Tira graced him a sweet smile. “Thank you, Lord Kinloch. Mamma would be quite upset to hear that I was exposed to rough language.”
Kade had to bite the inside of his cheek to hold back a laugh.
“But I hardly said anything,” Richard protested.
Kinloch glared at him. “Oh, do be quiet, man. I can’t stand brangling at the breakfast table.”
Richard subsided, no doubt not wishing to further alienate his prospective father-in-law.
The door opened and Lady Kinloch and Ainsley came into the room, followed by Royal. When the gentlemen started to stand, Lady Kinloch waved them back down.
“Good morning, my dear,” Kinloch said, trying for an assumption of cheer. “I didn’t expect to see you at breakfast this morning.”
Lady Kinloch took her seat at the opposite end of the table. “Yes, it was a late night, but the Kendricks are departing, as you recall.”
Royal and Ainsley had always intended to leave this morning. Although they’d offered to stay to assist in the search for the brooch, Kade had advised them to leave as scheduled. There was suspicious business afoot, and things might get a bit dicey, possibly even dangerous. He wanted his sister-in-law and niece well out of harm’s way.
“Besides,” Lady Kinloch added, “I could scarcely sleep a wink thinking about that dreadful Fiddler.”
“Elspeth, there is no damned Kinloch Fiddler,” her husband replied, forgetting his admonition about cursing around little girls.
“Of course there is,” Charlie said as she sailed into the room. “The legend of the Kinloch Fiddler has been in the family for generations. And whenever he plays—”
“You mean wheneversheplays,” her father sarcastically interrupted.
“—disaster or even death is sure to occur,” Charlie continued, undeterred. “And it certainly wasn’t me up on the roof, Papa.”
“It was Kendrick,” Richard muttered.
Charlie poured herself a cup of tea. “It wasn’t Mr. Kendrick, either. I checked with the maids, and they confirmed his report.”
“There’s only one explanation,” Lady Kinloch said.
Her husband held up a hand. “Donotsay it, Elspeth.”
“The Kinloch Fiddler is real,” she stated firmly. “And he’s giving us a warning that something dreadful is about to occur.”
Charlie glanced at her brother. “Some dreadful things have already occurred. My brooch disappeared and poor Johnny fell off a cliff.”
“Who knows what will happen next?” Angus said, wiggling his fingers.
“Nothing is going to happen next,” Kinloch thundered. “I won’t allow it.”
Lady Kinloch winced. “My dear, please don’t yell whilst at table.”
“I certainly will yell if you all don’t cease this nonsense.”
“Papa’s right,” Johnny said. “It was my own fault that I fell off that stupid embankment. Just a silly accident.”
Charlie tilted her head to study him. “Are you sure that’s all it was?”
“Of course it was an accident,” he angrily replied. “What else would it be?”
Morgan strolled into the room. “Dear boy, I could hear you spouting off from out in the hall. Such a fuss.”
Johnny flushed. “I’m not fussing. I’m just saying that it’s nonsense to make out that my fall was anything but an accident.”
“Of course it was an accident,” Morgan said as he took the chair next to the young man. “What else could it be?”
