Mr. Haines was in the office when they finished. So was Mr. James, the chairman from the Trades Hall. Both turned as Annie and Aidan walked in. Neither was smiling. Was the day going to get worse?
“It seems you had a busy Sunday, Miss Ferguson,” Mr. Haines said.
“Perhaps.” Annie felt a twinge of uneasiness. Was Mr. James going to try and get her fired? “What exactly are ye referring to?”
“I suspect you know,” Mr. James said, “but in case you have a poor memory—”
“I doona think there is anything wrong with Annie’s memory,” Aidan said. “Just speak plain and keep your tone respectful.”
Annie groaned silently. Was she going to have to avert another confrontation?
Both men frowned. “Who are you?” Mr. Haines asked.
“This is Aidan MacDonald,” Annie replied. “Niall’s brother.” Not that she would have needed to add that since they lookedalike. She went on quickly. “He wanted to inspect the warehouse since he’ll be in charge of kelp shipments arriving from Skye.”
Mr. Haines gaze sharpened like it always did when he was appraising a potential new customer. Mr. James’ expression remained dour. He looked at Annie.
“Your women’s club gathered in front of the cathedral yesterday morning and caused trouble.”
“We dinnae say a word.”
“You did not have to,” Mr. James replied. “Your signs did it for you.”
Annie lifted her chin. “We only wanted to let the wives ken what happened at your meeting.”
His face hardened. “You knew bloody well what you were doing. I’ve had nothing but complaints from the men since yesterday afternoon. Those wives gave their husbands bloody hell.”
Aidan adjusted his stance. “I’ll nae tell ye again to be respectful.”
“Yes. Yes. Let us be courteous here,” Mr. Haines interjected. “Perhaps the ladies didn’t make the best choice in arranging that.”
Annie’s temper rose. “We had every right—”
“Allow me, lass.” Aidan took a step forward and gave both men a steady look. “’Tis true that my brother and I wanted the ladies to stay home to avoid just this kind of trouble. That said, ’tis also true the women had a right to gather in front of the church. They did nae incite a riot. As Miss Ferguson said, they simply wanted the wives of the cowardly men involved in the totally disgusting melee Monday night to ken how they’re husbands acted. Any man who was nae involved need nae fear a tongue-lashing.”
Mr. James smirked. “You obviously do not know women very well.”
Aidan shrugged. “I ken a woman expects her man to act with honor.”
“Yes. Yes,” Mr. Haines said again. “The whole thing was an unfortunate incident. We should put it behind us.”
“Not until I have assurances that those…” Mr. James glanced at Aidan and then continued, “…womenwill not pull another stunt like this.”
“I cannae promise ye that,” Annie said. “I doona speak for the club.”
“Very well then.” Mr. James gathered his hat and coat to leave. “Let me put this another way. One more incident like that nonsense yesterday and we will—”
“Are ye threatening the lady?” Aidan asked, his voice deadly calm.
Mr. James seemed to recognize the danger. He stuck his hat on his head and flung open the door. “A threat? I would not think of it.”
As the door slammed behind him, Annie was aware he didn’t mean it. She shook off a feeling of unease and tried to ignore the fact that Aidan looked concerned too. Even though he had defended her, she had no doubt she’d be getting a lecture from him and another one from Niall when he heard about this.
The day just seemed to be getting worse.
****
Archibald Haines slipped into an empty chair at a table in Walker’s Hotel on Buchanan Street. He’d almost been late to this evening’s meeting, thanks to having to handle complaints from irate tradesmen whose goods were stored in his warehouse. He’d also spent a great part of the afternoon reassuring his partner, Oliver Nolan, that they would not lose business over those idiotic women’s Sunday episode.
