Mrs Ramsey looked at her, an odd expression crossing her face. “Ye are in Lord Niall’s townhouse, miss.”
“Right. But where is that exactly?”
“In the heart of Old Town, Edinburgh,” Mrs Ramsey replied, giving her a puzzled look.
Charlie nodded slowly. Right. So shewasstill in Edinburgh. She hadn’t somehow been whisked away to another planet. Perhaps everything would make more sense when she was sober.
Mrs Ramsey gave her one last scrutinizing glance before making her way towards the door. “Should ye need anything during the night there’s a bell pull by the bed.”
With that, she was gone, leaving Charlie alone in the room. She sank down onto the edge of the bed. The smell of chamomile wafted up from the tea tray and Charlie knew she ought to drink something if she wanted to try to avoid a hangover come the morning, but the thought of putting anything in her stomach made her feel a little queasy.
What a crazy evening. What had started out as a dull, rain-soaked day had turned into the most bizarre evening of her life.
Ruby will never believe this,she thought.Then she snorted softly.Actually, she probably will. I do have a bit of a reputation for doing stupid things. But still.
She took out her phone again and considered calling her cousin, but thought better of it. It was getting late and she didn’t really fancy a lecture for getting drunk and spending the night in a stranger’s house. And besides, she still didn’t have any signal on her phone.
She tossed the phone onto the bed in disgust and flopped down after it, lying with her limbs spreadeagled. She sighed. She really ought to have a wash and get undressed but she didn’t seem able to summon up the energy.
The room spun slowly around her. Oh, hell. She was never, ever, drinking whisky again. Why had it seemed such a good idea at the time?
Her eyes slid closed and she fell into a dreamless slumber.
Chapter 5
As always, Niall wokebefore dawn. He quickly washed and dressed and made his way downstairs. He could hear the clatter of crockery and the drone of voices coming from the kitchen as he did so.
By convention, he ought to go into the parlor and ring a bell to summon his breakfast like any self-respecting Edinburgh gentleman, but despite what most of his acquaintances might think, Niall was far from a self-respecting Edinburgh gentleman. Nor did he hold much with convention.
So, ignoring the door to the parlor, he took the door on the left and walked into the cozy warmth of the kitchen, just like he did every morning.
Mrs Ramsey—Flora—and her husband Joseph were already there ahead of him. Flora was warming porridge over the fire whilst Joseph sat at the highly scrubbed table, with a set of papers spread out before him. Despite the early hour, he’d already been out and gathered the day’s pamphlets.
“Ah, there he is!” Joseph exclaimed as Niall walked in.
“Morning,” Niall mumbled, taking a seat at the table. He looked over the pamphlets spread out across the polished wood. “Anything interesting this morning?”
