the side of the English government, so it had been a surprise to Toran to learn that she had defected to the Jacobite cause and a bitter draught to swallow to find out they’d killed her.
Despite the hour, Jenny looked bright and fresh, and her eyes found his quickly. She was there with her healing friend, Annie, who whispered something to Jenny before trotting to the other side of the croft.
Toran resolved to pretend to get into her good graces, for the best way to gain information was to ingratiate oneself.
“Let us start over,” he drawled. “Mistress J.” After having spoken his words of a truce, he bowed low before her.
“Toran.” His name lingered in the air between them, said with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.
“Might I have a word?” He glanced at his cousin, who took the hint and got up. “In private?”
“Aye.” Her gaze roved slowly over him, as though she didn’t quite recognize him. And he supposed she wouldn’t, since the last time they’d spoken he’d not been so accommodating.
He flashed her a grin in hopes of disarming her a bit more and then spoke the words he’d been practicing for when they met next. “We’re eager, Archie and I, to rejoin the cause. I beg your apology for my hesitation previously.” He ran a hand through his hair, having learned along the way that to incorporate various banal gestures while talking could distract an enemy from any hint of subterfuge. He slowly locked his eyes back on hers. “We were tense from our escape, from near death, and I was finding it hard to…manage. But given the care of my cousin and the safety we’ve felt here…” He let the words fade, taking in her expression, which did not give away much.
“I understand.” Her voice was softer than it had been before, a sign of a weakening resolve. “My invitation to join us still stands. We’re well represented by MacGillivrays. Perhaps ye might even know some already.”
“Aye, I’m certain to. Thank ye. We’ll not let ye down, Mistress.” He dropped his gaze and then peered up at her, keeping his expression soft, imploring. Lord, but he was almost disgusted with himself for the tactic he was using. He pressed his hand to his heart. “As a sign of my fealty, I’ve drawn something for ye. A map of the garrison.”
Jenny’s expression brightened with interest, and she leaned just ever so slightly forward. “Show me.”
Toran pulled from his frock coat the scrap of paper that he’d drawn on the day before using supplies he’d pilfered from the men in the croft, and he handed her the folded bit.
As Jenny unfurled the scrap, taking in the etchings, her shoulders relaxed, and he felt himself sliding effortlessly into her good graces. Excellent.
“This will be of much help to us,” she said, smiling up at him. “Thank ye for entrusting this to me.”
“Aye. And I can help ye get inside when the time comes.”
“That will be most helpful.”
Mission accomplished.
Three
Jenny sat across from Annie at the small dining table in her solar where she preferred to take meals. The sun had barely risen, and the two of them had only just returned from their midnight visit to the croft.
The room was small and cozy, the wood floors softened by a rich woven carpet, the stone walls covered in rose-and-gold silken wallpaper. It had been this way for as long as she could remember. A few landscape paintings hung among the portraits of the Mackintosh ladies—her mother, grandmother, aunts. All elegant and beautiful. Sitting in her day gown, her hair in a simple plait, purple smudges of exhaustion beneath her eyes, Jenny did not feel as elegant. Annie, too, was dressed more casually this morning, in her riding habit since she planned to leave shortly for home. Jenny was going to miss not having her for company.
“Will ye go to the croft today or wait until tonight?”
“I ought to rest, but if I do, Mama will think I’m ill,” Jenny said with a short laugh. “’Tis probably best I go back. I need to speak with Dirk now that I have the map.”
“He is not as bad as ye thought, this Toran MacGillivray.”
“Nay, it would seem not. He is proving himself to be an asset. I’m sure I would have been able to come across a map of the garrison at some point, but now I dinna have to guess at when.”
“Still, be cautious.”
“As I always am.”
Annie smiled. “The brave and