before saying, “You can make all the accusations you like. My daughter will never believe you.”
Whatever he said, the earl had doubts about his daughter’s trust in him.
They had him. They had him good. “I’m thinkin’ we ought to get more than fifty,” Charlie said. “After all, we’ll hang if we’re caught, whether we got a hundred pounds or twenty. Might as well get a hundred. We can go back to that empty barn at the edge of your grounds, my lord. That’s convenient for ya, ain’t it?”
“I don’t have a hundred pounds in ready money!” the earl protested.
“But you can get it,” Charlie amiably replied. “And you’d better, or your daughter’ll be finding out just what kind o’ man her pa is.”
“How?” he charged, panic in his voice. “You wouldn’t dare show your face in Dunbrachie!”
“Your house ain’t in Dunbrachie, and there ain’t a lock in Scotland Charlie here can’t pick,” Red noted with a smirk. “If we want to pay a little visit during the night, we can. And, by God, we will.”
Chapter Seventeen
Embarrassed but determined, Moira clutched her reticule as she declined the offer of a chair after she entered Mr. Stamford’s parlor. The room wasn’t large but had many cunningly contrived shelves and cupboards, and the pine boards of the floor had been very well laid. The mantel was strong and yet lovely to look at, like the Dutch tiles around it. The expert construction and finishing of his home had been one reason she’d hired him to build her school. The furnishings were plain and likewise well made, reminding her of their home in Glasgow.
Taking a deep breath, Moira got right to the point. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Stamford, but my father has declined to pay for the rebuilding of the school. That will have to wait until I can raise the funds myself.” She reached into her reticule and pulled out a cheque for nearly the whole amount of her remaining pin money, except for enough to get her to Glasgow, where she could stay with friends. On the other side of country from Edinburgh. “In the meantime, this should be sufficient to cover your costs thus far.”
Mr. Stamford took the cheque with surprising delicacy. “We’ve had our differences, my lady, but I’m sorry it’s come to this. You’re sure your father won’t change his mind?”
“No. After the fire and the attack on Mr. McHeath, he thinks what I’m trying to do is too dangerous. I don’t agree, so he’s withdrawn his support completely.”
Mr. Stamford tapped his chin with the cheque. “I can’t say I blame him, my lady. I might do the same if you were my daughter.”
“Things have come to a sad pass if vandals get their way, Mr. Stamford, and I don’t intend for that to happen,” Moira said as she made her way to the door. “While I regret having to call a temporary halt to our project, I have every confidence that it is temporary, and I hope you’ll be available when I have the necessary funds to begin again.”
“Yes, my lady, you can count on me. How is the young solicitor? A terrible business, that.”
“Doing much better, I’m happy to say.” Better enough to come downstairs. Better enough to kiss her and almost make love with her.
Better enough that surely the doctor would say he was well enough to go home.
And then what? And then what? Those words had been a refrain in her mind all last night and this morning, and all the way into Dunbrachie.
“I’m glad to hear it. I never saw such a prizefight in all my life.”
Neither had she, but then, she’d never seen any kind of prizefight and never wanted to see another. “Good day, Mr. Stamford. I’ll let you know when we can begin building the school again.”
“Aye, my lady. I’ll be waiting.”
“I wish I could say you’re fit as a fiddle,” Dr. Campbell said as he examined the wound in Gordon’s side, “but you’d be a little out of tune. Mrs. McAlvey tells me you’ve been doing more than you ought, so I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Gordon darted a swift glance at the nurse, who was standing at the foot of the bed with the virtuous expression of an angel. “Has she indeed?”
“It’s my duty to tell the doctor you didn’t stay in bed,” she said, as calm and gentle as a nun.
Gordon wondered if that was all she’d told him, and he got his answer when she winked at him