They didn’t move toward the tower steps that Gabriel had just taken, leading downstairs, but turned to the left and ducked through a cracked door. Another maidservant, her dark hair tinged with silver in the light of a lantern she held high, awaited them in a musty stairway that reminded Magdalene of the one at MacLachlan Castle, her heart starting to pound.
Och, no, were they taking her to the top of the tower? She remembered clambering up and down these steps as a child, but she had never ventured all the way to the roof.
To her immense relief, the women guided her downward to a lower floor and out through another door. Magdalene recognized the hallway at first glance as leading to the sumptuous bedchamber that her parents had once shared.
At least before Elspeth had gone mad from grief and Donal had moved her up to the smaller room, her father unable to bear looking upon the wretched lunatic that his wife had become. Such unhappy memories assailed Magdalene that she faltered, but the maidservants spurred her along with urgent whispers that they must hurry.
A moment later and all three of them ducked through a polished wooden door unlike the rough-hewn one upstairs, a thin, midnight-haired woman in a somber black gown rushing to greet them.
At once Magdalene noted her striking resemblance to Cameron and Conall, and she wondered if they might be related. She had heard through Sister Agnes that her brother had wed a Campbell, but she had never given another thought about it.
“Magdalene, come in, come in!”
If she had feared danger, Magdalene saw the same earnestness in Cora’s dark blue eyes as that of her maidservant, which made her lower her guard. She felt pity swamp her, too. Her brother’s wife, mayhap only a year or two older than herself, didn’t look well. Her face, though lovely, was gaunt and pale, her fingers bony and cold as she clasped Magdalene’s hand.
“We have only a few moments tae talk and then you must return tae your room. I’ve feared for you since your marriage—but I’m so pleased that I was wrong. When I saw you and your husband from my window—”
“You saw us?” Magdalene echoed, remembering the shared glance between her and Gabriel as he carried her into the fortress—even as Cora nodded.
“Aye, and you’re no more a lunatic than I’m the happiest of wives—och, Magdalene, forgive me for misjudging Laird MacLachlan. I thought him ruthless and cruel like my husband, and that he might hurt you. I should have known my two cousins wouldna follow such a man into battle or swear loyalty to him—”
“Cameron and Conall?”
“Aye, I saw them, too, and thank God they are both well and hearty. We played together as children, but I’ve not spoken tae them since they entered your father’s service—though the Campbells have long chafed under MacDougall rule and one day will rise up tae overpower them—”
“Cora, of what do you speak?” Magdalene interrupted, her mind spinning. “I-I dinna understand—”
“Och, you will! Seoras had Malcolm MacLachlan slain—and you must tell your husband. Aye, it looked an accident, but it was murder! Seoras sent one of his men to fell his horse and then he twisted him by the neck, killing him. Dinna ask me how I learned of it, but I know it’s true!”
Tears sprang to Cora’s eyes while Magdalene clasped her hands tightly, so stunned that she could but shake her head—wondering what Gabriel might do to learn such news.
“You must go now, Magdalene. They’ll be sending servants tae your room tae bathe and dress you before the feast. A celebration of your marriage, Seoras has claimed it—God forgive me, how Ihatehim!”
Now Cora began to weep silently, her narrow shoulders shaking. All Magdalene could think to do was enfold her in her arms and hold her, Cora’s tears soaking her gown.
“Someone must end this madness…end my suffering. Mayhap if heaven is kind, I’ll know love one day like you know love, Magdalene. In so brief a moment, I could see it in your eyes—in your husband’s eyes…”
“Aye, I love him,” she murmured, realizing then, too, that she hadn’t yet said those words to Gabriel. When would she see him again so she might have the chance?
“He will want proof…Laird MacLachlan,” Cora said as she lifted her head, her tear-stained face appearing even paler than before. “The man who killed his brother is named Tavish…he’s never far from Seoras’s side, one of his most trusted henchmen. Mayhap your husband can somehow lure him away—ah, go now, Magdalene!”
Cora pushed her away, not unkindly but as if in desperation, and gestured to the two women who waited in silence by the door.
“You can trust them, they’re Campbells, too. They came here with me when I married your brother—wretchedday!”
Now Cora fairly steered her by the elbow toward the door, though Magdalene grabbed her hand.
“I’m so sorry for your unhappiness, Cora, truly—”
“Yourhappiness has given me hope when I had none upon waking this morn—Magdalene, you mustna tarry! Your secret is safe with me, aye, it’s wise that Seoras believes you mad. He’ll not trouble himself with you, though I’ve heard him rage with jealousy of your husband. Malcolm’s murder? Your marriage? It’s all been part of Seoras’s plan. He wants tae be king, but he’ll never know such respect as Laird MacLachlan—och, if ever there was a chance tae thwart him, it’s in your husband’s hands! He must know of Seoras’s crime!”
Her heart in her throat, Magdalene nodded, though everything Cora had revealed made her mind race as she hurried out the door.
It seemed she had barely blinked and she was once again in her mother’s room, alone. The maidservants who had escorted her having no doubt returned to their mistress while Magdalene could but pace the floor.
Feeling sick and more apprehensive with each passing moment as she wondered when she would see Gabriel again to tell him what all she’d learned.
All because Cora had glimpsed from her window overlooking the bailey what Magdalene now feared others might have seen—heaven help her, she prayed not!
