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The front door flew open and Sabrina appeared in a flood of light from the entrance hall. Graeme loomed behind her.
“At last!” she exclaimed.
Sabrina and Graeme hurried down the stone staircase to greet them, while a groom came around from the stable yard to take the horses.
While Grant dismounted, Graeme helped Kathleen down from her horse. Sabrina threw her arms around her cousin.
“Kathleen, we were so worried about you. Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m tired, but so relieved to hear Jeannie is unharmed.”
“The captain brought her home about an hour after you left on your search,” Graeme said. “I was about to send out riders to look for you, but then the storm hit.”
“We found shelter in that old smugglers’ hut,” Grant said as Sabrina whisked Kathleen up the steps. “We just waited there until the storm passed.”
Graeme studied him. “Is that all?” he finally asked in a much too innocent voice.
“Yes, that’s all,” Grant acidly replied.
Then he turned and stalked into the house, ignoring his twin’s chuckle.
“Took you long enough to get back, though,” Graeme said when he caught up with him at the top of the staircase.
“Do you have any idea how bloody awful those paths are when it rains?” Grant said. “The horses had to slog through knee-deep mud until we reached the road.”
“It wasnotan enjoyable ride back,” Kathleen added as she pulled off her bedraggled hat.
Sabrina studied her with a concerned frown. “You do look . . .”
“A wreck. I know.”
Light from the overhead chandelier and several branches of candles illuminated how disheveled they both were.
“You look like you’ve been through the mill, old son,” Graeme said, trying not to laugh.
Unsurprisingly, his twin had deduced what had happened in that blasted hut. Grant glared daggers at him in warning.
Graeme held up his hands. “I’m not saying a word.”
Sabrina regarded Grant with clear disapproval. “Honestly, Grant, you are as great a menace as your brother.”
“That is literally impossible,” he replied.
“You’re making a good run at it, though,” Graeme countered.
“Can someone please tell me how my sister is?” Kathleen asked in a frustrated tone.
Sabrina grimaced. “Forgive me, dearest. Jeannie had supper in bed and is now fast asleep. I think she’ll be right as rain after a good night’s sleep.”
“And her ankle?”
“It’s nothing more than a minor strain.”
“Where did Brown find her?” Grant asked.
“She’d headed out past the distillery,” Graeme replied. “Over the small bridge and out past the Robertsons’ croft. I was heading that way myself when I ran into them.”
“Nowhere close to where we were searching,” Kathleen said with disgust. “But that farmer was so certain he saw Jeannie.”
