"I do not speak of itbecause it's not important," Jane interrupted. "It's all in thepast."
"The past sometimes has abearing on the future." Margaret took her blue wool shawl from the clothestree beside the door and wrapped it around her shoulders. "That's why Ithought I should give you warning."
"That you've written toRuel about Ian?"
Margaret shook her head."I wrote to Ruel three months ago when Ian first refused to winter in Madrid.I received word this morning from Edinburgh that Ruel should arrive inGlenclaren tomorrow."
Shock took Jane's breath."He's coming here?"
"I knew I couldn't pryIan away on my own this time and Ruel's always managed to get his way withhim."
Ruel always managed to get hisway with everyone, Jane thought. "What about Cinnidar?"
"Ruel's character musthave improved considerably since I last saw him. It appears he thinks hisbrother's life is more important than digging gold." Margaret opened thefront door. "So you must put aside any quarrel you may have with Rueluntil he manages to persuade Ian he must go to Spain. After that, you may flayhim as you see fit."
"Thank you." Janeforced a smile. "But I doubt if I'll see much of him while he's here. LiSung and I will be too busy at the mill to come to the castle."
"I thought you said themill was running itself?" Then Margaret shrugged. "Very well, if youwish to hide at the mill, I have no objection."
"I'm not hiding. I'mmerely—"
"Avoiding him."Margaret stopped beside the hitching rail where Bedelia was tied. "I doubthe will let you. He inquires very pointedly about your doings in everyletter."
Jane's eyes widened. "Younever told me."
"There was no need todiscuss him if you did not wish it. However, he had a right to ask questionsabout Glenclaren and its inhabitants, since he was paying the piper." Sheglanced around the newly paved courtyard and then to the repaired and rebuiltoutbuildings. "And he's paid him very well, indeed. The money he's beensending has kept Glenclaren alive and thriving and that means Ian hasthrived." She turned back to Jane. "You're going back to the millnow?"
"Unless you wish me tostay."
"Why should you stay? Iknow you have no liking for the castle. It was no surprise to me when you movedto that cottage near the mill."
"If you'd needed me, Iwouldn't have gone."
"I did not needyou." Margaret smiled faintly. "But I miss you. Why do you look sosurprised? We are friends, are we not?"
"Yes." But Margarethad never said those words before, and it indicated how disturbed she was thatshe uttered them now. They had formed a strong bond in their efforts to saveIan and Glenclaren, but Margaret guarded her core of privacy as rigidly as Janedid her own and would allow no one too close. Perhaps she should have stayed atthe castle and tried to make Margaret's lot easier. Margaret was so strong,Jane sometimes forgot what tremendous problems the other woman had to overcome.It was she, not Ian, who was the guiding force behind everything that happenedat Glenclaren, but she never let her husband see it. She had nursed Ian,bullied him, and by sheer force of will gotten him to the point where he couldsit up in bed and, infrequently, in his chair. Two years before she had sent forthe vicar and insisted the wedding take place. "I'll come back to thecastle if you like."
"Don't be foolish. Youhave your duties and I have mine. We would scarce see each other if you werehere." Margaret started across the courtyard.
"Where are you going?"
"Kartauk."Margaret's lips set grimly. "It's not enough I must deal with Ian'sstubbornness, now I'm forced to try to curb the rutting of that bull of agoldsmith."
Jane smothered a smile."Again?"
"You did me no favor whenyou brought him to Glenclaren. Ellen MacTavish came weeping and wailing to meyesterday morning because Kartauk had taken advantage of her innocence."
"That's a seriouscharge."
"And a false one. Shespreads her legs for every lad in the glen." Margaret frowned. "Butthat's neither here nor there. It's the third time in two months I've had todeal with his philanderings. Does he think I have nothing better to do thanlisten to that drivel from his leamans?" She clutched her shawl closerabout her. "The dratted man needs to be told a few things." Herstride lengthened as she hurried toward the stable.
Jane's smile faded as Margaretdisappeared into Kartauk's workroom. She noticed her hands were trembling onthe reins as she mounted Bedelia.
She kicked Bedelia into a trotas she left the courtyard but impulsively turned south instead of north towardthe mill as she had originally intended.
A short time later she stoodon the hill looking down at the ruin of Annie Cameron's cottage. She had gonethere only once before, and that had been during the first month she had cometo Glenclaren. At the time she had told herself she had been drawn only bycuriosity, but she had known it had been a desperate attempt to exorciseMargaret's haunting words about Ruel and his mother. She had known she had toharden her heart if she was to forget him. She had thought if she saw theseruins she would realize the child who lay alone and abandoned all night in thiscottage dying of snakebite was not the Ruel she knew. The hour she had spenthere had been both painful and unsuccessful. The memory of that boy stilllingered in this glen.
Which was why she had comehere today, she realized. There was nothing to fear in that child. He had Weenvulnerable to pain and had not yet formed the tough determination of the Ruelof Kasanpore. She needed to remember Ruel was very human and could bevanquished. She needed to reassure herself there was nothing to fear.
