“I wish I could answer that,” he replied; then he laid his head down on the pillow.
Exhaustion soon washed over Catherine, and her eyes began to flutter closed.
“I should go,” he whispered.
“Please don’t,” she blurted out. “It brings me comfort to know you are here. Please stay until I fall asleep.”
She was surprised when he nodded and brushed the hair away from her face.
The sound of his breathing soon lulled her into a deep slumber, filled with colorful dreams of the Highlands. She flew over valleys and mountains, then swooped down into a glen, over the rooftops of a stone cottage with a stable. There was a vegetable garden, and hens clucking nearby. She flew through the stable door, as if riding a fast gust of wind.
Hours later, she woke groggily, and Lachlan was gone. She sat up in a daze as the reality of her life settled into her consciousness.
It was safe to assume now that she was indeed Lady Catherine Montgomery, but she still did not have her memories back, nor did she know where she had been for the past five years, or why she was not a virgin.
Who had she been with, if not Angus?
Part of her did not want to know the answer to that question. She wished it would stay buried in the past.
When it came to her twin sister, however, she felt the opposite.
Of Raonaid, she wished to know everything.
Chapter Sixteen
Blue Waters Manor, south of Edinburgh
Same day
Raonaid was just finishing the afternoon milking when the stable door blew open and a strong wind stirred up the loose hay that was strewn across the floor. The hogs squealed and the chickens outside squawked and flapped their wings.
Heart suddenly racing, she stood up and knocked over the milking stool. “Who’s there?” Her gaze darted all around. “I know you’re in here!”
It was a presence she had felt all her life, even as a child, alone and frightened in bed. The spirit had never caused her harm, however, so Raonaid had learned to push the fear away. Over the past six months, however, the spirit had come more frequently and Raonaid sensed its agitation.
It blew around her in rapid circles, lifting strands of hay off the floor.
“Speak to me, ghost!” Raonaid said. “Why do you haunt me?”
I’m not a ghost.
Raonaid dashed forward with surprise, for it had never spoken to her before. She turned in circles and looked up at the rafters. “What are you, then?”
I’ll come for you.
Another fierce gust blew out the stable door, knocking it back on its hinges; then the air went still. The animals calmed and grew quiet.
A second later, the cow lifted her head and let out a raucous, shrieking,Mooo!
Panic like Raonaid had never known before welled up in her heart. She grabbed the bucket of milk and ran outside, slamming the door shut and lowering the bar. She ran past the vegetable garden to the house and burst through the back door. Setting the bucket down on the worktable, she hurried through the parlor to the stairs.
Murdoch was seated at his desk. He looked up from his papers. He was dressed in his kilt today, which was unusual. His dark hair was tied back in a leather cord.
“Raonaid!” he shouted.
She halted at the bottom of the stairs.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
