“I will come out later, after I’ve seen to all but the kitchen door, aye?”
She ducked her head, smiling, “If you like. I was told—you dislike going there.”
“Ah, Cousin Amy is stirring rumors again.” He made a sour face. “Use the side door past the kitchen, but take care not to wake Cook, who sleeps in a side room. She is a good cook, but disagreeable if disturbed. Follow the path straight back. If you veer left, you might get lost in the oakwood. We would not want that. Straight ahead, and you will see the Remembrance.”
“Thank you. I was hoping to see it in moonlight.”
“You are a romantic, Mrs. Blackburn.” He wanted to see it in moonlight too, with her. More, he did not like the thought of her wandering out there alone, turning an ankle on wet grass or getting lost in mist. It could be a spooky place. “You may want to bring a lamp. The path is overgrown with roots in some places. But the view at night is well worth it.”
“As Scott said, ‘If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright…’”
“‘Go visit it by the pale moonlight,’” he finished.
She laughed, pleased, and crossed the room. He admired the sway of her skirt, then stepped ahead to open the door, holding it open above her head.
He wiggled his fingers in farewell. “Watch out for wildcats.”
She paused to stare at him. “Wildcats?”
“We see them occasionally. Sometimes they perch in the trees, though not too close to the house. Luckily, the wolves that once harried this place are extinct now.”
That was heartless, he knew, but he could not resist teasing her a little. She was so very serious and so very appealing.
“Wolves? Oh!” She bit her lip. “Perhaps I should take a lantern, after all.”
“Stubborn bit lass,” he muttered. “Look here, Mrs. Blackburn. I do not want you wandering about in the dark alone in an unfamiliar place.”
“I will be fine.”
“I am a trustworthy escort, though you might doubt it.” He cleared his throat.
“I know,” she said quickly. “I only thought that we should not be seen together so late, walking alone in a—a romantic setting.”
He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb. “Everyone is asleep but you and I. It would be our secret. We already have one or two between us,” he added.
“We do,” she said. “And we do not need another one.”
“Fair enough,” he murmured. “But I will come out to bring you back safely.”
“Fair enough.”
He picked up a small oil lamp from a table and handed it to her, then held the door open as she walked under his raised arm.
Chapter Twelve
Walking through softmoonlit beams, Christina saw the monument at the far end of the path and headed toward it. Slender, roofless arches rose upward to create a magical silhouette, and thick, flowering hedges of sweet briar grew to either side of the path. The blossoms, spare now, gave off an apple-like fragrance.
Rosa eglanteria,the true wild rose, grew in abundance at Dundrennan, she had noticed. Its dense, lovely briars, so fitting to this place and its legend, surrounded the medieval monument, and also cushioned the foundation of the house.
She had an odd sense that she was not alone, and turned, expecting to see Aedan. But the path was empty. Hearing again a faint rustle of movement, she paused. Nothing.
Had Aedan been serious about wildcats? They did roam parts of the Highlands. She looked around nervously, wishing she had accepted his escort after all. Picking up her pace, she walked toward the soaring Gothic ruin.
Emerging from a wild, magical tangle of sweet briar, ivy, and moss, the ruined arches of the Remembrance rose into the night sky. The pillars and broken arches had once been part of an arcade forming a simple cloister, perhaps attached to a small chapel long ago. At the center lay an open grassy area.
Christina passed beneath the most intact of the arches and entered the grassy atrium. At one end stood a rectangular blocklike the plinth of a tomb. The monument was silent, mysterious, a place of moonlit stones and inky shadows.
A chill went through her, and she felt again as if she were not alone, felt as if someone, or something, watched her—or watched over her. The feeling was not threatening or fearful, but distinctly there all the same, peaceful and almost magical. She turned slowly to take in its beauty.
