“She’s stolen hundreds.”
He choked on nothing, before adding, “Perhaps not harsh enough, Yer Grace.”
“Indeed.”
“Do ye intend to speak as though I’m nae here with everyone?”
“Yes.” I resumed my shooing motion to the carriage.
She climbed in with a huff and we were off. I settled across from her on the black velvet cushion. “What, exactly, is yer plan in all of this?”
“I hadn’t worked out the entirety of it. But for now—to keep you where I can see you.”
“Brilliant.”
“It’s no worse than yours.”
“It wasnae mine. It was my ma’s. I just kept it up.”
“Tell me about your mother,” I demanded.
“Why do ye want to know?”
“You keep asking me that as though I’m not the one who has been fleeced for years. You are free to assume that I have my reasons and that they are private.”
“She was my ma. I dinnae ken what ye want to ken.”
“What was she like? Was she from the area? How did this scheme come about?”
“Pretty—she was pretty. With light hair and eyes. Small, too, fragile. I think she was from town. And if she had any family, she never mentioned them. I think she was a widow before she married Pa.”
Miss McAllen was quite pretty herself, but not in any of the ways she described her mother. She was tall, and her frame was sturdy—not large, but not petite either.
“And this scheme…”
She rolled her eyes. “It was after Pa died. He was a steward—yer steward. And rather than starve or be forced to wed again… I dinnae ken. She used to say yer family owed her—us. Never ken’d what she meant by that—I always assumed ye were underpaying Pa. When she passed and I took over, that didnae seem right.”
I knew precisely what her mother meant. With each word, I was more certain of the girl's parentage.
“Your father.”
“What about him?”
“What was he like?”
“Sickly, always sickly. His hair was always falling out and he had a cough my whole life. Don’t miss finding clumps of yellow hair all over the house. But he was good, I suppose. Honorable.”
“When did he die?”
“Seven, maybe eight years ago. I dinnae remember exactly.”
“And your mother?”
“Six months ago.” There was a sorrowful note in her voice at that.
“I am sorry for your loss.”
She scoffed. “No, yer not. That is just what yer supposed to say.”
