The force of the man’s accusation was like a lance clearing a path through the room in the direction he pointed until it landed on Isabel.
Isabel glared back at them with defiance in her eyes.
Finn should have known she would alert her cousin, George Sinclair, to the opportunity presented by the earl’s poisoning and likely death. But taking advantage of the tragedy, bad as that was, did not mean Isabel played a role in the actual murders.
“He lies to cover his own dark deeds,” Isabel said. “He admits to betraying his laird for a coin, but the gold he took was for poisoning him!”
“This man speaks the truth. Isabel is the murderer!” Margaret’s voice rang out from behind him. “After I found henbane in the chest in Isabel’s chamber, she tried to murder me as well.”
Finn spun around to find Margaret on her feet, clutching the blanket. Despite her wet, bedraggled gown and the blanket clutched around her shoulders, she looked like a breathtaking avenging angel.
“She poisoned the peat in my brazier,” Margaret said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “When I escaped before the fumes killed me, she followed me and pushed me into the enclosed sea cave where Finn found me.”
After she finished speaking, Margaret’s burst of strength was gone, and she seemed on the verge of collapsing. Finn wrapped his arms around her and stared at Isabel over the top of Margaret’s head. Despite Isabel’s past cruelties, constant barbs, and smoldering resentment, he never thought her capable of murder. By now, she would have removed the henbane from her chest and the poisoned peat from the brazier. With no proof, would the others take Margaret’s word over Isabel’s?
In the silence that followed, Gilbert emerged from the stairwell, leaning heavily on a cane. His face was deathly pale, and his hand shook, rattling the cane against the floor as he crossed the room to Isabel. Obviously shaken by the accusation against his wife, the ill man was coming to his wife’s defense. Or so Finn thought.
“What have ye done, woman?” Gilbert said, standing before her.
“I did what needed to be done,” Isabel said. “I did what you weren’t man enough to do.”
“Nay,” Gilbert said, shaking his head. “This cannot be.”
“I did it for our son. Bearach was meant to be an earl.” Her black eyes glowed as she spoke. “Only three stood between him and the great earldom of Sutherland. I was patient. I bided my time for years. And when the opportunity came, I struck.”
“My God, ye poisoned my brother and Helen?” Gilbert said, staggering backward.
“Ach, your high and mighty brother, always lording his wealth and status over us,” she said. “He thought he was so clever, having Duffus murdered to eliminate his claim. Never occurred to him that with Duffus dead, all I had to do to clear the way for Bearach was to rid us of him and Alex.”
Finn could not take it in. Isabel had murdered his aunt and uncle—and tried to kill Alex?
“I knew ye were spiteful, but I didn’t want to believe ye were capable of such evil,” Gilbert said. “God forgive me, I should have thrown ye out years ago instead of sending Finn away.”
“You disgust me. You’re a weak and pathetic man, not like my cousin George,” Isabel said. “We planned it all together. He promised the Sinclairs would fight to support Bearach’s claim once the deed was done.”
“And what did ye gain by it?” Gilbert said. “Our son is dead at your hands. Dead!”
His words transformed Isabel’s defiance to grief, and she sank to her knees.
“Bearach was supposed to be safe at Girnigoe,” she wailed, holding her head. “I did not mean to kill him. Not Bearach. Not him. Not my precious son.”
A horrified silence filled the room.
“An earl has been murdered. Only the Crown can decide her guilt,” Margaret whispered in Finn’s ear. “Without her as a witness, men who seek an advantage from the earl’s death are bound to make false accusations against their rivals.”
“And Isabel is the only one who can point a finger at George Sinclair,” Finn said.
“Death to her! Death to her!” men suddenly began shouting, and several of the Gordon guards surrounded Isabel, who was still slumped on her knees on the floor.
Finn leaped in front of Isabel.
“We shall have justice, but not like this,” he said. “She must be sent to Edinburgh and tried for her crimes.”
CHAPTER 32
While Isabel was taken away and locked in one of the storerooms, Finn sent someone to fetch Una and Ella. Margaret, the stubborn woman, refused to let him carry her upstairs to bed until Una and Ella arrived and she had held her daughter in her arms.
Una took over then, sending for hot water and checking Margaret for injuries over her objections that she was fine.
