Page 81 of The Midnight Secret

‘No. Just passing...I was returning Frank Mathieson’s belongings to the Laird.’ He looked back at Archie. ‘You’ll have heard about what happened to his factor?’

‘Yes; yes,’ Archie nodded. ‘Who hasn’t?’

Effie steadied herself, knowing she mustn’t react, although every mention of Frank Mathieson – even though he was dead – still made her heart leap like a salmon.

‘Well, he was – I suppose you’d say we were friends. He had no next of kin that I was aware of, so...’ Norman shrugged. ‘Returning his personal items to MacLeod seemed the next best thing to do.’

‘Very decent of you,’ Archie nodded. ‘I’m sure he appreciated that. The family’s been very cut up about it all. Terrible business.’

There was a brief silence as everyone ruminated on the unsolved murder.

‘Well, enjoy y’ climb. Effie’s the expert for sure.’ Norman tipped his head towards them, his gaze lingering on her ever so slightly, before he turned and continued up the path.

‘Huh,’ Archie murmured, watching him go. ‘What an extraordinary coincidence.’

‘Isn’t it?’ she agreed. She supposed Norman’s explanation made sense. He and Frank had been friends, or at least, the closest thing to one that either man had ever had, for they were both lone wolves.

And yet, he’d been in thelibrary...It still snagged in her brain.

Archie looked over at her. ‘Before I forget—’ Effie watched as he reached into the car and held out a brown paper bag. ‘For your father,’ he smiled. ‘Can’t have him going without.’

Her father had already wandered up the path to Old Fin’s, but she took the rhubarb with a smile; they had become a weekly habit too. ‘Thank you. I’ll put them inside for him,’ she said. ‘Let me get my rope as well.’ And she turned in to the house, forgetting all about Norman Ferguson and his good and bad deeds.

The single-track road was winding, swooping through deep purple-clad glens, past lochans where grey herons stood motionless in the shallows. At one point, Effie thought she saw a golden eagle soaring high, high above them, but she couldn’t be sure. She pointed it out to Archie but their driving goggles restricted their peripheral view and it was gone in the next moment.

She liked the feeling of the wind in her hair; it was a recurring experience when she was with him, and she knew she didn’t have to worry about how the tangles looked to him afterwards. They parked on a small track that led off from the main road, somewhere between Claggan and Alltachonaich. The mountains had quickly grown in might and magnificence as they moved further inland and Archie informed her they were in the heart of the Highlands now, the nation’s very highest mountain Ben Nevis just a hop, skip and jump across the waters of Loch Linnhe.

He left her to pick the mountain they should scale and she chose one which reminded her a little of Mullach Bi back home: a path wound up the gentler south face, with a stepped series of bluffs and slopes they could navigateback down if his climbing skills didn’t match up to his sailing prowess; they couldn’t afford an accident. They had passed no more than four other vehicles on the journey out here, and she didn’t want them to become stranded in this wilderness.

Archie took her instruction well. He was a man of action, highly physical and strong, and as she showed him the different knots and rappelling skills, he advanced quickly. She liked that he showed no inclination to reject her wisdom or advice just because she was a woman. He treated her like an equal in every single way.

‘I know what you’re doing, you know,’ she said later as they picnicked on a ledge, eating their favourite sandwiches and apples. She was back in her element, her muscles aching, and it was the happiest she had felt in weeks. She felt him turn and look at her, though she stayed staring dead ahead, looking again for the eagle.

‘...Good,’ he murmured. ‘It wouldn’t be very effective if I was the only one who knew it.’

His frankness always surprised her. ‘But you know it can’t work. You know I love him.’ She glanced over in time to see him wince.

‘Yes. But I also know you can’t be with him, so...’

‘...So, what – you’re going to wait?’

He shrugged. ‘Unless you’re playing a waiting game with him.’ He caught her gaze with his direct stare. ‘Is that what you’ve agreed? Wait until the countess dies?’

‘No! God, no.’ She shook her head quickly. ‘How could we possibly? That would be disrespectful...knowing it was the last thing she wanted.’

He watched her, seeing how she swallowed hard on the truth, a bitter pill. ‘I’m sorry they can’t see what I can. Youdeserve a lot better, for one thing. But I won’t pretend it isn’t what I want...or that I don’t have hope.’

His words were bald but honest and she liked him all the more for it.

‘And if I told you I see you as a brother?’

He gave a surprised laugh, though he winced again too. He was quiet for a moment. ‘...I wouldn’t believe you.’

‘But—’

‘You still love Sholto, Effie. I accept it’s better for you to bracket me like that while you still have feelings for him. But I do believe that in time, you’ll recognize what’s really here.’

‘And what if I don’t stop loving him?’

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