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out, frowning when she saw that it was merely another quiver of arrows. Evelinde was about to push it back under the bed when she noticed the fletching on the arrows. Pausing, she drew it back out and examined them more closely. Each one was a combination of white and darker feathers in an alternating pattern. Just like the arrow in the chest in the chamber Evelinde shared with her husband. The one covered with dried blood, she recalled, and wondered what that might mean. It seemed obvious the arrow in the chest in their room was probably from this quiver.

But why was it in the chest, and whose blood was on it?

Shrugging the problem away for now, she slid the arrow back into the quiver and returned it under the bed, then stood and moved over to the second quiver leaning against one of the chests. A quick glance proved that the fletching in those arrows was all made up of darker feathers, probably goose, she thought. That was what was most commonly used.

Evelinde wasn't sure what the white feathers came from. Her guess would be that they were swan feathers, but those were rare to be found in an arrow. Not unheard of, but rare. At least they were in England. She wasn't surprised that Cullen's aunt had a bow and arrows. Biddy had mentioned that she liked to hunt for animals for her pot on occasion. It did surprise her that she had two different sets of arrows, however.

Shrugging that aside, Evelinde turned her attention to the chests. She knelt before the first one and opened it to find that it looked to be full of gowns. She quickly rifled through the clothing inside, doing her best not to disarrange the gowns too much and give away that they'd been searched. It slowed her down a little, but Evelinde wasn't yet sure that Biddy was guilty of anything and didn't wish to upset her unnecessarily… at least, not until she was sure.

When clothes were all she found in the first trunk, Evelinde eased the chest closed again and stood to move in front of the next of the three. The first held linens and pillows and other such items, but nothing more than that. Disappointed, she closed it and turned to the last chest. The moment she opened it, Evelinde let her breath out on a little sigh. This one immediately showed more promise. It held items obviously belonging to a male, Darach's things, she supposed, but more importantly, there was a stack of letters at the bottom of the chest.

Evelinde lifted them out and began to open them, feeling guilty for invading Biddy's privacy as she did but determined to learn what she could. There were many letters. Evelinde went through them quickly, but had nearly reached the bottom of the pile before she came across letters between Jenny and Biddy. She slowed then and actually began to read them.

The first letter was simply about Jenny's planned visit to Donnachaidh. Jenny had been excited at the prospect of seeing her older sister. It seemed Jenny had never been to Donnachaidh and Biddy's own visits back to her childhood home of MacFarlane, had been few and far between. Both seemed happy at the prospect of seeing each other.

The second letter was more of the same, but had been written much closer to the actual trip and the young woman's excitement and anticipation nearly leapt off the page.

It was the last note, however, that made Evelinde sit back on her heels to read more carefully rather than merely skim it. It was the last letter Jenny had ever written and the tone was much much different from the others. That Jenny had been weary and unhappy and the note was to tell Biddy that she was about to kill herself and why.

Evelinde let her breath out slowly as she closed the letter. It was poignant and sad and so full of betrayal and hopelessness that tears had welled in her eyes as she'd read it. Closing the chest, she got wearily to her feet, and tucked the letter into her pocket. She had to talk to Biddy, and this time she wouldn't let the older woman avoid answering her questions.

Chapter Sixteen

Cullen stared at Biddy, watching her lips move as she spoke, but not really hearing her. He was too busy trying to figure out how to keep her from continuing on to her room. He'd managed to