My Laird's Castle (13 page)

“We shall nae press her,” Colin said firmly.

“Yes, I can see that my questions have put a high color in her cheeks and a dark expression on yer face, Colin. I will ask no further at the moment, but I canna think it is proper for Mistress Pratt to stay with ye, an unmarried man, as yer guest, without a chaperone.”

“I will admit it is unusual, but Mrs. Agnew serves that purpose.”

“We canna impose on our servants thus, Colin,” Elinor said in a chiding tone.
 

“Aye,” her father offered, in between bites.

“I will stay here to serve as companion and chaperone to Mistress Pratt until her future is decided,” Elinor stated. She didn’t ask. I barely had time to register that fact as I held back a gasp.

“What’s that, my dear?” Lord Anderson stopped eating and stared at her. “Stay here? I canna stay indefinitely, my dear. Nay, I canna.”

I turned to look at Colin, who stared at Elinor. I couldn’t interpret his expression. Was he pleased? Dismayed?
 

“I am not asking ye to stay, Father. Ye may leave me behind and fetch someone for me when Mistress Pratt has been safely returned to her family.”

“But Mistress Pratt has stated she is uncertain of her plans,” her father exclaimed. “Why, she could remain here through the winter.”

“I am prepared to stay through the winter, if necessary,” Elinor said in the voice of a saint.

I wanted to tell her she really didn’t need to, but I didn’t know what Colin wanted. He wasn’t talking, only staring at her.

“Through the winter?” Her father started cackling. “In this cold pile of stone? I dinna wish to insult Colin, but his home is fair chilly. Thank goodness my own father rebuilt his house with an overabundance of fireplaces.”

His own father? Wasn’t the castle Colin’s grandfather’s home?
 

“Your father? Is that Colin’s grandfather?”

All eyes turned to me. After all, I hadn’t said much, and I was sure my question seemed completely random to them.

“Nay, lass. My grandfather and Colin’s great-grandfather were cousins. We come from a large clan.”

“Oh!” I looked at Elinor. That meant she was Colin’s...fourth cousin? A distant relationship, surely, and not one that would prevent her from eyeing him in a possessive light.
 

I caught Colin eyeing me with curiosity, and I pressed my lips together. I wondered if he knew that Elinor coveted him. And I wondered how he felt about her.

“Aye,” Colin said. “As my uncle says, it is a large clan and spread throughout the Highlands. My uncle’s grandfather gave up the harshness of the north and settled in Edinburgh many years ago.”

“But we remain close,” Elinor added, “which is why I think it my duty to stay and help.”

“I canna stop ye, Elinor,” Colin said, “but yer father is right. Winter is coming soon. Ye could possibly be trapped here until spring, as the snow will make it difficult to travel.”

“I am prepared,” Elinor said with a firm smile in my direction. I wondered if she was really that self-sacrificing to protect my virtue, or was she protecting her interests?
 

And if she stayed, would that then free me to test the waters of the river?
 

Chapter Nine

Lord Anderson stayed three days before heading out, taking his men with him. Elinor, Colin and I stood on the front step, waving him off.

As soon as the carriage was out of sight, Elinor spoke.

“Shall we walk down to the river?” she asked. “I am in need of some vigorous exercise. The weather is fine, but who kens how much longer it will remain so.” She looked up at the cloudless sky.

Colin looked at me and shook his head. We had not gone down to the river since I had decided to stay.

“Perhaps another time,” he said. “I canna accompany ye just now. I have some paperwork to attend to.”

“Sure,” I said. “That sounds lovely. You and I can go, Elinor.”

“No!” Colin said brusquely. Elinor turned to stare at him, as did I.
 

“Nay, ye canna go alone,” he continued. “There is nae telling what dangerous beasties or manner of men ye might encounter. If ye must insist on venturing out, I will accompany ye.”

“Colin, I am sure we will be quite safe, do ye nae think, Beth?” Elinor had finally started calling me by my first name at my insistence.
 

“Yes, I think we’ll be fine. You don’t have to come, Colin.” I almost hoped he wouldn’t. Whether I would test the waters or not, I couldn’t say, but Colin appeared to be in good hands. He didn’t need me. Elinor was more suited to his way of life, to his time, and he seemed very, very fond of her.

Since her arrival, Colin and Elinor had played cards together, walked the gardens together and traveled the estate together, often at her insistence. I hadn’t exactly been excluded, but Colin hadn’t asked me to join them either, though Elinor had, it seemed more for politeness’ sake than a desire for my company. And so I had hung around the house, chatting with Lord Anderson, making up all sorts of silly stories about my origin and my family.

I had enjoyed the older man’s jovial company and was sorry to see him go. I suspected that no matter what happened to me, I would never see him again. Although he had confided he was “five and fifty,” he looked a great deal older, and I mourned the loss of modern medical care for him. From his normally red-flushed face, I suspected he suffered from untreated high blood pressure.
 

Elinor and I waited for Colin on the front steps. I noted she didn’t wear a hat any longer, and wondered if that was an accessory she found necessary in the city but not in the country.

Colin returned shortly, and we set out, walking three abreast. Elinor and Colin talked about the weather, the countryside and other things while I remained silent, never really knowing what to say in mixed company, company that included someone who didn’t know I had traveled through time. I thought the less said, the better.

Elinor turned matters to a more personal note.

“Colin, ye saw how father looks, did ye not? He isna well. I told him I wished to visit ye and that he didna have to come, but he insisted. I am so worried.”

Privately, I thought she was right to be worried.

“Aye,” Colin said heavily. “My uncle looks much older than he did last year, as if he has aged ten years or more.”

“But what can I do? I nag at him to heed the physician’s orders to eat less and take some exercise, but he willna do as I bid. He says he is an auld man and can do as he likes.”

That definitely sounded like Lord Anderson.

Colin nodded.

“Aye, I can see Uncle Andrew say those verra words. There is nae ye can do, Elinor, but give comfort where it is needed. Are ye sure ye do not wish me to send ye back? As ye can see, Mistress Pratt does well, and it seems to me it is yer father who has need of ye.”

Elinor’s cheeks stained rose, and she tucked her hand into Colin’s arm. Colin threw me a sideways look as if I should take his other arm, but I ignored him and looked ahead. Besides, unlike Elinor, I had to watch the hem of my skirts. She seemed to float above hers, never tripping awkwardly on them.

“Colin! If I didna ken ye held me in affection, I would think ye wish to be rid of me. It isna true, is it? Am I unwelcome?”

Uh-oh! I pressed my lips together and resisted looking at Colin.

“Nay, of course not, Elinor. Ye are welcome here anytime. I didna mean to suggest that I didna want ye here.”

“Good,” she said. “While I worry about Father, there is little I can do to help him. He will probably outlive us all.” She chuckled.

“Aye, perhaps sooooo,” Colin said, his
o
’s elongated in that Scottish way.

We reached the river and crossed the bridge, and Colin slowed.
 

“We are here,” he said unnecessarily. I approached the bank where we had stood before and moved forward slowly to take a seat on the boulder. The river could more aptly be called a creek again, the waters having receded.

“Wait!” Colin barked.

I turned back to see him staring at me, his hand outstretched. Elinor’s eyes were wide as she looked from him to me.

“I’m just going to sit down on this rock,” I said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Colin? She is fair worn from our journey. I canna blame her. Did ye nae say she was recently injured? What possessed ye to shout at her?”

Colin dropped his hand and shook his head, his curls falling across his cheeks.
 

“Forgive me. I dinna think the bank very stable, and I worried ye might fall in.”

I tilted my head when I looked at him, and for the first time since Elinor had arrived, he met my eyes. In them, I saw a plea—the same plea for me to stay, and my heart melted.
 

Whether Elinor came or went, Colin wanted me to stay, and although I still didn’t know in what capacity, I could not refuse him. Having spent some time in his company, I realized what a lonely man he was, living as he did so remotely. Whether or not he loved his castle, and I think he did, it was not meant to be lived in as a bachelor with a handful of servants.
 

And having witnessed his loneliness, I saw him in me. I too had been lonely for so long, in a castle of my own making. Since my mother had died, I had grown close to no one. Not really. I had acquaintances, friends to call for an occasional dinner or a movie, but no one whom I could truly say that I loved.

I turned away and settled onto the boulder to stare at the river, knowing I could say that now though. I loved Colin Anderson. I wasn’t sure what that entailed, but I knew I loved him—every tilt of his handsome head, every curl of his unruly hair, every lift of a dark eyebrow and every adorable
r
he rolled. I loved that he was Scottish. I even loved that he was an eighteenth-century man.
 

However, I still had no idea what was going to happen to me or what I was going to do.

Elinor lowered herself to the boulder beside me, and Colin moved to stand next to me. Had Elinor not been there, I might have taken the slender-fingered hand that hung loosely at his side and pressed it against my cheek, but I didn’t. I might have wrapped my arm around his leg and rested my head against the side of his knee, but I didn’t. I folded my arms tightly across my stomach and stared at the creek.

“Are ye weary, Beth?” Elinor asked.

I shook my head. “No, not really. Just resting.”

“I never did hear the nature of yer injuries,” she said.

I couldn’t very well look up at Colin.

“Oh, I hit my head, wrenched my back, banged my knees.”

“Och!” she cried out. “That is a fair number of injuries. Ye had the doctor in to look at her, did ye not, Colin?”

“Nay,” Colin had to admit. He improvised. “The weather worsened, and the river became impassable. But Mistress Pratt seems to have mended.”

The sound of a horse’s hooves startled us all, and I looked up.

There, along the path, came a bay horse with a man in a bright-red uniform astride it. Other English soldiers marched behind him.
 

“Nae again!” Colin muttered. “He was just here a month ago! This must stop!”

Captain Jones held up a hand in greeting, though he should have expected that no one would return his congenial gesture. Colin certainly didn’t, and I didn’t think it was my place to welcome him. I rose slowly, as did Elinor.

“Good day, Lord Anderson. We were just on our way to visit you.”

Colin shook his head.
 

“Seems ye were just here, Captain. What brings ye back so soon?” Colin’s tone was anything but friendly.

“Colonel Smythe had news of possible Jacobite rebels in the area, and he desired that I investigate. We were hoping to avail ourselves of your hospitality for the night.”

Even I knew that meant they were planning to stay no matter what Colin had to say. My back stiffened. I liked the captain, but I didn’t understand why they thought they could just stay at the castle whenever they wanted. I knew the Highlanders had lost a lot in the rebellion, but hadn’t Colin said his father fought with the British? Didn’t that entitle them to a bit more consideration than just keeping their ancestral lands?

Captain Jones doffed his hat in our direction and smiled widely.

“Mistress Pratt, I am so pleased to see that you are still here.” He directed his attention to Elinor. “Captain Stephen Jones, madam.”

“My cousin, Lady Elinor Anderson,” Colin said in a resigned tone. “I dinna suppose I have a choice about offering ye my hospitality?”
 

What should have sounded churlish did not, not to my ears.

Captain Jones shook his head. “No, I am afraid not. Colonel Smythe insists that we ingratiate ourselves with such lairds as come within our purview to let them know we are at their service.”

Colin coughed. “Our service?”

“Colonel Smythe’s words, not mine,” Captain Jones said with a smile

“Ye ken the way,” Colin said. “I suppose my servants will accommodate ye as they always do, whether I have returned or not.”