appeared with food, serving them all portions of poached salmon drizzled in whisky sauce, and stewed vegetables, accompanied by thick bread, steaming hot, and pots of golden butter.
Hungry, most of them ate quickly. Toran couldn’t help but notice, however, that Jenny barely ate at all.
“Are ye feeling unwell?” he asked.
“Nay, why?”
“Ye’ve barely touched your food. Do ye no’ like salmon?”
She stared down at her plate as though she’d only just noticed. “I’m no’ verra hungry, I suppose.”
“Would ye like to walk now?” He was willing to miss the rest of his meal in order to take a walk with her. Hell, he’d miss a week’s worth of meals or more if she’d let him kiss her again. A lifetime if she told him she wasn’t guilty… “Though we may start tongues wagging.”
“They can wag all they like.” She turned to her mother. “Would ye excuse us, Mama? I need some air.”
Her mother’s expression was blank as she nodded and waved them away before turning to engage Isla in conversation.
Toran stood, offering Jenny his arm again, but she walked away ahead of him. On second thought, that was for the best. Everyone was already watching them leave the great hall. No need to start rumors about how intimate that joint leave-taking might be regarded.
Outside the sun had not yet set, though the sky was a dusky shade of blue. The moon had already risen, a silver crescent fighting for light with the fading sun. On the walls that surrounded them men stood at their posts, staring out over the moors and the loch beyond.
He followed a pace behind Jenny, acting truly as her guard rather than her escort. They rounded the courtyard and the side of the castle, passing by the outbuildings and then beyond them to the gardens and orchards full of vegetables, herbs, and nut and fruit trees.
Jenny paused on a path and turned to face him. She had that haughty expression, the one she wore when she was bossing him around. “Are ye coming, Fraser? Or will I have to wait all day for ye?” She raised a brow, teasing him.
“I was content to watch ye walking, Mistress.” He let his gaze travel over her body rather rakishly as he came closer, only to have her swat at him playfully.
“Ye’re a rogue. And when we’re alone, ye dinna need to call me that. I like it when ye say my name.”
“And I like it when ye say mine.”
She smiled at him and turned to continue walking, waiting for him to step in beside her before she moved forward.
They traversed in silence several moments before she spoke. “I told my mother about what I’ve been doing—about the cause. I was so nervous that she would try to force me to stop that I never considered she’d support me.”
“That is good news.”
“Aye.” She smiled sadly and plucked a pear from a tree as they passed, rolling it between her palms. “My mother has been through so much. I dinna say that to take away from anyone else’s pain, for we’ve all been through much, I know. We’ve lost so many already, and the battle has yet to truly begin.”
Toran’s gut tightened. The words were on the tip of his tongue. What happened to my mother?
Instead he said, “Why do ye believe in the Stuart crown?”
She jerked her gaze toward him, shock at his question in the widening of her eyes.
“I mean nothing by my inquiry, Jenny. I but wonder where your heart lies.”
“My grandfather and my father fought in the first rebellion. They both lost their lives for the cause. Too much precious blood has been shed to turn back, all because pretenders wish to hold onto the crown. Ye know this. I know this. How many more Scottish lives will we lose before we win? I canna bear to see my children or my children’s children having to fight off redcoats when they only wish to live a happy, peaceful life.”
He heard her words, heard her mention of children. So she might someday want children? A sudden desire to bring those children into the world with her stirred in his gut. “Ye fight for a brighter Scottish future.”
“Aye. I fight for our people.” She paused her steps, bit into the pear, and then passed him the fruit.
Toran took it from her, happy to have his lips on something that had touched hers.
“What about ye?” she asked. “Why do ye believe Prince Charles should regain his throne?”
The toughest question of