Page 54 of Highland Spy

“Aye,” he conceded. “I’m sorr—”

She turned back to him, her eyes so wide and hurt, it actually stung at his heart. “You promised no one would ever go alone again. Not even you.”

He hated the pain lingering in her gaze, the memory he knew was playing out in her mind.

It’d been his fault.

He’d sent Percy out alone a year ago. He thought she’d been ready.

And now Ariana—

“What of Ariana?” The tension of the night clenched at his shoulders and neck, tightening. “She’s no’ here?”

Percy shook her head and her braid rubbed against her right shoulder. The quiet of the house pressed against Connor’s ears and made them ache with the desire to hear Ariana’s voice.

Only silence answered his wish.

“How long has she been missing?” he asked.

Percy’s cheeks colored and she set her tray down on a small table. It rocked slightly under the weight of the laden platter. “Um… I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have slept. But I did, and when I woke, you were gone. Both of you.” Her fingers plucked anxiously at one another. “I assumed you’d decided to go and took her.”

And didn’t go alone. The unspoken words thickened in the air between them.

A hearty knock banged upon the door and set Connor’s heart pounding. He jerked it open and found Murdoch standing there, his blond hair more wild than normal.

He grinned. “I’ve got something ye’re going to want to hear.”

• • •

Despite all of her training, Ariana found herself just as paralyzed at having been discovered false by Isabel as she’d been the night Connor exposed her cheating at cards.

Ariana’s chest went tight and the air was suddenly too thin to breathe.

Isabel leaned forward, the coy smile on her lips declaring her victory. “I know you aren’t who you say you are, but I don’t care. In fact, I envy your freedom.”

She slid a look in the direction of the dark-haired man who now watched them with deep intensity. “I’ve recently come from London, a place I had no desire to leave, to wed a man I had no desire to even know. It is an unhappy union, as I suspected it would be.” There was a note of bitterness in her soft voice.

Ariana studied the woman, trying to find some recognition she might recall from her own time at court. The years prior came back in a flash of faces and places and names, yet this woman did not appear familiar. But then, the last year, Ariana had been too focused on cards to truly notice anyone else.

Someone gave a bark of laughter at a nearby table and Isabel shot them an irritated look. “As I said,” she continued. “My maid died early in my voyage and I’ve been without female companionship among these men. I don’t know who you are or what your past is, but I’ll never question it so long as you agree to be my lady’s maid.”

Ariana opened her mouth to decline, but Isabel held up a hand. “At least, promise me you’ll consider the request.”

“I can consider it,” Ariana said finally, still speaking with the thick Scottish accent she hadn’t perfected as well as she’d thought. While she felt silly continuing to do so, she knew she needed to, lest she call even more unwanted attention.

“I won’t be here long. Tomorrow we leave for a place called Loch Manor. I’m not sure how far it is from here, but I can be found there.” Isabel’s face softened into a gentle smile and her shoulders relaxed slightly. “I do hope to see you and will gladly reimburse you for any travel expenses you incur.”

The opportunity broke through Ariana’s thoughts like a shaft of sunlight through cloudy skies. Her mind raced with possibilities. If she’d been invited to the manor, she could take advantage of the offer to locate MacAlister. She could help Connor find the information he needed.

“Is the manor on MacAlister land?” she asked, with as much finesse as she could muster.

Isabel tilted her head. “You truly don’t know Scotland at all, do you?”

Heat singed Ariana’s cheeks at her folly. In her next lesson with Delilah, she would be bringing up the layout of Scotland and which clans belonged to which areas to prevent future mistakes.

“I was seeking someone and wondered if I might find information on him there.” Her heartbeat came fast and hard once the words were out of her mouth. There had been no careful diplomacy to her statement, no crafted disguise.

“Who are you seeking?” Isabel asked.