A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) (84 page)

“
Well, I- I didn
’
t exactly
see
him do anything,
”
Muira confessed reluctantly, hating the way that Lachlan raised an eyebrow as if to say
‘
I told you so.
’
 
“
But I know that he was up to no good!
”

“
Muira-
”
Lachlan sighed.

“
Lachlan you- you know what kind of a man Tavish is,
”
Muira croaked. 
“
You know what he- what he tried to d-do to me,
”
she stammered tearfully.  She couldn
’
t believe that he wasn
’
t taking her concerns seriously! 
“
Please,
”
she whispered, as she was bundled up tight against Lachlan
’
s chest. 
“
You have to believe me, you have to do something.
”

“
Do what though, lass?
”
Lachlan sighed heavily. 
“
I know that Tavish scares you.  It damn well terrifies me to think that you were down there with him alone!
”
he couldn
’
t stop himself from cursing. 
“
But-
”
Lachlan forced himself to take a deep calming birth. 
“
I can
’
t very well throw him out of the castle for wandering down to the kitchens, lass.  No matter how much I might like to.
”

“
But Lachlan-
”
Muira gasped.

“
You didn
’
t see
anything
?
”
he pressed. 

His wife shook her head miserably. 
“
We could go back down and have a look around now though?
”
she said hopefully.

“
I
’
ll
go down and look around,
”
Lachlan grunted, leaving Muira and reaching for his discarded clothes.

“
I
’
m going too!
”
Muira declared stubbornly.  When her husband opened his mouth to argue she quickly pointed out that he wouldn
’
t know where to look without her.

“
Fine,
”
Lachlan growled, pulling his shirt on over his head. 
“
But no more running off on your own!
”

..ooOOoo..

“
Muira, there
’
s nothing here,
”
Lachlan yawned.  He was expecting the kitchens to be swarmed be servants at any moment, and he didn
’
t particularly want to be caught snooping through the crockery.

“
There
’
s
something
here,
”
Muira argued stubbornly. 
“
Something that we
’
re missing,
”
she insisted, but for the life of her she didn
’
t know what.  There was very little in the pantry after all: a few leftover scraps of food, some salt and spices used for seasoning, and various pots and pans.

“
Can we
please
go back to bed?
”
Lachlan yawned wearily.

“
No, I-
”

“
We
’
re going back to bed,
”
Lachlan grunted.  He caught hold of his wife
’
s wrist, too tired to continue his attempts at diplomacy, and physically dragged her out of the kitchens.

“
I know he did something!
”
Muira snapped, and was still snapping when Lachlan pulled her back into their bedroom.

“
I
’
ll speak to him in the morning,
”
Lachlan finally conceded, falling into bed without bothering to undress.  He didn
’
t imagine
‘
speaking
’
to MacEantach would be a very enlightening experience, but he was ready to say anything to get a moments peace so that he could go back to sleep
…

Lachlan wasn
’
t allowed to sleep for nearly long enough as far as he was concerned.  A loud commotion woke him soon after breakfast that morning
…

He wondered how long he could ignore the ruckus.  The answer was apparently -
not long at all
, given the series of heavy booming knocks that sounded on his door. 

Lachlan growled his frustration, and then bellowed for the knocker to enter.  Muira was sitting beside him, the sheets held up under her chin, her eyes wide and worried.  The MacRae
’
s captain burst into the room.  He looked pale and extremely anxious.

“
What
’
s happened?
”
Lachlan asked instantly, quickly getting out of bed as he spoke.

“
Sir, half the castle has been taken ill with some nasty kind of food poisoning.
”

“
Food poisoning?
”
Lachlan echoed.  He heard Muira gasp sharply behind him, as he quickly began to dress.

“
Aye, sir,
”
the Captain nodded gravely.  He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then plunged on. 
“
Sir, Laird MacRae
’
s been taken
very
ill.
”

“
Graem?
”
Lachlan choked, and then he cursed viciously under his breath.  He straightened his kilt and made towards the door, but his captain looked like he still had something on his mind. 
“
What is it, Ross?
”
he asked slowly, instinctively knowing that he was going to hate to the answer.

“
Sir, we
’
ve detained the culprit responsible for this cowardly act,
”
the captain revealed slowly.  Lachlan couldn
’
t ignore the way Ross
’
s eyes travelled darkly towards the bed where Muria was still sitting.

“
A Cameron?  One of our guests?
”
he sighed heavily, already knowing what the answer would be.  He waited to hear the name confirmed.

“
Aye, sir,
”
Ross nodded grimly. 
“
Ewan Cameron.
”

“
What?
”
Lachlan breathed in disbelief,

“
No!
”
Muira cried from behind him.  Lachlan shot his wife a look, which clearly said, no matter what she might be feeling, that she was to be
silent
.

“
You
’
re sure?
”
he murmured thoughtfully. 

Ross looked affronted. 
“
We found several suspicious bottles in his room, sir,
”
he informed the tanist coldly. 
“
One has been conformed to contain hemlock, by the doctor.
”
 

Lachlan swore again. 
“
And Ewan Cameron
’
s confessed?
”

“
Of
course
not,
”
the captain frowned.

“
He didn
’
t!  He wouldn
’
t!  Lachlan you know that Ta-
”

“
Where is he being held?
”
Lachlan demanded of Ross, interrupting his wife as though he couldn
’
t hear her.