A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,140
a MacLean?”
Laurel turned to look at Brodie, hoping that he followed her train of thought. He closed his eyes for a moment as he fought to control his temper. “David Lamont’s wife.” Brodie wracked his memory as he thought about the marriage contract he’d signed allowing Dominic to marry Colina. “Bluidy hell. The woman is Colina’s aunt.”
“Aye. It wasn’t Michael, Brodie. At least it wasn’t Michael acting alone. He fed information to the MacDougalls, but Graham gave it to the Lamonts.”
“It was your idea to take the horses to the farrier, claiming your mount needed his shoes checked. You took me there to distract me while Michael and Wallace took Laurel to the docks.”
“Aye,” Graham admitted. “I thought she’d be as easy to kill as the MacMillan chit. I respect her tenacity.”
“But you don’t respect my life,” Laurel cut in. “You were in on the wager, weren’t you?”
“Lost a bluidy fortune when Brodie married you. I hoped to get it back by ending your marriage.”
“Did you tell the MacDougall brothers and their partners which route we were travelling?” Brodie demanded.
“They asked, I answered.”
Laurel rubbed her forehead, growing confused as she tried to sort through everything she heard. She tried to line up all the events and people in her mind before she moved them into their places.
“You and Colina have been lovers since she arrived, haven’t you?” Neither person denied it, so Laurel assumed she was right. “Colina believed you would become laird one day. She counted on it. She killed Brodie and Dominic’s mother because she was the first woman in her way to being Lady Campbell. She convinced Graham that he should be laird.” Laurel’s brow furrowed as she continued to think out loud. “Colina used Graham to get information to her aunt, who gave it to David. That’s how the Lamonts knew to attack your party and to target Eliza. But no one expected you to find a new bride at court. Graham, you entered the wagers to encourage the others to keep Brodie and me apart. It wasn’t aboot the money, was it?”
“Nay. Though I’m still angry that I lost it all,” Graham muttered.
Brodie followed Laurel’s line of thinking and realized just how nefarious Graham’s perfidy had been. It shocked him to the core. “Once Laurel and I married, you knew our clan gained a powerful ally. One that would guarantee the Lamonts and MacDougalls didn’t win. You made certain the Lamonts knew where to attack us. But how?”
“Liam Oliphant,” Graham stated. “When the MacDougalls gave Laurel to Monty, they assumed she would go to Balnagown. She’d be out of the way long enough for the Lamonts and them to attack with the MacGregors and MacArthurs on their side. MacFarlane and MacBain broke it off with the MacDougalls in truth, and Gunn eventually went home, too. But Oliphant was Nelson’s lackey, even though it seemed like Liam was the leader and Nelson was the follower. Nelson was canny and made it appear that way. Liam went to tell the Lamonts where to wait for us.”
“You counted on a lot of different things playing out just as you needed them.” Laurel shook her head, going back to her list once more. “You needed the MacMillans to end the alliance with the Campbells, thinking the Lamonts and MacDougalls would stand a chance when they attacked in full force. You needed to keep Brodie from marrying again, and when that didn’t work, you needed to be rid of his new wife. You needed Nelson and his friends to take care of that part, and you likely encouraged the wagers to trick them into doing your bidding. Not that it would have been hard since the MacDougalls already wanted to weaken Brodie—personally and politically.”
“When none of that worked, and you returned to an angry mistress, Colina decided she would take back control and kill the current Lady Campbell just as she did the previous one,” Brodie remarked. “Assuming you succeeded and had killed Laurel, when did you plan to kill me and Dominic?”
“We’d hoped you’d have the courtesy to die in battle,” Colina hissed. “But your wife got in the way again. Her bluidy strategy worked. You killed my uncle.”
“All of it—every minute of our marriage—has been a lie,” Dominic whispered. Laurel watched as Dominic retreated into a shell, visibly shaken by what they all learned.
“With no wife, Brodie had no heir. If he and Dominic were dead—the laird and his tánaiste, it was likely the council would elect Graham