She wasn’t yet ready to tell her sister what had happened between her and Adair. No doubt she would receive a lecture, and then Elize, being as protective as she was, would no doubt march up to Adair and warn him against taking such liberties with her ever again.
What was she thinking? Elize could not be dissuaded.
“Ye’re being defensive.” Her sister gave a teasing smile and turned toward her. “Ye did somethin’ that ye cannae tell me about.”
Emily went back to bed. If her sister was not going to let her style her hair, she would not bother. “I daenae ken what ye’re talking about.”
“I ken ye, Em.” Elize rose to her feet, seemingly no longer caring about her hair. “Ye might nae tell me now. Hell, ye might never tell me the truth, but I promise ye I will find out.”
Emily felt the threat in the base of her spine. Her sister always kept her promises.
She forced a smile and said, “There’s nothin’ to find out.”
Isla rose from her seat when a loud knock sounded at her door, disturbing her afternoon peace. She turned away from the view of the moors and padded across the room.
She opened the door to find a maid she’d left behind at Scott Castle. Beside her stood Mrs. Donnelly, watching her distastefully.
“Celia,” she gasped. “What brings ye here?”
“Forgive me rudeness, me Lady,” Celia said to her feet, before rising from her curtsy. “But I only came because of the urgency of the situation. It is about Duncan.”
Isla recognized the name. Duncan Morgress was her father’s retired man-at-arms. Age had bound him to his bed, and she had not had the opportunity to bid him goodbye before she left.
“I ken the man wasnae well before me departure. What has come of him?”
“He has summoned ye, me Lady. He says it’s of the utmost importance that he speaks to ye. I daenae believe he might live to see another sunrise.”
Isla clapped a hand over her mouth. She was not close to the man, but the thought of death taking away a person she knew was unsettling, especially one who had chosen to say his last words to her.
“Mrs. Donnelly…” Mrs. Donnelly, ever alert, looked away from the maid. “Fetch me maid. Let her ken I would like to departimmediately.”
Isla was bundled and ready sooner than she had expected.
As the coachman handed her into the carriage, she looked back at the castle. She should inform Laird MacDonnell of her departure, even if it was temporary. She was his guest, and therefore his responsibility. Courtesy demanded it.
Mrs. Donnelly, who stood politely nearby, raised concerned brows at her.
“Where is the Laird at the moment?”
“I daenae ken, me Lady. Last I saw him, he was in the training yard.”
Isla considered her options. She could leave immediately and have Mrs. Donnelly deliver an apology, or she could go find the Laird herself.
She looked out across the fields toward the village and imagined she could see up to Scott lands, where Duncan awaited her. She believed in her heart she could not waste a moment. She feared he would breathe his last while she went to the Laird and asked for his permission to leave unescorted.
She made her choice.
Just as she turned to give Mrs. Donnelly the orders, she spotted Callum crossing the lawn, a feathery ensemble wrapped around him. She rushed to him.
To say he was startled to see her running toward him would be an understatement. His eyes widened when she called out his name, and he hurried to meet her halfway.
Up until that moment, their conversations had been polite and carried out in appropriate tones. They had not formed afriendship where they could dash across a field toward one another.
When Isla reached him, she realized the feathers around him were actually from a dead bird.
“Daenae come closer than that.” She held out her hand, the bracelet he’d gifted her dangling from it, and her other hand over her face. She did not want to see anything that reminded her of death. “At least nae with the bird.”
Callum reluctantly relinquished the animal to the guard behind him. Only when it was out of sight did he approach her.
