Page 97 of Keeping Kate

Walter lifted his brows high, his glasses sliding to the end of his nose. “Interesting. We will talk about it. You are as brilliant as your brother was in business matters, but you will not admit it. Now, let me make up your drinks.” He left the room.

Alec reached across the table to take Kate’s hand. “You are anxious, lass. Where is that courage and temper I have always seen in you?”

She shook her head and got up to look through the gap in the door, which Walter had left slightly open. She came back to the table. “The soldiers are still there. But where are Rob and Connor and Jack?”

“They will not come inside if they see soldiers here. You may have to go up to the Castle before we see them and wait for us.”

“But the plan depends on all of us. We agreed.”

“Jack and your kinsmen must do their part first, and we wait on that. Wait, is that the one o’clock bell already?” Alec rose and went to the door to watch, Kate following to peer past him.

Soon the door of the shop opened, and several men in black robes and white periwigs came inside. Three or four redcoat soldiers came in with them, though Alec did not immediately see familiar faces for the crowd of black robes and gesturing hands and the hubbub of conversation among them.

It hardly mattered who they were. Any group including justices and military could be disastrous if Kate should be recognized, or if Rob and Connor should be questioned if they arrived. Just then, Walter came forward to greet them, and after talking for a few moments, indicated the private room with an eager smile.

“Aye, he is here,” Walter was saying. “And his new bride too. You will want to meet her. Come this way, Lord Hume.”

“By the devil,” Alec muttered under his breath. He looked at Kate. “I hope you have your fairy charm in force today, lass. Uncle George is here, and he looks none too pleased. If you have never prayed for a miracle before, this would be the time. By the way, you are Katherine here. Not Kate,” he whispered.

Her face and lips went ashen so quickly that Alec thought she might faint. But she sat straighter, put a hand to her throat where her necklace lay hidden, and forced a smile. After a moment, it turned to sunshine and warmth, a dazzling sight.

God bless the lass, he thought, and added a prayer, something he had not done for a very long time. He stood there, hand on her shoulder, looking as mild and nonchalant as he could, praying for a miracle to guide them through the next moments.

He could not lose her now, not to this fate or any other. He was her fate now, and she was his. And that was complicated enough where this lass was concerned, even without long-robes passing judgment on her.

Alec turned as Walter and one of justices approached, a third man behind them. Smiling politely at his uncle, the Lord Advocate George Hume, one of the meanest, most grousing men he had ever known, Alec glanced beyond him.

Following behind was Colonel Francis Grant.