mending the lace on behind her back, and protested she had no idea where her employer had gone. But I’d already seen what she did not wish me to see. I left Gage to continue interrogating her if he so wished, and retreated to the landing to contemplate this new discovery.
Lady Helmswick was with child. I’d briefly considered the possibility over the past few days, given her luminous skin, the slight shift in her posture, and her reversion to the unfashionably high-waisted style of gowns from a decade prior. Now I knew, for those stays the maid had tried to conceal were specially structured to accommodate such a condition, or to conceal it for as long as possible. I knew because I wore such a garment myself, though I’d never tightened it enough to flatten my abdomen as it began to swell.
This led to one important question. Who was the father? Considering her desire to hide her condition, I could only assume it was Marsdale. If so, I wondered how Helmswick would react. Or did she intend to try to brazen her way through this and convince him it was his? If such a thing was even possible.
I stared up at the landscape painting on the wall opposite—at the row of pretty yellow stone cottages glistening in the summer sun. The leaves of the trees were flush with life, and the dirt on the road shone almost quartz-like in the brilliance of the afternoon as it wound its way toward a small stone bridge in the background. Lost in my contemplation of the countess’s conundrum, I almost turned away from it as I had done several times before, but something about it captured my eye, some faint familiarity.
I stilled in recognition, realizing this picture had been painted on the estate. If the vantage shifted but three or four steps closer, the castle would be seen looming in the distance, beyond the bridge. These cottages were inhabited by some of the staff, and they lined the road leading to Traquair village. I found myself moving closer, almost as if I could peer through the tiny painted windows to what lay inside them.
That was how Gage found me examining the subtle brushstrokes. “Kiera, is this really the time . . .” he began, having become accustomed to my absorption in studying the techniques of other artists, but he broke off as I turned to him with wide eyes.
“I know where Colum Brunton is hiding.”
His gaze trailed from me to the painting, scrutinizing it as I had done. I saw the moment comprehension dawned. “Of course!”
If any part of the castle could be termed its nose, it would be the grand portico, which jutted from its eastern face, and directly overlooked the cottages.
Gage glanced down at the kid-leather half boots on my feet and then stepped back into Lady Helmswick’s sitting room, emerging with the sable brown cloak lined with ermine I’d seen thrown over the back of one of the chairs. Evidently, he’d decided I should borrow it. “Come,” he declared, pulling my arm through his while he continued to clutch the cape in his other hand.
We hurried down the steps and across the castle to a door leading out onto the gun terrace. Here, he stopped to drape the cloak over my shoulders, fastening the clasp himself and adjusting the hood. I arched my eyebrows in gentle amusement at his cosseting.
“Are you to catch your death of cold, then?” I asked pointedly, given his lack of a greatcoat.
“I’m plenty warm,” he protested, though his breath immediately fogged the air before his face as he guided me outside.
We rounded the terrace, dotted with three old canons, to a pair of steps I had not seen before, which trailed down the short incline which led up to the castle, paralleling the drive. Once at the bottom, we stuck to the verge of the lane, avoiding the icy puddles that pockmarked the surface in places. Before I knew it, we had reached the line of picturesque cottages, with their peaked roofs and stone fireplaces. There were eight in total, but I had already deduced which one we should try first.
I led Gage to the next to last one, with tartan-striped curtains hanging in the window. “Don’t knock,” I whispered. That would only give Colum time to escape out the back. If he wasn’t inside and we scared some unsuspecting resident, we’d simply apologize. In this circumstance, it would be better to risk offense and