She waved away his concern. “I’m fine. Just got a bit spooked, is all. Luckily Joseph was there to un-spook me.”
“Aye, well, I’m glad he found ye before anyone else did,” Niall said. “It seems there are many people interested in ye after last night.”
“Last night? What do you mean? Okay, so I gate-crashed a party, but that’s hardly a hanging offense is it?”
“Nay, but impersonating a countess has set tongues wagging.”
“I didn’t impersonate anyone! That bloody announcer-guy heard my name wrong, that’s all!”
She let forth a string of curses in a language he did not know, possibly Welsh.
“But ye looked the part of a countess and people believed it. And now they are curious.”
“Curious about what?” Charlotte asked, looking genuinely perplexed.
“Aboutye, lass,” Niall answered. “About who ye really are and what brought ye here.”
“But I’m nobody!”
“That’s not how they see it,” Joseph explained gently. “In their eyes, ye’ve become someone of interest.”
Charlotte laughed a little shrilly, then pressed her hand to her forehead. “This is crazy,” she muttered under her breath. “I just want to go home.”
Niall shared a glance with Flora and Joseph then leaned forward. “And where is home, exactly?”
Charlotte looked at him. “Cardiff, like I told you. I only came up here for the weekend.”
“And how did ye get here?”
“I flew, of course! On a plane!”
Niall frowned at her sarcasm. Although, he supposed the lass had a right to sarcasm after what she’d been through. He didn’t respond to her flippant remark, only raised an eyebrow.
Charlotte paled suddenly and licked her lips. Her gaze darted between the three of them. “Um...that is...I er...paid for my ticket up here.”
Niall said nothing. She was being evasive. Had she come all the way here by stagecoach? That would be a long, dangerous and expensive journey. Would she really come all that way just to help her cousin procure a wedding dress? Her story did not add up.
And yet, he believed her. She was keeping things from him, that much was obvious, but the things she had told him were true, he was sure of it.
A swell of protectiveness rose inside him. He didn’t know why he felt such a pull to this strange woman who’d so unexpectedly shown up in his life, but he knew he would not, could not leave her to the predations of a man like Boyd MacAllister.
“Come with us,” he said suddenly.
Charlotte blinked. “Come with you? Where?”
“To Glennoch, my estate just north of the capital. I have a trading caravan coming in a few days and the man running it has mercantile contacts all over the country. I’m sure we can find a way of getting ye back to Cardiff safely.”
Charlotte said nothing. Her eyes were wide and wary as she looked at Niall, then at Joseph, and finally at Flora. He could almost see the thoughts churning behind her eyes. She was deciding whether she could trust him, whether she dare take that risk.
“You mean you don’t live in Edinburgh?”
“Not permanently,” Niall replied.
“So you have a house here for just when you want to visit the city and an ‘estate’ out in the country? You must be rich.”
Niall shifted uncomfortably. “My family...owns some land,” he said lamely.
Charlotte watched him. Now he was the one being evasive, and it was clear from her gaze that she saw right through him.
