She turned over again and determinedly closed her eyes, but it was no good. Sleep was not going to arrive any time soon. She sighed, then got out of bed and wrapped a blanket around herself and went outside to stand in the garden.
There was a half moon, and although it was absolutely freezing, she enjoyed standing there watching the cold light touching the houses, trees, and fields below. In the daytime the view from the house was spectacular, with green rock-strewn fields tumbling down to the burn that was dotted with comical black-faced sheep and the strangely menacing Highland cattle.
The bright pink of the heather was still very much in evidence, although it would fade in the coming months to become a somber brown. Tonight, however, she could see none of that, just a patchwork of black and gray illuminated here and there by moonshine.
Presently, one of their little complement of guards came around the house and walked up to her. Theirs was not a big enough property to warrant a big complement of armed men, but they had six trusted guards, all war-hardened veterans who had been with the family for years.
Alec was a small, burly man with a scar on his left cheek made by the slash of an English dagger. However, that man had paid with his life at the end of Alec’s sword.
He had been with them ever since the end of the last war against the English, when the peace treaty was signed. There was a tentative peace now, but no one knew how long it would last, which was why the presence of a new English laird was so disturbing.
“Are ye well, mistress?” Alec Dougan asked, frowning. “Ye will catch yer death o’ cold oot here. Away back inside again.” His round, homely face looked worried.
She smiled at him. “Do not fret over me, Alec,” she said pleasantly. “I could not sleep, and I am much stronger than I look!”
“Aye, but it is my job tae look after ye, mistress,” he said fondly. “I have known ye since ye were a wee lassie.”
“Ye have indeed, my friend,” Emilia agreed. “And you are part of our family.”
He smiled his gap-toothed smile at her. “Cannae sleep, mistress?” he asked. “Are ye worried aboot something?”
Emilia sighed. “Yes,” she admitted. “I met the new Laird today—at least I think he is the new Laird—and I must tell you he is one of the most unpleasant characters I have ever met. He is prideful and selfish, and he seems to think that we are all inferior to him. I do not like him one bit.”
“The wife and me were doon in the village today and heard aboot him.” Alec sighed and shook his head. “The workers at the castle already hate him, an’ being a Sassenach doesnae help. I wouldnae like to be in his shoes!”
They stood for a while in comfortable silence, the way old friends do, then Emilia yawned. She put her hand on Alec’s shoulder and smiled at him.
“Thank you, Alec,” she said warmly. “It is good to talk to you. You are such a good friend.”
“An’ I always will be, mistress. And if ye ever need tae talk again, come tae Alec. Whatever ye say will stay between the two of us.”
Emilia smiled widely and hugged him. “I do not deserve you,” she whispered, and went back to bed, leaving Alec with a warm glow inside. Emilia was the daughter he had never had.
Strangely, Emilia fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, and oddly enough, although she only had a few hours’ rest, she felt as refreshed as she would have with a longer sleep. Unburdening herself to a friend about her worries had definitely helped, but she had not brought up the subject uppermost in her mind: how attracted she was to the overbearing, boastful, self-centered creature who was also the most handsome man she had ever seen.
She rose to the sound of voices coming from the parlor across from her bedroom. One was her mother’s and the other sounded like Father Gordon.
Emilia entered the room, smiling widely, and kissed her mother.
“Good morning, Father,” she said pleasantly, though puzzled. “To what do we owe the honor of your visit so early in the morning?”
Father Gordon looked grave. “Emilia,” he sighed. “I came on a very serious matter, and perhaps you are the only one who can help.”
Emilia helped herself to a tankard of ale and frowned, mystified. “Me? I am just a simple girl, Father. I do not understand how I can help.”
Father Gordon stood up and began to pace the room. “I have met Adam Cameron, who is possibly going to be our new Inverinch Laird,” he said heavily. “I am not impressed. In fact, I am very troubled.”
Emilia forced herself to stay quiet while the priest went on.
“We had a long talk, during which I warned him about Robert McElwee.” He became angry and was clenching his fists. “Then, just at the worst moment, the man himself came to visit. I told Adam to stay inside—in fact, I told him very forcefully—but he ignored me, and I saw them having a long conversation. It seemed that McElwee had put a proposition to him, and I think he was giving it some consideration. I told him about some of McElwee’s evil deeds but I do not know if he believed me.”
Agnes shuddered. “If ever a man was a fiend in human shape it is he.” Her voice throbbed with loathing. “If he becomes Laird here then God help us, that is all I can say. No woman will be safe. He will ruin the crops and slaughter all our livestock.”
“He would steal the chalices and candlesticks from the church had I not already sold them,” Father Gordon said angrily. The valuable objects from the church had all gone to buy food, despite protests from the Bishop.
“I have met him. Adam Cameron, I mean,” Emilia said heavily, surprising them all. “I was riding on the road that borders McLeod’s farm when I met him coming the other way. I found him to be very arrogant, probably because he is a very handsome man. But looks are nothing, and I would not trust him to look after a pet dog, never mind a village of fifty families. He seems completely self-centered to me, or at least those were my impressions. I may be wrong.”
“You are not wrong,” Father Gordon said angrily. “Word travels fast around the village and I have just heard about what he said to the staff at the castle yesterday. He told them he wanted respect, demanded it. They are all furious and I do not blame them.”
