A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,133
MacLean,” Dougal said between sucking in breaths and squeezing his one good eye shut.
Carrie bit her lip as she surveyed Tavish, her expression heavy with doubt.
“You can trust me.” Tavish gave her an encouraging nod. “I am trying to find Neil so that I may keep him safe from the English soldiers.”
A bit of her skepticism seemed to fade, but they were interrupted by the arrival of her father. Balthazar stood in the doorway, his hands on his hips. “There ye are, daughter! I need ye in the common room!” His gaze fell on her bed. “What the bloody hell happened to him?”
Tavish opened his mouth to answer, but Balthazar waved his hand. “Later. We’ve got customers who want ale. Get yerself going, Carrie!” he bellowed before turning and striding away toward the common room.
“I’ll check on ye later!” Carrie hurried from the room without so much as a glance toward Tavish.
Tavish frowned in deep disappointment. He was sure Carrie knew more than she was saying. After dinner, he would find out what.
Approaching the bed, Tavish realized Kerr had fallen asleep, his even breathing matching the rise and fall of his chest. Tavish muttered a frustrated curse, then departed. On his way to the common room, he ran into Elspeth.
She’d changed for dinner and wore a fetching gown of cream silk with an embroidered stomacher. He momentarily forgot everything but her loveliness.
“You look beautiful,” he breathed.
She blushed as she skimmed her palms over the skirt of her gown. “Thank you. It’s my finest dress. I wore it to a dinner with my cousins and their neighbors in Inverness.” She shook her head. “Never mind, that hardly signifies. I heard there was a commotion.”
Tavish pulled himself back to what was happening. “Dougal Kerr was attacked.” He pressed his lips together as the anger he’d held at bay began to simmer.
Elspeth lifted her hand to her throat, where a pearl necklace lay against her flesh. “Is he all right?”
“He will be.” While Tavish hadn’t investigated Kerr’s wounds, he assumed the man had more injuries than to his face.
She clasped her hands, squeezing them together as her face darkened with concern. “I am not a physician like my father, but I can take a look at him and offer some suggestions.”
“You are very kind.” Tavish smiled, thinking this was yet another reason he could see himself with her…
Once again, he shook himself from his reverie. This was no time to be distracted. “The men who attacked him were looking for Neil—and the sword.”
The color left Elspeth’s face. “You told me there were dangerous groups who would seek the sword. Is this…one of them?”
“I’m afraid it might be. It’s the only thing that makes sense. If they’d just been looking for Neil, I might think they were English soldiers out of uniform, which would be awful, or perhaps mercenaries they hired to hunt down Jacobites. However, since they were in search of the sword, I have to believe they are from one of these groups. If that’s true, Kerr should be glad he escaped with his life.” Tavish glanced back toward Carrie’s chamber where he slept.
“You have to find the sword before they do,” Elspeth said fiercely.
“Yes.” He stepped toward her and clasped her waist. “And I think you’re right about Carrie—she knows something. She tended to Kerr’s injuries, and when he told me about the sword, she grew very agitated.”
“Did she tell you anything?”
He shook his head. “Her father interrupted, but I intend to get answers later.”
Elspeth touched his cheek. “Where do you think those men are now?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to investigate Kerr’s cottage to see if I can learn anything.”
“Now?” At his answering nod, she said, “But what about dinner? Aunt Leah is looking forward to seeing you.”
He squeezed her waist. “Please give her my apologies. We will simply have to delay our congregation until breakfast.”
“Does that include you and me?” Elspeth asked softly, her dusky green gaze sweeping over him with unmasked desire.
Tavish’s body hardened. “I’ll come see you later.”
She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek near his ear, then whispered, “So you can tell me about what you learn, or for some other…activity?”
He groaned softly, wishing he could take her upstairs right that very moment for an activity that involved both of them naked in front of the fire. “We should probably question Carrie.”
Elspeth sighed as her fingers pressed into his nape, and she kissed the spot beneath his ear. “I suppose. But perhaps I’ll