Chapter 14 #2
Enough, he decided.
Enough to know that in doing so, he’d flagrantly broken his word to the abbot.
Enough to put his investigative process at risk.
Enough to endanger his discovery if Carenza couldn’t be trusted with his secret.
The lass asked too many questions. And she no doubt had many more.
This entire scheme of hiding Hew from the king by stashing him in a monastery and putting him to work hunting down a thief had been ridiculous.
First of all, keeping a secret in the Dunlop clan was impossible. Already, half the Highlands knew Sir Hew of Rivenloch was staying at Kildunan. And now Carenza was privy to his highly confidential mission.
Would she keep that confidence? Or compromise his efforts?
How long would it be before Father James began to suspect the odd guest at Kildunan was up to more than taking his ease at the monastery? How long before news of Hew’s whereabouts reached the king’s ears?
He sighed. His head had begun to throb again.
Despite the pain, he resolved that he was done with opium wine. It made him far too vulnerable.
“Sir Hew?” Carenza called softly.
“Aye?”
“I’m beginnin’ to feel…strange.”
“Are you?”
“Aye. Like I’m floatin’ on a cloud.”
“Where else would an angel dwell?”
“Awww.” She sounded pleased.
That pleased him. But flirting with her was a mistake, considering how easily aroused he was.
“Ye, sir, have a smooth tongue,” she said.
All the better to lick your delicious skin.
That was what he thought. But Carenza was an innocent. Not some randy wench to be wooed with nasty innuendos. So what he said was, “You inspire me, my lady.”
She giggled. It was an adorable sound. The opium must be relaxing her.
“I feel so…so happy.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that. “What makes you happy?”
“My animals,” she said on a sigh. “My animals make me happy.”
Animals, as in more than just Hamish? How many did she have?
Before he could ask her, she began listing them, poking up a finger for each one.
“I have Hamish the coo. But ye already know him. I feed a squirrel named Scarlet who comes to the courtyard. I’ve just set Pokerounce and Blancmange free to sleep for the winter.
They’re hedgepigs. I give table scraps to Troye, my favorite hound.
In the courtyard, there’s a crow who likes to bring me gifts.
And a friendly fox comes round now and then if I’ve got a bit o’ meat.
” She paused to emit a luxurious yawn. Then she stopped counting and continued in a drowsy voice.
“O’ course, I’m fond o’ the new wee lambs…
an’ piglets…an’ calves. I haven’t named them all.
I used t’ have a spider called Tidy who kep’ my window free o’ bugs.
An’ Twinkle the rat comes to m’ chamber ev’ry night for a wee bite. ”
He raised a brow. “You have a rat in your chamber?”
“Mm-hmm.” Then she gasped and lifted her head to look at him with wide eyes. “Och! Don’t tell my Da. He’ll be so upset.”
Hew thought the laird would be far more upset over his daughter reiving cattle than feeding rats. But he didn’t tell her that.
“I won’t breathe a word.”
“Y’re a good man.” Her eyes turned all soft and dreamy. “I’m so glad y’re here.”
“I’m glad I’m here too.”
Mostly because someone had to keep her from leaving the room in her condition.
The opium had definitely taken control of her. Opening her mind. Softening her heart. Relaxing her tongue.
“Y’re very handsome,” she said.
His lips twitched with amusement. “Thank you.”
“An’ strong.”
He nodded, not knowing how to respond.
“Good-hearted. An’ generous. An’ full o’ honor.”
“You’re too kind.”
“Bold an’ brave.” She pondered hard. “An’ handsome. Did I say handsome?”
“I believe you did.”
“Very handsome.” She caught her lip under her teeth. “I like your hair. An’ your eyes. An’ the way ye smile.” Then she waved him forward with a flutter of her fingers. “Come ’ere. I have somethin’ to tell ye.”
He couldn’t refuse. He came up beside her pallet and hunkered down beside her.
Her eyelids dipped and opened again slowly. “Come closer,” she murmured.
He drew as near as he could. Near enough to see the languid glaze in her amethyst eyes. Near enough to smell the sweet lavender on her skin. “What is it?”
She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Sometimes when I see ye smile, I think about kissin’ ye.”
He gulped.
“I wonder what y’r arms would feel like aroun’ me,” she confessed. “How y’r breath would feel upon my cheek. What y’r lips would taste like.”
Hew could only gape at her in slack-jawed silence.
In any other moment like this, he would have swept the woman off her feet, delved his hands into her hair, and ravished her mouth with passionate abandon. They would have ended up in an intimate embrace and inevitably in a tryst between the linens.
But this wasn’t any woman. This was Carenza. This was The One. And she wasn’t in her right mind.
She lifted a finger and placed it on his mouth. “Do y’ think about it too?”
He didn’t trust himself to speak. So he nodded.
She traced his lips with her finger, lingering on them with a limpid gaze. Then she whispered, “Do y’ think about other things?”
His throat closed. The raging beast below his waist was thinking of them. In fact, it was demanding them.
She withdrew her finger and gave him a sultry smile. “Y’re goin’ to make a terrible monk.”
She wasn’t wrong. But for now he had to behave like one.
Making light of her comment, he replied, “And you, my lady, are going to make a terrible cateran.”
“Me, a cateran.” She flashed him a gleeful grin. A grin that ultimately melted into a yawn. Then a crease settled between her brows. “Y’ don’t think I’m the monastery thief, do y’?”
So she did remember their conversation from the wee hours.
He was about to reassure her that nay, he didn’t think she was the thief. Who could ever believe Carenza was a common outlaw?
On the other hand, she’d stolen her father’s coo, let the Boyle brothers take the blame, and deceived the abbot. She wasn’t exactly without sin.
Could she have stolen the church treasures?
There was only one way to find out. Ask her directly.
“Are you the monastery thief?” he asked.
“Nay,” she replied.
She closed her eyes. He figured that was the end of it.
Then she opened them again and said, “But I’m goin’ t’ help y’ find him.”
Hew frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“’Tis too dangerous.”
“No more dang’rous than reivin’ coos.”
She had a point. But the last thing he needed was a lass getting in the way of his investigation, especially when it involved powerful members of the church. And if Carenza was anything like the last three women he’d courted, she’d be unable to resist sharing her clandestine mission with her maid.
Soon the whole clan would know what they were up to.
The abbot would find out Hew had been indiscreet.
And the gossip would reach the king’s ear.
Nay, it would be best if she forgot everything she’d heard about the monastery thief.
“I work better alone,” he told her.
“No one w’rks better ’lone.” As she grew sleepy, her voice trailed off.
But what she’d said was true. And it made him think.
“Wait. What did you say?”
She smiled. “About kissin’ y’?”
He couldn’t help but smile back. But this was important. “You said no one works better alone.”
“Did I? Mmm.”
He began to think aloud.
“Working with a partner does make things easier. Whether ’tis fighting in a clan battle or digging a cart out of the mud.”
“Or stealin’.”
“Right. It makes sense that the thief has an accomplice. Someone to cover for the theft or provide a distraction.”
“One t’ steal it an’ one t’ hide it.”
He froze. Of course. There were two thieves.
He’d been searching for a person who had both access to the innermost chambers of the monastery and the freedom to come and go as he pleased in order to stash the treasure at a remote location.
But if there were two thieves, only one would need to have access to the treasure. He might be any monk within the walls. The second thief would simply receive the stolen goods from the first and transport it elsewhere. That person could be any vendor or visitor who came to the gates of Kildunan.
His mission had just gotten a lot more complicated. But for the first time, he believed he was on the right path.
“My brilliant lady,” he declared, “I think you may be right.”
But his new partner in the investigation was already asleep.