Yes, and he would surely have known all about that, wouldn’t he?Margaret thought bitterly.Since he was the one who slipped them the vile stuff that caused them to sleep so deeply.
“You have done the right thing by coming forward,” she told Ainsley. “That was very brave of you indeed. You have confirmed many of my suspicions.”
“Oh, but I could not possibly tell anyone else!” the scullery girl insisted. “I came to you because I trust you and because you have been so very good to me ever since I began working here. I needed to unburden myself of this terrible secret. But no one else must know! Seamus is still my master, and I must not lose my position here!”
“There are those above even Seamus,” Margaret pointed out.
Ainsley scoffed tearfully. “You mean the laird? Only why would he believe such a silly tale, and from a scullery girl, against the word of his own beloved brother? He would have my tongue cut out for spreading lies, even though I speak the truth!”
Given her own recent experiences, Margaret supposed she could not exactly blame Ainsley for fearing such a fate. “Allow me to think it over,” Margaret told her. “Surely, there must be something to be done.”
“But what will you do?” Ainsley asked. “The wedding is tomorrow! How can you hope to stop it?”
In truth, Margaret had no idea.
She spent the next two hours considering what Ainsley had told her from every angle, trying to determine the best way to use such information. Still, she could think of nothing. The scullery girl had been correct in saying that her story strained the bounds of credulity, especially when weighed against Laird Malcolm’s love for his brother.
The hour grew steadily later. Soon, it would be daybreak again, and almost certainly too late to affect the outcome of the planned ceremony.
I am just a damned maid, Margaret cursed herself,and I have not even been one for very long. I simply do not have the sort of mind it would take to untangle this knot. Brodie might, aye, but can I truly risk a visit to his chambers? What if I am seen? Then it will surely not matter what story I’ve heard from Ainsley, for I will be discredited utterly and no doubt punished severely.
But the harder she thought, the more she was convinced that it was her only option. And she would have to seize it, despite the awful risks involved.
