Chapter 9
She was a witch! He should have known it because she had enchanted him from the first moment he laid eyes on her!
Lachlan raged in his chambers, finally taking out his frustrations on the porcelain bowl atop the washstand and flinging it against the wall with such force that the shards exploded into tiny fragments and dust. It did nothing to calm him, though.
Eventually, Lachlan’s black humor simmered down as he paced from one side of the room to the other.
He was able to think clearly for the first time; it had been such a shock to see that baneful toadstool in the maid’s apron.
It had felt as if someone had ripped out his stomach with a large fish hook.
Ada Calvin is a skilled sorceress! No one could be that beautiful without selling her soul for perfection.
And to think I was on the brink of askin’ her to marry me!
She was probably hopin’ I could provide her mither and herself with protection as the two o’ them slowly annihilated everyone who had somethin’ to do with them havin’ to stay here!
He wished more than anything to be back home with his family.
He missed his brother’s ability to cheer him up when one of his black moods descended on him.
He needed his father’s opinion on how the healer’s apprentice had slipped the poisonous toadstool into the scribe’s food, and he desperately wanted to talk to his mother, Laird Calvin’s daughter, about why his heart was hurting so much.
Lachlan was in two minds about whether to stay at the Castle or travel back to MacNair Castle. He pulled the rope, summoning a servant to sweep up the mess the smashed bowl had made, but nobody came. Lachlan pulled open his door, snarling at the first servant he saw passing by.
“Get in here an’ clear this up! Why must I wait!”
The page boy shivered with fear but seemed relieved when he saw Lachlan’s anger was not directed at him.
“It’s a strange day, sir. Those who were no’ out tellin’ their friends about the death are down in the kitchen searchin’ for evil potions.”
Lachlan was about to slam the door in the boy’s face, but then he wanted to know more.
“What are ye doin’ passing me bedchamber door at such a clip anyway?”
The page boy replied with an innocent look, “I’m sent here by yer grandfaither, sir. He bid me to fetch ye to the library…b-but when I heard ye cursin’ up a storm in there, I decided to delay delivering the message to ye until ye seemed in a better mood.”
Lachlan cursed long and hard, much to the small boy’s admiration, before stalking down the passage to the library. Laird Calvin bid him come in when he knocked.
“Take a seat, Lachlan,” his grandfather said. “I want to discuss this fracas with ye.”
He sat down and folded his perfectly honed arms across his muscular chest.
“What’s to discuss? The winsome wench poisoned the poor scribe with the mushroom somehow. Then she threw the evidence under the table so that I would not find it on her clothing.”
Laird Calvin chuckled. “Och, I’ve always been amazed when young lovers squabble. They take the smallest flea an’ try to craft a bull out o’ it!”
Lachlan scoffed and made a spitting action to the side of his chair. “Dinnae mock me, Grandfaither. I was hoaxed, as many dozens of other men afore me probably have been.”
Laird Calvin rapped his knuckles on the desk’s wooden surface.
“Simmer down, Lachlan. An’ I’ll no’ have ye callin’ the healer’s daughter a wench either.
The girl’s a maiden through an’ through.
It’s ye who have been frolickin’ about her the same way a bee wants a flower’s pollen when all the time ye should have acted with more decorum.
One moment it’s all April an’ May with the two o’ ye an’ then it’s back to dagger drawing…
only to have ye both go back to makin’ sheeps’ eyes at each other when ye think no one is lookin’. It’s distracting, I tell ye.”
Lachlan could think of nothing to say as an excuse, so he stayed silent.
“Good,” Laird Calvin said. “Ye might think the two healers are colluding in this, but ye’d be wrong.
I trust Iona with me life, as do all the other folk who live here.
Belike the poison got into the berry pie served to our table, of which Master Eustace was the only one who took a piece.
Iona says nightshade berries are sweet an’ purple, easy enough for some careless picker to harvest it an’ bake it into a pie without evil intent.
It was Eustace Maclaren’s bad luck that his heart could nae take the poison an’ live.
“As for the blasted mushroom, ye were both in the forest together. Chances are one of ye picked it an’ then cast it away, where it accidentally fell into a pocket or hem until spillin’ out under the table at a later time.
Now, that’s the end o’ it. It’s too bad we had to come to this decision without yer wisdom, Lachlan, but like all men in love, ye seem to have taken temporary leave o’ yer senses. ”
“Ye seem mighty hasty to bring the chapter to an end, Grandfaither,” Lachlan interjected, choosing to ignore his grandfather’s speculation about the complicated emotions in his heart. “But if the poison came from the kitchens, then I must begin me search there.”
“Nay!” Laird Calvin was adamant. “Consider the matter at an end, Grandson! D’ye ken what the punishment is for poisoning someone?
The punishment for poisoning someone is to be boiled alive in oil!
Do Iona and sweet Ada look like the sort of women who would be interested in dying like that?
I’m no despot who must be disposed of so that folks might live in peace an’ prosperity!
Calvin Castle offers a great degree of comfort for those who live here.
Don’ be a fouterin’ numbskull, ye bampot!
There is no poisoner runnin’ loose at Calvin Castle! ”
Laird Calvin could curse and use insults just as well as his grandson could.
Lachlan stood up, pushing back the chair he had been sitting on with a sudden movement.
“I must go to her at once and apologize for insultin’ her innocence!”
Laird Calvin sighed and waved for him to sit down again.
“Why blow hot an’ cold on the poor lass?
I can assure ye that ye’re no’ welcome there.
If ye rush off to throw yerself at her feet, beggin’ for pardon, all ye’re goin’ to get is the door slammed in yer face.
I think ye’re going to have to let things simmer down before ye try talkin’ to the healer’s daughter again, Lachlan. ”
Torn by emotions of regret and embarrassment, Lachlan did go to the Calvin cottage, even though it was against his grandfather’s advice and orders. A voice was raised to ask a question in a querulous tone after his knock.
“Who is there? I’m by the fire an’ in no haste to stand up to open the door!”
“Mistress Iona!” Lachlan put his mouth to the crack in the door so that the whole Castle courtyard could not hear his request. “May I lift the latch an’ come in? I wish to apologize to Ada. Y’see, I thought…that mushroom…can I come in an’ tell her in person? Please?”
“What’s that, lad? I cannae hear ye.”
There was a hint of amusement in Iona’s voice, and Lachlan had the suspicion that the healer could hear him full well but wanted him to squirm a bit.
He was not in the position to get impatient, so he said it all again, this time in a louder voice, trying hard to ignore the sniggers of laughter coming from the passersby behind him. This time, it seemed Iona relented.
“Och, young Lachlan, she’s gone out. I dinnae ken where. Ye can try the alehouse or dairy, or she might be down by the baker’s oven. She likes to frequent all those places, ye ken. If ye run, ye will find her at one or t’other, I’m sure.”
Lachlan swore quietly under his breath. Both mother and daughter wanted to punish him by giving him the runaround.
And yet he was helpless not to do as he was bid.
His need to see Ada again was too acute.
He took his time going to all the places the healer had recommended he try. It was most frustrating.
“Try the baker’s oven, sir,” one of the dairymaids simpered at him, batting her lashes.
“Ada has been known to leave her broth to stew inside the baker’s slack oven on the odd occasion.
Or ye can stay here, an’ I’ll chase all memory of the healer’s daughter’s captivating spells away with one touch o’ me hand on those braw muscles of yers. ”
From the direction of her gaze, Lachlan had a very good idea about which braw muscle the dairymaid was talking about, and for one moment he was tempted to take the young woman up on her offer.
But when he tried to summon up enthusiasm for the suggestion, he found the throbbing need inside him fade away.
He lifted the dairymaid’s hand off his thigh and gave her a smile.
“Some other time, sweetheart.”
Curse the lass! Ada has taken me manhood away from me! I cannae think of any other woman but her. I will no’ sleep or eat until I have seen her again.
Lachlan felt better for admitting to his obsession. He also knew this was no time to show weakness because he got the feeling that Ada Calvin had no use in her life for a man who was not strong enough to protect her.
Calvin Castle was, as his grandfather had said, the prosperous enclave of a wealthy clan.
It was his own father, Callum MacNair, who had trained and settled a troop of soldiers on his father-in-law’s land to keep invaders and trespassers at bay.
Since then, the Castle’s inhabitants had never looked back.
The land was equal in distance from the southern lands and the Highlands.
The hostelry in the nearby village continuously bustled with the comings and goings of travelers and rich merchants.
The surrounding fields were closely planted with fruit trees and crops.
There was no poisoner. How could there be when everyone was so content on the face of things?