“We would never hurt you in such a way, Isla,” Margaret insisted. “But when you told me that you planned to inform your father of our conversation…well, I was frightened that he would call me a liar and punish me, so I fled!”
“And took Brodie with ye?” Seamus asked skeptically.
“I did not wish to risk traveling alone,” Margaret said. “He was kind enough to accompany me.”
“To Morna’s, no doubt?” Seamus guessed. “Where is she now, then?”
“When last we saw her, she was in her cottage,” Brodie spoke up. “It was she who told us that we should return and explain ourselves so as not to cause further trouble. I do apologize for making you believe that I would shirk my responsibility to your daughter, sir. That was not my intention at all.”
Seamus peered at him intently. “Aye, perhaps it wasn’t. Even so, ‘twas most improper for ye to be traveling in another girl’s company without a chaperone. But at least ye have returned, and now we can endeavor to put the entire matter behind us as we make plans for the wedding. Margaret, I would have words with ye regarding a private matter.”
“That is for the best,” Brodie said, “as I must make a proper apology to my betrothed as well. Come, Isla.” He led her away.
Seamus gestured for Margaret to follow him to his study. She did, dreading the explosion of anger from him that she supposed she was about to endure.
However, when he closed the door and turned to her, his tone was surprisingly gentle. “Isla told me of the bottle ye found here in this room. She said ye suspected me of using it for an ill purpose?”
“I am so sorry, sir!” Margaret began. “I was upset and not thinking clearly. I believed that I had recognized the bottle and its contents from my childhood visits with Morna…”
He nodded. “Aye, and ye were quite correct in that, as it happens. And ye went to ask her about it, did ye not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And she confirmed that I had come to her and asked her for it, aye?”
Margaret felt a lump in her throat and swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“But she did not tell ye what I needed it for, did she?”
The maid shook her head.
Seamus chuckled softly. “No, she would not, for I did not tell her. In fact, what I am about to tell ye, I have not shared with anyone else. Despite yer behavior today, I believe ye to be a good girl overall, having known ye as long as ye’ve worked here. Therefore, I shall trust ye with my secret, as long as I have yer word that ye will not share it with anyone else. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she replied in a tiny voice.
“Good. The truth is, lass, I have not slept well of late. I have had a dreadfully difficult time finding slumber, and when I do, the dreams I endure are ghastly and make me wakeful again. Desperate for a solution, I sought out Morna and asked her to provide a soporific which I might take nightly, in order to find better rest. I told no one this, for I was concerned that people in general—and my brother in particular—might believe such a potion would dull my reflexes and rob me of my wits. Ye understand, don’t ye?”
“I do, yes. Thank you for confiding in me. I promise that your secret shall be safe with me, sir.”
He seemed pleased by her answer. “Very good, girl. Thank ye. In return, I’ll not discipline ye for fleeing the castle and causing us all to worry. Oh, and one last thing: the bottle. Do ye still have it?”
“No,” Margaret answered slowly. “I must have misplaced it in my haste to get to Morna’s house.”
Seamus nodded sagely. “Ah. Well, it’s probably for the best, eh? I should not be relying on such concoctions anyway. Ye may leave now, Margaret.”
As Margaret departed from Seamus’s study, Isla and Brodie walked the outer perimeter of the castle walls as he tried to make his apology.
“How could you just leave me like that?” she challenged. “You must have known I would assume you and she had run off together, especially after she spouted that outrageous pack of lies about my father!”
“I do apologize for upsetting you, truly,” Brodie told her, “but you must believe me when I tell you that the things Margaret told you were not lies!”
“Of course you would rush to her defense!” Isla balked. “Even now, you trust her more than you trust me!”
“I hardly see why you are so agitated!” he countered. “You did not even truly wish to marry me, remember?”
“Perhaps not, but I did not wish for you to fall in love with my maid either! And I certainly had no desire to be abandoned by you now that you have sullied my honor!”
Brodie grabbed her upper arms, shaking her. “But that’s just it! Do you not see? Your ‘honor’ may yet be intact if your father has not been truthful about his part in all of this! Think, woman! If Margaret lied about everything, then why would she return here? And do you not find it bizarre that neither of us remembers what happened prior to waking up in bed together?”
Isla frowned. “The cider…the whiskey…”
“We each had naught but a few small sips! Not nearly enough to rob us of our wits so thoroughly! You must consider the possibility that Margaret is telling the truth—about the bottle, about all of it! In which case, we would both still be free to marry whomever we choose instead of being forced to wed each other!”
Tantalizing thoughts of Andrew flickered across Isla’s mind, giving her pause. The whole thing did not sound completely illogical. Maybe this was her only chance.
“Still, we would need to find proof, one way or the other.”
Brodie nodded grimly. “Aye, we do.”
I just hope we will have enough time to find it, he thought.
