“Odd that you didn’t mention your moral objections when I offered to rescue you from the hangman’s noose.” Diantha pressed a palm against her mouth for fear she would scream, or gasp. That soft contemptuous voice belonged to Barclay.
Hardly daring to breathe, she strained to hear more.
“ ‘Tis no’ murder to rid yourself of a cheatin’ wife. But to slide a dirk into a man what’s always spoke polite to me is. I want more money for it. You’ll have enough after you kill his lordship!”
Something scraped against the floor. She guessed it was a chair, for footsteps sounded inside the room. Diantha gathered her skirts to run.
A long sigh sounded. “I should have known better than to set a nincompoop like you to guard him, even for a few days.” Barclay’s voice became reflective. “The thing is, in order to get the money, I’ll have to get rid of my cousin’s wife as well, because she’ll inherit before I do.”
He paused. “What are you willing to do for more cash?”
Diantha did not wait to hear more. Terrified, she inched back in the direction she had come, afraid a heavy breath or a rustle of her skirts would cause Barclay and his henchman to look out of the office.
She had to save Kieran, but had no idea how to do so by herself. If she simply reported the conversation she had overheard to the local authorities, Barclay could charm his way out of an arrest.
She needed advice from someone who knew Barclay and Duncarie, someone loyal to Kieran. Hoping she did not look like someone scared out of her wits, she made her way to the entry hall and out the front door. Going around the side of the house, she headed straight for the stables.
As she hoped, she found Archie Green in the stable yard. Drawing him out to a paddock on the pretext of wanting to discuss Dancer, she repeated in a low voice the conversation she had overheard between Barclay and his henchman. They stood by the fence, careful to watch for anyone who might linger and overhear them.
The ghillie nodded, eyes seemingly focused on a mare frolicking with her colt. “I think you should leave the house before he can do you any harm, my lady.”
Her heart leaped at the thought of getting away from Barclay. She frowned as she considered the idea closely, though. “Where can I go where he won’t find me? Ulladale is small; he’ll find me there in no time. And what about his lordship’s mother? I can’t just desert her.”
Archie’s massive eyebrows furrowed as he considered her points. “I’m no’ sure Barclay thinks of her as a threat. And once I moot word of this into a few trusted ears, we’ll find his lordship afore that yellow git knows what we’re about.”
He straightened. “Hie yourself to my cottage. The wife and I can keep you there for a few dayswhile I have a look round. But you’ll have to walk. Folks will notice you on horseback.”
Pushing away from the fence, he tugged a forelock as though she’d just given an order. “You’d better haste.”
He was right. She needed a walking dress, not the silk gown she wore right now.
She half-expected Barclay or his manservant to pounce on her when she returned to the house. However, escaping proved to be only a matter of asking Florette to assist her in changing into a serge walking suit and sturdy shoes. Disclosing her plans to the maid, Diantha urged her to find a safe place to hide from the two men as well.
The older woman nodded as she shook her head over the grass-stained hem of the silk gown. “I think MacAdam will help me.”
Despite the seriousness of her situation, Diantha raised an eyebrow at her servant. “Oh?”
Florette looked up innocently. “He speaks Frenchverywell, milady.” Only the tiniest of smirks ruined her poise.
Diantha slipped out a side door without the least trouble and set out across the valley.
Tea time found her sitting down to bread and butter across from Lily Green, a short bustling woman who accepted Lady Rossburn’s appearance at her front door without turning a hair.
Their son’s wife Nan joined them, on Lily’s recommendation. A sturdy fair-haired young woman, Nan’s steady nature fit in well with her in-laws. She ruled her brood of small Greens with affectionate despotism, from Wee Archie, a nine-year-oldversion of his grandfather, down to ten-month-old Baby Andrew.
When Archie and his son arrived after dinner, they brought no news of Kieran, but assured Diantha that eyes and ears in the house and on the estate were searching for him.
Archie chuckled. “The household had a bit of fuss when your ladyship didna appear for dinner. That Frenchie of yours nearly got thatcailleachIona to send out search parties before Barclay could stop her. The man looked flat panicked, I tell you.”
She took what comfort she could from the news. But when she crawled into the bed Lily devised under the eaves of the cottage, she prayed that Kieran was still alive, and would be found before Barclay could hurt him.
Chapter 16
The next morning dragged by as she tried to help Lily with the unfamiliar tasks of housekeeping. The small woman demonstrated great patience at Diantha’s clumsy efforts, although she chose to prepare the meals without assistance.
Lily did permit her to help with the washing up, a procedure which caused Diantha to make a mental note to increase wages for the scullery maids.
They had just put away the clean dishes after the midday meal when Nan rushed into the cottage, holding her baby. “Master Barclay is coming with that bully boy of his.” Although pale, Nan spoke calmly. “I’ll collect the bairns.” She hurried out again, calling her children.
