Page 51 of A Two-Faced Laird
“Would you dance with me?” he asked politely.
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Edina looked around. If she refused to dance with him when everyone had noticed that such an eminent person had come to see her, there would be a dreadful scene, and she did not want any more unwanted attention drawn to them.
“If I must,” she said frostily.
Unfortunately, the next dance was a country waltz, which meant that Aidan and Edina were dancing as a couple, as opposed to many of the other reels and strathspeys which were performed in groups. Although they were not in a tight embrace, they were close enough to talk.
“What do you want?” Edina demanded at once.
“I wanted to see you one last time,” he told her, “and I needed an excuse. Do you honestly think I would become lost in my own backyard? I know every inch of the area for miles around Achnabreck Castle. I could ride blindfolded!”
“If you wanted to see me so much,” Edina said through gritted teeth, “then why did you ignore all my letters? I must have written you half a dozen!”
Aidan looked down at her, mystified. “I received no letters from you, Edina,” he replied. “If I had, I would have replied straight away. You must believe me!”
“Why I should I?” Edina was furious that he thought she was so stupid. “I was not trying to come between you and your bride. I just wanted to keep in touch with you to see that you are well. I worry about you sometimes. I will not be at your wedding, of course—I plan to be sick that day—but I wanted to let you know that I still think of you.”
“And I think of you incessantly,” he replied tenderly. “I told you I will never commit adultery, Edina, and that is a promise I intend to keep, but there is less than two weeks till the wedding and I needed to see you for one last time.”
For a moment, the dance steps separated them, but as they came together again, he saw an expression of rage and contempt on Edina’s face.
“That was what you said the last time,” she said derisively, “and the time before that, and the one before that. For someone who is about to make a very solemn commitment, you seem very lacking in willpower. If you come to me after your wedding,Lewis, I promise you I will not only push you away, but I will never speak to you again, and unlike you, I have plenty of self-control!”
Aidan looked down into her smoky grey-violet eyes, which never failed to fascinate him.
“I can only be true to myself when I am with you,” he said desperately. “I will do my duty by Fenella, but I will never stop thinking about you. We can write to each other if you like. Letters are not a sign of infidelity, as far as I know.”
“Pah!” Edina spat. “I told you I wrote to you many times, and you never answered once. I am not a simpleton. I will not be wasting my time again!”
At that moment, the music stopped, and he drew her away to a quiet spot next to the back door of the hall. He was mystified.
“Edina, I did not receive any letters,” he told her, frowning in puzzlement. “Not one.”
She stared at him for a moment with contempt before she realised that he was telling the truth.
“But I gave them to the guard,” she told him. “You must have got them.”
“Which guard?” he asked.
“Andy Wallace,” she replied.
“Did they have my name on them?”
His voice was suspicious. Another possibility had just occurred to him.
“Yes,” she replied. “I have known him for a long time, and he is absolutely trustworthy.”
“I see.”
Aidan thought for a moment. He knew that what Edina said was true, but could his letters have been intercepted?
Edina stared at him for a moment before realising that they were thinking exactly the same thing.
“You are wondering if he gave them to the wrong person?” she asked. “Who destroyed them or hid them?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. I am,” he replied. “What kind of letters were they?”
