Page 58 of Highlander’s Mercenary Lass

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"Do what? What letter from Mother?"

With no warning at all, Aileen had appeared.

Grace's heart leaped up into her mouth. There, in front of them, was the capricious little tomboy. Evidently, she had sprung from behind the door where she had been listening in. Grace, who had no idea she was there, gasped for breath.

"Aileen!" sighed Fiona, at the sight of her younger sister. Without troubling to knock, Aileen burst in, taking up position beside Fiona on the window seat.

"Ye have a letter from Mother? Tell me! I want tae see it!"

Aileen's face lit up like a flame, her shining blue eyes dancing impetuously.

"Nay," Fiona said calmly. "That is nae what I said, an' anyway, ye shouldnae be listening at doors!"

Aileen pulled a face and sat in front of her, resolute. "It is what ye said! Ye mentioned a letter from Mother. I want tae see it, Fiona. Ye ken I barely kent her!"

Aileen's blue eyes shined with tears, but rather than spill them, she blinked them away. Now she was staring intently at Fiona.

"It's nae what ye think, an' anyway, shouldnae ye be riding wi' Lissie? She's waiting for ye tae take her out," said Fiona, trying to deflect her attention away.

Aileen was having none of it. Drawing her lips into a line, she sat implacably in front of them, unmoving.

"I'm nae going anywhere until ye tell me what's going on," she said, point-blank.

Fiona glanced at Grace. "If it's about Mother, I want tae ken."

Grace glanced sideways at the resolute young lass. The determination burned in her eyes, and Grace understood it well. Like her, Aileen and Lissie had not known their mothers. And Grace knew how that felt. Even after being in the Duncan castle a week, she still knew nothing about the woman who had given birth to her.

"Ye may as well tell her," said Grace, with a grudging admiration for Aileen playing around her lips. The girl wasn't going to give up, and why should she?

Fiona just sighed.

"Alright," she conceded. "But there's nothing ye can do."

Fiona looked to Grace.

"We need to find some letters that yer mother wrote," explained Grace, coming to sit next to Aileen. It was cozy on the window seat, with the three of them squashed upon it.

"Letters that Paton has got in his possession," said Fiona. Then she turned briskly to Grace.

"But I thought they'd all been burned in the fire," said Aileen, her blue eyes pulling together in a frown.

"That's what we thought," said Fiona.

Grace could tell that she didn't really want to discuss this with Aileen, but as usual, the little chit wasn't giving her much choice.

"Wait, so Paton has been keeping all of Mother’s letters?" said Aileen, her blue eyes flickering searchingly between the two of them.

Fiona bit her lip, then nodded. "Well, maybe," she said. "We dinnae ken." She turned her face to Grace. "Grace here thinks she saw one, but...well, I dinnae believe it is true."

There was a pause. Grace wondered if Fiona was going to reveal to Aileen just what the letter had said, but it seemed like she wasn't. For a moment, Grace held her breath, thinking, perhaps, she should say something. But then she hesitated. She was still new to this family, and maybe it wasn't her judgment to make.

Aileen had jumped up, excited. "Well, we need tae ask him then!" she said. The lass began gathering up her skirts as if about to make a dash out of the chamber to do just that.

Fiona placed a hand on her shoulder swiftly.

"Nay," she said. "That's the last thing we want tae do."