My Laird's Castle (17 page)

His hands cupped my face, and his lips covered mine, and I wrapped my arms around his waist. Due to our significant height difference, that was the best I could do. I tilted my head back as far as I could and reveled in the intimacy of the moment. I forgot about the complications of traveling in time, of home, of Elinor, of Colin’s memories of his wife and unborn child.
 

Colin’s arms slid down around my waist, and he almost lifted me off my feet with the ferocity of his embrace. I stood on my tiptoes and clung to him as hard as I could, as if by doing so I could hold on to him forever.
 

A crash broke us from our reverie, and chaos ensued. I jumped back out of Colin’s arms, to see the drawing room door open and Elinor holding an empty silver tray. She stared at us, her mouth open, ignoring the broken tea service at her feet. Water pooled on the stone floor. With a cry, she dropped the tray with a clatter and ran from the room.

“Elinor,” Colin called out and took a step forward as if to follow her. He paused and looked at me.

“What? What is it?” Captain Jones said groggily, trying to rise from the sofa as if he were still under attack.

“No!” I cried out and rushed to his side to press him back against the couch, afraid he would start bleeding again. I bent down on my knees to keep him still.

“See to him,” Colin said. “I will speak with Elinor.”

I looked over my shoulder.

“Colin,” I whispered urgently. He moved toward me and bent near.

“She wants to marry you. You know that, right?”

Colin jerked straight and stared down at me.

Captain Jones, still appearing to be under the influence of the whisky, mumbled, “No, I did not know that.”

I wasn’t sure if the captain thought I was talking to him.

“I didna ken!” Colin said. He looked over his shoulder as if Elinor still stood in the doorway.
 

Mrs. Agnew rushed to the door and stared down at the mess on the floor. She clucked but said nothing, and bent to start cleaning up the mess.

Colin turned back to stare at me and then to Captain Jones, who seemed to be drifting back to sleep, thank goodness.

He bent down on one knee to keep his voice low.

“How long have ye kent this? Did she say something to ye?”

I scrunched my forehead ruefully and nodded.

“Yes.”

He reached up as if to touch my face, but he stopped and glanced over his shoulder toward Mrs. Agnew again. Sarah had come to help.

“I didna ken,” he whispered again with a shake of his head. “It is nae wonder she stayed to chaperone ye, but I swear to ye, Beth, I didna ken. I have never thought of Elinor in that way.”

My heart rolled over at his protests. It seemed important to him that I believe him, and I did.
 

“I know,” I said. “I know
now
, anyway.”

“It is ye that I love, ye that I wish to marry.”

If it was incongruous to have my hands on the shoulders of one man while I received a proposal of marriage from another, I didn’t notice. What I did note was that I couldn’t throw myself into his arms and reunite with him in an embrace to tell him that yes, yes, I wished to marry him too.

I pulled my hands from the sleeping Captain Jones’ shoulders and, out of sight of the housekeeper and the maid, I touched his face with one hand.

“I love you,” I said again. And I knew I could say it many more times.

His lips parted in a broad smile, rare dimples popping out in his cheeks.
 

“This is a bonnie proposal,” he said ruefully. “I didna dare hope that ye felt as I do, and I planned naethin.”

“Oh, no! I’ve known I was in love with you for weeks, maybe from the first time I saw you as well. But I didn’t think—” I didn’t want to raise the specter of his wife and child. I didn’t even want to mention Elinor.
 

“Ye didna think I loved ye?” he asked softly. He moved his face and kissed the inside of my palm before rising. “Well, I do, verra much. I should go see to Elinor.”

He pulled me to my feet.

“Will ye stay and tend to the captain? I must get a few of the stable lads to carry him upstairs to a room.”

I nodded. I wanted to wish him good luck, but that sounded trite, so I said nothing. I only hoped that the conversation went well, and I lowered myself into a chair by the sofa and wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Chapter Twelve

Colin returned in about half an hour. The captain still slept, and Mrs. Agnew and Sarah had finished cleaning up. Mrs. Agnew had returned with another tea service, and I had asked her to deliver some tea to Lady Elinor in her room.

“Thank ye for sending the tea up,” Colin said. “Elinor was in need of it after the events of today. She has been much protected by her father and isna used to violence. Nor is she used to having her wishes thwarted.” He bent near to kiss my cheek, lingering. His hair brushed across my face. I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled his face to mine, reveling in the certain knowledge that he loved me enough to let me do so.
 

“Not again,” Captain Jones said. “Will you two desist?”

Colin straightened, but not hastily. He grinned.

“Awake now, are ye? I am just about to have some lads take ye upstairs to a room. Seems ye will be staying with us for a week or so, until ye can ride again.”

“My men? Are they well? Do they behave below stairs?”

Colin nodded.

“Aye, George tells me they are well. A few scrapes and bumps, which the doctor tended to. Mrs. Renwick has fed them, and they are resting.”

Colin’s eyes flickered, and his smile faded as if he thought of something.

“What is it?” I asked.

His eyes slid to me, and he shook his head.
 

“It is naethin. I remembered something I forgot to do.”

Whatever it was that Colin forgot seemed important enough for him to find himself distracted.
 

“I will just get the lads now.”

He left the room in a hurry.

“Would you like some tea?” I asked Captain Jones. “I think once you get upstairs, I’ll get Mrs. Agnew to bring you some soup.”

“Yes, tea would be lovely, thank you.” Even in his pain, Captain Jones maintained an air of civility as if we were at a tea party. I smiled.
 

“I’m so glad your injuries weren’t worse,” I said as I poured him a cup of tea and put an arm under him so he could drink.
 

“As am I, Mistress Pratt. As am I.” He drank the entire cup, and I poured him another.
 

“What happens now?” I asked. “Will the army pursue the Jacobites?”

Captain Jones nodded.

“Yes, especially now with a vengeance, since an English officer was injured. I had hoped to bring them in peacefully, but I think that will not be possible now. The army will certainly kill them when they find them. I am afraid they will not make it to a trial and then certain execution.”

I wasn’t surprised.

Colin returned with the young teenager I recognized as being the stable boy, and one other. George followed them in, directing operations as they lifted Captain Jones gingerly and took him out of the room. Mrs. Agnew came in to oversee all of the men. As they left, I could hear her chiding them to handle him with care.

Colin shut the door behind them and turned to me. I thought he was about to take me in his arms, but he stayed by the door, one hand on the handle.

“I must go into the hills...to find them.”

I didn’t need to ask whom.

“So, the man I saw you talking to
was
one of the Jacobites.”

“Aye,” he said with a nod. “I didna wish to tell ye. They are clansmen. Though I may not agree with their politics or their methods, I cannot turn my back on them. They are naethin but old men and lads.”

I moved toward him, folded my arms around his waist and pressed my face to his chest. His heart thudded against my ear. He wrapped his arms around me and settled his chin on my head.

“You must be so torn,” I murmured. “I want to go with you.”

I felt his head turn as he denied me.

“Nay, lass. Ye canna go wi me. It is too dangerous, and the journey into the hills too arduous.”

“I can climb hills,” I said stubbornly.
 

“No,” he said firmly. He lifted my chin and pressed his lips gently against mine. “I dinna ken if I will return in two or three days, but I will return soon. If the captain asks after me, tell him I have gone to buy some sheep.”

I looked beyond his sardonic expression and saw regret in his eyes. I knew that he didn’t want to leave me, and I had to let him go.

I stepped back.

“Be careful. Please be careful.”

“They willna harm me, lass. I am a Highlander, no matter what side my father chose. That is why I fed them and told them where to hide.”

“Captain Jones says the army will come after them, that they probably won’t make it to trial and certain execution, because they attacked an English officer.”

“Aye, I suspect as much,” Colin said with a nod. “They ken that as well. But unless they can flee Scotland, they have nae choice but to hide.”

“I know, Colin, I know, but what about you? How can you be sure the English won’t find out you helped them? You’ll be branded a traitor.”

“We must see that they dinna find out,” he said with a reassuring smile and a quick kiss. “I must go.” He turned and slipped out the door. I wanted to follow him, but I stayed where I was, wondering what I was going to do with myself for the next few days, how I would deal with my anxiety until I saw him again.

I ate lunch alone. Elinor did not come downstairs, and I wondered if I should go up to see her. We would have to speak sometime. I wondered if she was angry with me.

I finished, having little appetite, and I climbed the stairs to tap on her door.
 

“Elinor,” I called. “Can I talk to you?”

She didn’t answer, and I wondered if she was sleeping or just ignoring me. I was just about to tap again when I heard her laugh, but the sound came from down the hall.

I moved in that direction and saw an open door. The room was the one that Captain Jones had been assigned to both times he was here.

I peeked in, and drew back in surprise.
 

Elinor sat in a chair by the bed, feeding Captain Jones soup. Far from being heartbroken, she had a smile on her face, and she laughed at something he said.

Over her shoulder, the captain saw me.

“Mistress Pratt,” he called. “Please come in. Lady Elinor has been so kind as to help me eat so that I do not spill the contents of Mrs. Renwick’s delicious barley soup over myself.”

Elinor turned and looked at me. Her cheeks colored, and she dropped her eyes to the pewter bowl and spoon in her hand. I didn’t want to see the pleasure leave her face.

“Oh, no, I’ll leave you to eat. I just came to see Elinor for a moment.”

“Please come in, Beth,” Elinor said in a husky voice. “Let it never be said that I dinna ken how to lose well.”

Now my cheeks flamed. I didn’t know we were going to speak in terms of winning or losing, and especially not in front of anyone else.

“Lose?” Captain Jones asked. “Is there a game afoot?”

“Nay,” Elinor said, offering him a spoonful of soup. “It isna a game. A poor choice of words on my part.” She looked at me over her shoulder, her lips tremulous. “Please come in, Beth.”

I entered the room and took a seat in a tapestry-covered high-back chair, still unused to sitting on what I thought of as valuable antiques. The room was decorated similarly to mine, albeit in shades of blue.
 

“Thank you, Lady Elinor,” Captain Jones said. “I think I am satiated.”

Elinor rested the spoon in the bowl and set them on the stand beside the bed.

“Ye look better for having eaten, Captain Jones. There is some color in yer cheeks.”

“I imagine there must be,” Captain Jones said as he met her eyes.

Elinor blinked and looked down at her entwined fingers.

Was he flirting with her? I knew I hadn’t been wrong in thinking they felt an instant attraction to each other, but I wasn’t sure they could have any future.
 

I looked toward the window to give them a few moments. Where was Colin now? I imagined him scrambling up the hill to find his clansmen and warn them. But I had no real idea of how he would go about it. Was there a foot trail? A horse path? No, not a horse path, because Captain Jones hadn’t taken his horse up into the hills for that very reason.

“You seem troubled, Mistress Pratt,” Captain Jones said. “Surely not on my behalf. I believe the good doctor’s ministrations will see me healed before I know it.”

With great effort, I refocused my attention on the occupants of the room.

“Oh, no,” I said. “No, I think you will do quite well. You’re already sitting up and eating. Don’t overdo it though.” I didn’t see any evidence of renewed bleeding.