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“Her husband? But she has men courting her all day long. You never saw the number of horses I have to feed while they’re inside trying to make her laugh. If you ask me, they want the money she has more than they want her. And I think that if they knew she could punch a face with a one-two jab, then come up under with her left”—he demonstrated—“I’m not sure they’d want her.”
Angus couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. “Go on,” he said gently. “I’ll take care of her. You get something to eat and take a nap. You can go home this evening.”
“But what about Miss Edilean? Miss Harriet will skin me alive if I go back without her.”
“She’ll go with you when you leave,” Angus said. “She’s just bruised and sore, nothing permanent. Now go and let her rest.”
As Cuddy left the barn, he heard the door close behind him. Her husband, eh? No wonder Miss Edilean was so wary of those men who visited. She was already married to a tavern keeper, a man who spent his days serving beer. And no wonder she didn’t show him off to the world. Chuckling, Cuddy went into the tavern and had a huge breakfast.
Edilean awoke with a start, and panic ran through her. She put her arms over her face in protection.
“There now, lass, you’re safe with me,” Angus said as he sat down on the bed by her.
She started to sit up, but she hurt too much. She looked about the room, noting the austerity of it. “Is this the tavern where you work?”
“It’s the barn,” he said. “I’m not worth enough for the owner to give up a bedroom above the tavern.”
She knew he was opening a way for her to make a joke but she didn’t. “Did Cuddy give you the jewelry?”
“Aye, he did.”
“Could I see it?”
“No.” He was smiling. “I know you’ve already seen what’s missing.”
“But I need to—”
When she started to sit up, he gently pushed her back down. “No, lass, what you need is rest. I hear that was one hell of a fight you had.”
“It was nothing to what I did to Bessie Hightop when we were both fourteen. Her father is a duke, and she said I was the school freeloader, always looking for somebody to live off of.”
“So you showed her, did you?”
“Actually, in the long run, I lost. Her father was told what happened and he made Bessie invite me to their house over Easter. I was very proud back then, so I went.”
“And what happened?”
“Bessie’s old grandfather, her mother’s father, asked me to marry him.”
Angus couldn’t help laughing. “I wish I’d been there to hear you tell him what you thought of his proposal.”
“When he suggested that I sit on his lap, I said his bony knees would hurt my backside.”
“Oh, lass, but I’ve missed you so!”
Edilean didn’t smile. “I’ve not missed you. After you threw me away like so much rubbish, the only thing I wanted to do was clear the obligation between us.”
“Obligation?”
“That I owe you. You’ve certainly told me often enough that if it weren’t for me you’d now be at home in Scotland with your dear family.”
“I also told you that you’ve given me an opportunity that I’d not have had without you.”
“Yes, I did. When I gave you the parure, I was giving you a way to buy a farm and maybe later you could invite your family here to America. But that was taken from you. When Cuddy told me about your circumstances here, I knew that I was once again in your debt. You’d gone from being the laird of a clan to the stableboy.”
“I don’t think it was that bad,” he said. “If things keep up the way they have been I could well own this place one day.”
“Ha!” Edilean said as she grit her teeth against the pain and sat up. “If the owner has a third cousin thrice removed he’ll leave the place to him rather than to you. When it comes to property, blood will always win.”
