Is this still a charade?
She had no answer that fit inside her mouth.
CHAPTER 14
Alex went straightto the study, taking the long route so the girls would not see his face. The fire was low, but he did not stir it. He rested his hand on the back of the chair, then let it fall.
A maid had stopped by the door, and he had asked her to fetch his man-at-arms. Calum came a breath later, as if he had been posted near for this very reason. He shut the door and waited.
“MacGee sent a letter,” Alex said. “To her. Here.”
Calum’s jaw clenched. “What does it say?”
Alex drew the page from his coat and set it flat on the desk between them. “Read.”
Calum bent and traced the lines with his eyes. “Seems harmless enough,” he said. “I daenae see the problem.”
“Aye.”
“But timing is wrong,” he added. “He sent it the first few days after she got here? Something about it seems fishy.”
“Aye.”
Calum tapped the seal. “He names nay proof and gives nay ground. He says he is searching and asks ye to believe it.”
“Aye.”
“And he puts it under yer roof,” Calum said. “So if ye choose to strike him, folks will say ye kent he was trying to be civil.”
Alex’s gaze did not move from the page. “It is a shield,” he said. “Held high so we will strike low and look like fools.”
Calum leaned back. “It is dangerous.”
“I willnae be intimidated,” Alex said.
Silence held a line.
Calum studied him. “Do ye truly like her?” he asked.
Alex did not answer. He felt thenorise first, out of habit, clean and useful. It did not make it past his teeth.
“Protecting the traitor’s daughter may be a mistake,” Calum cautioned.
Alex lifted his head, and his gaze hardened. “Do ye think I cannae take a little war?”
“I think ye shouldnae have to,” Calum said.
Alex let out a breath. “Ye daenae like me fake bride, do ye?”
Calum’s mouth twitched. “I think ye shouldnae drag her and all of us into trouble if ye can help it.”
The room took the words and left them where they lay.
Alex folded the letter once more, neat along the crease, then slid it back into his coat.
“If he writes again,” Calum said, “we will be waiting. Perhaps we can learn more from whoever brings the letter the next time.”
“Aye,” Alex said.
