Page 61 of Highland Jewel
“Please, Isabella. Let me out.”
“Not now. Not yet.”
Maisie faced her sister. The tears were running freely down her face, and she dashed them away. They wouldn’t stop. “You go to them, then. Tell them to not hurt him. Please. I can explain everything.”
“Explain it to me.”
Isabella tried to move her away from the door, but Maisie wouldn’t budge. She listened for voices.
“I’ll never forgive myself… please. I love him. What if they kill him?”
“You charged in there, not thinking of yourself. Not worrying about what you feel for this man. You went in there for me, for Cinaed, for the future of Scotland.” Isabella’s fingers wrapped around Maisie’s wrist, and she pulled her toward a bench. “Cinaed is not reckless. He won’t spill blood without good reason.”
Spill blood.Oh, God!
Maisie was responsible for Fiona’s arrest. She’d ruined the life of a good woman and her daughters too. And now she’d done this to Niall. She sank down on the bench and buried her face in her hands. Her body shuddered from the guilt of her actions so many months ago and now.
Her sister crouched down before Maisie, taking her hands and gently pulling them away from her face. “The sooner you tell me what all of this is about, the sooner I can go back in there and see what’s to be done.”
She tried to speak, but words wouldn’t form. She shook her head and stabbed at the tears. Her sister gave her a handkerchief and sat on the bench beside her, caressing Maisie’s back.
“Take a deep breath. Nothing will happen. A few slaps won’t hurt him. No serious harm will come to Lieutenant Campbell for the little time that we’re sitting here.”
Surprised, Maisie turned in the seat toward her sister. “You remember him?”
“Of course. He’s the brother of your friend Fiona. He called at the house on Infirmary Street to return your reticule. Archibald was upset for days about his visit.”
Maisie saw a glimmer of hope. She was a guest at Dalmigavie Castle. She had no power to undo the damage she’d already done. Her sister, on the other hand, could help. She was Cinaed’s wife.
She thought of everything Isabella had gone through, where she’d been and what she’d done, how courageous she’d been after getting over the shock of the attack in Edinburgh.
Everything had changed over these past three months. While they were still hiding in Edinburgh, they learned that the British authorities had placed a bounty on Isabella’s head. Then John Gordon, sent by Sir Walter Scott, helped them escape from the city. Their plan had been to go to Inverness and secure passage aboard a ship bound for Halifax.
Outside of Inverness, they’d parted until the final travel arrangements could be made. It was during those initial days that the Mackintosh men came for them. The three-day wait stretched to over a month before they saw Isabella again. Their reunion was at Dalmigavie.
She didn’t come alone. And she wasn’t the sister Maisie had left on the Inverness Road. This new Isabella was freer in spirit than she’d ever seen her. Before, the strain of hard work and responsibilities had aged her. But those signs of stress were gone. She was happy. She looked young. And she was in love with Cinaed Mackintosh, who she’d saved after a shipwreck not far from Inverness. They learned that he in turn had rescued Isabella from the clutches of British dragoons who’d pursued them from Edinburgh.
Theirs was a true love story. When they arrived at Dalmigavie Castle, Isabella and Cinaed were already married. But there was still to be a grand ceremony at the end of the month, a celebration for the Mackintosh clan folk.
“You say you love him. Talk to me.”
Maisie focused on this moment. Now. The smell of centuries-old incense enveloped them, and light filtered through the leaded glass above the altar. There was so much that her sister didn’t know. Maisie barely knew where to start.
“Idolove him. And I believe he loves me.” She tried to steady her emotions, to speak clearly. “Before we parted… months ago, Niall asked me to be his wife and I accepted.”
Her sister’s forehead furrowed. “I didn’t know any of this. Why didn’t you tell me?”
The time for a full confession had arrived, but minutes were precious. Maisie pushed to her feet and hugged her middle to stifle the pain and grief wracking her body. Isabella needed to know all of it. Maisie’s actions. Her involvement. Her politics. The lies she’d told them.
Speaking as quickly as she could, she spoke of the Female Reform Society and her activism. The words tumbled out about Fiona’s arrest. About Archibald’s effort to find out information. About Morrigan’s support.
She stopped when Isabella abruptly stood.
“Am I your sister?”
“Of course, you are.”
“Why is this the first time I’m hearing these things?”
