“Sugar and cream, if ye have it, please.”
“Of course, I have sugar. Cream as well. What do you take me for? A pauper that cannot afford such luxuries?”
Surprised that he had any to offer her, she was taken aback. “Thank ye.”
He dropped a sugar cube into her cup before holding up the small container of cream and poured a small amount and then looked at her in question.
She nodded and he set the pot of cream down.
He didn’t pour himself a cup and she got a flash of danger thinking that he may have done something to the tea. Was it poisoned? Would he do such a thing?
Clarissa hadn’t the faintest idea and once again, she cursed herself at the situation in which she now found herself embroiled.
Though, it would make no sense for him to poison her. Why say he wanted her here to then kill her? Nay, that scenario wasn’t plausible.
She had heard Alexander mention Kitt was willing to barter for items other than money. Though as she looked around the decrepit room, the man was obviously in dire need of coin. What could possibly be more important to him than that?
“I am having a meal prepared for later. I do apologize that I do not have all my staff on board as of yet. But when I received your letter, I put out a call for a cook straightaway. Luckily, one was available and is currently working in the kitchen,” he explained, his voice soft.
Was he trying to be charming? The smile he plastered on his face didn’t reach his eyes and it seemed disingenuous.
“Sir Kitt—”
“Please, call me Jacob. We are, after all, beyond formalities.”
She wasn’t sure about that but did as he asked. “Jacob, ’tis no’ my place to ask, I fear, but alas, I canna help myself. As ye ken, Alex—the Duke of Argyll,” she quickly corrected, “cares verra much for his flock of sheep that ye are currently in possession of.”
A look of annoyance crossed his face. “Yes, the sheep. Destructive critters, I must say. Eating up my grounds.”
“Aye, I suppose they could be when one isna prepared for them. But are they well?” She asked, concern for their well-being weighing heavily on her shoulders. She did not want to be the cause for any of them to be harmed.
He scoffed. “The amount of bleating I hear continuously confirms to me that they are fine.”
She scowled. That was no way to tell. They could be bleating because they are hurt, or lost, or for a plethora of other reasons. She wanted to see them for herself, so she prodded.
“Mayhap after tea we could stroll and visit them?”
“Visit them? You speak as if they are relatives you are checking in on.”
She supposed in a sense they were. She just wanted to see them. That way she could let Alexander ken that they were safe.
Had Alexander realized she had left? Or Nicholas? It’s possible they did not since they were more than certainly wrapped up in whatever plan they were trying to come up with.
She was happy that she could at least help Alexander. And prove to her brother that she was capable of making her own choices, and that included choosing her own husband.
The men may have not noticed she’d gone, but she would wager that Gwen had noticed. How long it would be before she alerted the others Clarissa hadn’t the slightest clue.
*
His affairs concludedat the bank, Alexander drudgingly made his way back to Millwool. Mayhap he should gather his friends and head to the estate in Edinburgh. He shook his head. Nay, he needed to be here. The funds would be available to him in the morn, and he would then be able to pay Kitt his exorbitant fee.
’Twas extortion and they both knew it. But Kitt had him backed into a corner. There was no turning around now.
The carriage jerked to a halt in front of Millwool and he took a moment to compose himself before he exited.
Gunn met him at the door. “How did it go?”
Alexander sighed. “As well as it could when one was signing his livelihood away, I suppose.”
