Annie had never had her own chamber before and was surprised at how quickly she’d grown to enjoy the solitude that was otherwise difficult to find in a busy and crowded castle. With the servants, attendants, retainers, skilled laborers, and her brother’s garrison of soldiers—both Campbell and MacGregor—there were over fifty people living at Edinample Castle, and many more workers, merchants, and villagers coming in and out throughout the day.
It didn’t take long for her secluded corner in the garden to be invaded by two young serving girls gathering vegetables and herbs for the midday meal, forcing Annie from her hiding place.
She wiped her eyes, angry at herself for the loss of composure—both with Robbie and with Niall. She would be better prepared next time. If there was a next time. With any luck, Niall would disappear back into that dark mist that he’d emerged from, and Robbie…
Her heart squeezed. What was she going to do about Robbie?
She would have to talk to him tomorrow. Right now all she wanted to do was call for a tub of hot water, soak in it until the water turned cold, and then curl up in her bed for a nap that with any luck would last the rest of the day.
Unfortunately, the only entrance to the castle was through a small door tucked into the corner where the southeast circular tower and main tower house met. It was good for defense, but not, as it turned out, good for evading well-meaning relatives.
“There you are,” Elizabeth said, looking up from where she was seated with the baby and her maidservant in the great hall as Annie attempted to dart to the opposite tower where her third-story chamber was housed. “Alys and I were going to walk into the village later, and I wondered if you would watch…” Her voice dropped off as she scanned Annie’s face. “Oh my goodness, what happened? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Annie said automatically, forgetting how perceptive her sister by marriage could be.
Elizabeth Campbell might be quiet and reserved most of the time, but she watched and listened to people closely. Annie knew she had a stammer, and she suspected that was part of the reason.
As a result, all that Annie’s quick denial succeeded in doing was increase her scrutiny. Elizabeth—Lizzie, as she insisted Annie call her—took in the vestiges of puffy, red-rimmed eyes, mottled cheeks, and a nose that was raw from wiping. “You are not fine,” Lizzie said, standing up and handing the baby she’d been holding to the older woman seated beside her. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” Annie insisted, wanting to crawl under a rock with embarrassment. “Really. I just…” Her voice dropped off, trying to think of an explanation. “I was training, and I fell.”
It was sort of the truth.
And Lizzie sort of believed her. Or at least she chose to accept the explanation and not press.
Anticipating what Lizzie had been about to ask, Annie tried to change the subject. “I’d be happy to watch Iain later when you and Alys go into town.”
Annie smiled at the pretty older woman who, if anything, seemed even more perceptive than her former charge. Not for the first time, Annie caught Alys watching her with compassion in Alys’s gaze. But it wasn’t just compassion, it was…
Annie couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s all right. I can ask one of the serving girls—”
“Nonsense,” Annie insisted, meaning it. “I’d love to spend the time with my nephew.” It was just what she needed. Her nap could wait. Her bath could not. “Just let me get cleaned up, and I’ll take him.”
“If you are sure,” Lizzie said skeptically. “Iain does seem to cry less when he is with you. We won’t be long. Alys found some linens for the baby’s cradle in the village but couldn’t decide which color.”
Annie suspected the fabrics were an excuse to force Lizzie outside the castle where she’d been “cooped up,” as Alys told her, after the baby.
Annie hurried up to her room to call for the bath.
Not long after she emerged from the soothing waters—feeling much better—there was a knock on the door. Assuming it was one of the girls to take the tub away, she bid them enter.
She was surprised instead to see Alys.
Lizzie’s former nursemaid and now loyal attendant had come to Edinample with her husband, a captain in the Campbell guard. The former MacGregor castle had been part of Lizzie’s tocher, and Patrick had taken command on their marriage, but Jamie Campbell insisted that some of his guardsmen form the garrison.
Alys must be in her late thirties, but her light hair was still free of gray, and her classical features had a timeless beauty.
“Did I take too long?” Annie asked her. “I was just coming down to find you and Lizzie.”
Alys shook her head. “Nay, I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” Annie motioned for the older woman to sit on the chair before the brazier.
Annie sat opposite her on the edge of the bed while she finished dragging a comb through her still-damp hair. “What can I do for you?”
The other woman seemed uncomfortable, as if she didn’t know what to say or was actually reconsidering her presence there at all.
