Authors: Marsha Canham
Worsham's reaction was more feral. The pale eyes narrowed and a speck of saliva glittered at the corner of his mouth.
“You wanted to speak to me, Major?”
The perfunctory address, absent of any social niceties, brought his attention swiftly back to her face. “I trust you are not suffering any ill effects from last night? I heard you cut your hand.”
She lifted her hand and turned it, showing the bandages. “It was nothing. A clumsy accident.”
“Nonetheless, Lady Forbes was discomfited and wished me to express her regret over the unfortunate incident.”
“I am certain she did not sleep a wink. However, there was no incident, sir. A glass broke. I happened to be holding it at the time.”
“Indeed. And you are right; there were other, more pressing concerns at Culloden House this morning. It seems someone took the liberty of creating some mischief.”
“Mischief? How so?”
“One of the guests mentioned he saw you in the vicinity of the Lord President's library last night shortly after midnight,” he said, deferring a direct answer. “Is this true?”
Anne pursed her lips as if perplexed. After a moment, her brow cleared and she nodded. “Yes, I believe I may have been, though I could not swear to the exact hour. I'm afraid I overindulged at the supper table and was feeling uncomfortable. I sought a quiet hallway, hoping a few turns might help. Unfortunately, it only left me feeling somewhat light-headed, and”— she held up her hand—“thus the accident.”
“Did you happen to see anyone else in the hallways while you were … walking off your discomfort?”
“No, I don't recall… wait. Yes. Yes, I saw a young couple emerging from one of the rooms—I'm sorry, I do not
know the manor well enough to tell you which one—but they seemed as startled to see me as I was them. I believe they had also been seeking a few moments of privacy away from the noise of the ballroom.”
Worsham nodded slightly to acknowledge the supposition. “Major Bosworth was the one who reported seeing you in the vicinity. He did, however, neglect to mention he was not alone.”
“I'm not surprised,” Anne said evenly. “I doubt Lord Ian MacLeod would be any too pleased to hear his daughter had been anywhere private with an English officer. Neither would her betrothed.”
The pale blue eyes narrowed again. “Whereas a married lady seeking a liaison with an individual of her own ilk would raise fewer eyebrows?”
Anne returned his gaze without so much as blinking. “I warrant that would depend on the identity of the individual as well as on the nature of their liaison.”
“An interesting choice of words, Lady Anne. Forgive my temerity in asking, but what was the nature of your liaison with John MacGillivray?”
Anne's reaction was completely involuntary as she glanced at her husband's face. It was not much of a flicker, over in the flash of an instant, but it had the same effect on Worsham as the scent of fresh blood to a hawk.
“MacGillivray?”
“Yes. You were observed whispering together outside the dining hall moments before the hour in question.”
“I do not recall that we were
whispering
, sir, although I expect he may well have paused to bid good-night. I hardly remember.”
“You did not see him again downstairs?”
“No. I did not.”
“And would you tell me if you had?”
“No,” she said simply. “I would not. Now, if you are quite finished—”
“I am told your relationship with John MacGillivray goes much deeper than just a casual friendship.”
“Then you were told wrong, sir. John MacGillivray is an honest, honorable man, loyal to his clan and to his country.”
This time her eyes cut openly to Angus before returning to Worsham. “He was ever my friend, yes, and I'm proud to say so to anyone who would ask. But there was never anything more between us.”
“Nothing that would prompt you to lie for him? Or protect him?”
“John MacGillivray hardly needs my protection, sir.”
“Where is this line of questions going, Major?” Angus asked, his annoyance evident in the way he removed his gloves and slapped them down on a nearby chair. “And I should tread very carefully with your answer here.”
“As you know, someone was in the Lord President's library last night and stole some rather … sensitive papers.”
“By God,” Angus murmured angrily. “And this is why you accompanied me from Culloden House? So you could accuse my wife of theft?”
“Her whereabouts at the time of the robbery were unaccounted for, as were MacGillivray's.”
“Well, she has accounted for them now. She has also said she did not see MacGillivray, though if you had asked me, you might have saved yourself a trip.”
“You?”
“Indeed. I saw and spoke to MacGillivray in the lower hallway just after our meeting in the library. He had already paid his respects to the dowager Lady Forbes and was begging my leave, as he had a matter of some urgency to tend to in Clunas this morning and wanted an early start. I believe he said it was to do with the health of his fiancée, Lady Elizabeth of Clunas, who was prevented from attending last night because of illness. He was quite beside himself with worry, which would explain his seeming distraction. I believe they are to be wed next month, though he has been singularly smitten with the lovely lady for some time now. At least, she was all he could speak about the previous evening—to the point I was damn near distracted myself.”
“Ahh, yes.” Worsham's eyes took on a predatory gleam again as he confronted Anne. “I believe we were discussing your whereabouts Thursday evening when we were interrupted last night.”
Anne, remembering MacGillivray's warning that someone
had followed her and Eneas away from Dunmaglass, hesitated a fraction of an instant with her answer, long enough for Angus to release another impatient huff of breath.
“And I shall interrupt you again, sir, by reiterating the fact that my wife and I were both at home Thursday evening. If you care to recall, I told Lord Loudoun that John MacGillivray was also with us, playing cards until the small hours of the morning, at which time the pair of us, having consumed several”— he glanced uncomfortably at Anne who was, in turn, staring wide-eyed back at him—“well, yes, all right, rather more than several bottles of strong spirits, both had to be carried to our beds. If you saw my wife whispering with MacGillivray last night, and if what she said to him was anything like the dressing-down she gave to me earlier in the day, I can promise you it would have scalded your ears red.”
A muscle jumped in Worsham's cheek as he looked from Angus to Anne. She barely noticed, for she was still staring at her husband. He had done it again. He had lied for her
and
MacGillivray, giving them both alibis that only a man with absolute, incontrovertible proof would dare challenge. It was clear the major did not have any such proof, and Lady Drummuir wasted no time in taking advantage of his hesitation.
“Shall I have Gibb show ye out, Major, or can ye find yer own way to the door?”
Worsham looked from one face to the next, obviously not pleased with the way things had gone. His fists curled momentarily as he considered his options, but in the end, he merely offered a curt nod and strode out of the drawing room, his boots sending an angry echo back along the hall.
The dowager waited until there was silence before she spoke again. “I'm not thinkin' ye made a friend there, Angus, love.”
“He's a pompous fool and lucky I did not draw my sword.”
“Aye, ye're a real threat to a man who likely picks his teeth wi' his saber.” Her sarcasm earned a stony glare and she moved toward the door. “I've a rare need for a morning tot of
uisque
. Shall I have Gibb fetch some coffee, or would ye prefer something stronger as well?”
“Nothing for me,” Angus said. “I will not be staying long.”
“As ye like.”
When his mother was gone and the door was firmly shut behind her, he turned his attention to Anne, who held his gaze for all of two seconds before averting her eyes and staring out the window.
“You
should
be embarrassed,” he said with ominous silkiness. “You have more nerve than—” but an adequate comparison failed him and he settled for a heavy sigh. “I am almost afraid to leave the two of you here alone, for fear of the plots you and Mother might hatch together. Please tell me, at least, that last night's stupidity was unplanned.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You don't actually believe him, do you, that MacGillivray and I stole away for a secret tryst!”
“A tryst? No. But I do believe you were engaged in some sort of foolery, though whether it was before or after you picked the lock and stole the papers out of Duncan Forbes's desk, I do not know. And please, do not waste both of our time denying it; I was there, I saw you.”
Someone else might have fainted dead away from the shock, or at the very least reddened with guilt, but to Anne's credit—and Angus's grudging admiration—she merely gazed at him across the beam of sunlight that was slanting brightly through the window between them.
“It was you in the alcove?”
“I thought I had seen movement behind the curtains, a shadow at the bottom that was blocking the sliver of moonlight one moment and gone the next. After we left, I watched the door for a few minutes to see if anyone came out, and when no one did, I went back inside. My hand was an inch away from the damned curtain when you squealed and started dancing about, and when I realized it was you, my first instinct was to rip the curtains down and see if you were alone; the second was to step aside and save you the embarrassment if you were not.”
“Save
me
the embarrassment? After what I had just heard, I should think you would be the one who was shamed beyond measure. Or was it someone else I heard who sounded
pleased to be joining General Hawley in Edinburgh, someone else who claimed he was bored with his wife's politics? Someone else who lied when he promised me
so sincerely
that our clansmen would not be involved in any real fighting?”
“Do not attempt to steer the conversation away from your own actions,” he warned smoothly, not even having the grace to answer any of the charges. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you had you been discovered skulking behind that damned curtain eavesdropping on official military business? Can you even conceive of how lucky you were that it was I who came back to the library and not Worsham or that other bastard, Garner?”
“At the time, I can honestly say I was not feeling anything but betrayed.”
He looked away for a moment, not completely successful this time in stanching the flow of heat that mottled his throat and cheeks.
“Do you still have the dispatches or did you give them to MacGillivray?”
“Do you not even intend to defend yourself?”
“Against what? You have already made up your mind that I am guilty of all charges.”
“You have left me with little choice. You made me a promise; you broke it. You lied to me after swearing you would never do so. And at the time you swore it with such passion and conviction, I… I almost thought…” The words broke off as she caught her lip between her teeth and bit down hard. “I almost thought you meant what you said. That was, of course, before I discovered how much my …
antics …
bore you.”
“At the time I made you that promise, I honestly believed it was possible to keep it.”
“It has only been two days. Has so much changed since then?”
Angus raked his hand through the dark locks of his hair, scattering whatever semblance of order remained of the stylish waves and curls. “Yes. Yes, by God, it has. It changed the instant I had to swear to Colonel Loudoun that MacGillivray was with me on Thursday night, that it could not have been he
who attacked Worsham's men. You can see how well the major believed me, for it directly contradicted his report that stated MacGillivray was at Dunmaglass, under the close scrutiny of his crack troop of dragoons.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Not to sanction his actions in any way, I promise you. I did it because more than likely there were soldiers at Culloden House waiting to arrest him. Because he was once a friend as well as a clansman, and because I thought if he was implicated in any way, the charges would eventually spread farther afield and end up on the doorstep of Moy Hall. That was, of course, before I stood in the library and watched my wife take a hairpin to the Lord President's locked desk. And before I saw her remove papers and military dispatches that could earn her an extended stay in a gaol cell if, indeed, she avoided the executioner's ax long enough to enjoy prison. For that reason, my dear, you will have to forgive me if I do not feel as though I should be standing here defending
my
actions.”
Anne's chin revealed the first hint of a tremor, and her eyes had grown so wide and had achieved such a piercing shade of blue, it seemed some of the color tinted the whites.
“I did not know about the attack on Worsham's men,” she insisted softly. “I did not know John was involved, not until later, when he told me he had been shot.”
“Shot?”
She nodded. “In the shoulder.”
Angus clenched his jaw and pursed his lips, visibly drawing on all of his strength to keep a flood of invectives from exploding forth.
“Do you,” he asked through his teeth, “still have the dispatches?”
“No. Your mother thought it best not to keep them in the house.”
“Dear God.” He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his temple. “What did she do with them? Where did she send them?”
Although her voice was fiercely steady when she replied, “I do not know,” the lie was in her eyes and Angus did not need a map to follow the course. The courier who brought the
dispatches had come directly from France; the papers he carried were from one of the spies Forbes had planted high in the service of King Louis's royal court. Fearchar Farquharson would know exactly what to do with the documents once he opened them and realized what he held in his hands.
“What do you plan to do now?” she asked softly.
The question drew him away from his thoughts for a moment. “Do?”