Devil of the Highlands Page 0,98

she paused at Biddy's door and slid silently inside. It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd thought to examine his aunt's room. It was no wonder he liked his wife, Cullen decided. It seemed obvious they thought much alike.

Shaking his head, he stepped out of the solar, intending to follow Evelinde and probably scare the goodness out of her by entering while she was inside. He'd feel bad about that prospect, except that it was little more than she deserved for putting herself at risk by creeping around on her own when she knew someone was trying to kill her. If she didn't care for her own well-being, she could at least consider his feelings in the matter. He loved the woman and had no desire to experience life without her. That was odd, he supposed. Until a very short time ago, he couldn't have imagined life with a woman like her, and before meeting her, his life had seemed just fine, not horrible or lonely, but… fine. Now, however, he knew that life would be a much gloomier, unhappy existence without her there.

Cullen had just stepped out of the solar when a sound by the stairs made him pause and swing back. His eyebrows rose with alarm when he saw Biddy stepping onto the landing and bustling toward him, obviously headed for her room.

Once safely inside Biddy's room, Evelinde leaned against the wall with a little sigh. This sneaking about business was all rather worrying.

Grimacing, she peered around the room, only to glance nervously toward the door as she thought she heard the murmur of voices from the hall. No doubt it was Gillie and Rory, or Tavis and Fergus, or perhaps some other combination of the men, sent up to guard her, Evelinde thought, then frowned as she realized that she had trapped herself nicely. With the men in the hall it would be impossible to leave unnoticed. That gave her pause. Why hadn't she considered that when she'd had this brilliant idea?

Sighing, Evelinde glanced back to the room. There was little she could do about the men now. She was here and might as well look around. If, by some chance, she did find something in the room to help sort out the past and what was happening now, Evelinde wouldn't care if the men saw her leaving the room and knew she'd been searching it.

That was her greatest hope at the moment. She was determined to resolve this matter. So far she'd gotten lucky and survived these attempts on her life relatively unscathed, but Cullen could have been seriously injured or even killed trying to save her from the fire, and she would not see the man in such a situation again. She loved him. And he loved her.

A small smile curved her lips. "I love ye," he'd said like he was saying he liked her hair. Leave it to her husband to announce it like he was telling her the time of day. The man was definitely not a romantic, but she could live with that. She could even live with his distressing refusal to speak much. However, she didn't think she could live without him in her life. Evelinde found she'd begun to depend on his silent strength and consideration.

She also had no desire to die before enjoying their love for a while… and perhaps having a babe or two. A little Cullen would please her. She would enjoy watching him grow into as fine a man as his father. Hopefully, her influence would make him a little more talkative, she thought with amusement, then turned her attention to the room.

What had Maggie discovered? Evelinde wondered as she peered around the chamber. It was a much smaller room than the one she shared with Cullen. There also wasn't much in it. A bed was pressed up against the far wall. There was a small table next to it with a half-used candle in an iron holder on it, and there was a bow and a quiver of arrows leaning up against one of three large chests against the wall at the foot of the bed.

Evelinde moved farther into the room, intending to start with the chests, but then paused and moved to the bed, some instinct making her kneel to peer under it. Despite having thought to look there, she was surprised to see something in the shadows underneath. Reaching in, she grabbed what felt like a leather bag and tugged it partially