RanulfandIanhadarrived with their kin for the wedding, and Seamus drew them aside into his study, along with his sons. Another cramped meeting, too many of these as of late, in Seamus’s estimation.
Though they might be at Glenachulish for a grand event, the conflicts in the Highlands did not take time off for anything, even a wedding.
As it was, Ranulf, Ian, and Seamus had set several men to patrol the grounds and keep a wary eye out for any Campbells or their close allies, the MacIntoshes, who might try to use the day as an opportunity to attack.
If only they had the letter. That was the eternal lament, the one thing all the MacDonalds and their allies cursed over again and again.
This mysterious letter that would give them the leverage they needed to challenge the Hanover king and set King James and the House of Stuart into his proper place on the throne.
Discussions regarding the letter and the recent discovery of Mungo Gordon’s secret red box always came back to the same issue: the box had been empty but for a few grains of dirt.
If the letter was not in the cursed red box, Seamus, Ranulf, and Ian had to presume Mungo hid it elsewhere, or worse, someone else had the letter, someone with nefarious intentions to use the letter as personal blackmail or to better their own position with land and titles, and the power that came with it.
Either way, the empty box did not bode well for the MacDonalds.
Reade, Maddock, Conall, and their cousins held back in the corners of the study as their fathers spoke in hard tones.
“If a MacDonald or other Highland clan had the letter, Glengarry would have heard of it by now. Since he has no’, and we are waiting with bated breath for word from James, we have to presume that a Campbell or one of their allies has found the letter,” Ian argued.
“Why not tell us they found it? Call us off? Force us to sign the Oath?” Ranulf countered.
“The longer they wait, the worse we look for waiting, and the more power they have when the time comes,” Seamus answered. “They will have the upper hand and use it to their advantage against us.”
The men nodded. They had known this was a possibility when they had found the Gordon box, but given that they had been shown where the box was by a Lindsay, it was obvious the location had not been a secret to all. Mungo Gordon had not been as clandestine as he believed himself to be.
“If the Campbells or their allies have the letter, then we are lost. Unless James vows to return before the snow flies, our hands will be tied. Mayhap we should accept the king’s money, sign the Oath, and save our hides,” Ian lamented.
Seamus nodded his head in agreement. He understood Ian’s lament, as the man had lost his oldest son to a pack of Campbells just last year. The man had too much to lose and did not wish to risk the rest of his family or his clan.
Ian lifted his brown-eyed gaze. “Have ye heard from Logan about any of this?”
Seamus stiffened at the mention of his youngest son who was squiring with the King’s court at Kensington Palace. He had fought hard to have the lad returned when James absconded. Yet the foreign king and James’s daughter, Mary, had treated those squires and courtesans from the previous king well, and the lad had remained. Seamus had been working with several earls, Glengarry included, and even the Lord Protector Dalrymple himself to bring the lad home.
Yet Logan was still at William and Mary’s court.
He and Sorcha would feel better when all of his chicks were under his roof, even if all his chicks were fully grown.
The family also had not seen the lad in a year. It was far past time for the lad to come home.
Seamus pushed those worrying thoughts from his head. He had other, more pressing concerns at the moment.
“Nay. I dinna know if that is a good thing or not. Mayhap ye are right, Ian, and we should take the money and sign.”
Ranulf shook his white-blond head. “No’ necessarily. They dinna know what we know. We can put up a front of still searching for the letter whilst we keep our ear to the ground for evidence of who might have possession of it. Anyone with sudden rewards or titles from the king or taking smug action will give themselves away.”
“And once we know who has it, we can take it from them,” Reade finished from the corner. He was of the same mindset as Ranulf.
Seamus pursed his lips and shifted his gaze from his kin to his sons. Then he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his lap.
“No’ the best plan, but ‘tis all we have. And men like that are no’ wise. They believe people are more foolish than they truly are. Keep an open ear and I’ll share this with the Glengarry and the other chieftains. If we use the information we do have against them, we might end up with information we need, or better yet, the letter itself.”
The men in the room chuffed, some in agreement, some with uncertainty, but Seamus was in the right. At the moment, their best course of action was to wait until someone else acted, then move on that.
They had no real other options, as it was.
Seamus slapped his hands onto his desk top to support himself as he stood. Ranulf and Ian rose with him.
“Enough talk of politics. My daughter is to wed on the morn in a marriage that shall challenge the power of any earl in England or Scotland. We can resume these discussions after we have celebrated that joyful event.”
