Page 52 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
“Yes, but when you left home, you’d a date in mind to return. Now you don’t.” She frowned at him.
He smiled and drank his whiskey, the glass cold against his fingers. He wished he could appreciate the taste of the single malt in solitude, but his sister and cousin had descended on him last night, having received his letter that he was leaving for Australia and determined to change his mind.
If he’d delayed sending the letter by one day, he would’ve been aboard thePrincessand out to sea by the time they arrived at Drumvagen.
Now, however, he sat in the Clan Hall with the two of them, wondering how long this harangue would last.
The room smelled of heather, a scent he normally didn’t notice. Was it because he was leaving? Brianag was forever bringing in blooms of some sort or another and sticking them in ornamental vases to dry.
“At least give me a date when you’ll return,” Mairi said.
After all these years, his sister hadn’t yet realized he was as stubborn as she, although not as militant about it
“Mairi’s right,” Fenella said.
His cousin thought anything Mairi did was right, perhaps because Mairi had welcomed Fenella into their home when their cousin was newly orphaned. At the time, one more mouth to feed had been a burden. Or an incentive for him, not that he needed one, to succeed at his invention.
“It’s a long way away, Macrath. Must you go?”
He smiled reassuringly at her. “I must.”
“Are you coming back?” Mairi asked, frowning at him.
“Why would you think I wouldn’t?”
“Which isn’t an answer, Macrath.”
She stood, marched to the sideboard and poured a measure of whiskey. His only response was to watch his sister sip cautiously, then take her glass and return to her chair. He noted she didn’t continue drinking the whiskey but finished her tea instead.
That whole demonstration was an example of his sister’s character.
“There are fires aboard ship,” Fenella said. “And scurvy.”
“Not to mention boredom,” Mairi said.
“You didn’t say anything about pirates or cholera,” he added.
The two women frowned at him.
Anyone looking at them wouldn’t have known they were related. Fenella had wispy blond hair and hazel eyes leaning toward green. Mairi, on the other hand, had dark brown hair and the Sinclair blue eyes just like his younger sister, Ceana. Fenella was, perhaps, prettier, but people tended to remember Mairi with her high cheekbones and stubborn chin.
Her personality was forceful and her temper wasn’t to be underestimated. He’d seen grown men quail before her. He wasn’t, however, one of them.
“Can’t you conduct your business here?” Fenella asked. “Must you go all that way?”
“Fenella’s right,” his sister said. “You don’t have to go halfway around the world.”
“I do if I want to assure the Australians I can bring their meat to market in England.”
“I don’t see why you have to go there, Macrath.”
“You needn’t worry about me so much, Mairi,” he said.
“Still,” she said, her voice trailing away.
“It’s important to be in a position to expand the business.”
“Are we running out of money, Sinclair?” Fenella asked.
