Page 58 of Highland Treasure (Highland Brides 9)

Conn and Inan glanced at each other, and then Inan moved to crack the door open and keep an eye out.

The moment he was in position, Rory said, “Simon is the reason I let ye all think Elysande was dying. I suspect he is de Buci’s man, and did no’ tell ye the truth because I did no’ want ye slipping up and saying anything in front o’ him that might make him think she was well or recovering.”

“Simon?” Elysande asked with amazement when she was finally able to speak past her shock.

“Aye.” Rory took her hands and said apologetically, “I think he’s the one who stabbed ye.”

“What?” she gasped with a half laugh of disbelief, and immediately began to shake her head. “Nay. Simon would never do that.”

“Lass,” Rory began patiently.

“Nay, Rory. You are wrong. Simon would not hurt me.”

“Lass, he had powder on his boots, there was water only by the door, I did no’ hear him running up the hall after ye screamed and I’m quite sure no one jumped out that window.”

“I have no idea what any of that means,” she admitted, feeling perturbed at the very suggestion that her man might harm her, and very angry at Rory for suggesting it.

“Ye remember the weeds ye were working on in the mortar ere ye were attacked?” he asked.

“Aye, of course. I think it got knocked to the floor,” she said, recalling the sound of the mortar thumping to the wooden planks.

“It did,” he agreed. “And the men tramped through the fine powder and had it on the bottom of their boots. I made them brush it off ere they left the room, and then had it swept up and the floor washed.”

Elysande nodded solemnly at the precaution, knowing it was necessary.

“But Simon did no’ just have it on the bottom of his boots,” he told her now. “He had a spot of it on the top o’ one o’ his boots too, just in front o’ his ankle. That troubled me. Ye do no’ get it on the top o’ yer boot by walking through it.”

“But ye could were ye nearby when it hit the floor and flew in every direction . . .” Conn said, his voice a rumble of realization.

Elysande scowled at the man for siding with Rory on this, and said, “Mayhap he kicked it up while walking, or . . .” Her voice trailed away as she realized that kicking it up would have got it on his toes, but not just a spot of it, and not by his ankle.

Rory eyed her sympathetically, and then added, “And another thing that troubled me was that when I crested the top o’ the stairs, Simon was just disappearing into the room carrying a pot and a bucket with water slopping everywhere in his rush.”

“I sent him for that,” she said, not understanding.

“Aye, but the water was only spilled by the door, not all along the hall as it should have been if he’d hurried up the hall on hearing yer scream.”

Elysande’s mouth compressed with displeasure, but he wasn’t done.

“And while we first assumed yer attacker had escaped out the window because we passed no one in the hall, I’m now quite sure that is no’ true. I checked the ground outside our window, and the grass was verra wet from the melted snow, but there were no marks from someone leaping from a second-floor window and crushing the grass into the mud with his weight. Unless yer attacker could fly, he did no’ leave through the window.”

“I see,” Elysande said quietly. “So you think Simon fetched the pot and bucket of water, set them outside the door, came into the chamber, stabbed me, opened the window and then rushed out to grab the bucket and pot to make it look like he was just arriving when you got upstairs?” she asked, trying to understand what he was suggesting.

Rory hesitated, and then admitted, “I canno’ be certain, o’ course, and I ha’e no proof, but that is what I think happened. It would explain away all o’ those points I just mentioned, as well as how yer attacker got away without anyone seeing him.”

“Mayhap, but there must be another explanation,” Elysande said firmly.

“Well, when ye think o’ one, let me ken, lass. In the meantime, ’tis better to be safe than sorry. So I intend to continue to let Simon think that ye’re at death’s door, so he does no’ try to finish ye off.” Meeting her gaze, he said firmly, “Ye got lucky the first time, lass. I suspect he was in a panic when ye screamed. He knew we’d be coming and just thrust the blade in, opened the window and ran, no’ noticing that what he gave ye was little more than a scratch. He did no’ realize the knife hit yer sack o’ coins and slid to the side and the coin sack then helped to hold it in place. Neither did I when I first saw ye. Aye, ye got lucky the first time.” He paused briefly and then added, “If it was the first time.”

Elysande glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean ‘if it was the first time’?”

“I mean yer accident on the way back from the shops when ye were pushed in front o’ a horse and cart.”

“That was an accident, a bunch of drunken sailors were passing. One of them bumped me,” she reminded him.

“Or was it Simon who pushed ye into the road as the sailors passed, kenning he could blame them for it?” he asked. “The man was at yer back, supposed to be watching ye. No one should ha’e been able to push ye into the street.”

Elysande stared at him blankly, completely shocked by his words.

---