insult, but she doubted Campbell meant his statement to sound as harsh as it came out. “But you’re only thirty.”
“Exactly. I lost my wits when I was two-and-ten, giving me nearly two decades of having lived shadowed in the darkness that surrounds Lycansay Hall.”
He was being serious about the insanity, and it pained Sarina. “You have nothing to fear from me, Campbell. Let me help me. Let us help each other.”
“Are you really willing to put yerself in such danger?”
“Nightmare stalks me from the outside. I’m only one dream away from the grave, how much worse can Lycansay Hall do to me?”
A low grumble vibrated through the room.
Sarina shot her gaze upward, scanned the ceiling, then the walls and finally the floor. “Please tell me that was not the house answering me.”
Campbell stood. “If ye truly want to help me, and make yer so-called agreement with me, then it best ye ken the truth. All dwellings in Dundaire are living, breathing structures.”
“This house hears and answers all?”
“It hears more than it answers, but usually only those associated with the MacHendrie lineage are aware of the secrets the buildings of Dundaire conceal. Most unsuspecting souls never ken otherwise. I suppose ye are aware due to the fact ye father was aware.”
“It must be, as Father never mentioned the fact in any of his letters. Though I don’t know why he hadn’t, as he wasn’t shy about revealing many other things.”
Campbell headed for the desk. “Ye asked about yer father’s belongings and I have something I feel is important ye need to read.”
“Is it a letter that he left?”
“No.” Campbell crouched, disappearing for a second behind his desk. When he rose, he had a stack of books in his hands. “These are ye father’s diaries.”
The elusive diaries she so wanted to read. “Do they tell about his work here?”
“I suspect, though I didnae feel it right that I read them.” He paused as he placed the leather-bound volumes on the table in front of the settee. “I did however, sense certain emotions emanating from the pages. And I fear they are nae all pleasant.”
Having something so personal of her father’s was a gift in itself. “I’ll read them quickly and tell you all that they contain.”
“Some of the contents might be chilling. If ye feel ye need to read them in another’s company, I am here for ye.”
The idea that Campbell was concerned for her, sent a heated zing straight to her heart. “I appreciate the offer. Perhaps tonight we can read the first book, together.”
“I’d like that.”
She never knew what had drawn her father to Dundaire, and more specifically to Lycansay Hall, but now having his diaries, the answers she so desperately needed might be just pages away. As could be the antidote to lifting the curse that plagued this unforgiving land.
Chapter 9
Leaving Sarina to her brother’s company once Nevan returned from his outing with Ian, Campbell ventured down to the tract of land where Charles’s cottage had previously stood. He walked the perimeter as Ian followed him. “I gave Miss Ogilvy her father’s diaries,” he said.
“How did she react to their contents?”
“She hasnae opened them yet. We agreed to read them together, starting tonight.”
“Bold move, Cousin.”
He paused. “The lady merely wants answers. And I have agreed to help her find them. Now get yer sullied mind out of the gutter and see if ye sense anything out of the ordinary coming from this lot.”
Ian poked the toe of his boot through a small mound of rocks, but said nothing.
Warm wind blew across the field.
Rolling up his sleeves, Campbell surveyed the lot. Not much remained of the small house as the walls and roof had been reduced to nothing more than bits of dust, but he couldnae help think buried somewhere amid the ruins were traces of the secret Charles took to his grave. If only he had an inkling of what to look for in order to find that secret.
He sucked in a deep breath.
A hint of Cognac graced his tongue, as did the strong essence of subtly sweet grapes, reminiscent of Italy’s famed Grappa. Charles obviously enjoyed a variety of drink during his life at the cottage, though he wasnae a man to overindulge. Whatever it was he had discovered the morning of his death, was certain to have been born out of reality and nae an intoxicated mind. Which was more than he could say for his own father’s rants about Lycansay Hall’s secrets.
Crouching, Campbell gathered a handful