Page 69 of Sweet Home Highlander
The woman’s eyes glittered with malice and triumph. “Dunnae fash about such things. Men are easier to manage than ye think. Just look at how easy it was to convince the laird of what ye’d done.”
She’d known Fenella had always led Niall around with false rumors and lies, but it still maddened Aisla to hear her admit it so boldly and without care.
“Did youmanageDougal, too?” she snapped, wanting to strike out but without any real venom. But then crimson flares pricked at Fenella’s cheeks, her triumphant expression faltering, and Aisla blinked as understanding dawned. They’d gone to an inn together, after all. Good God, the woman was shameless. Aisla shook her head. “Perhaps you should have reserved some of those names you called me for yourself.” She drew a slow breath, reason returning. “He was using you, Fenella, and you’re too blind in your hatred for me to see it.”
“Ye’re wrong,” Fenella spluttered. “He wanted nothing more than bits of gossip, useless things, mostly about ye and Lady Makenna, to do what he could to get ye back.”
“This is not about me, ye dunderheid,” Aisla nearly shouted, amazed at the woman’s wilful ignorance. “Where is Dougal now?”
“As if I would tell ye.”
“Then you are more of a fool than you realize,” Aisla said, reaching for one of her throwing daggers resting on the highboy. “Now get out before I get blood on the laird’s carpet.”
Fenella blanched and flounced out while swearing a blue streak, the bedchamber slamming shut behind her.
Pauline’s eyes widened, her hands rising to her mouth. “Well done, my lady,” she said, gaze hinged on the dagger. “Oh,Dieu, were you truly going to use that?”
“No, of course not.” Aisla grinned and replaced the dagger. Her hand shook a little as she did, and with an unsteady exhale, wondered what exactly Dougal was up to. It was nothing good. She would wager her entire future upon it.
Pauline sighed. “That woman is dangerous, but your friend Dougal sounds even more so. He has a score to settle.”
“If he’s behind all of this, he’s no friend of mine,” Aisla said.
“Oui, and neither is she. Not a good combination.”
“Which means I need to find the laird and warn him.”
Pauline lifted an eyebrow. “And risk more of his ire?”
Aisla went to the bedside table and opened the drawer. Retrieving her own blades had reminded her that inside, lay the topaz dagger Niall had crafted. She lifted it, feeling the weight of the stunning dagger right in her heart instead of her palm, and pocketed it.
“Ire or no, I’m worried Fenella has either wittingly, or unwittingly, helped Dougal and the Campbells somehow. And that the accidents at the mines are connected. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I have to say something before I leave.”
It would be on her conscience if she didn’t. Aisla forced down her dread and went for the door. Her hand was on the knob when a solid knock came down on the other side. Praying it wasn’t Fenella yet again, she whipped the door wide.
“Julien?” She took in the uneasy expression on her friend’s face, and frowned. “You said you’d give me an hour to pack my things. It’s hardly been half that. Has something more happened with Niall?”
“No.” He entered and peered around the room, his eyes passing over Pauline. “Is Lady Makenna here?”
Aisla closed the door, watching Julien closely and the way he paced a tight circle in the center of her room. “At this hour? I’d think she’d still be abed. Why?”
“She isn’t there. Her maid said she never rang for assistance, and yet her bed is empty.” He came to a stop and faced Aisla, and it was then she saw the concern brimming in his eyes, before the full measure of his words hit her.
Pauline, too, propped a thin eyebrow from where she stood near the antechamber, folding more clothing. “Pauline, will you give us a minute?”
Her maid bobbed and disappeared into the next room. Aisla turned to Julien. “Why on earth would you go to Lady Makenna’s chamber?”
“I didn’t go to her room at first,” he said, his gaze skating away from hers. “I rode north to the border between Maclaren and Campbell lands.”
She peered at him, confused by the leap. “For what reason?”
Julien looked to be grappling with an answer, his chest rising and falling as he raked a hand through his hair. “I came across Lady Makenna there one morning about a week past. Apparently, she likes to take early morning rides, and her route takes her along the border. I happened across her that morning, and considering the tensions with the Campbells, I advised her to take someone with her next time. I volunteered, but I arrived the next morning to find she had not heeded my advice, and well…she did not the following morning, either.”
Aisla was quiet a moment. It wasn’t like Julien to worry for anyone beyond himself, though she, Aisla, was the rare exception. And things between he and Makenna had been a bit prickly not so long ago. “So you kept going with her?”
He lifted an eyebrow at her overt dig. “You can’t fault me for seeking a diversion to pass the time. It became a game, you see, and it’s not like Makenna to not make a countermove. But her maid is in a froth, and I need to appease the dear woman.”
“LadyMakenna, Jules.” Again, his concern struck her, as did his casual use of her first name, but just then her earlier exchange with Fenella shifted back into the front of her mind. Fenella had mentioned Makenna by name.
