“Certainly, but the Scot denied any knowledge of the theft.”
“But you had proof, of course?”
“Well, yes—I suppose.” Megan frowned. “The young man who discovered the theft, one of the grooms, claims he heard a Scottish brogue just before his head was bashed. And with Lachlan’s well-known, as well as admitted, history of reaving, I’m afraid that’s all the proof my husband needed.”
It did sound bad. And Kimberly certainly had no reason to defend the man, despite the most ridiculous urge she had to do so. However, that wasn’t concrete proof by any means. A mere accent? There were other Scots on the property, including some of the servants. If the duke and duchess would think about the theft logically, it was much more likely the thief had sneaked onto the property to do his stealing and was long gone by now.
There was, of course, the fact that Lachlan obviously resented the duke, just because he was married to his true love, and so would probably have no qualms about stealing from him. There was also the straw that had been clinging to his coat, proving he’d been in a stable, though that could have been any stable, and at any time prior to his reaching his room last night.
However, from what little Kimberly knew about him, she was sure he had more honor than to steal from a man who had offered him hospitality, no matter how he felt personally. He might be despicable in some ways, but she would wager that wasn’t one of them.
Furthermore, the fact that Lachlan was a known thief did not convict him out of hand, especially since he had no need to take such a risk. Also considering his sottish condition yesterday, considering he hadn’t actually been seen taking the horses…His condition…?
“When was this theft supposed to have occurred?” Kimberly asked.
“About an hour before dawn.”
Kimberly swayed in her relief. “But he was wi—”
She stopped abruptly, horrified that she had almost saidwith me. There was no way she could admit that, unless she wanted to destroy her reputation completely. There had to be another way to prove Lachlan’s innocence, and now she knew hewasinnocent, without condemning herself.
She coughed to cover her blunder, even sputtered a bit, then finished, “—was in a wretched state, from what I could hear of it. And I’m sure he woke me with his groaning long before dawn. Actually, I’m sure it was closer to midnight the first time I heard him stumbling about in here. Are you certain of the time?”
It was the duke who answered. Apparently Lachlan had been knocked out cold by his last punch.
“My man said he checked the time before he left his room in the stable to investigate the noise that woke him. An hour before dawn, it was. Areyoucertain, Lady Kimberly, that it was MacGregor you heard in here, or could it have just as likely been one of his lackeys, deliberately making enough noise to wake you so you would assume it was this blackguard?”
Kimberly groaned inwardly. She couldn’t answer that truthfully either. But she was angry again, because Lachlan was lying there on the floor unconscious, severely beaten, when he was innocent.
So she said in a condemning tone, “I’m certain of one thing. I don’t see a mark on you, Your Grace, so I can only assume the Highlander there did not fight back a’tall. I can only assume that he didn’t defend himself, either because you are his host, or because you are the Duke of Wrothston, or perhaps because he had consumed more spirits than any man could tolerate and was still too foxed to understand what you were accusing him of. And in that case, which is the more likely case, he would also have been in no condition to have committed this crime.”
“Or he could have been so foxed he foolishly thought he could get away with it.”
Devlin St. James obviously wasn’t going to listen to reason. He’d found Lachlan guilty in his mind, and that was that.
However, Kimberly wasn’t about to concede now. The alternative was the truth, which could be used as a last resort, but hopefully, that wouldn’t be necessary.
“I would say more investigation is called for,” she said. “I believe I have raised doubts that can’t be easily ignored. At the very least, this matter should be postponed until Lord MacGregor sobers up completely and can answer your accusation with a clear mind.”
“Perhaps she’s right, Dev,” Megan intervened. “He really didn’t seem very clearheaded when you woke him.”
He glared at them both. He really was in no mood to postpone anything.
But he finally nodded curtly and allowed, albeit in a grumble, “Very well, I will wait to summon the magistrate. However, guards will be posted at his door. He’s not going to escape this time, by God, without paying for his actions, I promise you that.”
Kimberly sighed with relief. Well, she’d bought Lachlan some time at any rate. Now, hopefully, he would be able to defend himself to everyone’s satisfaction, without dragging her into it—that was if he could talk at all when he regained consciousness and sobriety. Those swelling and cracked lips from one of Devlin’s meaner punches suggested he might have some difficulty in that regard.
Damn, she was going to have to play nursemaid again.
26
The door opened after one brief knock. Not that Lachlan would have said anything loud enough to be heard, to keep the intruder out, when he didn’t want to disturb the lass who had fallen asleep in his arms. But he did swear beneath his breath, and again when he saw it was his cousin Gilleonan who had just barged in.
Lachlan scowled at him as an attempted warning to keep him from saying anything, but his scowl turned into a wince before Gilleonan noticed it—his face was just too battered to accommodate a scowl comfortably. And his cousin was too surprised to pay attention to it anyway. That was if he could get his eyes off of Kimberly to even notice anything else.
“What isshedoin’ in here and—” Gilleonan paused to bend down so he could better see Kimberly’s face, tucked away as it was on Lachlan’s chest. “Sleepin’? D’ye ken she’s sleepin’ on ye, mon?”
Lachlan could hardly miss that fact, as he’d been sitting there holding her for more than an hour, without moving an inch for fear of waking her. They’d been sitting on the edge of the bed, after she’d managed to rouse him with her wet cloths, and she, sitting sideways, had been dabbing at one of the cuts on his lips when between one moment and the next, she’d simply nodded off to sleep.
