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Duncan went to the library, leaving the guards to deal with Elaine. He was agitated to say the least, and while he didn't want to see anyone, he needed Keir's advice.
“My God, Duncan,” Keir said, as Duncan closed the heavy library door behind him. “Ye are up early this morning. I would have thought after the feast last night, ye would have taken a well-needed rest.”
Duncan didn't respond and slumped into the chair next to Keir, exhausted and overwhelmed by emotions he didn't know how to deal with.
Keir straightened in his chair, looking at him more intently. “Something has happened. What ails ye?”
“Ye are hardly going tae believe me when I tell ye, brother,” he said heavily.
“And yet, ye evidently need tae lay down yer burden. For even from here, I can see the toll it is having on ye. Did something occur last night at the feast after I retired?”
“Och, something happened all right,” Duncan nodded, “but it had nae a thing tae dae with the feast.”
His reply evoked a frown from Keir and looked expectantly at Duncan. It was one of his ways of getting his brother to talk. Keir had told him on one occasion,“Answers tae questions leave much unsaid, whereas a man speaking without prompting will tell ye far more than ye could ever elicit from him.”
Duncan took a deep breath and told Keir exactly what had happened from the moment he discovered the note. He spoke steadily, trying to keep his emotions at bay, though he couldn't say it was easy, until he finished with the guards escorting Elaine to the dungeon and him arriving at the library.
Keir sat there for a long time afterward, mulling over what he had heard but making no comment. Another thing Duncan was well used to. His older brother was precise in every manner, including processing, in detail, everything he had heard. Eventually, after straightening again, he looked at him with a rather passive expression.
“Well, that is quite a story. Nae true, but interesting all the same.”
Duncan frowned heavily. “What dae ye mean, it isnae true? Of course, it’s true. I have nae reason tae lie tae ye.”
“Och, I dinnae mean yer version, Duncan,” Keir replied knowingly. “I mean, the circumstances. My first obvious question would be, how did Elaine get the arsenic? My second, and just as obvious is, who put the note under yer door? Ye cannae tell me that if Elaine really planned tae kill ye, she went and disclosed it tae someone else in the castle in the hope they wouldnae come running tae tell ye?”
Even though it had been a long night, that was no excuse. Duncan almost kicked himself for not thinking of these obvious details and instead doing the rash thing of locking Elaine up without considering either point. It had been simple. Shekept arsenic in her desk, along with a picture of the man Keir had unintentionally killed. Conclusion: she was there to kill him.
“There are more questions than there are answers tae this conundrum, brother,” Keir continued. “Who was Angus McNally to Elaine? How long has she been in possession of this arsenic? If she brought it with her, why has she nae done the deadly deed already? She’s had plenty o’ opportunity. And the biggest one for me, is as I have already mentioned. Who put the note under yer door?”
While Duncan had not come to Keir to be questioned on his lack of insight, he was still pleased that he had come to see him. It was exactly this sort of thing that would have made Keir the better laird. “If I find that person, ye think they’ll have answers?” Duncan concluded.
“If ye find that person, Duncan, ye’ll find yer real perpetrator. Ye cannae ken that arsenic wasnae planted in Elaine’s room.”
“But what about the McNally lad?”
Keir shrugged. “Granted, I dinnae have a conclusion for that. But if Elaine wanted tae cause ye harm, she would’ve done it by now. A woman only bides her time for so long, brother. And let’s be honest, she’s hardly had a warm welcome here. Would ye stay under such circumstances if the task could have been completed sooner?” Keir shrugged. “Then,” he said, clearly just remembering another point, “ye have her recent behavior. Why did she risk her life for me and mother? If she was here tae kill ye, would ye nae have thought she’d have stayed safely in her bedchamber and let the soldiers who attacked us dae their worst?”
“All right,” Duncan swiped a hand in defeat. “Ye’ve made yer point. I get it. I havnae thought this through.”
“Dinnae be too hard on yersel. By the looks of it, ye’ve had a rough night. If I had a night like…”
Urgent banging on the library doors suddenly cut Keir off, and the brothers looked at each other with concern.
“Come,” Duncan called out.
He would not have been surprised to see the two guards who had taken Elaine away, since they'd have eventually reported back to him. The condition they were in, on the other hand, astonished him.
“What the devil happened?” Duncan demanded, standing and walking toward them. Their heads were cut and bleeding, as were their hands, and there were scrapes down the front of both of their legs.
“She escaped, my Laird. I am truly sorry,” one guard said breathlessly. Clearly, they had been searching for her, likely with some of the other soldiers, and having no success, had deemed it important to come and let Duncan know.
“How?” Keir demanded.
Both guards suddenly looked contrite, which was hardly any surprise. They were both twice Elaine’s size. Having to admit they had been overpowered by a woman was hardly something that would make any man proud.
“She waited until we had entered the staircase leading tae the dungeon,” the other one said, “and then tripped and pushed us down the stone steps.”
“Good heavens,” Keir replied.
