Page 114 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
The girl she’d been two years ago would have raced toward him, her laughter as free as a soap bubble. He would have held his arms open, catching her with his hands on her waist, twirling her around.
The woman she’d been, newly widowed, would have felt her heart expand at the sight of him. She would have joined him, held his hand, and let him lead her where he wished.
This Virginia was a bit more cautious, sadder, and more burdened.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
“I was coming to see you,” he said.
“Were you?”
He nodded. “I wondered if you would like to see the rest of Drumvagen.”
Surprised, she nodded. “I would.”
He reached into his pocket. “I’ve a present for you,” he said, extending a small book to her.
“Thank you,” she said, a little bemused. “It’s Tennyson.”
Did he mean her to recall their meeting in the Round Reading Room?
“Come and meet Jack and Sam,” he said, taking her hand.
They approached the tall building she’d seen before. When she asked him why it was so large, he grinned, looking like a boy.
“To hold my new invention,” he said. “The flywheel is sixteen feet high. It’s designed to make ice at a faster pace than anything I’ve invented,” he added. “Plus, it uses ammonia.”
He went on to explain the process and she tried to respond intelligently while vowing to read something about Macrath’s inventions.
Jack and Sam turned out to be young men who regarded Macrath as if he were godlike, asking questions and waiting respectfully for his answers.
She realized she’d never seen this side of Macrath before. Here was the man in charge of a growing empire, an employer, a task master, someone who noted the height of a massive wheel with a quick eye and asked a question about ratios beyond her understanding.
Sam greeted her with a shy smile. Jack, however, waited until Macrath and Sam were speaking to address her.
“Hannah is well, then?”
Surprised, she answered him. “Yes, she’s well. You know her?”
He nodded. “She came to visit with the laundress a few times. I met her then.”
She wanted to ask more questions but was constrained by the presence of the other men. But she did take the opportunity to give him a warning.
“She’s a good person, Jack,” she whispered. “I would not have her hurt.”
His face flushed. “I would never hurt her, miss. Ma’am. Your ladyship.”
She nodded and walked away, standing at the wide door. From there she could see the ocean glittering in the morning sun, and the rear of the house bathed by the same light.
“What was that all about?” Macrath asked, stepping close to her.
“Love, I’m afraid,” she said.
Macrath surprised her by not asking any further questions. Instead, he extended his arm and she put her hand on it, allowing him to lead her through the rest of Drumvagen.
He told her of the trials of finishing the house, pointing out where they’d found stones from a keep probably built hundreds of years earlier.
His stables were magnificent, built of the same brick as the house.
