“But whoever dropped it might need it,” his brother returned. “Dunnae describe it to Father Michael, but tell him if anyone claims it, they can come here and describe it to ye. If someone does claim it, though, ye have to return it.”
The boy kicked a clump of grass, sending a small spray of white into the air. “Aye. I dunnae like it, but aye.”
“That’s very gentlemanly of you, Connell,” Marjorie said, with an appreciative nod to his brother.
“Ye’re English, aye?” one of the workers, an older man with short-cropped gray hair and a bushy mustache asked her.
“I am.”
“I heard there was an English lass aboot. Could ye tell me someaught?”
“I’ll certainly try,” Marjorie returned, smiling.
There was something about Highlanders she found refreshing. If they didn’t like someone, they didn’t hide it or pretend to be friendly. They asked direct questions, and expected a direct response. It was… pleasant to always know where she stood with both aquaintances and strangers. In fact, her only shaky ground was Graeme.
“I’m on my way north to put some windows into an old war castle. An Englishman, Lattimer, is hiring Scots builders from all across the Highlands. But I’ve nae worked fer an Englishman before. Do I have to bow when he passes, or nae look him in the eye? That’s what I’ve heard.”
For a moment Marjorie couldn’t find her words. “You’re… headed to Lattimer Castle?”
“Aye. It’s a bit north of here. Ye’ve heard of it, then?”
“Yes, I have.”
This man could take her away from here. She could be at Lattimer Castle before midnight. They could leave this very moment, and with the boys distracted and an ever-increasing number of men arriving in the meadow, it could be an hour or more before her absence was even noticed.
She looked across the meadow to see Graeme. He squatted on the ground beside Connell, his brown and red mane touching his brother’s red hair as they bowed over the duckling’s treasures. No, she didn’t fit here. She shouldn’twantto fit here. Why, then, did she spend so much of her time smiling and laughing?
“Miss?”
She shook herself. “No, you don’t need to bow,” she answered belatedly, “and I believe the Duke of Lattimer would appreciate being looked in the eye. Are you going to be here for a while?”
“Fer a time,” he answered. “They put oot word at the Cracked Hearth fer extra hands today, and mine are willing.”
“May I ask your name, sir?”
He blushed, pulling his tam from his head to twist it in his hands. “I beg yer pardon, miss. Cooper’s my name. Samuel Cooper.”
“I’m Ree, Mr. Cooper. Would you excuse me for just a moment?”
“Aye. Of course.”
Trying not to hurry her steps or to look back over her shoulder, Marjorie returned to the house. Once inside she did run, gathering her skirt and racing upstairs to her borrowed bedchamber. Keeping in mind how little time she likely had before Mr. Cooper resumed his journey north, she pulled paper from the desk drawer and the pencil from the vase where she’d hidden it.
At her elbow her bouquet still sat, full of white roses and deep purple thistle and the soft green of the forest ferns.Hush,she reminded herself. She could admire them later.
“I expected to find ye stuffing yer things into a sack,” Graeme said from the doorway.
Marjorie started. “You’re very stealthy for such a big man,” she said, not turning around. “And no, I’m not packing. I’m writing a note.”
“To yer brother? So he can come and fetch ye and begin a war?”
“To my brother, yes. To begin a war, no. And since you knew Samuel Cooper was headed for Lattimer and you let him remain here anyway, I have to assume you were giving me the chance to flee.”
“Look at me.”
For a moment she continued scribbling. Unable to resist her curiosity or the timbre of the command, though, she turned around. “What is it? I don’t know how long he intends to be here.”
Graeme walked forward and knelt beside her chair, so for once he had to look up at her. He wanted to grab the pencil out of her hand, and take the letter she was writing so he could introduce it to the fireplace. But she was correct; he had known where Samuel Cooper was headed, and he was giving her a choice. Apparently she hadn’t taken the one he’d expected.
