Devil of the Highlands Page 0,89

with her but leaving her to work in the solar alone. She considered going out to explain that she'd told them there was no need, but then thought better of it. Cullen wouldn't see that as a good excuse for their not following his orders. He blamed the men, and nothing she said was going to change that. In fact, Evelinde suspected her intervention would just annoy him further and make it worse for the men.

Sighing, she turned away from the door and moved back to the chair to await her bath.

"No one went above stairs," Fergus repeated for the fourth time. "The torch must have fallen out by itself."

"It didna fall out by itself," Cullen growled with frustration.

"But no one went above stairs," the older man insisted. "I was watching the whole time."

"Ye didna look away even fer a minute?" Cullen asked grimly.

"Nay," Fergus assured him.

"Well…" Both men paused and glanced to Tavis as he spoke the word. The man cast an apologetic glance to Fergus, then pointed out, "Ye did come help with the door."

Fergus's shoulders sagged, and he ran one hand wearily through his hair. "They both had their hands full with the rushes, so I hurried over to the door to open it for them," he admitted on a sigh, then rallied and added, "but that only took a moment, surely not enough time for someone to get upstairs without me noticing."

"Apparently it was," Cullen growled, furious that the man had failed him like this. Fergus was usually the most dependable of men. It was why he had been first for so long, first to Cullen's father, then for himself.

"Well, they could not have got up and down in that time," Fergus pointed out, sounding frustrated. "It had to have been an accident."

"They could have waited up here and slipped away while I was in the room, and you were below fetching water," Cullen pointed out.

The point did not please the man. He shook his head stubbornly, and insisted, "It had to have been an accident. I cannot believe anyone would—"

"It wasna an accident," Cullen interrupted furiously, then added, "In future, whoever is guarding my wife is to remain in the room with her, or follow wherever she goes. Understood?"

"Aye," Fergus and Tavis said as one.

Cullen let his breath out on a pent-up sigh. He wasn't satisfied. Evelinde had nearly died, and it was leaving him with an urge either to make love to her and hold her close for a good several hours or, alternately, to smash something. Unfortunately, Mildrede had rushed off to the chamber to see that her mistress was all right as soon as he'd begun yelling at the men, and the servants even now were trudging up the stairs with the tub and water he'd ordered before laying into Tavis and Fergus for allowing this to happen. Making love to his wife was out, and as much as he'd like to, striking one or both of the men before him was not an acceptable choice at the moment either. Angry as he was, he might very well kill one or both of them.

He needed an outlet, however, and turned abruptly away from the men to head for the stairs. A rant with Mac, then a hard ride on his mount should help him use up some of the heated blood pouring through his veins, Cullen thought, but paused and scowled with frustration as he realized he couldn't get down the stairs until the women got up them with the tub.

His angry glare was on the women as he waited impatiently, but then it turned to a concerned frown as he noted the struggle the women were having with the tub. It was taking four of them to cart the item, which made negotiating the stairs with it a tricky business, and Cullen suddenly recalled his wife's claiming that a couple of men to work in the keep would ease the burden somewhat. It would only have taken two men to handle the tub, which would have speeded up the process and made it less difficult.

As he was thinking about the matter of men in the castle, Cullen was recalling the last time they'd had boar for sup. The beast had been spice and cooked on the spit, then stuffed and presented on one large platter. It had taken six women to bring the beast out, and the animal had landed in the rushes when one of the women stumbled and the