He stared at Kenzie, confused and impressed by the complex passions that defined her. “I regret that I will never meet your stepfather.”
“As am I. We were so close, and,” she said, her voice growing rough with emotion, “he would have liked you.”
Cailin found himself believing that however odd the circumstance came about, he would have liked her stepfather as well. “Mayhap we met during my youth. What is his full title?”
She hesitated. “If you had been introduced, I doubt you would have remembered him, as neither he, nor I, are of nobility.”
A muscle worked in his jaw as he stared at her, unsure if he was irritated by her deceptions or impressed by her nerve. He threw another stick into the fire. “Yet you allowed me tobelieve such.”
“I did, but that was when we first met. Then, you were never to find out who I was. When you tried to locate me, which given your determination I discovered during the short time we were together, I knew you would do. Your thinking that I was of nobility, would help ensure that you failed.”
“It would, but I know your name.” He paused with a shake of his head at her cleverness and understood, impressed further. “Kenzie isna your name.”
A smile touched her lips, faded. “Nay, ’tis Elspet.”
“Your surname?”
“McReynolds.”
A chill trickled down his neck. No, it couldn’t be. Though 'twould explain why Father Lamond had trusted her stepfather.
Cailin fought for calm. Look at him, getting ahead of himself. He wasn’t sure if there was a connection. Her surname being the same as that of the man King Robert had sent him to find could be naught buta coincidence.
“Who is your stepfather?” he asked with indifference, as if the information wasn’t of critical importance.
“Sir Angus McReynolds.”
“God’s blade,”Cailin rasped.
She gasped. “You knewmy stepfather?”
“We have met.” Regardless of her tie, before he would have kept his word. But her stepfather being Sir Angus McReynolds, a trusted confidant of King Robert, changed everything. He must send word to the Bruce of Sir Angus’s death. Bile curdled in Cailin’s gut as a darker thought creased his mind. “You said your stepfather was killed bythe earl. Why?”
Grief filled her eyes. “He was accused of stealing hart on the earl’s land, but I swear, ’tis a lie. My stepfather was an honorable man and wouldnever do such!”
“He wouldna,” he agreed. Aware now of her stepfather’s secret life, Cailin suspected the earl’s motive had little to do with any game Sir Angus may have illegally caught, and prayed he was wrong. “Do you remember there being anything odd or out of the ordinary in your stepfather’s days over the past few weeks?”
Shefrowned. “Odd?”
At the pallor of her face, he gentled his voice, understanding the grief of loss, more so when she’d battled the death of her family days before.
“I know this is difficult, but ’tis important. Did you notice that your stepfather traveled more, had visitors who were strangers, or was doing something around your home you had never seen him do before? Or acting in a secretive manner?”
Her knuckles squeezed theblanket. “Why?”
“Tell me. I swear ’tis important or I wouldna have asked.”
“I… A man came to the house about a sennight ago. I thought little of it as we often had strangers stay with us who were passing through. My stepfather was kind that way; he never turned away a traveler.”
Because the men who were given shelter weren’t strangers, but contacts in league with King Robert, no doubt at times carrying missives to and from Father Lamond. “Do you know the man’s name?”
“Nay. Though he bore nay signs of his being a nobleman, his bearing commanded respect. After their meeting, my stepfather seemed on edge, or…”
“Or?”
She frowned and rubbed her forehead. “This will sound strange, but I caught my stepfather looking at the man with a mixture of apprehension and pride.” She shrugged. “I know ’tis little.”
“Did the man leave anything, say anything you rememberas noteworthy?”
