“Your friend,” her mother prompted.
Esme put a hand to her heart and laughed breathlessly. “Forgive me, Mother. This is Adam Hawker. A great friend of Callum’s. And a man who means a great deal to me, too,” she added.
“Delighted to meet you, Adam.” The countess of Wolvesley extended her hand to him and after a moment’s panic, he kissed it. “I am Morwenna.”
“Milady,” he said, aware of his crumpled clothing and unkempt hair. Morwenna was dressed in a beautiful gown of green and gold. Her fingers sparkled with jewels and her bearing was regal as a queen.
Thiswas the woman Esme had described as a village healer? A woman who had first come to Wolvesley as a servant?
His mind whirred. He must have misheard. Else Esme had been playing some complicated game, one with rules he did not understand. He looked toward her, but her gaze was turned resolutely away from him.
“I am so glad to be home,” she breathed, linking her arm with her mother’s.
Her words sliced through him, like a blade wielded in a personal attack. On leaden feet, he followed them beneath a smooth stone archway, coming up short when his gaze landed on a vertical tower of sparkling water.
In Scotland, Adam had seen vast waterfalls, with white water cascading downwards over rocks at an unbelievable speed, roaring and rushing on its way.
Never had he seen water travelling upwards.
Just like the swans, this was perchance another thing that had not yet reached the environs of Kielder.
It was too much. All of it. Esme’s chatter. The manicured lawns. The two stone lions guarding an elegant sweep of steps and, most of all, this column of rainbow-hued water, shooting up into the sky.
He placed his hands on the rim of the stone basin and breathed deeply. Though the afternoon sun was warm, he felt a shiver run the length of his spine.
A hand fell onto his shoulder.
“Are you well, Adam?”
The voice was Jonah’s. Adam fought for his composure, but his head was spinning.
“I need a moment to myself,” he replied, truthfully, his eyes fixed on the shimmering water.
He expected—mayhap even hoped—that Jonah would protest. At the very least, he needed instruction of what to do once this moment-to-himself had passed. But when Adam straightened up, Jonah was nowhere to be seen.
Adam was alone.
And never had he felt more out of his depth.
“I am not so grand as you think,”Esme had told him.
She had lied.
Adam had seen castles before. But never had he seen a keep as magnificent as this, with walls so smooth they might have been hewn from marble. His gaze traveled up to the turrets, counting arched windows until he gave up.
I do not belong in a place like this.
Kielder Castle was the preserve of warriors.
This was the preserve of the English nobility.
He shook his head. He could not stay. Blindly, he stumbled in the direction of the stone archway. But once there, he ground to a halt. Three paths threaded in different directions, and he had no idea which to take.
He had no idea where he was even headed.
A soft voice came from behind him.
“Adam, is it?”
