He smiled a little. "You remind me of my sister Juliet, who is also a redhead and looks equally at ease holding a rifle."
She thought about that for a moment. "I'd like to know more about your sister, but now is not the time for distractions."
He nodded agreement. "What were the Dawsons' plans when you wouldn't break?"
"To take me back to Braewood in chains and sorrowfully show me off to the neighbors, saying that their physician hadn't been able to cure me," she sat flatly. "Then I would die mysteriously in the night. After they mourned my tragic death, they would produce the will I had allegedly written."
"One of the Dawsons was good at forgery?"
"Mrs. Dawson. They thought that if I died in Newcastle, suspicions might be raised here so they brought me back to show that I was still alive. Then they'd kill me with their damnable drugs."
The captain looked murderous. "Diabolical! But you were too strong and clever for them."
"I was neither strong nor clever," she said wearily. "Merely desperate. I just wanted to come home. But it's not really home without Uncle James and I'm only safe as long as this blizzard lasts."
"I'll keep you safe," he said in a voice of absolute promise.
As she gazed at him, she realized that he was speaking in dead earnest. The determination that had been keeping her going shattered and she began to weep as grief and fear rushed through her. He wouldn't think her strong any more, but that was all right because he'd said he'd keep her safe, and he would even though she was a craven, soggy mess.
Then warm arms came around her and the captain scooped her up and settled on the chair with her in his lap. She buried her face against his shoulder and surrendered to her grief and terror.
He said nothing, merely held her and stroked her back as she cried herself out. He produced a handkerchief from somewhere and tucked it into her hand. When she ran out of tears, she straightened and blew her nose. "As you see, I'm not strong at all."
"Everyone has a breaking point," he said, his deep voice resonating in his chest as she lay against him. "You stayed strong as long as you had to, and I'm sure you'll be strong again very soon."
She made a face. "I appreciate your optimism, Captain."
"Sorry, I can't help being optimistic, it's my nature."
She had been optimistic once. She hoped she would be again someday.
Knowing that it was none of her business, but wanting to understand more about this man, she asked softly, "Have you ever reached a breaking point?"
His arms tightened around her and there was a long pause before he answered. "Because my siblings and I spent most of our growing years in foreign places with no other children to play with, we became very close. In particular, I looked up to my brother Ian, who was oldest. I wanted to be just like him. He's a good part of the reason I joined the Indian Army. At first we were posted in different parts of India, so eventually I transferred to Cambay, where he was stationed. The work would be more challenging and I looked forward to seeing more of my brother.
"When I arrived at Cambay, Ian was off on a diplomatic mission in Central Asia. He was sometimes sent on those because of his language abilities. I'd done similar things and come back safely and I assumed he would, too."
When he fell silent, Caitlin said, "But that time he didn't?"
"Word came that he'd been imprisoned in Bokhara, the capital of Uzbekistan, and had almost certainly been executed." The captain drew a harsh breath. "Such things happen in that part of world. I mourned greatly, of course, but accepted that he was gone. Then after enduring months of horrendous captivity, he returned to Cambay looking like death, having been rescued by our sister Juliet and her husband."
"Yoursister?" Caitlin said incredulously.
"Very intrepid woman." The captain smiled a little. "As I said, you remind me of her. Ian stayed with me for a few days in Cambay before setting off on a task he'd promised to fulfill. He returned with a lovely young wife, Laura, and resigned his commission when he learned that he'd inherited Falkirk. He and Laura set off to fulfill the last wish of her late Russian uncle before returning to Britain. In the course of that mission, he ended up single handedly holding off an Afghan invasion of India."
"Good heavens!" Caitlin gasped. "Your family's motto must be 'Intrepid!'"
"That's certainly true of Ian and Juliet," he agreed. "I'm the boringly average member of the family."
Caitlin doubted that, but was sure that he was unlikely to tell heroic tales about himself. "So Ian not only survived a dreadful captivity, but performed a stunning act of heroism. He's a brother well worth admiring. I assume that he and his wife were then able to return safely to Britain?"
"Nothing so straightforward," the captain said, his voice tight. "The mountain pass was so narrow that the Afghans were climbing single file, so Ian stationed himself in a mountain cave where he had a clear shot at the invaders and it was very hard for them to return fire. He's an excellent shot and held them off for many hours, but eventually he was exhausted and running out of ammunition. Ian had sent Laura riding off for help, and by sheer luck she intercepted me leading a troop of reinforcements, so we galloped off to find him, praying all the way."
Caitlin whistled softly. "Fate or divine intersession?"
"I'm not sure which," he said. "As we neared the site where Ian had stationed himself, I was incredibly relieved to hear shooting because that meant he was still alive. We were within sight of his cave when the Afghans brought up a piece of artillery and started blasting." The captain's voice broke before he continued in a flat voice, "We saw the mountain collapse on Ian's cave. It was…devastating."
Caitlin caught his hand and squeezed because she had no words equal to such a horror. After a long pause, the captain said harshly, "That was when I reached my breaking point. After all Ian had been through, to see him killed in front of our eyes…! I wanted to fall to the ground and howl to the heavens, but I couldn't because I was responsible for Laura and my lancers and we had to prevent a war."
