“I can take over from here.” He nodded a dismissal at Jane, and she left, quietly closing the door behind her. “Hungry?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“Not really.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Trick, for ruining your plan. If I hadn’t arrived and tipped them off as to who you were, none of this would have happened.”
“You cannot know that; we cannot know what would have happened.” He set the food on the desk, his gaze filled with concern. “Maybe you ruined our plan, but you also saved my life. I thank you for that, lass, from the bottom of my heart.”
Her own heart hurt. Oh, if only she could forgive herself as easily as he seemed to forgive her. Then he ran a hand back through his hair, and she blinked, staring, so stunned her own guilt fled her mind.
“You cut it,” she breathed. “Your hair.”
A wry grin twitched at his lips. “Mrs. Ross cut it. There I was, telling Hamish all about what happened, her fussing over Niall and me both. Moving chairs near the fire so we could warm, pushing hot drinks into our hands. As we talked, she removed Niall’s damp coat and ran a comb through his hair. And the next thing I knew she was standing over me with scissors.”
“You didn’t stop her.”
His only answer was a shrug. But he was no longer hiding, not from her. The heart that he’d spoken of thanking her from was right there in his amber eyes.
He came close and knelt by the big wooden tub, setting the goblets on the floor beside him. “No more tears. I hold you blameless for anything that happened today. You must believe that.”
When he drew her hands from her body, she forgot to be embarrassed. She squeezed his fingers, gazing into those unguarded eyes. “You blame yourself instead, don’t you?”
“Aye,” he admitted, toying with the amber on her wrist. “But Hamish—Da”—a fleeting smile curved his mouth—“did his best to set me straight.”
“What did he have to say?”
He kissed her fingertips and sighed. “He thinks it’s just as well that Niall and I didn’t manage to keep his friends from drowning, since it saved him the trouble of having them hanged. As for the Royal plate, he believes it’s fate…and only fitting that it ended up where it was thought to be all along.”
She heard very little conviction in those words. “You don’t agree.”
“It’s difficult to avoid feeling like a failure when you lose an immense fortune and two lives into the bargain. But I’m working on it.”
She’d been working on trying to better herself, too. “I wanted to stay here like you told me to—truly I did—but then when I realized they were murderers, and thought of you out there not knowing that…your lives at risk…” Remembering, she felt her heart pounding all over again. “I tried to obey, but I’m not made that way, Trick.”
“I know.” He sighed theatrically, but the smile in his eyes told her it was only for show. “I expect I’ll have to get used to that.”
“I’m so glad you’re willing to try.” Though she still didn’t hold herself blameless, relief flowed through her in heady waves. He was accepting her for who she was. More than anyone ever had in her life. “I was only trying to warn you of their wicked ways, but it all went wrong.”
“Your heart was in the right place.” His lips brushed her knuckles, and his breath on her hands warmed her somewhere deep inside. “I’m not used to anyone wanting to take care of me,” he told her in a deep, husky voice, “but I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping we can make a fresh start, and that some day I’ll prove myself deserving of your special sort of loyalty.”
Could they really begin anew and learn to trust each other? Her heart soared at the thought. She sent him a tremulous smile, and he dropped her hands, reaching down for a goblet.
She took it, sipping the fortifying wine while he walked over to the desk.
“Midnight supper.” Carrying the platter, he dragged the chair over to sit by the tub. “Will you have some bread and cheese?”
She nodded, surprised to find herself suddenly ravenous. “I’m worried, Trick. About Hamish and Niall.”
“Aye?” Balancing the platter on his knees, he cut a slice of pungent cheddar. “What makes you worry?” he asked, tearing a hunk of bread and handing them to her together.
“Things haven’t gone well here since your father—the duke—took you away.” She nibbled on the bread. “Jane told me he cut off your mother’s allowance, and she had to dismiss most of the servants.”
Taking a hearty bite of bread, he nodded as he chewed. “I guessed as much, noting the state of this place.” He swallowed and washed it down with a gulp of wine. “I asked Niall about it on our long trek to Burntisland.”
“And?”
“Hamish does well for himself in the cloth trade. But other than allowing him to make up back pay for the servants, Mam refused to take his money when he moved in.” In three big bites, he polished off a slab of cheese. “Stubborn woman. She may not have been as bad as the duke had convinced me, but she was far from perfect.”
“None of us are,” Kendra reminded him. “Will they be all right here, then, do you think?”
“Aye, with Hamish’s help. And Niall is planning to visit Amberley later this year and learn some more progressive farming. Scotland is behindhand, it seems. I thought maybe you could help him with that.”
