"If ye're nae goin' to be helpful, ye can leave, Hugh," their mother warned before turning her attention back to her youngest son. "I'm so sorry, me boy."
"It's nay yer fault," Marcus admitted. "Ye and Hugh and Arianna were right, and I didnae want to hear it. Helena was lyin' to me."
He turned his attention to the things on Hugh's desk. He looked at the books, the parchment, and the inkwells as though he were familiar with them. The way that he ran his fingertips over the grooves suggested that he'd spent more time hiding away in here than Hugh was privy to.
"Ye didnae want to listen to us because ye were in love," Eilidh said easily. "Or at least ye thought ye were."
"Aye, I suppose ye're right," Marcus said, rising from the desk and pulling his mom into an embrace. "Now that ye're done interrogatin' me, ye willnae come lookin' for me again, correct?"
"We'll leave ye be," Eilidh said, already leading him to the door, apparently set on walking him back to his bedroom.
As the two of them left the study, Marcus looked over his shoulder and said, "Ye'll want to look at the ledgers again. There's money missin', and I couldnae find where it went."
Marcus was out of the study before Hugh could askwhyhe'd been going through the ledgers. Hugh was aware of the misplacement of money; he'd spent nearly an hour this morning checking it over and over. His little brother had no business reading these documents.
I may have left them out, though. I daenae ken if I put it away or nae. Either way… he shouldnae have been lookin' through them.
With suspicion hanging heavy on his shoulders, Hugh sat down. He'd get to work on the ledger while he figured out what to do about his brother.
"Ye seem a bit distracted, me Lady," Emelia said as she walked with Anna to her chambers. "Are ye feelin' well? Ye were out of the castle all day. I'm sure ye're exhausted."
Anna sighed and admitted, "Yes, I am a bit exhausted. It was… Well, I feel as though I did so much more than just ride into the village today."
"They're a lively bunch," Emelia agreed, leading Anna into her room. "And Marcus did seem a wee bit… off. As if he were more in his head than he normally is."
"Yes, I imagine that's an apt description," Anna said. "It's not my place to share what he's going through, but the trip was much harder on him than it was on me."
Emelia hummed in response, glancing around the quarters. "I'm sure he'll be all right. And it's kind of ye to be worried about him, but yer job is to take care of yerself. Perhaps ye'd like a bath?"
Anna considered that for a moment. Shewascovered in dirt from the road. Her hair had become wild without the ribbon to hold it in place. Even though she felt as if she should be doing something more to help Marcus, her presence likely wouldn't have the desired effect. Emelia was right. Anna needed to focus on caring for herself for the time being.
"A bath would be nice," Anna said finally. "I'd like to be clean for dinner later."
"I'll call for a tub and hot water, then," Emelia said, slipping back into the corridor.
Anna settled on the chair near the low-burning fire. She hadn't realized how biting the wind had been on the way back to the castle. Her mind had been too focused on what Marcus had witnessed due to her encouragement. Now, as she tried to rub the chill from her hands, she became acutely aware of how deeply she needed gowns that insulated her against the cold.
"The tub will be up shortly, me Lady," Emelia said, announcing her reentry to the room. "And I was given this. It seems that Laird McDonald forgot that he had it with him."
When Anna looked at the maid's hands, her entire body felt lighter. The hand-sewn rabbit was cradled in her palms, being treated with the reverence that the toy deserved. She stood, reaching out to bring it against her chest.
"I can't believe I nearly forgot about this," Anna murmured, looking down at the rabbit. "With everything that happened in the village, asking for it back slipped my mind."
"Did someone give it to ye, then?"
"Yes," Anna said as she crossed to her bed, putting the animal on her pillows. "A little girl. She was so sweet. When she gave it to me, it finally felt real that I was Lady McDonald. I didn't feel as if I were playing pretend anymore."
"Ye were never playin' pretend," Emelia said fondly. "We've liked ye since ye got here. We've never thought ye were pretendin'. Since we met ye, we kent that ye were our Lady. Even if ye didnae feel it yet."
Anna felt tears of gratitude threaten to collect. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, the profound knowledge that she'd found somewhere to belong settling over her. Softly, she said, "I know. It's just taken me longer to realize it."
The crackle of the fire filled the quiet that came after. It seemed that Emelia sensed the gravity of Anna's thoughts. This silence was necessary, the time for acceptance of her role and the welcoming of the confidence that would come with it.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on Anna's door. Two servants carried in the tub, fragrant, hot water sloshing around inside. They lowered it to the stone floor as a third servant, another maid, came in with a flannel.
"Come now, me Lady," Emelia said encouragingly. "Let's wash the day off of ye."
As Anna was carefully undressed, she didn't feel the desire to hide her body from the thinner women helping her. Instead, she held herself tall, allowing the help that was being offered with grace. Perhaps the counseling she gave hadn't resulted in a loving reunion, but it had resulted in the truth coming out.
