A Wicked Conceit (Lady Darby Mysteries #9) - Anna Lee Huber Page 0,117

city. It was blustery that day and my bonnet blew off. He ran after it to catch it for me.”

It was a familiar enough story. A chance meeting. A kindly gesture. The rest I could guess.

“And so you struck up a conversation and then continued to meet there.”

“Aye, but at first ’twas merely be chance. I mean . . .” She flushed and lowered her gaze. “I looked for him, but ’twasn’t planned.”

“And then it was.”

She nodded. Her gaze slid over my shoulder as if to see how her brother was taking this news before returning to mine. “At first, Daniel didna ken who I was. I mean, he didna ken I was Brock’s sister. And when he did, he got upset. Accused me o’ lyin’ to him.” Her brow furrowed. “But then he apologized. Said ’twasn’t my fault who my brother was. He seemed to think Brock was some sort o’ monster, and that was even worse.” Her eyes dropped to where she was worrying my handkerchief between her hands. “So I . . . I started to tell him things, aboot my life, aboot our past. He was a good listener.” A tear slid from her eye. “I didna ken he would tell anyone.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I thought I could trust him.”

“Then Heron didn’t write the book?”

She shook her head. “Nay. Said he was tricked into tellin’ Mugdock all he ken. That he thought he was helpin’ me and Brock. And when he found oot the truth, ’twas too late.”

I didn’t see how that could be, but I wasn’t going to question Heron’s motivations to Maggie. Not when it was clear from the soft look in her eyes when she spoke about him and the way she used his given name that she was in love with him.

I glanced at her brother to see if he was softening, but his jaw was clamped as tight as ever, his eyes as hard as flint.

“It’s lonely being Bonnie Brock’s sister, isn’t it?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his angry gaze shift to me, but I had a point to make, so I kept my attention squarely on Maggie.

She sniffed again and then nodded.

“I imagine you’re surrounded by people nearly all the time, what with his men guarding over you, and yet none of them are really your friends. And when you do meet someone, you have to wonder why they’re befriending you. Whether it’s because of Brock or because of you.”

“Aye. A lot o’ the lasses who’ve pretended to like me in the past were only after Brock’s attention.”

“But Mr. Heron was different.”

“He didna even ken who I was, but he still liked me.” Her voice conveyed that this was almost a wondrous thing.

“So he says,” her brother grumbled beneath his breath.

I turned to glower at him, for he was missing the reason for this confession.

“Did Mr. Heron tell you who he was tricked into telling?” I asked, harking back to an earlier statement.

She lifted her hands in a futile gesture. “I asked, but he said it was safer if I didna ken.”

Bonne Brock made a noise between a harrumph and a growl, and I couldn’t say I disagreed with him. It sounded like Heron had been protecting himself more than he’d been protecting Maggie.

But now that we knew how Mugdock had learned about Bonnie Brock’s past, I wanted to know why Bonnie Brock had chosen to conceal an important piece of information from us, lest he think his sister was the only person who had lied by omission.

“Gage and I have been puzzling and puzzling, trying to figure out why on earth the author of The King of Grassmarket chose such an odd surname. Mugdock.” I tapped my chin, pretending to ruminate on the answer. “It’s not exactly common.”

Maggie glanced at her brother ruefully, though his face remained stoic.

“But then last night we learned of the existence of a Mugdock Castle. One where curiously your mother was born. And yet you didn’t see fit to tell us?” I snapped the last, enunciating harshly.

But Bonnie Brock was unmoved by guilt, his scowl remaining as black as ever. “Aye. And what’s that to do with anythin’?”

I glanced at Gage to see if he shared my exasperation. “Obviously it was chosen to rub salt into the wound, for the man has a vendetta against you. The question is, why? Why strike out at you through that book? Why try to damage your reputation among