Page 6 of The Highlander's Captured Bride
“Sadly,” he shook his head, “nay, but this crime does call for some more looking into, and I am willing to help. I shared the same sentiment with Laird MacFerson, and he has offered us lodging for the time it may take. I’m sorry, Violet, I never intended for us to stay but—”
Violet waved him off. “I havenea problems with it, Faither, I was hoping we would stay and help. I am happy to assist ye, as always.”
“I ken ye are, dear.” He inclined his head to her before eating.
Ethan spotted his uncle’s head snapping between the two with the question that he had asked himself when he had first seen her. “Miss Violet assists her faither with his cases,” he explained.
“Really,” Uncle Callum mused over his goblet of water. “An unusual trade for a young woman like yourself. I’d imagine ye be married, or at least engaged.”
Violet’s cheeks pinked. “Er, nay, Mister MacFerson, I’m nae engaged or married… but nay for a lack of tryin’.” The last part was mumbled so quietly, only Ethan heard it.
The meal was winding down and his father, who had drank more than he’d eaten, said, “Ethan, would ye take Miss O’Cain out for a turn in the garden. Yer uncle, Mister O’Cain, and I are going to discuss what more we can do from here on.”
Violet looked to her father for permission, who only nodded. “It’s all right, Violet, I believe ye are in good hands.”
She stood, and smiled. “Well, then, I ken I will. Good evening, Faither, and Misters MacFersons. Ethan?”
Ethan stood and extended his arm to Violet. “Me pleasure,” while a little intrigued at what his father was aiming for in telling him this. It surely could not be to shield her from any gruesome details or tedious discussions…so why were they setting her apart from it all?
3
It was still summer, but moonlight shone through small slivers of the fog threading through the trees. The garden was surrounded by a small rectangular wall with thick hedges dotted here and there. Violet was happily taken aback when she saw that lanterns lit the graveled paths.
The only thing missing in a gurgling stone fountain in the center, like what I saw in the castle at Edina one time.
She held onto Ethan’s arm, keenly aware of the firmness of his muscles, and breathed in a soft river-water scent coming from his skin. His blond hair was a halo around his head when the moonlight fell on it. He was so close that her nerves were brimming with anticipation and her belly warm with her attraction to him.
“This garden is lovely. I see some English traits in it too,” she noted.
“Me uncle travels a lot,” Ethan replied. “He came back with many ideas to give us, many of which he implemented himself because me faither just waved him off saying, ‘do what ye ken is best.’ Miss Violet, may I ask ye a double question, and ye are free to choose which one ye might answer, or nay of either if ye dinnae feel like it,” he ended.
Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, Violet permitted him to ask her whatever was on his mind.
“Earlier ye hinted that ye had seen a lot of things in the years ye were working with yer faither,” he said. “And then, a while ago, ye muttered that it wasnae a want for trying that ye arenea married, would ye like to expound on either?”
What should I choose, me history with Faither or marriage… which one should I choose…or should I not choose any at all?
The marriage—or lack off—did not sit well with her. It was a bit too personal to discuss at the time.
“Aye, I’ve seen a lot of things. We’ve traveled a lot. Since I was six-and-ten, I had asked Faither to take me on a case near our home. A woman had reported a diamond ring stolen and was ready to dismiss all her twenty-something servants and have some of them thrown in prison, when I realized her cat was the culprit and gave her something to pass it out,” Violet admitted. “And that one was the easiest of them all.”
“Really?” Ethan asked. “What was the hardest?”
“Faither was called to Edina once,” Violet said, swallowing.
Please, dinnae take this the wrong way.
“For a slate of three murders of women…of a… questionable profession, and another one was missing. All the people we spoke to were hush-hush about it, so we had to go to the source and visit the brothels. The culprit turned out to be a rich lord in the capital with the means to use and abuse them.”
“Ye went throughbrothels?” Ethan exclaimed while they turned to a wooden seat.
She giggled. “I dinnae see anything scandalous, Why, I may be brave, but I’m naythatbrave to compromise me innocence. We spoke to the women away from the…er…service rooms.”
Tucking her legs under her, she inhaled deeply, the heather-scented night air quickening her senses, and Ethan sitting beside her, even more so. “And what about ye?” she asked.
“Brothels or marriage?” he asked lightly.
“Marriage,” she asked. “But ye can refuse if ye want to.”
