“At least,” said Herbert.
“And they took just one coo?”she asked with ingenuous wonder.
Her father cleared his throat.It was clear he didn’t believe the magnitude of their story.But he was a good diplomat who wouldn’t expose the Boyles’ penchant for exaggeration.Instead, he gave them a look of concern.“I’m just grateful they didn’t use their arsenal o’ weapons on the two o’ ye.”
Herbert gave Carenza a sidelong glance.“They did tie us up, though, and left us for dead.”
“How dreadful.”Carenza clucked her tongue in sympathy.
“But ne’er fear, my lady,” Gilbert announced.“We’ll find them.We’ll track the brazen scoundrels to the ends o’ the earth.”
“Anythin’ for the Dunlop clan,” Herbert added.
Her father nodded.“Your dedication is appreciated.”
Carenza, however, didn’t like the sound of that.She didn’t want the Boyles poking around, looking for Hamish.
She clasped her hands under her chin and furrowed her brows in feigned worry.“I pray ye don’t endanger yourselves.Better the loss o’ one coo than two of our dear neighbors.”
The Boyle brothers beamed at that.But she feared it would only renew their determination to get to the bottom of the cattle theft.
Eventually they left, mollified by her father’s praise and Carenza’s attention.
When they’d gone, the laird murmured to her, “Do ye think they hired someone to do it—steal the coo and tie them up?”
“Why would they…” Then she realized what he was thinking.“Ah.So they could get the coo back and save the day.”
“Seems likely.Men will go to great lengths to impress a lady.”He gave her a wink.
She grinned.A man would certainly have to go to great lengths to impress her.After all, she’d been raised by a man who was clever.Kind.Honorable.Patient.It would take a special person indeed to be the sort of man her father was.
Unbidden, the image of the Rivenloch warrior’s face crowded into her thoughts.Was he that sort of person?He had definitely been clever, outwitting the Boyles.He’d also been kind, agreeing to take care of Hamish.There was no question he was honorable, the way he’d offered to take the blame for her crime.
But patient?
That he was not.She’d seen the spark of anger flash in his eyes, like a knife striking flint.Felt it rippling off of him like waves of heat off a fire.With that kind of rage boiling inside him, he seemed ill-suited to be a man of the cloth.She wondered how long he’d last at the monastery before his temper betrayed him.
“Heavens!That’s thrice in a fortnight,” her da said, shaking his head.“What is it this time?”
She hadn’t been listening.What was he talking about?
Then she realized he was addressing Peris the physician.
“One o’ the novices fell and cracked his arm,” Peris said.
The laird frowned.“Perhaps the monastery should get its own physician, save ye the trouble o’ makin’ the trek.”
“Och, ’tis no trouble,” Peris hastened to say.“I’ll be back in a wink.”
“Ye’re goin’ to Kildunan?”Carenza asked.
“Aye.”
“I need to send somethin’ with ye.”
“Oh?”her da asked.“What are ye sendin’ to the monastery?”
She was sending the coin for Hamish’s hay.But thinking quickly, she told him instead, “Ye wished to invite the Rivenloch knight to Samhain supper, aye?”
