Page 46 of The Highlander’s Unexpected Wife

The young man nodded. “Of course. Will you be dining in the dining room?”

Cameron shook his head. “Have supper for two brought to my room. And a decanter of brandy straight away.” He pulled a half guinea from his jacket pocket and set it on the counter. “Should anyone inquire as to my arrival…”

The young man’s eyes widened and he snatched up the coin. “Understood.” He handed Cameron a key. “Our finest accommodations. Second floor, second door on the right.”

Cameron took the key, started to turn, then paused and said, “I will need a bath for my wife.”

“Right away, sir, and I will send someone out front for your horse.”

A moment later, Cameron reached Alison. He grasped her waist and pulled her from the saddle, then tied the reins to the tying post. Cameron tucked her close to his side and started toward the rear of the building.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the servants’ entrance.”

The scent of fresh bread and cooked meat met them as they entered the kitchen. The cook stirred a pot at the stove and two maids chopped vegetables at a table in the middle of the room. They stopped and stared as Cameron quickly urged Alison up the servants’ stairs. On the second floor, he stopped at the first door on the left, inserted the key and opened the door to the darkened room.

They entered and Cameron said, “One moment.” He crossed to the corner table and lit the lamp.

Once the room was aglow with soft light, he closed the door, then dropped to one knee at the hearth. Alison stopped just before the braided rug in front of the hearth and clutched the coat tightly closed, arms crossed in front of her chest.

A large bed sat against the west wall, a small table with three chairs filled the corner near the hearth, and a changing screen stood in the corner to the left of the bed.

Cameron placed more kindling in the hearth as flames flickered to life. He gently blew on the fire. The wood snapped and crackled as the flames rose higher. He grabbed two small logs and crossed them on top of the burning kindling.

At last, he rose and brought a chair closer to the fire. “Sit here.”

She hesitated, then approached and sat. Cameron squatted and removed her slippers, then got a blanket from the bed.

Once he’d wrapped the blanket around her, he looked down at her and said,

“What were you thinking?”

“Why did you not rescue the women?”

He sighed, then brought the other chair over and sat beside her. “We are trying to discover the identity of the man behind the kidnapping of other young women like Sallie and the others.”

“Are the women in danger because of me?”

He hesitated. “I have men watching them.” Her eyes widened and he added, “I am not a kidnapper, Alison—nor am I a fool. I would never send women into danger without someone there to help them.”

She hung her head. “I mucked things up.”

He blew out a breath. “Mischief is a special gift you have.” He lifted a brow. “Your only fault, I am certain.”

She released a shuddering exhale and stared into the fire. “Just one of many, I am afraid.”

“Start at the beginning, Alison,” he instructed.

Cameron listened as she explained about overhearing his conversation with James, and of wanting to prove his innocence or guilt in order to bring him to justice.

“I believed you intended to compromise my cousin, then you stole me from my home…” She shrugged. “I found it highly likely that you were a kidnapper. But I realized that the girls who were kidnapped knew you. How do you know those women?” Then quickly added, “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

He grunted. “That has never stopped you from interfering, but I ask that you cease interfering after we are married.”

She frowned. “You cannot still mean to marry me?”

“Indeed, I do, and you will obey me.” The sooner the better, for her own good—and his sanity.

Something flickered in her eyes. Rebellion? Cameron became aware of a sour smell, then remembered the coat she wore. “Alison, give me that damn coat.”

Her eyes widened and she quickly removed the blanket and sloughed out of the coat. “We must burn it.”

“Burn it?”

“It is evidence.” She rolled the jacket into a ball and tossed it into the fire. The flames floundered, then began to catch and blaze. “If they find the jacket, they will know what I’ve done.”

“Alison, what have you not told me?” An uneasiness welled in his gut.

“I hit the man over the head with the basin.”

A knock sounded on the door.

She jumped. “Lord, they found the dead body.”

“What dead body?” he demanded.

She stood. “The man I killed.”