Deborah Crombie - Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James 09 - Now May You Weep

Pascal’s company. She could let Benvulin go, let Donald go, and by doing so she could give her cousin Heather the control of Benvulin that she had earned. It might not be what Donald would have chosen, but it was the living that mattered now.

And then, it was just possible that with the money from the sale, she could bring life back to Carnmore. It would

mean starting the distillery on a shoestring, but she reminded herself, many Highland distilleries had begun as single stills run by farmers’ wives. She was resourceful, and what she didn’t know, Heather could teach her.

She saw the kitchen painted red, filled with the aroma of baking. She saw the copper stills gleaming in the still-house, and the casks stacked in the warehouse, stamped once again with Carnmore’s name.

Opening her bag, she took out the bottle of Carnmore whisky, her gift from Donald, and a tooth glass she had brought from Innesfree. The whisky felt warm from the heat of the sun, like a living thing, and when she pulled the cork the smell tickled her nose, sweet and sharp.

Carefully, she poured half an inch in the glass and sipped it, holding the buttery liquid in her mouth until it melted away. Then she raised the bottle and let a few golden drops trickle out onto the bare earth, a libation for the past, and for the future.

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to all the good people at William Morrow for their support and enthusiasm, and especially to my editor, Carrie Feron. Nancy Yost has once again proved herself an agent beyond compare, and Laura Hartman Maestro has provided the charming map.

To those who have read the manuscript, Steve Copling, Dale Denton, Jim Evans, Diane Sullivan Hale, Gigi Sher-rell Norwood, and Viqui Litman, I’m sure I couldn’t have done it without you. A final thanks to Jan Hull for being a great friend in a pinch, and to my family for putting up with me in the throes of a book.

About the Author

DEBORAH CROMBIE was born and educated in Texas and has lived in both England and Scotland. Her Kincaid and James novels have received Edgar®, Agatha, and Macavity Award nominations, and her fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones, was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was selected as one of the Best Crime Novels of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers of America. Her novels have been published in Japan, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, France, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Crombie travels to England several times a year and has been a featured speaker at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. She lives in a small North Texas town, sharing a turn-of-the-century house with her husband, three cats, and a German shepherd. You can visit her website at www.deborahcrombie.com.