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Chapter Fifteen
Biddy would have killed him did he try.
Evelinde stared at the crack of light coming through the window a couple of feet from the bed and yawned wearily. She hadn't slept well last night. Her mind had been taken up with what she'd learned from Tralin. Cullen had returned to the keep after Tralin had spoken those words, preventing her asking further questions, but it hadn't stopped Evelinde from thinking over everything she'd learned.
While Tralin had said he was sure Darach wouldn't have ruined Jenny by taking her as a lover, he hadn't appeared certain. The only thing that might suggest Darach hadn't been Jenny's lover was that Tavis had told her that his father had ridden out of the bailey just before Jenny had gone for her walk the day she'd come back weeping and fled. However, it was possible Darach had ridden out and around the curtain wall to the cliffs. He could have been the girl's lover.
It didn't speak well of either Biddy's sister or husband if they were lovers, but if Darach was as bad as Tavis, Evelinde didn't think his conscience would trouble him much. She certainly didn't see much in the way of conscience in Tavis when it came to the way he dallied with the women here. He got what he could from each woman and went merrily on his way to the next like a bee flitting from flower to flower, uncaring of the havoc he left behind.
As for Biddy's sister, Jenny had been betrothed to a horrid man known for his cruelty and abuses. She may have been desperate enough to get involved with her sister's husband in a bid to save herself, or simply for a last grab at happiness before being forced into the marriage.
Evelinde could almost understand that herself. Her own behavior the day she'd learned she was to marry the Devil of Donnachaidh had been less than exemplary. She had let Cullen kiss and touch her in ways she still found difficult to believe. And she had justified it by using the horrid marriage she'd thought was in her future. Telling herself it was the only pleasure she might experience in her life. She couldn't even honestly say she would have pushed him away sooner had she known he was married, though she'd like to think she would have had she had a sister and he been her brother-in-law. And she wasn't even as young as Jenny had been.
Evelinde yawned again and sighed as she thought that a child like Jenny might be able to justify taking her sister's husband as a lover that way. She might even have hoped the man might somehow find a way to save her from the marriage.
She frowned at the possibilities floating around in her mind. Had Biddy found out her sister and husband were lovers? Was this one indiscretion she hadn't been willing to forgive Darach? And why had Jenny returned after leaving so abruptly? Had she even really killed herself. It was possible she'd felt bad about dallying with her sister's husband and killed herself, but it was possible her death was just another murder covered up.
Biddy could have murdered Jenny and her husband after finding out about them, she supposed, but if so, why kill Cullen's father all those years later, she wondered. Had Cullen's father, Liam, somehow figured out what had happened all those years, confronted her, and brought about his own death? Or perhaps that had simply been an effort to correct the injustice Biddy might have felt she'd caused by killing Darach while her son was too young to take over the position of laird. Her own son had been passed over due to Darach's premature death. She may have hoped the title would be passed on to her son rather than Cullen if she killed Liam.
As for Maggie, either the questions she'd asked had made Biddy nervous enough to make her kill her, or Maggie had actually somehow stumbled onto the truth, bringing about her own death.
Evelinde scowled at her own thoughts. While it all made a sort of sense, she found it hard to see Biddy as a ravening murderer, running about killing off all those people; her own sister, her husband, her brother-in-law, and her nephew's wife. Besides, Evelinde liked Biddy and didn't want to believe the woman was trying to kill her.
She really had to sort the matter out and quickly, Evelinde decided, but just wasn't quite sure how. Talking to Biddy wasn't likely to get her any answers. The woman would either be insulted if she was innocent or just lie and deny everything if she was guilty.
Evelinde supposed she could try sneaking into Biddy's room when she wasn't around and seeing if there was something that would help her find out what had happened. Letters from Biddy to her sister and back, a diary… or maybe a written confession lying around, she thought dryly, and shifted impatiently in the bed. Still, it was worth doing.
"What has ye all upset?" The sleepy question sounded by her ear as Cullen cuddled up behind her, one arm slipping around her body.
"What makes you think I am upset?" Evelinde asked rather than answer, her hand covering his where it rested beneath her breast on top of the linens and furs.
"Because ye were sighing and huffing loud enough to wake me," he answered, and began to nuzzle her ear.
"I was not," Evelinde said a bit breathlessly, her eyes drooping closed as his lips moved over her neck.
"Aye, ye were," Cullen assured her, tugging down the linens and furs that covered her to expose her naked breasts to his seeking hand.
"Oh," Evelinde breathed, as his hand closed over one breast and he began to fondle her, his hips pressing more firmly forward so that she could feel the hardness growing between them.
"What were ye thinking about?" he asked, nibbling at her shoulder now.
Evelinde swallowed, finding it difficult to think while he was touching her so.
"Tell me," he insisted on a whisper, his hand leaving her breast briefly to slip between them to rearrange himself so that his hardness pressed between her legs and against her wet core.
Evelinde groaned as he then shifted his hips, rubbing himself across the bud of her excitement as his hand moved back to her breast.
"Tell me," Cullen repeated, plucking at her nipple as he continued to move his hips.
"About Jenny and Darach and whether they were lovers and Biddy didn't find out and kill them and—" Her words died abruptly as he suddenly stilled.
"Jenny and Darach?" he said blankly, and Evelinde twisted slightly so that she could see his face. He was looking stunned by the very suggestion.
"I know it seems unlikely," Evelinde said apologetically, "but Tavis said that Jenny was meeting a lover out on the cliffs, and Tralin suggested that Darach paid the girl a lot of attention and she seemed to have feelings for him. If Darach was like Tavis is with women, and if Jenny was really as naive as everyone thought…"
She didn't finish the words but let him come to his own conclusion, then added, "It may be a coincidence that Jenny died two weeks before the accident that killed Darach, but I find it hard to believe that she is not somehow involved. Both your father and little Maggie died in falls from the same cliff where she killed herself and was laid to rest. "
Cullen was completely still and silent, but she could see the thoughts racing through his eyes, then suddenly he was rolling away from her and getting out of bed.
"Husband?" Evelinde frowned and tossed the linens aside to follow. She frowned again when she saw he was dressing, his expression grim. Biting her lip, she asked worriedly, "What are you going to do?"
"Leave it to me. I shall tend to it," Cullen said firmly as he fastened his plaid.
Evelinde worried her lip as she watched him don his sword and sgian dubh, then said, "Pray, husband, do not take this to Biddy. I may be completely wrong about all this and would not see her hurt until we are sure one way or the other. "
"Leave it to me," Cullen repeated. When he saw the worry on her face, he frowned and moved before her to take her by the arms. "I'll not have ye fretting over this. Ye've suffered enough under all these attempts on yer life. I want ye happy and content wife. I love ye. "
Evelinde's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open at the blunt announcement, which was rather fortuitous because it meant Cullen didn't have to urge her mouth open when he bent to kiss her. It was a very quick but thorough kiss, then Cull
