Page 9 of The Wild Rose of Kilgannon (Kilgannon #2)

THREE

H e spat out the last words, then reached into his pocket and handed me the letter. I took it with a shaking hand. It was addressed to the Earl of Kilgannon and written formally and it said all that Angus had. But I knew immediately that it had not been written by Robert. I read it twice.

“This is not Robert’s handwriting, Angus.”

His head snapped up. “Are ye certain, Mary? Verra certain?”

“Yes. I’ve read his writing many times over the years. It’s not his handwriting and it’s not the way he words things.”

He stared through me. “That’s what we thought.”

“Angus, was Robert pursuing you?”

“Aye,” he said slowly. “We saw him. He was their leader.”

Robert , I thought. It could not be a coincidence that Robert Campbell, of all the men in the English army, was pursuing Alex across Scotland.

“This could have been written for him,” I said, looking at the note again.

“But it’s not his signature.” I rubbed my eyes wearily.

“How could he know where you were? Could he have followed you, even when you were being so careful? ”

“It’s possible. Unlikely, as we’re the ones who ken the countryside here, no’ him, with all his years in England.

But that’s not what happened.” He shook his head and rose stiffly from the chair, putting his glass on the table.

He began pacing. “He dinna need to ken the land. He had information that could only come from a MacGannon. That’s what Alex and I realized.

We had left no one alone. Even when we left the men positioned behind, there were always at least two.

We knew there was a possibility that someone could have been bought, but who and when?

Or that Lachlan had given us away, but I dinna believe it. Nor did Alex.”

“Then …?”

Angus stopped moving. “Malcolm.”

“Malcolm?” I had forgotten Malcolm. “But he was with you. I assumed you left him at Clonmor.”

“With us? Malcolm was never with us. Except for the time in Perth, I have seen Malcolm once since I left this house.”

I stared at him. “Not with you? But how? He was with you at Sherrifmuir…you went to help him—”

His voice cut across mine. “He was never with us at Sherrifmuir. Did Thomas no’ tell ye what happened, did Dougall no’? Did Alex no’ write to ye? Do ye no’ ken?” I stood very still. “Mary,” he said gently, “what did Thomas and Dougall tell ye?”

“That you met the rest of the army and went to Perth, then Sherrifmuir, and that when Mar withdrew for the second time Alex sent most of the men home. Alex sent me letters.…”

“He dinna tell ye what Malcolm had done?”

I shook my head, feeling sick. “Angus, tell me.”

“Ye ken that Malcolm wrote to Alex begging him to help? ”

“Yes. The MacDonald brought the letter.” I could still see Alex and the MacDonald facing each other across the table.

“When we got to Perth,” he said, “Mar was there and Alex threatened to split his head for threatening his brother. That dinna set well with Mar, as ye might imagine. Mar admitted that he’d used the tactic on many, but not Malcolm.

He said Malcolm had already gone when Mar sent his men to fetch him at Clonmor. ”

“Gone?” I asked. “Where?”

“To the Frasers.”

“To the Frasers? But when…?”

“Apparently as soon as he heard we were on our way, he left his lands unguarded and fled. Mar took fifty Clonmor men into his army. When we arrived we discovered Malcolm was not there, nor was likely to be. Alex felt he had to stay and took the Clonmor men from Mar.”

“So you stayed,” I said. “Without Malcolm.”

“I canna believe Thomas dinna tell ye.” Angus stormed to the door, throwing it open and bellowing for Thomas.

He turned back to me. “Malcolm joined the Frasers and was with them when they took Inverness. Ye remember our grandmother was a Fraser? He has been with them and they are now firmly Loyalist. Malcolm wasna at Sherrifmuir, but he came to see us in Perth, after we withdrew there. He thought…Och, who kens what was in the man’s mind?

Now I wonder that he dinna mean to hand Alex to the English then.

” My head snapped up at that, but before I could speak, Thomas appeared in the doorway.

He glanced at me and then back to Angus.

“Here I am,” Thomas said.

Angus spun around. “Thomas, why did ye no’ tell Mary about Malcolm? I told ye to tell her in case he came here. Why did ye no’?” I had never heard Angus use such a harsh tone to Thomas. Thomas’s face grew red and he shifted from one foot to the other.

“I told her the most of it,” he said, not looking at me.

“Why no’ the whole of it? Did Alex tell ye nay?”

“No, Alex never said a word except to get safely home.”

“Then…?” The question was left hanging and when Thomas did not reply, Angus again spoke sharply. “What, man? Speak!”

Thomas’s tone was calm. “I thought Alex would have told her in his letters or that Dougall had told her, and when I suspected she dinna know, I found I couldna tell her.” His eyes met Angus’s. “’Tis a shameful thing when a brother betrays a brother.”

Angus held his gaze for a moment longer and then sighed as he turned away.

“Aye,” he said, his anger replaced by weariness.

“Aye. Yer right. ’Tis a shameful thing. Thank ye, Thomas.

That was all I needed.” Thomas left gratefully, closing the door behind him, and Angus sank into the chair opposite me, staring at the wall.

“Tell me the rest,” I said. “Malcolm came to Perth.…”

Angus nodded. “He sent a message, asking to meet at an inn outside the town. At first Alex said no and sent that message, but Malcolm asked again and begged his forgiveness. So Alex agreed.”

“And you went with him.”

“We all went with him. We argued with Alex and said he shouldna go, but we couldna convince him. So we all went.”

“What did Malcolm have to say? ”

“I think he was surprised to have so many of us there. We arrived in the middle of the day and posted men all around, so by the time Malcolm got there, late as usual, we were long ready.” He sipped his whisky.

“He said just what ye’d think, Mary. It wasna his fault.

He said the Frasers insisted he join them after he’d sent word to Alex, which we dinna believe, and that he’d tried to warn Alex, which we dinna believe.

He said whichever side won, at least the brothers could help each other and that way Kilgannon would be safe, that Mar had left him no choice but to flee and he knew Alex would understand.

He said his life had been a hell.” Angus shook his head in disgust.

“And what did Alex say?”

“I canna use the same words to ye. Let’s just say he told Malcolm that he dinna believe him.”

“What did Malcolm say?”

“We dinna give him much chance to say anything. We listened to what he had to say and Alex told him only the one thing and then we walked out. It’s only after everything else that I wonder what would have happened if Alex had gone alone.”

“And after that you never saw him again.”

“No,” he said heavily and shook his head.

“I saw him again. Ye remember we were at Lachlan’s house and got the letter?

” I nodded. “When we thought on it we kent it had to be Malcolm. No one else coulda kent exactly where we’d be.

Only a MacGannon would ken we’d spend the night with Lachlan on that route.

Only a MacGannon would ken where we’d harbor a ship.

No one else would ken our habits, and there was only one MacGannon unaccounted for. ”

“You think Malcolm wrote the letter.”

“It’s no’ his writing but I think he’s behind it. ”

“And Robert was with him. Are you sure?”

“Aye. When the message came we questioned Lachlan and the boy who brought it. Lachlan swore he knew nothing and the boy said only that a man had paid him English money to deliver the message. A Scot, with soldiers.”

“So you went to see for yourselves.”

He shot me a sharp look. “Aye, that we did. We retraced our trail and found them about three miles from us in a small spot with a crofthouse. It was like a bowl, where they were, and Matthew, Alex, and I crept up to the edge and waited for daylight. And at last we saw him. With Robert Campbell. They were looking at a map and Malcolm was waving his hand off to the west. We crept back away and rode some miles away. Then…” His mouth twisted in a wry smile.

“Then we argued. Alex wanted the rest of us to go on and he would go back and wait for them to find him. I wanted him to come with us to the Margaret and get home or else fight them there. We argued for a verra long time and heatedly.” He sighed and rubbed his chin.

“And then he said he was ordering me as my chief to go. And I laughed at him, Mary. I laughed and I told him that he was but Alex and he couldna tell me what to do. I told him I wouldna go without him. He was quiet then for a long time and at last he said, ‘Angus, let’s go home.’

“I believed him because I wanted to believe him. In the end I did what he wanted. Willing or no, wittingly or no, I did what he wanted and, I suspect, we all did what Malcolm wanted.” He took a deep breath.

“If no’ for that letter Alex wouldna have thought of giving himself to them.

Malcolm knew that Alex would do exactly what Alex did.

So now I’m here, safe and he’s…” His words trailed off as he rubbed his hand over his face.

“I dinna ken what he was doing until it was too late. If I had known…”

“Why did you not fight Robert?”

His head sank onto his chest for a moment. With a visible effort, he lifted his chin. “Robert has over a hundred men with him, Mary. We had twenty-two. Alex dinna like the odds.”

I nodded. Nor did I. “So Alex went back to the barn?”