herbs. Annie left out the part that she thought she’d seen the old woman transform into a young girl. Niall would think she was the one fevered if she told that story. “What is most important is that the healer’s poultice seems to have drawn the poison out.”
“I hope I can thank her. Is she still here?”
“Nae. Jillian said she lives in a cottage in the hills.”
“Then perhaps I can ride over there tomorrow,” Niall said.
“Tomorrow?” Annie asked, not quite sure she heard correctly. “Saint Peter was all but holding the pearly gates open for ye only an hour ago.”
Niall smiled. “Are ye sure ’twas Saint Peter and nae Lucifer?”
“’Tis nae jest,” Annie answered, although now that he mentioned it, the black stubble that shaded his jaw did make him resemble a dark angel somewhat… She pushed the errant thought aside. “Ye are in nae condition to ride anywhere.”
One eyebrow rose. “Are ye questioning my stamina?”
“Your…” Annie felt herself blush as she remembered how his manhood had reacted to her bandaging his thigh on the ship. “I… Oh.” How stupid could she be? Niall was asking if she was questioning his ability to ride. A horse. Tomorrow. He was not asking whether she questioned his virility. Which she didn’t. She already knew… At that thought, her face heated even more. Maybe she had taken a fever too. Why else would her mind be racing in such a direction? She attempted to answer once more. “Nae, but I am questioning your sanity.”
His brow went higher. “My sanity?”
“Aye. Your leg is nae healed.”
“It does nae pain me.”
Was the man daft? “Just because it does nae hurt, that does nae mean ’tis well enough to ride.”
Niall shrugged. “’Tis well enough for a short ride to thank the healer.”
“Nae.”
“Aye.”
Annie glowered at him. “Ye are being obstinate.”
“I think ye have used that term before.” Niall grinned at her. “Would ye like to add a few more, so we can spar?”
Annie didn’t return his smile. “Ye nearly died, Niall.”
He sobered. “And I nearly failed ye as well.”
“Failed me? Ye dinnae fail me.”
“’Twas my responsibility to protect ye and get ye to safety.”
Responsibility. That word again. Ian had basically said the same thing. Niall’s obstinacy had made him keep going with a festering wound because he felt obligated to whisk her away from danger. Highlanders followed a code of honor. That was all. Annie straightened her shoulders and raised her chin, and looked past Niall at the wall. “Ye have gotten me to safety, and I thank ye. Your duty to me is done.”
He frowned. “My duty?”
“Aye. Ye felt responsible to save me. Ye just said so.” Annie studied the wall over Niall’s shoulder. “Ye would have done the same for anyone. Ian said ’tis what Highlanders do.”
“Did he, now?”
“Aye. ’Tis noble of ye.”
“I was nae thinking of being noble when I took you away.”
Annie looked down at her folded hands. “It does nae matter.”
Niall leaned forward from the edge of the bed and put a hand under her chin, tilting it up so she had to look at him. “Do ye really think I would have risked my life for just anyone?”
“Ian said—”
“Ian does nae ken me,” Niall said, his eyes growing dark. “Come here.”
Annie gave him a startled look. “What?”
“Come here.” Niall took hold of her arm and pulled her toward him, his other hand sliding along her jaw to cradle her head and then bent his head to brush a kiss across her mouth and then another, letting it linger slightly. Annie moaned, her lips parting for him. His arms slipped around her waist, pressing her closer while his tongue swept across her open mouth.
“They’re kissing!”
Annie jumped back at the sound and turned to find the twins standing in the open doorway and giggling. The door Niall had left open probably because he was a gentleman.
Niall seemed unfazed, although the glower he gave the twins made them stop giggling as he released Annie. “Is there a reason the two of ye are standing there?”
They looked at each other as if suddenly struck mute, then one of them finally found her voice. “Aunt Jillian wanted to ken if ye wanted a tray sent up for dinner.”
“Nae. Tell your aunt I will come down.”
The girls turned, practically tripping over each other, trying to get away. Annie turned to Niall. “Perhaps I should have a tray sent up. I am nae sure I can face those two at dinner.”
Niall gave her an amused look. “Ye doona mind facing a crowd of angry union workers who pelt ye with rotten fruit, yet ye are afraid what two bairns might say?”
“They are nearly fully grown, nae bairns,” Annie answered. “I doubt Jillian—or Ian—will appreciate their witnessing what they just did.”
“’Twas just a kiss, lass.”
The words stung somehow. Maybe it had been no more than a kiss, but the feeling of Niall’s lips on hers, his mouth covering hers, had been incredible… “But it does nae set a good example, especially from a guest who is a stranger.”
“I suspect neither of them will say anything for fear of a tongue-lashing for being caught eavesdropping,” Niall replied, “but perhaps we should make our way downstairs so there will be nae more speculation.”
“Aye, ’tis a good idea,” Annie answered as she quickly walked to the door.
’Twas just a kiss. That’s what Niall had said. ’Twas just a kiss. She needed to remember that.
****
Annie postponed going down to break her fast the next morning for as long as she dared before someone would be sent up to check on her. She wanted to make sure others were up and about, so she wouldn’t be left alone with Niall. Last night’s dinner had been a disaster.
Caitlin and Caylin had been seated at the table when they’d entered the dining room. Although they didn’t say anything, they would shift their gazes from her to Niall and one or the other would start to giggle. The giggle would abruptly end when Niall fixed the scamp with a look. It happened often enough that Ian began to follow the interchange as well. She hoped he hadn’t questioned the girls later.
The morning room where breakfast was served, near the kitchens, was empty when Annie got there, although there were still some covered dishes on the sideboard. Sunshine streamed in from the eastern window, lighting the pale yellow walls with its warmth, and she could hear servants going about their duties for the day. Annie wondered just what time it was. Perhaps she’d delayed a bit too long. She hurriedly helped herself to some porridge that smelled delightfully of cinnamon and spooned clotted cream on a freshly baked scone and sat down to eat quickly. Avoiding being alone with Niall to squelch any notions someone might have was one thing. Appearing lazy and laggardly was quite another. She’d just finished her meal when she heard the shout.
“Riders coming!”
Annie went outside to see a guard posted on the curtain wall by the gate. She’d almost forgotten, with all that had happened yesterday, that they had arrived at an actual medieval castle. Apparently, one that kept up the practice of medieval times. She almost expected the portcullis to be lowered, but it remained up.
“Riders approaching!” the guard called again, although there was no need since the pounding hooves of a number of horses could be heard.
Annie walked down the front steps into the bailey and stared out through the gate. She couldn’t ascertain how many horses since a massive cloud of dust encircled the group, but from the thundering noise it must be quite a few. She looked up again, wondering if archers would actually appear between the embrasures, but no one joined the single guard.
The massive oak doors opened behind her and she turned to see Ian and Niall standing there. “Are we in danger?”
Ian shrugged. “That is always a possibility when two clans meet.”
Two clans? They were going to fight? Why was he just standing there looking nonchalant? “Should we be doing something?”
“Well, ye might want to get back on the steps so ye doona get trampled,” Ian said as the lead horses came galloping over the bridgeway and through the gate.
Annie turned back to stare at what looked like a small army pushing through and in the next instant felt a powerful arm encircle her waist, lifting her none too gracefully and letting her feet and arms dangle in the air. Ian reached the steps in four long strides and deposited her beside Niall.
