Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
"Where the hell did he run off to?" Hugh asked, though he wasn't expecting an answer.
Beside him, Anna kept up with his too-fast strides. Her hands were fisted in the front of her gown, pulling it up slightly so she didn't trip on her skirts as she jogged alongside him. She remained quiet, though her distress was obvious.
Even though they'd only been back at the castle for a quarter of an hour, Hugh had already lost Marcus. As soon as they'd returned, his brother had handed off his steed and retreated inside. It had taken Hugh and Anna a bit longer to hand their horse off to the groom.
"Ye should rest when we get inside," Hugh told her. "Ye've had a long day."
"I'd like to make sure Marcus is all right," she said softly. "If I hadn't encouraged him, I don't think he would have gone into the village."
Hugh glanced at her as they approached the doors. "It's nae yer fault, Anna. Marcus may be upset, but he would have learned about this eventually. What ye said about clear skies, I'm sure that's helpin' him."
"I know," she muttered as they walked inside, their footsteps echoing from the high ceilings. "I just…"
"It's nae yer fault, Anna," he assured her, grabbing hold of her to stop her.
"I ken ye're concerned, but ye've already been quite helpful.
Ye really should rest. Ye've been interactin' with people all day.
I daenae think I saw ye sit the entire time we were in the village.
I'll make sure Marcus willnae do anythin' stupid. "
She fixed her gaze on the floor as she considered his suggestion. He said nothing more, knowing better than to push her unless he had to. Still, he wouldn't budge on his stance. After such a long day with no breaks, she needed a bit of time to herself.
"You're right," Anna said, finally meeting his eyes again. "A few hours of rest would do me well."
Hugh nodded before flagging down a servant. When she approached, he said, "Will ye fetch Emelia? Lady McDonald needs to be taken to her chambers and attended to."
"Aye," the staff member said politely before ducking away to find Anna's maid.
"Ye willnae be alone for long," Hugh promised her. "I will come by to check on ye soon."
"Thank you," Anna said, finally letting the exhaustion bleed into her voice. "I do hope that Marcus doesn't take this too hard. It troubles me knowing he's so upset."
"He's goin' to be fine," Hugh assured her, grabbing both of her hands and squeezing them once before letting go. "I'm goin' to check on him now."
Without waiting for her response, Hugh ventured deeper into the castle. Marcus could have gone anywhere. His brother had a penchant for keeping his movements unpredictable. It was just as likely that he was in his chambers as it was that he had found his way to the great hall.
The first place Hugh checked was the library. Each nook and cranny was empty, showing absolutely no signs of Marcus having been here. Had there been another soul in the room, Hugh would have asked after his brother.
Back in the corridor, he spotted his mother. She was coming toward him, a sense of urgency in each of her movements. With her voice raised enough that Hugh could hear her from a distance, she said, "Have ye found Marcus? Anna told me that he ran into Helena."
"Nay, I havenae found him," Hugh said as he fell into step with her. "And aye. Seems he saw somethin' he wasnae supposed to see. Upset him terribly. Anna seems to think it's her fault."
"Ach, I told ye she had a good heart," Eilidh said, stopping to open a door.
As she scanned the interior of the room for Marcus, she said, "She's worried about him even though he's been a dobber and treated her poorly.
Ye got a good one with her." She glanced back at Hugh.
"But I'm still disappointed ye didnae marry her for love. "
"And I already told ye that I like her well enough," Hugh said. He wasn't willing to admit to anyone, not even himself, how deep his feelings truly ran. "Enough chattin'; we need to find Marcus."
Eilidh, thankfully, didn't pry. Hugh wasn't blind to the way her energy seemed to shift. She'd picked up on something, Hugh was sure of it. For once, he was glad that Marcus was a mess. It meant her sharp focus was turned on him rather than on Hugh.
That doesnae mean I willnae have to deal with her later. She's relentless when she puts her mind to it.
They searched the castle for Marcus in silence. As Hugh was beginning to accept that his brother wouldn't be found because he didn't want to be, a servant passed by. And, when Hugh asked about Marcus, they were pointed toward Hugh's study.
"What's he doin' in there?" Eilidh wondered aloud. "Did ye leave the door unlocked?"
"I've nay idea why he'd be there," Hugh admitted, Callum's accusation flashing in his mind again. "But he kens where I keep the extra key. If he wanted to get in, he could."
Hugh didn't have time to fully process the revelation. It was a piece of information he'd shared with Marcus when they first moved into the castle. If he thought too long about it in this new light…
It didn't matter. They needed to check on Marcus. Hugh could entertain his suspicions after he found out exactly what his brother had seen when they were in the village earlier today.
As soon as Hugh pushed the door open, he was greeted by the bottom of Marcus's boots resting on top of his desk. Marcus, to his credit, had the decency to look surprised at being discovered. He shifted, settling in the chair properly.
"I didnae think ye'd find me," Marcus said, his eyes shifting from Hugh to Eilidh. "Ye brought our maither?"
"Nay, he didnae bring me," Eilidh said, crossing her arms as she stepped closer to the desk. "I was comin' to find ye anyway. Anna said that ye were upset. I wanted to make sure ye didnae need anythin'."
"What I need is to be left alone," Marcus huffed. "I daenae need the two of ye botherin' me."
"Is that why ye're hidin' in me study, then?" Hugh stated, raising an eyebrow. "Ye were thinkin' we wouldnae look for ye amongst the areas that belong to the Laird?"
Marcus chuckled and said, "If I ever really need to hide, I willnae do so in the castle. The staff is far too eager to reveal my position." His gaze fell on Hugh as he said, "Though I'm sure that if it were the Laird someone was lookin' for, they'd do everythin' they could to keep him hidden."
"Ye ken their answers will change dependin' on who's askin'," Hugh said. "They wouldnae give either of us up to strangers. And I'm sure that Maither wouldnae let them deny her access to either of us, no matter what instructions we gave."
Eilidh made a triumphant noise then said, "Ye're right. But we werenae lookin' for ye to discuss whether or not the servants can keep a secret. We need to ken what happened in the village earlier."
The study fell silent as Hugh and Eilidh waited for his reply. For nearly a minute, it seemed as though Marcus was trying to wait them out. When it became clear they wouldn't be giving him an escape, Marcus cleared his throat.
"I daenae want to think about it any longer," he said defensively. "She was seein' three other men. At the same time." He shifted uncomfortably, staring at a chip in the varnish on the desk. "And I ken this because I saw the four of them together when I went into her house."
"Oh, Marcus," Eilidh said, rounding the corner of the desk to put an arm on his shoulder.
At the same time, Hugh said, "Well, ye probably shouldnae have walked into her house without knockin'."
"If ye're nae goin' to be helpful, ye can leave, Hugh," their mother warned before turning her attention back to her youngest son. "I'm so sorry, me boy."
"It's nay yer fault," Marcus admitted. "Ye and Hugh and Arianna were right, and I didnae want to hear it. Helena was lyin' to me."
He turned his attention to the things on Hugh's desk. He looked at the books, the parchment, and the inkwells as though he were familiar with them. The way that he ran his fingertips over the grooves suggested that he'd spent more time hiding away in here than Hugh was privy to.
"Ye didnae want to listen to us because ye were in love," Eilidh said easily. "Or at least ye thought ye were."
"Aye, I suppose ye're right," Marcus said, rising from the desk and pulling his mom into an embrace. "Now that ye're done interrogatin' me, ye willnae come lookin' for me again, correct?"
"We'll leave ye be," Eilidh said, already leading him to the door, apparently set on walking him back to his bedroom.
As the two of them left the study, Marcus looked over his shoulder and said, "Ye'll want to look at the ledgers again. There's money missin', and I couldnae find where it went."
Marcus was out of the study before Hugh could ask why he'd been going through the ledgers. Hugh was aware of the misplacement of money; he'd spent nearly an hour this morning checking it over and over. His little brother had no business reading these documents.
I may have left them out, though. I daenae ken if I put it away or nae. Either way… he shouldnae have been lookin' through them.
With suspicion hanging heavy on his shoulders, Hugh sat down. He'd get to work on the ledger while he figured out what to do about his brother.
"Ye seem a bit distracted, me Lady," Emelia said as she walked with Anna to her chambers. "Are ye feelin' well? Ye were out of the castle all day. I'm sure ye're exhausted."
Anna sighed and admitted, "Yes, I am a bit exhausted. It was… Well, I feel as though I did so much more than just ride into the village today."
"They're a lively bunch," Emelia agreed, leading Anna into her room. "And Marcus did seem a wee bit… off. As if he were more in his head than he normally is."
"Yes, I imagine that's an apt description," Anna said. "It's not my place to share what he's going through, but the trip was much harder on him than it was on me."
Emelia hummed in response, glancing around the quarters. "I'm sure he'll be all right. And it's kind of ye to be worried about him, but yer job is to take care of yerself. Perhaps ye'd like a bath?"
Anna considered that for a moment. She was covered in dirt from the road.
Her hair had become wild without the ribbon to hold it in place.
Even though she felt as if she should be doing something more to help Marcus, her presence likely wouldn't have the desired effect.
Emelia was right. Anna needed to focus on caring for herself for the time being.
"A bath would be nice," Anna said finally. "I'd like to be clean for dinner later."
"I'll call for a tub and hot water, then," Emelia said, slipping back into the corridor.
Anna settled on the chair near the low-burning fire.
She hadn't realized how biting the wind had been on the way back to the castle.
Her mind had been too focused on what Marcus had witnessed due to her encouragement.
Now, as she tried to rub the chill from her hands, she became acutely aware of how deeply she needed gowns that insulated her against the cold.
"The tub will be up shortly, me Lady," Emelia said, announcing her reentry to the room. "And I was given this. It seems that Laird McDonald forgot that he had it with him."
When Anna looked at the maid's hands, her entire body felt lighter. The hand-sewn rabbit was cradled in her palms, being treated with the reverence that the toy deserved. She stood, reaching out to bring it against her chest.
"I can't believe I nearly forgot about this," Anna murmured, looking down at the rabbit. "With everything that happened in the village, asking for it back slipped my mind."
"Did someone give it to ye, then?"
"Yes," Anna said as she crossed to her bed, putting the animal on her pillows. "A little girl. She was so sweet. When she gave it to me, it finally felt real that I was Lady McDonald. I didn't feel as if I were playing pretend anymore."
"Ye were never playin' pretend," Emelia said fondly. "We've liked ye since ye got here. We've never thought ye were pretendin'. Since we met ye, we kent that ye were our Lady. Even if ye didnae feel it yet."
Anna felt tears of gratitude threaten to collect. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, the profound knowledge that she'd found somewhere to belong settling over her. Softly, she said, "I know. It's just taken me longer to realize it."
The crackle of the fire filled the quiet that came after. It seemed that Emelia sensed the gravity of Anna's thoughts. This silence was necessary, the time for acceptance of her role and the welcoming of the confidence that would come with it.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on Anna's door. Two servants carried in the tub, fragrant, hot water sloshing around inside. They lowered it to the stone floor as a third servant, another maid, came in with a flannel.
"Come now, me Lady," Emelia said encouragingly. "Let's wash the day off of ye."
As Anna was carefully undressed, she didn't feel the desire to hide her body from the thinner women helping her.
Instead, she held herself tall, allowing the help that was being offered with grace.
Perhaps the counseling she gave hadn't resulted in a loving reunion, but it had resulted in the truth coming out.
She sank into the water, knowing that without a doubt, she'd done well.