“I should no be surprised. You made yer choices known long ago. And either way, you have what you wanted, do you no? You’ll guarantee the perfect little Agneys will be at yer side now for all time.”
“Isa.” The laird extended his hand and started toward her, but she held up her hand as if to stop him.
“I canna do this now. I’ve a need to speak with Auld Annie. Is she still in the room off the kitchens?”
Randulf’s hand dropped to his side and he nodded his answer.
Isa turned, bumping into Robert in her haste to leave the room, her eyes filled with unshed tears as she pushed past him.
“My son Thomas chose his daughter’s guardian well.”
“Thank you.” Robert backed to the door, wanting only to follow the footsteps he could hear even now fading down the hallway.
“No. Thank you, MacQuarrie. For bringing my granddaughter back to me.”
“I can take no credit for that.” Robert dipped his head in Jamie’s direction. “It was the lad there who brought us both to you.”
“No.” The old man shook his head sadly. “I’m no speaking of yer physical presence here, lad. It’s yer bringing home the lass who left here eight years ago. The lass I thought was lost to the madness I’d driven her to.”
Before Robert could respond, the laird seemed to recover himself, his emotions once again masked.
“Know this, guardian, yer work is far from done here. I’ve a concern for Isabella’s safety. You’ve a need to stay close to her side while she’s here.”
“And I will, Laird MacGahan. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to do just that.”
At the doorway, Robert paused one last time, thinking to leave with some appropriate pleasantry, but any words he might have spoken fled from his mind. The vague familiarity he’d sensed earlier suddenly crystallized for him.
Jamie had risen to his feet to stand at the old laird’s side. Both the boy and Randulf had fixed their attention squarely on Robert.
Two identical piercing blue stares of expectation followed him as he took off after Isa.
Outside the room, Isa picked up her pace. Though she stopped herself just short of running, she couldn’t get far enough away fast enough to suit her.
This entire day had been sheer hell, from her inglorious dousing in the stream this morning to her meeting with the MacGahan laird just now. As if having to watch her grandfather wed a woman who had been the bane of her life growing up wasn’t going to be bad enough, having to face him stripped of the protection of her disguise certainly had been.
Perhaps she should have been thankful he hadn’t cringed in fear at seeing her. Though accusing her of looking exactly like her mother was hardly any better. It had taken every bit of her control to hang on to her emotions and avoid disaster.
She knew she should have kept to her disguise.
The tatters and the filth had encouraged people to keep their distance. They’d turned away, ignoring her as if she didn’t exist, secretly hoping that when they looked back she’d be gone. Without the disguise, she felt as if she were the center of curiosity, every head turning as she passed.
Slipping around the corner into the hallway behind the kitchens, she pulled up short to avoid running down a maid headed in her direction.
“Stop right there,” the young woman demanded, stepping in front of Isa. “Are you one of them tinklers? Master Roland warned us to be on our guard for the likes of you lest you steal everything not nailed down. Who let you into the castle anyway?”
Isa briefly considered claiming to be exactly that, but quickly decided such an assertion would likely get her tossed out on her ear faster than admitting to her own identity.
“I am no one of the tinklers.” Isa lifted her chin and glared at the maid. “I’m on my way to see Auld Annie.”
“Oh no.” Shaking her head, the maid again stepped in front of Isa as she attempted to go forward. “That’s no allowed for any but those who see to her care. Master Roland’s orders.”
“Master Roland’s orders, is it?” Isa asked, allowing the contempt she felt to color her words. “No that it’s any of yer business, but I’ve just left the company of the MacGahan himself, and I’m visiting Annie with his full knowledge and permission. Now, as I recall, the laird’s word overrides that of Master Roland, does it no?”
The young woman’s face wrinkled in her confusion. “I... I suppose. I can show you where—”
“I’ve no a need for yer help,” Isa interrupted, pushing past the maid. “I ken the way on my own.”
When Isa had lived at the castle, the room had been for little more than storage. But after the horrendous fire that had taken the life of Annie’s only daughter and nearly killed both her and Jamie as well, the laird had granted the old woman lodging in the castle itself. She’d chosen this room over any other because it kept her close to her beloved kitchens even though the burns to her hands and arms kept her from returning to her position as head cook.
