Now there was only Glenclaren.
Cinnidar.
Ruel's hands tightened on therail, his gaze on the island the small fishing boat was approaching. The firsttime he had seen Cinnidar he had felt this same sense of wonder and excitement,this sense of promise.
Jane had said something likethat about her trains, he remembered suddenly. Her face had been glowing andyet there had been a gravity about—
Dammit, he wouldnotthinkof her.
Instead, he would remember Ianas he had last seen him when he had settled him on the bunk of theBonnieLady.Pale, wasted…in terrible pain.
The ship glided closer to thepier. He was almost home.
He instantly rejected thatthought too. Cinnidar was a pot of gold, not home to him. He had no need for ahome just as he had no need for Jane Barnaby. What he did need was buried deepin the bowels of that mountain, and he would have to work and sweat to find away to tear it out. He would have no time to think of anythingbut the task thatlay ahead.
Now there was only Cinnidar.
Chapter10
October 4, 1879
Glenclaren
Jane hurriedly straightened awayfrom the wall as Margaret came out of Ian's chamber. "How is he?'
"Stubborn." Margaretmoved brusquely down the hall toward the staircase. "He won't hear ofgoing to Spain for the winter. I can do nothing with the man."
That statement certainlyunderscored the seriousness of the situation, Jane thought. Margaret seldomadmitted defeat in any area. "You've had the physician speak to himagain?"
"This morning,"Margaret said tersely. "Ian says Glenclaren needs him now and he will goto Spain in the spring." Her hand momentarily clenched on the banisterbefore she started down the steps. "I told the idiot he will make me awidow before spring if he does not rid himself of that cough, and he cannot doit here. Glenclaren's winters are too harsh."
Jane had witnessed theharshness of those winters for the past three years and felt the sameapprehension as Margaret. "Perhaps he will change his mind."
"He hasn't changed it inthree months. He keeps talking about Glenclaren and what he has to do thiswinter. He willdiehere."
"Keep at him," Janesaid. "He was so excited about the plans for the new dam."
"A man needs to feel asense of worth. I knew it was the only way to get him to come aliveagain." Margaret grimaced. "But after telling him for three yearsthat Glenclaren can't get along without him, how do I convince him he should gooff and bask in the sun?"
"Is that why you sent forme? I've already told him the mill is doing well. It's practically runningitself now." Jane frowned anxiously. "But I suppose I could talk tohim again."
"He won't listen to youeither. It's just as well I saw this coming and took measures."
"What measures?"
"Ruel."
Jane stopped in midmotion onthe steps.
Margaret cast her a shrewdglance. "You've gone pale as the flour in the bins at your precious mill.Does even the thought of him jar you?"
Jane resumed going down thestairs. "Of course not. If I seem pale, it must be because the hall is dimand the light is fading."
"It's only midafternoonand the light is strong."
"Why should it bother meif you talk of Ruel?"
"For the same reason youhaven't mentioned the scamp's name since the first day you arrived here."Margaret wearily shook her head. "It's none of my concern how Ruel hasmanaged to alienate you. I'm aware he has a splendid facility in thatdirection. If you don't wish to tell me, I can—"
