Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
AIDAN
The reception and dinner at Captain Kenedy’s house had all been a ruse to catch Sir Rupert in his own web.
The actual meeting between Cinaed and the duke took place in the admiral’s stateroom of His Majesty’s ship William & Mary, docked at the north end of Merkinch Wharf, near the mouth of the unfinished canal.
Aidan boarded the vessel behind Cinaed, Niall Campbell, and a dozen Mackintosh fighters, who remained on deck trading glares with the ship’s marines.
Aidan believed that each side was operating in good faith, however, and that no danger would befall anyone.
Happily, everything proceeded according to plan.
Cinaed and the duke were both men who possessed strong personalities.
As a result, the discussion comprised as many disagreements as agreements.
But in the end, the two of them reached a place of mutual respect and understanding.
Promises of communication and support followed.
They each walked away with the belief that when and if this son of George III were to become the monarch of the Great Britain and Ireland, both men would remember this meeting and abide by their promises.
It was with a sense of elation that they all went ashore hours later.
Cinaed and Niall and most of the men were returning immediately to Dalmigavie. Aidan was to wait at Searc’s house until his wife returned from her visit with Madame Laborde.
The day after Sir Rupert’s arrest, the artist had moved back to Barn Hill with Aidan’s promise that financial arrangements would be made for her once Burney’s trial was behind them.
There could be no hint of impropriety between her and the Mackintosh clan.
She would testify that she’d conveyed a number of rumors that she’d heard.
She would admit that what she said may have induced Sir Rupert Burney to hire men to attempt an assassination on the duke.
But she had no part in any such plan of his.
And it would be clear to any jury that the spymaster would have benefited, regardless of the outcome.
They were standing on the pier, preparing to mount their horses when they saw Blair galloping toward them from Inverness.
“Burney has escaped,” he told them as he reined in his steed. “They were taking the rogue to Fort George. The prison wagon was attacked before they even got out of the city. He’s gone.”
Aidan immediately thought of Morrigan. She’d taken a carriage to Barn Hill with two Mackintosh escorts, in addition to the driver. That should be the last place Sir Rupert would go, but he had to be certain.
Cinaed and Niall began to ask Blair what else he knew, but Aidan couldn’t wait. Leaping onto his horse, he told them he was going after his wife.