Before she could say a word, he was gone. She turned to the woman and smiled but the lady was looking down at her skirts. Swallowing in nervousness, Mary hesitated on speaking even though she knew they all knew she was not mute.
“My Lady, may I get you something?”
Lady Lenichton’s head snapped up and Mary grimaced, she knew her English accent had shocked the woman. “Ye…yer an Englisher!”
“I am,” Mary said quietly, hoping the woman was not as averse to her nationality as Mr. Cooper.
Standing, Lady Lenichton looked at her and her voice was tight and scornful. Instantly, Mary knew she was wrong with hoping there would not be any prejudice against her, “Are ye sleeping with me son, Sassenach?”
Mary stepped back, confused and shocked at the word. She did not know what it meant but it sounded like an insult, something Fiona would have spat at her.
“D…Does it matter?”
“It does to me,” Lady Lenichton said tightly as she came closer. “Ye want the lairdship, ye want the luxury that comes with the title. Ye want to steal me wealth from under me and give it over to yer vile race. I trusted ye to help me husband with his meals. He was getting better and ye kent it right to put him back, worse than he had been just because of yer greed. Ye poisoned him!”
Now, Mary was outright terrified. She stumbled back and her hands were up in a gesture of surrender, “N…no, no! I have done no such thing!”
“Aye, ye have!” Lady Lenichton rushed to the door and yanked it open. “Finlay! Get here! Seize this Sassenach!”
Mary’s head was spinning and before she could set a thought straight and run, the door was yanked open and the guard came in. He looked at the two women with askance looks. “Mary, Me Lady? Seize Mary?”
“Aye,” the woman snarled. “Take her, she is a traitor, a liar, and a murderer. She tried to kill me husband!”
27
Finlay was gentle in taking her to a prison in the castle’s keep but when she tripped over her feet and slammed her hands and knees on the rough, gritty floor, pain ran through her body in fierce jabs. The room smelled musty and dank with a rancid tinge to it that burned her nose.
“I’m sorry, lass,” he said. “I ken ye’ve done nothing like what Me Lady says, but I still have to obey her.”
She managed to get to her feet and hobbled over to a corner. Her hand was on the wall and she felt her way along in the darkness. Before she could ease herself down, beady black eyes of a rat met hers before it scattered away. The sound of its nails on the ground was tinny.
Mary sank down to the corner and hugged her knees to her chest. How could this happy night have gone so wrong? And how could Lady Lenichton just turn on her so quickly? She had believed they had forged a bond of trust, but clearly, she was wrong. The woman seemed to hate English people too…or was it that she was both English and sleeping with her son?
Am I going to die here before Leith comes? He’s given me what I never thought I‘d ever have…love. If I do die, I pray I get to see him at least once more. To be held in his arms, to kiss him…to tell him I love him again, that’s all I ask.
Huddling into herself, Mary covered her head with her arms and she began to sob. Her eyes burned but no tears fell. Just as thing were looking up, they had spun on their head and now she was in a worse position than the one she had left. Marrying the Viscount of Blackmore might have killed her spirit but being charged for planning to kill a Scottish Laird would cost her life entirely.
Leith had left to find the healer and it was only God who knew how long it would take. She lifted her head up and, with her eyes now adjusted to the darkness, could spot a bare square of rock opened so air could come in. This time, tears did come and she cried until her head was pounding and her chest heaving.
Leaning her temple on the cold stone, Mary stared at the dull rock with hopelessness. Leith was gone, she was in jail, Rinalda might be at her wit's end, Fiona was probably celebrating and she was sure that Lady Lenichton was going to try and get rid of her as soon as possible, before Leith could come back and save her.
Where was she going to be shipped off to? Mary said a prayer and then allowed herself to drift off, fear still gripping her heart tightly.
* * *
It was torrential outside but Leith could not care if he got wet. He needed to find the healer. He had to find Magrath, and he had little time to do it. He would not rest or eat or drink until he found the man and had him come back to get his father back on track.
This was the third inn he had checked only to find that Magrath was not there. Without wasting a moment, he ran back to his horse and sped off, his eyes squinted to slits as he shielded his vision from the pounding rain.
Hellfire and damnation, I should have carried some men with me.
He had searched three-quarters of the town and had found no sign of him. He was not going to give up, he had stood by his vow to help his father months ago and this was no different. He was riding to the last inn in the village and his hope was teetering on the edge over a cliff of despair.
The last inn was nothing but a row of squat cottages turned into one. Flickering lights came from two of them and he reined his horse
