You’ve your father’s courage and loyalty to Clan Fraser, God rest him forever, and your own caring heart. With your mother’s fine beauty, you’re quite the lassie indeed. I only ask you to be wary around these redcoats. Never before has such a hateful scourge set upon our beloved Highlands. God be with you, Maddie.
Simon Fraser
Madeleine’s hands dropped into her lap. “Great-grandfather’s tunnel!” she said incredulously.
“Aye, he must have gotten clean away, otherwise we’d surely have heard the ruckus,” Glenis stated matter-of-factly. “I wonder how he managed to elude the guard downstairs, ‘tis all.” She shrugged, her wrinkled face breaking into a grin. “Och, they call him Simon the Fox with good reason,” she said, chuckling.
Madeleine would have joined in her laughter if she hadn’t been so astonished. She ripped the letter into small pieces after a final perusal and handed the bits to Glenis. “Will ye see that this is burned in the kitchen hearth? We dinna want to risk it falling into the wrong hands.”
“Aye, lass,” Glenis agreed, sobering.
Madeleine heaved a small sigh as she rose from the bed. “It seems there’s nothing more for me to do here. All’s well, Glenis, just as ye said.”
“Is it, Maddie?”
She looked down at Glenis, noting the anxious lines etched deeply into the old woman’s face. “Aye, as far as our Lord Lovat is concerned,” she answered gravely.
“I wasna referrin’ to Simon Fraser,” Glenis said softly. She met Madeleine’s eyes, but there was no judgment reflected in her perceptive gaze. “Was the captain gentle with ye, hinny?”
Startled, Madeleine felt a sudden rush of shame. She thought to deny it, but decided it made no difference, not now. “How did ye know?”
“I’ve raised ye since ye were a wee bairn, Maddie. There’s not much that escapes yer Glenis Simpson.” She stood up stiffly and cupped Madeleine’s chin. “Ye havna given him more than yer maidenhead, have ye? Yer heart, mayhap? I’d think ‘twould only make it harder for ye, caring for the man who’ll see ye to prison.”
“No! I dinna care for him! How could ye say such a thing, Glenis?” Madeleine exclaimed defensively. “I only went to his bed to protect Lord Lovat.” She bit her tongue, knowing that was half a lie, but she could not bear for Glenis to know the selfish truth.
“Have ye told him yet about Black Jack?”
“Aye, last night.”
Glenis sharply drew in her breath but said nothing, her dark eyes full of pain.
“He knows I will help him find the brigand, that’s all,” Madeleine continued carefully. “He doesna know ‘tis me, not yet. He’ll only discover that tonight, out on the moor.”
“But how—”
“Glenis, I dinna have the time to tell ye all the details right now,” she cut her off gently, clasping Glenis’s worn hands. “Later we’ll talk. Garrett is expecting to find me in his room, expecting to hear how I’m going to lead him to Black Jack. I must go.” She kissed her on the cheek, then abruptly turned and left the room.
Now ye must think only of what lies ahead, Madeleine told herself firmly, choking back the hard lump in her throat. She squared her slender shoulders as she walked determinedly down the hall.
First she had to explain to Garrett where he and his soldiers would find Black Jack, then she had to visit her kinsmen in Farraline. They had to know why they would not be riding with her tonight, why they would never ride for her cause again. And if Garrett asked her where she was going, she would simply tell him she had to take more of Glenis’s herbal medicine to the kinswoman who was in childbed.
She heard the clatter of china teacups on a tray and knew Garrett was already back in his room. She felt strangely calm, considering that she was about to sign her own death warrant.
Once Garrett knew where to find Black Jack, her fate was all but sealed.
Chapter 18
“No, Maddie! Ye winna ride by yerself!” Angus exclaimed heatedly, stamping about his large cottage. He halted abruptly and slammed his fist into the rough-hewn cupboard, rattling every cup and dish on the open shelves. “Damn those redcoats!” he shouted, striking it again. “Damn Hawley, Cumberland, Captain Garrett Marshall, the whole blasted lot of them to hell’s fire!”
Ewen reached out just in time to save the whiskey decanter, which was rocking precariously. “Will ye go easy, Angus?” he said with a heavy sigh. “Ye’ve already smashed one chair. We feel the same as ye do. Ye dinna have to wreck yer house to prove yer anger.”
Angus stared at his longtime friend with clenched fists, his heavy brows knit together, his feet planted in a defiant stance. His normally ruddy face was beet-red.
“Do ye truly feel the same as I, Ewen? Do ye believe Maddie shouldna ride alone?” he asked suspiciously. “Ye’ve the most to gain by staying home. Ye’ve yer family still under yer roof, yer fine son, Duncan, yer bonnie wife. I’ve only m’self now, my two sons dead at Culloden, my wife gone these past five years, my daughter moved to Duhallow with her husband. I’ve nothing to lose save my pride if I dinna ride with Maddie tonight!”
“Ye dare to question my loyalty to Maddie?” Ewen said darkly, rising from his chair. Though he was shorter by a head, his thick build more than made up for his slighter stature. He faced his kinsman squarely. “Aye, my family is dear to me, but not so dear I’d let Hugh Fraser’s daughter take the full blame and punishment for what we’ve done together.”
Duncan jumped up beside his father, his deep blue eyes flaring. “Are ye saying I’d cower at home, Angus, whilst Maddie faced the English?” He spat upon the floor. “I’d rather die by the hangman’s rope than let it be said in Strathherrick that Duncan Burke chose to hide from the redcoats rather than fight them.”
