Page 89 of The Midnight Secret

‘I thought that by taking something that was valuable to him and hiding it, it might give me something to barter with, if things took a bad turn again.’

Her words settled like stones in the room:a bad turn again.

‘And did they?’ the earl enquired, looking concerned.

‘...Aye.’ She saw a flash of alarm pass over Archie’s features.

‘Can you elaborate?’

‘I’d rather not, sir,’ she said stiffly. It was none of their concern what Frank had done to her or the lengths to which she’d had to go to escape him. They didn’t need to know that she had suffered his mouth and hands upon her as she’d plied him with whisky – bought with the shillings the earl himself had given her for guiding him around the isle – until he had all but passed out. They didn’t need to know she had tied him up with ropes but left him with a knife to free himself, and enough food and water to tide him over till theHarebelldropped anchor. They didn’t need to know that the horn had been her final bargaining chip if all this had failed – and it so nearly had, for somehow he had got himself free.

‘...But I can tell you he became very agitated when he saw it was gone. He started scouring the hills, saying he had to do inventory checks for you’ – she looked at MacLeod – ‘and make sure all the cleits were empty.’

‘I never requested such a thing,’ MacLeod protested.

‘No. Only I knew what he was looking for – I just didn’t know why it mattered so much.’

There was a long silence as they absorbed the revelations.

‘So, in effect, you took the horn as an insurance policy?’ the earl said.

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know what that means, sir.’

‘Your actions suggest you felt a strong element of threat from Mr Mathieson.’

She jutted her chin up, but passed no further comment. She had said all she had to say on the matter.

He watched her thoughtfully. ‘Thinking back to our time on the island, I do recall Mathieson being brusque with you. Certainly rude...intimidating, even.’

MacLeod cleared his throat. ‘You know, I’ve since heardfrom some of the island men that he had been inflating the rents and keeping the extra for himself.’

‘Really?’ The earl arched an eyebrow with mild interest and great disdain.

‘And now we hear he’d been threatening the women too,’ MacLeod mumbled. ‘Dear God, with every new report the man somehow confounds my low estimations.’ He shook his head. ‘I ought to have trusted my instincts and fired the fellow years ago.’

Archie took a deep, pondering breath, looking troubled by the revelations. It was more than she had shared with him beforehand. ‘Well, all that really matters now is that we know the Mor horn is safe.’

MacLeod gathered himself. ‘Yes, yes. It’s all that really matters.’ He looked at Effie. ‘Miss Gillies, do you remember where you hid the horn?’

‘Of course, sir.’

She watched as MacLeod and the earl swapped looks again. Slight smiles gradually flickered into life on both of their faces, as if they were somehow hatching a plan in silence. Old friends, able to communicate without words.

MacLeod shrugged. ‘Well, it might be rather fitting to go back one last time,’ he said in reply to an unspoken suggestion. ‘Ink the deal, so to speak.’

Archie narrowed his eyes. ‘...Deal?’

The earl smiled. ‘John has sold the archipelago to me. We agreed it over lunch yesterday.’

Effie’s eyes widened as she looked between them. ‘You’ve soldSt Kilda, sir?’

‘Well, it’s not much use to me now, with only sheep living on it,’ MacLeod replied. ‘And this old boy is so very keen on his birds. He’s got a grand plan for designating it as somesort of safe haven for seabirds.’ He shrugged, as if it made no sense to him. ‘But I suppose we could have some sort of official handing-over ceremony. Kill two birds with one stone, eh?’

The earl looked amused. ‘I’m not sure that’s quite the phrase I’d use in this instance, John.’ He looked over at Effie again, pausing for several moments before he spoke. ‘Miss Gillies, you’ve done a very gracious thing, coming here today with this news. I know that it can’t have been easy,’ he added.

Effie swallowed at the admission. ‘I’d have come sooner had I known what it was I’d found, sir.’

‘You’ll be rewarded, of course,’ MacLeod said quickly.

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