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“I wonder why,” MacDuff murmured. “Charm?” He shook his head. “Terror? Ah, by George, I believe I’ve got it.”
“Stop it,” Jane said. “Thank you for inviting us, MacDuff. You know Caleb can help. Let him do it. Now let’s go back and have tea and sandwiches before you return to work.” She wearily brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m afraid I’ve had enough of seeing Bohdan’s ideas of renovation. I’m going to take a shower and then curl up and read that letter to Fiona. I may join you in the library later to help out with the recruitment.”
“Take a nap instead,” Caleb said. “You don’t need to referee.” He glanced at MacDuff. “Does she? You prefer it to be no-holds-barred?”
He nodded. “Much more stimulating.” He started back toward the castle. “Come along, Jane. It must have been upsetting for an artist like you to see all of this destruction. Now we can get on to the plans to change it to creation.”
Chapter
13
After a shower and putting on her nightshirt Jane settled down propped up in bed and carefully took the Fiona document from her art case. Some of the letters were faded and almost indistinguishable but every now and then she could detect a phrase or a few words that kept her glued to the task. Finally, she had a fairly readable document.
My darling,
Everything is set. I’ve made the deal with Saldaron. He’ll get you away in exchange for me stealing that Cira treasure Graeme’s tucked away up in the foothills. Saldaron is just as big a thief as Graeme and I’d love to find a way to cheat them both, but I haven’t worked out a safe way to do it yet. You’re the important one and I have that plan in place. All you have to do is put on the trousers and jacket Isent you and then make your way to the Highland Railway Yard. Slip onto the mural car through the back entrance door and then lock yourself into Saldaron’s private compartment. Don’t answer the door if anyone knocks. When you reach the main station south of the English border, I’ll be there to meet you and whisk you out of England to Ireland. We’ll be on the ship out of Dublin heading for Boston the next day.
And if you change your mind, I’ll understand. Though why you’d leave a fine, brilliant man like myself for Graeme, I’ll never be able to figure out. Look at all I can offer you, hair-raising adventure, constant insecurity, danger. I’m obviously quite a catch. At least, that’s what you’ve told me. At any rate, if you haven’t changed your mind, I’ll thank God if I see you on that mural train, my own love.
Until then,
Farrell
Farrell MacClaren was coming across as being very human, she thought, and with a nature that had hints of devilish mischief every now and then. He seemed capable of being something of a scamp, but it was clear he had loved his Fiona.
And there was that intriguing bit about the Cira treasure. He had to be referring to the legend of the lost treasure that Cira, the founder of MacDuff’s family, had brought to Scotland when she had fled Herculaneum. But she knew Cira’s treasure had already been discovered, because she’d been involved when MacDuff had found it. She doubted if there could be two such treasures connected to MacDuff’s Run. Or could there have been? Legend or truth? And if there had been a second treasure, could it have surfaced back in Fiona’s time? What would Graeme have had to do with it? Interesting…
It took more than three hours for Jane to be sure that she had a fairly clean copy of MacClaren’s letter to Fiona. She copied it over and then just sat there going over it, thinking about it. Trying to probe the Cira possibilities that had come to light with MacClaren’s letter.
There was a soft knock on the door, but Caleb didn’t wait before he opened it and came into her room. “I thought you’d still be up. I’m glad, you needed something to distract you. I’d volunteer, but we can go into that later.” He crossed to the bed and sat down beside her. “Did you make any progress?”
“I think I did. They arranged to use the railroad to smuggle Fiona away from the property into England and from there to Dublin. And there may have been another reason that Graeme was so eager to find Fiona and MacClaren he’d even risk getting killed hunting them down. It might have had to do with the MacDuff family treasure. Remember that the MacDuff fortune was founded on a treasure brought from Herculaneum by the original founders of the MacDuff family. That was an actress, Cira, and her husband Antonio, and we thought we’d discovered all the treasure she’d hidden to protect it from thieves and robber barons. But there were always those rumors that Cira had divided the treasure and only the major part was hidden in that cave. That she was too smart not to have stashed a second treasure somewhere else to protect herself in case the first treasure trove was found. It was reasonable since she—” She broke off. She knew that expression and she wasn’t sure he was listening. She took a good look at him. “Your hair is damp; you’ve showered and changed. I thought you’d just come from working with MacDuff.”
“About thirty minutes ago.” He was grinning. “I did him several favors tonight and he very kindly gave me my own chamber as a reward. I ducked inside it to shower, but I had no intention of using it tonight. He does know we sleep together, so I assume that it was only wishful thinking that you might change your mind about me considering the hell I’ve put you through this time.”
She shook her head. “We’ve already discussed your work. I could have said no.”
“But you didn’t. Very generous. But I’m afraid MacDuff will have to be disappointed again. Because, with your permission, I don’t want to let you go tonight. There are a few things I want to say to you.”
“You don’t want to hear about Fiona and MacClaren?”
“I’ll be fascinated to hear about them, and the treasure, but not at the moment.” He bent his head and pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat. “And I love this little hollow, but I can wait for that, too. Palik said something when I was talking to him this afternoon and it made me uneasy. I have to get this out.”
“Then you’d better do it quickly,” she said. “Because you’re not getting your point across very clearly. I’m going in the other direction.”
“In most cases that’s to be applauded.” He turned out the lamp and lay down beside her. “It will be better for me if I can’t see you.” He put his arms around her and held her close. “And this is good, too.” He said softly, “You know why I’ve been hesitant to bring a child into the world who might be like me. It can be…painful. I didn’t want to hurt it. And God knows I don’t want to hurt you.”
“And you wouldn’t,” she said fiercely. “I know it. I knowyou. You wouldn’t let it happen.”
“Hush. I don’t want you to try to convince me. Because I am already convinced. I will never let harm of any sort to come to either of you. Palik thought I didn’t want this baby. I wondered if perhaps you believed that, too. I couldn’t let you continue to believe it. Nothing is further from the truth.Yes, I do want our child. I was almost afraid to want it this much.” His voice was hoarse, almost guttural in the darkness. “I know what it is to be different, special. It’s like that even if there’s no threat involved. The fear can make the people around you see a threat even if it doesn’t exist. But I won’t let being special hurt our child. I’ll find a way out of it.”
“I know you will.” Her arms tightened around him. Thank heavens he had come and told her how he felt. This was a miracle in itself. She was filled with a profound joy and almost heady with relief. She could handle anything else that came their way. “But you might not have to. We don’t know what’s going to happen down the road. We have to believe that this is going to be a gift.” She had a sudden thought. “And I was lying here after I finished reading Fiona’s letter and I was thinking that sometimes things come together when you least believe they will. MacClaren was able to arrange to get Fiona away when he painted the train mural and got to know the owner of that railroad. One thing led to another and maybe that’s how things are meant to be. Something pops up out of the blue to let you know that there’s something else good on the way. Then, if you reach out and grab it, you’ve got a chance to get what you want.” She suddenly sat upright in bed. “That’s when I remembered the sketch.”
“Sketch?”
“I didn’t show you the sketch.” She turned on the lamp and jumped out of bed. “I think you should see it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But you’re certainly excited about it.” He smiled. “I bared my soul to you, and I thought it might be a little too heavy and melodramatic. But look at you. Your cheeks are flushed, your eyes are shining, and you’re talking philosophy. I like it.”
