Harlequin Historical May 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Page 14

  Madeleine looked at the smiling faces around her and thought of Grant above stairs. She could ride away from here now if she so wished, but Grant was too ill to move again, at least for a few days.

  She said, ‘You are playing a very dangerous game, Sir Edmund.’

  ‘I am aware, but there is little choice. And we are fortunate that our...er...guests are gentlemen. At least as much as one can expect Government soldiers to be.’

  Maddie thought back to Captain Ormskirk.

  ‘There are a few good, honest men in the army, I suppose.’

  ‘We look after them, feed them well and they repay us with good manners and a modicum of protection,’ Sir Edmund went on. ‘As luck would have it, they rode out this morning and are not expected back until the morning.’

  That, at least, was good news.

  ‘Then they do not know we are here. I might stay with Grant, in the sickroom—’

  ‘Alas, that will not do. Your arrival did not go unnoticed by one of my neighbours. He was up on the hills and saw two riders coming here. He was too far away to see clearly, but thought it looked suspicious and, being a well-meaning fellow, he came over earlier to enquire if all was well. Pray do not fret, I managed to convince him that I had sent a servant to escort a young relative here and he has gone away quite happy. But you see, my dear, we now need you to play the part.’

  Maddie was not much reassured. ‘And the officers, what will you tell them?’

  ‘The same,’ replied Lady McBinnie. ‘You are my niece Fiona, come to stay.’

  ‘You appear to have thought of everything,’ murmured Maddie, her brain reeling.

  ‘We are obliged to do so, in these uncertain times,’ replied Sir Edmund drily. ‘I suggest you retire early tonight and we will make sure our guests are apprised of your arrival. You need not meet them until the morning and by then my lady will have been able to tutor you in your role.’

  ‘And Gr—Mr Rathmore?’

  ‘We will keep him hidden and nurse him until such time as he may safely make an appearance. Do not worry, my dear, it is not the first time we have harboured a fugitive in this house. He will be quite safe.’ He smiled at her. ‘Would you like to assure yourself of his well-being before you retire?’

  ‘I should, very much. Perhaps Anne would like to show me the way?’

  But although Miss McBinnie threw her a grateful look, she shook her head.

  ‘It is late and I am very tired. Mama will take you. I will visit Grant when he is stronger and able to receive visitors.’

  ‘Yes, he will not want too many people fussing around him. We will bid you goodnight, then.’ Lady McBinnie rose and beckoned to Maddie, ‘Come along, my dear!’

  The sickroom was situated beyond the disused nursery rooms, reached via labyrinthine passages and windowless chambers full of unused furniture and old trunks. Madeleine thought it would be strange if anyone should find their way along here without good reason.

  ‘The house has been searched on numerous occasions and no one has yet located this room,’ Lady McBinnie told her as they headed for what appeared to be a gabled wall with a stone chimney running up through the roof. My lady went ahead and pushed on one of the support timbers. A section of wall opened to reveal a comfortable attic room where Grant was sitting up in bed, pale but awake.

  ‘You see,’ she said, ‘our patient is very much alive.’

  Maddie could not prevent a sigh of relief and Grant smiled at her.

  ‘I told you it was the merest scratch.’

  ‘It is a little more than that, Master Grant!’

  Maddie jumped at the sharp words. She had not noticed the iron-haired woman in a black gown who was standing at the far side of the bed.

  ‘You must be Mrs Forbes,’ Maddie said now, smiling. ‘You have worked miracles here. Mr Rathmore looks so much better than when I last saw him.’

  The housekeeper looked nonplussed by the praise and shifted uncomfortably.

  ‘Aye, well, it isn’t as if I don’t have enough to do without nursing young gentlemen who get themselves into trouble!’

  Grant laughed. ‘Do not be fooled by that stern manner, Miss d’Evremont. Mrs Forbes may scold me soundly, but this is not the first time she has had to fix me up.’

  ‘No, I have tended more than enough cuts and bruises for you in the past, Master Grant, and that’s a fact.’

  The exchange did much to allay Maddie’s worries and her smile grew. Grant put out his hand and she took it between both her own, unable to speak for the tumult of emotion raging inside. She had not realised how worried she had been until this moment. How alone she had felt without him.

  Behind her, Lady McBinnie gave a little cough and suggested Mrs Forbes should accompany her downstairs.

  ‘I will return shortly to escort you to your bedchamber,’ she told Maddie before following the housekeeper from the room.

  ‘How diplomatic of our hostess to leave us alone,’ remarked Grant.

  Maddie saw the glint in his eye and blushed. She realised she was still clinging to his hand and would have released him, but his fingers closed even tighter.

  ‘No, please, do not run away.’

  ‘I have no intention of running away,’ she replied with as much dignity as she could muster, considering her burning cheeks and how hard her heart was thumping.

  ‘I am glad to hear it. Pray, sit on the bed and talk to me.’

  But that Madeleine would not do.

  ‘If you let me go, I will draw up a chair,’ she said primly.

  Grant was reluctant to release her hand. He wanted to keep her close, to assure himself that she was really here, safe beside him, but he could not tell her that. He watched her fetch a chair and set it down beside the bed, enjoying the sight of her dainty form, the way her skirts swung around her as she moved.

  ‘I like your gown.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She sat down and smoothed one hand over the red satin. ‘Miss McBinnie gave it to me. She could not have been kinder.’

  ‘Is she not a splendid girl? I have known her all my life. She has always been like a sister to me.’

  Madeleine was looking down at her hands, clasped lightly in her lap, and Grant took the opportunity to study her, noting the long dark lashes that fanned her cheeks, the generous mouth, solemn now, but he had seen it stretch into a smile that could light up a room. Just the thought of it lifted his spirits.

  I could sit and watch her for hours.

  She looked up at that moment and he quickly averted his gaze.

  ‘Lady McBinnie says they can keep you safe here, Grant, but as soon as you are well you should leave. I am sure Sir Edmund will be able to find another guide for me.’

  ‘No. I promised to escort you and I shall finish this.’

  ‘You have done enough for me. I cannot, will not, ask more of you.’

  ‘I will finish what I started. Once I am up and about—’

  She interrupted him. ‘It is not safe for you to get up. There are two English officers staying in this house!’

  ‘The devil there are!’

  He jerked upright and sucked in his breath as pain shot through his arm. Immediately Maddie was on her feet and gently pressing him back.

  ‘You must keep still or the bleeding will start again.’

  ‘Blood and thunder,’ he muttered, his teeth clenched against the faintness brought on by the agonising pain. ‘I am as weak as a cat.’

  ‘That is to be expected. You need to rest now. Once you are well enough to travel, then you should go home.’

  Grant was resting with his eyes closed, but at her words he gave a bitter laugh.

  ‘Home! I have no home now.’

  ‘You do. Ardvarrick.’

  ‘No. My actions will bring nothing but trouble to them. I fought for the Stuart and I made no secr
et of it. The soldiers will be sure to come looking for me.’

  ‘But your parents will want to know—’

  ‘Leave it now, Maddie. Confound it, woman, must you always argue with me? Do not meddle in things you do not understand.’

  He spoke sharply and he saw her pressing her lips together. She did not want to upset him, even though it went against the grain to keep quiet. Should he apologise? No. It was better if she was angry with him, if she thought him ill-mannered and boorish. With any luck it would dull the edge of the attraction that had been growing between them. His own desires he could control, but he did not wish Madeleine to become too attached to him. He was a fugitive with nothing to offer and would surely break her heart.

  There were voices, outside the door. Lady McBinnie had returned and Grant guessed she was speaking loudly to give them time to compose themselves. As he heard the scrape of the opening door, he schooled his face into indifference. He did not doubt she suspected she had happened upon a romance and had deliberately given them time alone.

  Like a pair of lovers, which they could never be.

  * * *

  Maddie did not tarry in the sickroom once Lady McBinnie had returned with the elderly serving maid who was to keep watch on the patient until morning. Maddie waited only to assure herself that Grant would be in safe hands through the dark reaches of the night, then she was content to let her hostess show her to her own bedchamber.

  She was exhausted by the events of the day, but she was also dispirited by her conversation with Grant. Her own situation was serious, but once she was reunited with her father life would continue much as it had before. Grant’s plight was far graver. He might escape to France with his life, but he must leave behind everything he held dear, his home, his family and his friends. Her heart bled for him.

  * * *

  When Madeleine came down to breakfast the following morning, the McBinnies were already at the table, accompanied by two military men, resplendent in their blue-and-red uniforms. The officers jumped up as she came in and Lady McBinnie presented her to them as her kinswoman, Miss Fiona Dewar from Perth.

  Madeleine responded calmly to their greetings. Colonel Sowton was a large, rather portly man with an air of good-natured geniality, but his gaze was shrewd and she decided it would be foolish to write him off as a buffoon. Major Rutter was a little younger, a tall, lantern-faced man who lacked his superior’s bonhomie, but he politely held her chair as she took her seat.

  ‘These are dangerous times for a young lady to be travelling alone, Miss Dewar.’

  ‘Indeed they are, Major, but there was an outbreak of smallpox in the area and my father thought it safer for me to come here than to remain in Perth,’ she replied, faithfully repeating the story she and Sir Edmund had agreed upon last night.

  ‘A wise precaution by your parent,’ he replied.

  ‘Your aunt told us as much last night, Miss Dewar,’ remarked the Colonel. ‘We must hope the outbreak is of short duration.’

  ‘I pray it will be, Colonel.’

  ‘But I understand that there is also sickness in this house,’ said the Major.

  ‘Yes, one of the maids has come down with a fever, but it occurred only a couple of days ago, long after my niece had set out on her journey here,’ replied Lady McBinnie. ‘It is an inconvenience to have a sick servant, but it is not a serious ailment, Major, I assure you. However, we are keeping her well away from the family, as a precaution.’

  She neatly changed the subject and Maddie gave a tiny sigh of relief, but it did not last. She was aware that Major Rutter was studying her closely. At the next pause in the conversation, he spoke again.

  ‘Forgive me, Miss Dewar, but I can see little similarity between you and your aunt. You are very dark, while Lady McBinnie is so fair. And your manner, too, your voice. There is something more...exotic about you. A French connection, perhaps?’

  ‘Rutter, really!’ The Colonel objected with a blustering laugh, but the Major waved a hand at him, all the time keeping his eyes fixed upon Madeleine.

  ‘We have orders that we are to be vigilant, Colonel, at all times. Well, Miss Dewar?’

  Madeleine refused to be intimidated. She had already been looking amused by his speech, but now she threw back her head and laughed.

  ‘France is hardly exotic, Major! Scotland has very strong links with the French, as I am sure you know. Going back generations, so I should not be at all surprised if there is some French blood on my father’s side.’ She lifted her coffee cup and regarded him over the rim. ‘Or, perhaps you suggest that my mother played her husband false.’

  Maddie knew it was an outrageously improper remark, but it had the desired effect of ending the interrogation. The Major flushed and disclaimed, Anne stifled a giggle and Lady McBinnie gave a little cry of protest.

  Sir Edmund frowned at her, ‘That is quite enough of your levity, Fiona. These Lowland manners do not sit well with us here.’

  The Colonel rushed gallantly to her defence.

  ‘It is entirely Rutter’s fault for goading the lady. Come, sirrah, apologise!’

  ‘I will unreservedly beg the lady’s pardon if she is affronted.’

  Madeleine inclined her head. ‘And I must beg my aunt’s pardon for allowing my flippancy to make me speak so shamefully of her sister.’

  She flashed an apologetic glance at Lady McBinnie, who waved it aside.

  ‘You have your lively wit from her, my dear, which makes you all the more precious to us.’

  Her smile was warm and understanding, relieving Maddie’s fears that she had caused offence. Major Rutter, however, persisted.

  ‘You are fortunate that you have an aunt who can offer you such comfortable surroundings, Miss Dewar.’

  ‘I am well aware of it, Major.’

  ‘Many families have lost everything, supporting the Jacobite cause.’

  ‘Not all Scots support Charles Stuart,’ she retorted.

  ‘No.’ He sat back, his gaze flickering around the table. ‘Many are content to wait to see which way the wind is blowing. Hedging their bets, as they say.’

  ‘I think you misunderstand us, Major,’ murmured Lady McBinnie. ‘Most Scots prefer to lead a quiet life.’

  ‘Perhaps you are right, ma’am, but the uprising has shown that a great many have been prepared to rise up against their rightful King.’

  ‘To their cost,’ Madeleine interjected. ‘The reprisals being meted out by His Majesty’s army are harsh indeed.’

  ‘But necessary, Miss Dewar,’ put in the Colonel. ‘This insurrection must be quashed. We cannot have the rule of law overturned.’

  ‘Some would say there is no law here but that of the sword!’

  Madeleine regretted the impetuous words even as she uttered them.

  ‘Miss Dewar is a stranger to the Highlands,’ put in Sir Edmund, by way of explanation. ‘Life here is very different from what she has known in Perth.’

  ‘No doubt,’ retorted the Major. ‘However, I can assure the lady that those who are loyal subjects of King George need have nothing to fear.’

  ‘No, indeed, which includes the present company, I am sure.’ The Colonel beamed at them and pushed his chair back. ‘Come along, Rutter, duty calls us forth.’

  ‘There is no hurry. I gave the men their orders last night.’ The Major was looking at Madeleine, who tried hard to ignore him. ‘It is such a fine morning I thought Miss Dewar might like to take the air with me.’

  Lady McBinnie responded, saying smoothly, ‘Ah, how kind of you to suggest it, Major, and at any other time I am sure she would be delighted to join you. However, I am afraid I have need of my daughter and my niece today to help me in the linen room. With one of my maids having taken to her bed and requiring attention, there is a great deal to do...’

  She let the words hang and the Colonel was quick to resp
ond.

  ‘Quite so, my dear lady, you are very right to remind us. We are most appreciative of your kind hospitality and must take up no more of your time. Come, Major, let us be on our way. It is up to us to lead our men by example, what?’

  The two officers took their leave and as the door closed behind them, Anne let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

  ‘Oh, my goodness, that was an anxious time! I thought poor Madeleine was going to faint off when Major Rutter suggested walking outside with him!’

  ‘I am very grateful for your mother’s quick thinking,’ replied Maddie.

  ‘But you must be on your guard, Madeleine,’ said Sir Edmund heavily. ‘The Major is suspicious of you.’

  ‘Not suspicious,’ opined his lady. ‘I believe she has piqued his interest. He is very taken with her.’

  Anne chuckled, earning her a frowning glance from her mother, while Maddie shuddered eloquently.

  ‘Whichever it is, you may be sure I shall be careful to keep away from Major Rutter. And the Colonel, too.’

  * * *

  Madeleine went off with her hostess to the linen room, where she dutifully helped with the sorting of the bed sheets. The task kept her occupied until shortly after noon and, Lady McBinnie having no more chores for her, she hurried away to the sickroom.

  She found Grant looking much better. He was sitting up in bed, enjoying a plate of ham while a serving maid bustled about the room, clearing up after the night’s vigil. He greeted her cheerfully.

  ‘Have you come to keep me company? You are in good time, madam, for now Eilidh can attend to her work instead of dancing attendance upon me.’

  He pushed the tray away and the maid came to take it, giggling and blushing as he smiled and thanked her.

  Maddie made herself comfortable on the chair beside the bed and waited until they were alone before giving voice to her thoughts.

  ‘I am quite dismayed by how much work our being in the house is making for Lady McBinnie’s staff. After all, they also have the Major and Colonel to wait upon.’