Page 37 of Claimed Highland Brides

15

CAST UP ACCOUNTS

T hree days after he left Braenaird Keep, Delwyn rode into Edinburgh. He had made good time due to his fast horse and the minimal time he took to rest. Even when he closed his eyes, he had difficulty sleeping due to the various worries that plagued him. He worried constantly for Jamesina; what she was doing, what she might be thinking. He wondered what she’d told her family about his absence. It pained him that she might be embarrassed by him or that her sisters would despise him for his actions.

I deserve it. All of it .

His heart fell as he folded in on himself with misery.

He rode to the inn at World’s End, situating himself with the wall at his back and keeping an eye on everyone in the room. For all he knew, the entire bar might be in league with Maegan’s kidnappers.

A serving girl came up to him and smiled. “What will ye have good sir?” she asked.

“A tankard of ale please.”

“Right away sir.” She gave him a coy glance before twirling around and swaying away, making sure that her assets were on display. Delwyn sighed, wanting to tell her that he was married and that she should stop wasting her time. That reminded him of Jamesina and what she’d said to him. Not that it was ever far from his mind.

Go and rescue yer sister. But dinnae come back here. There is nothing left here for ye.

“She didn’t mean it. She couldn’t have meant it,” he murmured to himself.

“Wha’ did ye say?”

He jumped, looking up to see the serving girl staring quizzically down at him. “Oh! I wasn’t speaking to you.” He pointed at the tankard on her tray. “Is that my ale?”

She looked down at it as if she’d forgotten what she was carrying. “Aye, it is. There ye go.”

She picked it up and put it down in front of him with a wide smile.

“Thank you.”

She gave him another smile and waited as he dug out a coin. Still maintaining eye contact, she tucked the coin into her cleavage. “Is there anything else ye need?” She fluttered her lashes at him.

“No thank you. I’ve a wife at home.”

The serving girl snorted, rolled her eyes, and flounced off. Delwyn gave a deep sigh, eyes on his drink. He was surprised when he felt someone take a seat opposite him. He lifted his eyes to see the solicitor, the one he’d spoken to when he first landed in Edinburgh, sitting across from him.

He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the other man to speak.

“Ye have a package for me?”

Delwyn’s eyebrow rose higher. “Well, at least this time you are not pretending not to know Neacel Hunter.”

The solicitor shrugged. “I do some legal work for the Hunter Clan. Neacel is a Hunter.”

“Oh, and you think collecting the bounty for abducted young women is part of your ‘legal work’?”

Angus shrugged. “As far as I ken, the lass came here of her own free will. Naebody made her leave her father’s hoose and come awa’ wi’ Neacel.”

Delwyn’s face twisted. “You bastard!”

Angus shook his head, “D’ye want tae trade insults, or do ye want yer sister?”

Delwyn sighed. “I have the gold you asked for.” He reached for his bag, putting it on the table. Angus barely looked at it.

“I’m afraid ye’ve misunderstood us. We dinnae want yer gold. We want the deed tae the mine.”

Delwyn’s heart dropped. “That was not the agreement.”

“According to my brief, it is. Ye get us the mine, we gi’ ye yer sister back.”

“I can’t do that! It’s not part of my dowry.”

Angus got to his feet. “Well then, we’ll just have tae kill young Lady Maegan.”

Delwyn reached out and grabbed his shirt. “Wait!”

Angus smiled, sitting back down. “Aye?”

“Please, take the gold. I can get you more.”

Angus shook his head regretfully. “We dinnae want more . We want it all .”

Delwyn put his hands in his hair, almost pulling it out by the roots. “And how do you expect me to get that?”

“’Tis no my problem.”

“Can we come to some compromise? Surely there must be something you want that I can give you.”

Angus leaned back on the bench and looked at him. “We want the mine.”

Delwyn shook his head. “I can’t give you that.”

“That is truly unfortunate.” Delwyn heard the voice from behind him but before he could turn, something hit the back of his head and he tipped over, his head banging on the table before his body slipped to the ground. Angus watched him fall and then looked up at Neacel.

“Now wha’?”

“Now…we send another ransom note. This one, tae the man’s bride.”

Angus laughed. “Oh, ye are a diabolical one are ye no?”

Neacel gave him a cold smile. “I do what I have tae, tae get wha’ I want.”

“And the lassie? What do we do wi’ her?”

“Put her brother in wi’ her. They can keep each other company before they die.”

Angus nodded before turning towards the publican. “Package here to be kept upstairs,” he called. Within minutes, two men appeared to drag Delwyn up to the attic, where his sister was still sulking.

* * *

Jamesina woke up with the all-pervading urge to cast up her accounts. She rushed to her chamber pot just in time to upend the little bit of food she’d managed to keep down. It had been a week since Delwyn left and she had barely managed to eat a full meal. She truly could not afford to lose any of it. Last night, Daividh had come back from his hunting expedition. She supposed that Fiona had told him of Delwyn’s abscondment because he’d been glaring all through dinner and acting particularly gentle towards her.

She was ashamed to find that deep inside, she was jealous of Fiona. She had a husband who wanted her for herself and not her dowry. A husband who cared not only for her, but her entire family.

Why couldn’t I find that too? What is wrong with me ?

She suppressed a sob, having vowed that she would not cry over the Sassenach. Her stomach heaved again and she spat miserably into her chamber pot before waiting to see if anything else would come up. Thankfully, the feeling of nausea had died down and she was able to straighten up, cross to the basin, and pour herself some water.

Now that she had cast up her accounts, she felt quite hungry.

Perhaps I can eat after all .

* * *

Delwyn’s eyes opened slowly, to a dim and blurry world, and he blinked a few times, attempting to bring it into focus. A face entered his vision and he squinted, trying to see who it was.

“Delwyn? Are you awake now?”

He jerked in surprise, recognizing Maegan’s voice. “Ma’g’n,” he murmured with difficulty.

“What are you doing here? What happened to you?”

He reached out, scrambling a bit until his hand touched her sleeve. He opened his mouth, but his throat was too dry to speak properly. “Wa’er?”

“Are you saying you want water?”

He began to nod but then stopped abruptly when a bolt of pain streaked through him. He heard his sister scramble to her feet, and then footsteps. The gurgling sound of water pouring had him licking his lips in anticipation. He was so thirsty.

Soon, Maegan was pressing a cup to his lips and he drank as much of the water as he could manage.

“Will you get up off the floor now? It’s quite dirty.”

He would have been tempted to laugh if he didn’t know how much his head would hurt if he did.

“H...elp me.” He stretched out his hand and she grasped it, closing her other hand around his wrist and pulling him. He winced as the movement caused another strobe of pain to light through him. He gritted his teeth and stiffened his muscles so that he could get up. He barely got on his feet before he was swaying and then dropping on the straw mattress of the bed. He managed to stay upright, sitting on the edge of the bed, but he could barely see.

“Would you like a cloth over your eyes? It seems someone hit you quite hard.”

“No,” he whispered, “that’s fine.” He swayed a bit from side to side, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. “What…? Have you been here since they…since you left home?”

“No, I haven’t. Neacel left me here so he could go and conduct some business.”

He squinted at her. “Beg pardon? He left you here? What does that mean?”

Maegan snorted in quite an unladylike manner. “Do you not understand the queen’s English anymore? In any case, what are you doing here? Did you come to see me?”

“I came to pay your ransom !”

“Ransom? What in the dickens are you talking about?”

Delwyn blinked at her, unable to believe how na?ve she was being. “Your so-called beau, Neacel Hunter, asked for ransom for you. Do you not know?”

She shook her head, gaping at him. “Of course I did not know! What do you take me for?”

Delwyn closed his eyes and leaned back. “Yes well, apparently the ransom I brought was not the one they wanted. I heard them say that they would now try and ransom me .”

“What are you talking about Delwyn? My beau is no scurvy cove who goes around extorting monies from people. He is an adventurer and we are going to sea. You always liked to talk about it. About running away to sea and seeking your fortune but you never did it. I did. When Hunter returns we will secure a ship and sail away.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“It is what we discussed, yes.”

Delwyn snorted, scrunching his eyes tight as his headache intensified. “I have risked my marriage for a girl who insists on acting the fool. I am the only one that cared for you.” he said bitterly.

“Your marriage ? When did you get married?”

“Recently. What about you, Maegan? Are you married?”

His sister was uncharacteristically quiet.

“He said that we have to wait a bit. That we’ll get married before we go off adventuring.”

Delwyn gave a loud, tired sigh. “And of course you believed him.”

Again, Maegan said nothing. There was a pregnant pause.

“I have to believe him,” she said in a small voice. “If I don’t, then what do I have left?”

“Your family. You have your family.”

“Delwyn, I am not so na?ve that I do not know that I was courting scandal when I left with Neacel. He promised to marry me and I was in love. I believed him and after I left I had no choice. He says it’s easier in Scotland. We can be handfast without any need for parental permission or any of those things. He wants to do it because he loves me.”

“He doesn’t love you, Maegan,” Delwyn snapped irritably. “He sold you for ransom.”

Maegan shook her head vigorously, hair flying from side to side. “No! He didn’t.”

“Yes, he did, Sister. Why do you think I am here?”

She pursed her lips and swallowed. “I do not know... Why are you here?”

“I told you, I came to pay your ransom and now he’s holding me for ransom!”

She scoffed. “That doesn’t make sense. Who would pay for you?”

Delwyn shut his eyes, leaning back against the bed as the pain in his heart, that he’d been trying to hold at bay, assailed him in full force. “My wife’s family. At least, the kidnappers think they will.”

“Stop calling him that!”

“That is what HE IS!” Delwyn almost lost control. Something that did not fit his character.

“You do not know him like I do. He is a decent man who loves me!” she did not believe her own words. Her bottom lip started shaking.

Delwyn took a deep breath. “Listen to me now. Whatever the case, we have to escape from here before they return.”

Maegan pouted, crossing her arms. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”