Page 44 of Highlander's Captive Bride
“Oh,” she murmured, for the first time wondering if she could leave him now. “I hadnae thought of that. ‘Tis nae important to me to stay a maiden,” she told him, appealing to him hopefully with her eyes.
“Ye say that now, bonny lass, but yer braither may feel differently about it when he wants ye to marry some fancy gentleman.”
“Dominic isnae like that. He wouldnae force me to marry anyone I dinnae want. As ye ken, me faither tried that with me sister Delilah, and look what happened there,” she reminded him.
“Och, aye, I remember the runaway bride, all right,” he said, grinning. “But does yer family nae expect ye to marry at all, then?” he asked with interest.
“Nay. They ken I’m wedded to the healing arts.”
“Is that so?” he murmured, his gray eyes full of curiosity.
“Aye,” Daisy affirmed, stroking his chest with her fingertips.
Bellamy caught her hand and slowly pressed his lips to her palm.
“I hate to say this, but we must get up,” he told her regretfully. “Time’s a-wastin’, and we have to work out exactly how we’re goin’ to smoke out the bastard who’s been poisoning me wee bairn.”
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“Do we have to? I dinnae want to move,” Daisy groaned. “Cannae we just stay here a while longer and forget everything else for a while?” she wheedled, feeling relaxed and contented.
“Nay, me bonny lass, for there’s work to be done,” Bellamy told her, tilting her chin with his finger and looking at her with mock sternness.
“I suppose so.” She sighed.
They kissed one more time, then disentangled themselves and rose from the bed. Daisy put on a fresh shift and retrieved her robe from the floor, retying it around her waist and putting on her slippers. She brushed her hair, which had come loose during their intimate tussle.
Bellamy found his shirt and coat and donned them, then he sat down on the bed to pull on his boots. Daisy came and stood between his knees and brushed his tousled hair back into some semblance of normality. He put his arms around her waist and gave her a squeeze before letting her go and standing up.
“D’ye have any more of that wine?” he asked.
Daisy nodded and fetched the wine bottle as he sat at the table. She sat opposite, pushing aside her books and papers to make room before pouring them a fresh beaker each.
Bellamy took a long sip of wine, then, leaning his elbows on the table, said, “Now, this is what I think should happen…” He then proceeded to outline his plan to expose the culprit.
Daisy listened intently, and when he had finished, she frowned. “It’ll be difficult, for ye’ll have to somehow make Elodie understand the importance of it and get her to play along. She’s only seven, and although she’s bright, I’m nae sure how much of it she’ll understand or if she’ll be able to do it convincingly,” she said, playing devil’s advocate. “And ye’ll have to swear Poppy to secrecy, too,” she pointed out. “And ye ken how she loves to talk,” she added, resting her chin on her hands.
“Wheesht, woman. We’ll nae tell Poppy the truth. The less she kens the better. As far as she’s concerned, Elodie will be getting sicker, and that’s all she’ll ken,” Bellamy explained, dismissing her concerns.
“Ye’ll have to keep everyone else out of Elodie’s chambers except for us and Poppy, too. What about Jamie and Nadia? They often visit her.”
“Dinnae ye worry about Jamie. He kens how to keep a secret.”
“And Nadia? She could get suspicious if we don’t come up with a good explanation,” Daisy cautioned.
Bellamy thought for a moment. “If we’re goin’ to tell everyone that Elodie’s much worse and cannae have any more visitors, that has to include Nadia. She willnae dare disobey me,” he told her confidently.
“All right. But I still dinnae quite understand how all this will draw out the culprit.”
“Well, the way I see it is that when they find they cannae get to her so easily, either they’ll start asking a lot of questions and give themselves away, or they’ll do something stupid to try to get her to keep taking the poison, and we’ll catch them that way.”
Daisy nodded her understanding. “It might work.”
“’Tis worth a try, eh?” Bellamy said, reaching over and covering her hand with his, his eyes gleaming like polished silver in the lamplight. “I’ll talk to Elodie first thing in the morning,” he stated. “There’s one thing more,” he added. Daisy looked at him questioningly. “I need ye to write some more letters to yer family.”
She gave a wry smile. “All right. Tomorrow, though.”
“Aye.” He nodded, then lifted his hand off hers and rose. “It’s late, and ye must be tired. Go to bed and get some sleep. I’ll see ye tomorrow.”
