A Highland Conquest

by Sandra Heath

  “I assure you I didn’t, Lady Mary. I really do not know anything about the locket, or how it came to be in my reticule. I swear that it has nothing to do with me.” Lauren’s cool green eyes swung accusingly toward Isabel.

  Rory’s former mistress was equal to the moment. Without a word she placed the locket on the table, where it lay shining almost defiantly. Lauren felt wretched as she looked at it. Oh, if only Hester were well enough to be at her side now, to confirm what they’d both overheard.

  Isabel looked at Mary. “Maybe this is someone’s notion of a practical joke, but it could be more serious than that. Perhaps it would be wise to see if the rest of the jewels are safe,” she suggested.

  Mary got up swiftly. “Yes, indeed,” she replied, and hurried out.

  The moment she’d gone, Lauren turned to face Isabel. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on,” she said quietly.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Don’t play the innocent, Lady Maxby. Lady Fitzsimmons put the locket in my reticule last night, didn’t she? And you have just brought the reticule here, with the sole purpose of ‘finding’ the locket inside it.”

  Isabel was taken a little by surprise, for she hadn’t realized that once again Lauren was aware of too much, but she was sufficiently composed not to be ruffled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Maitland, but if Lady Fitzsimmons knows anything about the locket, I am sure she will be able to confirm as much when she and Jamie return.”

  “If they return,” Lauren replied.

  “If? Good heavens, Miss Maitland, what are you suggesting?”

  “Simply that I will be very surprised indeed if Lady Mary finds the jewel box, because it has been stolen by Lady Fitzsimmons and—”

  Lauren broke off, for at that moment they heard Mary’s hasty footsteps returning, and then she came into the solar in a very agitated state. “The bookcase door has been forced and the jewel box has gone!” she cried.

  Isabel turned swiftly toward Lauren. “You were right, Miss Maitland. How very intuitive you are, to be sure.”

  Mary looked at them in bewilderment. “Intuitive. I don’t understand.”

  “Miss Maitland has just told me that she didn’t think you’d find the jewel box, although her suggestion as to the thief, or thieves, is rather bizarre. It seems she has a theory that Emma and Jamie are the real culprits, although why she should think such a preposterous thing is beyond me.”

  Mary stared at Lauren. “Emma and Jamie?” she repeated faintly. “Why on earth do you think that, Miss Maitland?”

  “I… I’d rather not say, not at this point,” Lauren replied lamely, wishing again that Hester were at her side right now, for it was quite impossible to make any real charge without her cousin’s testimony. Isabel’s choice of words was particularly appropriate, for such an accusation would indeed sound preposterous in the extreme, especially as everyone in the castle was under the impression that Jamie and Emma had only gone for a drive.

  Isabel affected to be a little incensed at her reticence.

  “Come now, Miss Maitland, you cannot say outrageous things and then decline to expand. Unless, of course, you know full well that they are innocent, and you yourself are the guilty party.”

  Mary gave a gasp, and her hand crept anxiously to her throat. “Oh, Isabel, how can you suggest such a thing?” she whispered.

  “As easily as Miss Maitland finds it to accuse your brother and my best friend,” Isabel replied promptly.

  Lauren was icily furious, as well as alarmed at the way things were going. “I am not the guilty party in this, Lady Maxby.”

  “No? It seems to me that you’ve been caught red-handed, as the saying goes. You have stolen the jewel box and have kept the locket close because it reminds you of the one that was lost down the well. No doubt the rest of the jewels are somewhere in your room.”

  “I refute every word you say, Lady Maxby!” Lauren cried. It was all falling horridly into place now, and she had been trapped. Who would believe she hadn’t stolen the locket, perhaps even the whole jewel box? And while she stood accused, and fruitless searches were made for the rest of the Glenvane jewels, the real culprits put more and more miles between themselves and the scene of their crime. How useful an implement she was for the two unprincipled lovers and how clearly had jealous Isabel used the situation to try to turn Rory from his new love. Lauren could have wept with frustration and wretchedness, for now she also understood what painful memories he would relive as a result of all this. He would be forced to recall Fleur and how she’d stolen the same jewels for her lover. He would also have cause to wonder if Lauren Maitland, Fleur’s countrywoman, had failed him by also attempting to purloin the jewels. Yes, history would indeed seem to be repeating itself, and Isabel would be there at his side, offering comfort and understanding…

  Mary was upset and close to tears. “Did you do it, Miss Maitland?” she asked unhappily.

  “Lady Mary, I swear I am innocent.” Lauren looked urgently at her. This couldn’t be happening. Let it be a dream… But it wasn’t a dream, for she could see doubt in Mary’s dark brown eyes.

  Isabel was contemptuous. “Why should we believe you, Miss Maitland? You knew about the second locket; indeed you were with Rory in the library only yesterday, and he showed it to you.”

  Lauren’s eyes flew toward her. “So it was you listening at the door, was it, Lady Maxby?” she fired back.

  A dull flush suffused Isabel’s cheeks, but she held her ground. “You knew about the locket, and you saw where the jewel box was kept.”

  “I didn’t steal it, nor did I take the locket. Why would I?”

  “To replace the one you lost,’ Isabel replied. “Who knows why a magpie is a thief, all one knows is that he is a thief.”

  “I am not the thief on this occasion, Lady Maxby.”

  “Ah, yes, I was forgetting. Emma and Jamie are the villains, are they not?” Isabel gave a cold laugh.

  There were footsteps and male voices in the passage as Rory and his friends returned from their grouse shooting. Lauren’s heart sank. Oh, Rory, you have to have faith in me. I didn’t do it, truly I didn’t.

  He was laughing at something as he came in. His hair was tousled from the ride, and there was color in his cheeks as he spoke to one of his companions. “That will teach you to arrive late in the proceedings and then boast about being fresh as a daisy, Dickon,” he said, and then realized there was an atmosphere in the room. His smile faded as he surveyed the faces before him.

  “What is it? What’s happened?”

  Mary ran to him and flung himself tearfully into his arms. “Mother’s jewel box has been stolen!”

  “What?” He was startled as he held her close.

  Isabel stepped forward. “It’s true, Rory, and I rather fear that your Miss Maitland knows much more about it than she’s prepared to admit.”

  He looked at Lauren. “What is this, Lauren?”

  “I’m innocent, Rory. I swear that I am.”

  Isabel gave a scornful laugh. “Innocent? And yet you have some of the booty in your reticule? Oh, come now, Miss Maitland, we aren’t fools.” She pointed at the locket on the table.

  Rory released Mary and looked at Lauren again. “Was the locket in your reticule?”

  “Yes, but I deny all knowledge of it. I didn’t put it there, Rory, nor did I take it or the jewel box from the library.”

  Seeing him hesitate, Isabel moved closer. “She wanted to replace the lost locket, Rory, and decided to take the whole jewel box. It’s plain enough.”

  Lauren rounded upon her. “Nothing could replace the locket I lost, Lady Maxby, and I resent the suggestion that it could. That locket was the only tangible memory I had of someone I once loved very much, someone who has been dead for six years, and because of your deliberate clumsiness, it is gone forever!” As she spoke, she wished she’d chosen her words more carefully, for she’d made it sound perilously close to anguish over losing her las
t link with Jonathan. She glanced at Rory’s face and saw in his eyes that that was indeed what he thought. “Rory, I—”

  But Isabel had no intention of allowing her to plead her case with him. “Because of my deliberate clumsiness? Miss Maitland, I accidentally dropped the horrid thing into the well, that was all.”

  “We beg to differ on that point,” Lauren replied coldly. She could sense Rory’s growing disquiet. He already knew her suspicions regarding the loss of Jonathan’s locket, but Isabel was so very convincing, and the evidence was overwhelming.

  Isabel’s bluebell eyes flickered. “Attempt to differ if you wish, Miss Maitland, but you cannot shift the blame on to me, or upon poor Emma and Jamie, as you have already endeavored to do.”

  Rory turned swiftly toward her. “Emma and Jamie? What have they to do with this?”

  Isabel gave Lauren a scornful look. “She claims that they have taken the jewel box. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? And even if they had, why on earth would they leave the locket in her reticule? I vow the creature isn’t even a convincing liar.”

  “That’s enough, Isabel.” Rory looked at Lauren again. “Why have you accused my brother and Lady Fitzsimmons, Lauren?”

  “Hester and I overheard…” Lauren fell silent, and then looked regretfully at him. “Hester is still too indisposed to deny or confirm anything I say at this point.”

  Isabel sighed. “How very convenient,” she murmured.

  Lauren turned urgently to Rory. “I haven’t done any of the things of which I stand accused. I swear it upon my honor.”

  The assembled gentlemen had listened with some amazement to all that was being said, and now one of them spoke. It was the gentleman who’d arrived as the doctor had departed, and who Rory had referred to as “Dickon.”

  “Er—Miss Maitland, with all due respect, may I ask if the lost locket was the one you showed me in London early last month?”

  A cold finger passed down Lauren’s spine as she recognized the voice. It belonged to Sir Richard Finchley, the man she’d fobbed off in London with a tale of a fiancé and an imminent wedding.

  “Is it the same one, Miss Maitland?” he enquired again. He was a handsome man, with blond curls and knowing eyes, but although he was much sought after by the ladies of London, she liked him as little now as she had then.

  There was nothing for it but to reply truthfully. “Yes, Sir Richard, it was the same locket.”

  “Forgive me, but I seem to recall you telling me that the gentleman whose likeness appeared inside it is your fiancé, a Captain Hyde, who, far from being dead, is expecting you back in Boston in the new year to be married.”

  Isabel could not believe her ears. If she’d planned it, this intriguing development could not have come at a more opportune moment!

  Lauren stared wretchedly at Sir Richard. Why had she decided to spare his feelings by resorting to a white lie? He had been importuning her, and should have been dealt a monumental snub! If she’d told him the truth—that she loathed the sight of him—this would not be happening now.

  Sir Richard gave a faint smile. “Did I perhaps misunderstand what you told me, Miss Maitland?”

  “No, sir, you didn’t misunderstand, indeed you have recalled everything quite accurately.” Lauren’s unhappy gaze moved to Rory.

  Sir Richard cleared his throat. “Quite so,” he murmured, taking out a snuff box and flicking it open to take a pinch.

  Isabel was exultant, although she strove mightily to conceal the fact. Oh, what sweet fortune! The creature was condemned out of her own lips! Deceit and infidelity were the two things Rory abhorred above all else, and his Miss Maitland was apparently guilty of both. Another Fleur, to be sure.

  Rory glanced around the room. “I would be grateful if you would all leave, for I think it is time Miss Maitland and I discussed certain matters,” he said stiffly.

  Everyone did as he requested, although Isabel paused reluctantly in the doorway. She wanted to be there, to hear every word, but she knew that would be impossible, and so unwillingly she went out as well.

  As the door closed softly behind her, Rory faced Lauren. “Well? What have you to say to me, Miss Maitland?”

  The use of her surname delivered full warning that he already believed her to be guilty.

  Chapter 19

  He was so cold that Lauren couldn’t respond. She was conscious of a very distant roll of thunder somewhere beyond the surrounding mountains, and she was equally conscious of the frantic thundering of her own heart. There was a veil over his eyes, a shadow which shut her out and prevented her from reading his thoughts.

  “Have you nothing to say, Miss Maitland?” he inquired coolly as he went to the window and looked out over the darkening waters of the loch.

  “Miss Maitland? So formal, Rory?” she replied, finding her tongue at last.

  “It must be thus, for I have learned the hardest way of all that only a fool entrusts his faith to his heart.”

  “I love you, Rory,” she said simply, pleading with her eyes.

  “So did Fleur, or so she would have had me believe.”

  “I’m not Fleur, Rory.”

  “I wish I could take your word on that, but I cannot. You have been found with my mother’s locket in your possession, and—”

  “Yes, but—”

  But he ignored her attempted interruption. “And you have apparently accused my brother and Lady Fitzsimmons in connection with this. Now it also seems that you’ve also lied either to me or to Sir Richard about the existence of a fiancé. Deceit of one sort or another appears to be your trademark, Miss Maitland, and although I thought I knew you, it’s now quite clear that I do not. You are a stranger to me, madam.”

  “I haven’t changed; I’m the same now as—”

  His eyes swung coolly toward her. “No, you probably haven’t changed, it’s just that the scales have gone from my eyes and I begin to see you in your true light.”

  “So I’m condemned before I’ve uttered a word in my own defense?” she breathed. “I had hoped for better from you, Lord Glenvane.” His title was stilted upon her lips. Oh, Rory, Rory, please don’t let us sink to this! Her eyes were bright with unshed tears as she faced him, willing him to soften a little, to give her the benefit of the doubt. Didn’t she deserve at least that small concession?

  “And I had hoped for better from you, madam. You complain of being condemned unheard. Very well, I await your explanation. First of all, I wish to know how my mother’s locket came into your possession, where the rest of the jewels are to be found, and why you so improbably point the finger at my brother and Lady Fitzsimmons?”

  The tears still shimmered in her eyes. “The truth frequently sounds improbable, sir,” she replied. “If I intended to lie to hide my own guilt, I would invent a more plausible tale.”

  “I’m still waiting, Miss Maitland,” he pointed out tersely.

  She drew a long breath. “As you wish, Lord Glenvane, but I don’t think that you will like what you hear; indeed, I know you won’t. To explain how I believe the locket came to be in my reticule, I must first inform you that Lady Fitzsimmons is the married woman with whom your brother is conducting a liaison.”

  His lips parted. “That can’t be so!”

  “I saw them together at the Crown & Thistle before I knew who either of them was.”

  “Do you really expect me to believe that? I know Jamie is many things, Miss Maitland, but I cannot accept that even he would put horns on a friend as close as Fitz.”

  “It is the truth. I noticed Lady Fitzsimmons at the inn because she was so obviously waiting for someone and had removed her wedding ring. I could see the white line it left on her finger. Then when Hester and Alex came downstairs, she took one look at them and fled. From that I gleaned that she knew them and didn’t want to be seen, especially as the removed wedding ring suggested she was waiting for a lover. That night I was awoken by the sound of a vehicle arriving at the inn, and when I looked out I saw J
amie getting out of his cabriolet. He went up to Lady Fitzsimmons’s room on the other side of the gallery from where I was, and when she admitted him they embraced. He left at about dawn and she remained in her room. I think her intention was to stay well and truly out of sight until Hester and Alex had gone.”

  He had returned his attention to the scene beyond the window, and when she finished he remained silent for a moment. “And Hester can corroborate this?” he asked then.

  She lowered her eyes. “No.”

  “So it would simply be your word against theirs?”

  “Yes.”

  “And if they really were these lovers, they will claim it is a case of mistaken identity, just as they would claim the same if they were not the people you saw at the inn. Impasse, I think,” he said dryly.

  “Lord Glenvane, I am telling you the truth. The man and woman I saw meeting at the inn were definitely your brother and Lady Fitzsimmons. I’ve also seen them in compromising circumstances here in the castle.” She explained how she’d seen Emma leaving Jamie’s room.

  His gray eyes flickered briefly toward her. “How unfortunate that you were again alone, Miss Maitland, for once more it will come down to your word against theirs.”

  “That does not make my story untrue, sir,” she pointed out.

  “No. To return to the inn. If it was clear to you that the lady you saw knew Hester, did you draw your cousin’s attention to the fact?”

  “No.”

  “May I ask why?”

  Lauren felt wretched as she met his eyes, for she knew that her reason would not please him at all, but if he demanded the full truth, then that was what he would get. “I didn’t say anything because I foolishly imagined that the lady was locked in a disastrous marriage, and that maybe her assignations were her only happiness.”

  “And therefore, her infidelities were excusable? How telling such reasoning may be of your own philosophy, Miss Maitland,” he murmured.

  Her eyes flashed at that. “And your response, sir, is very telling of your bitter nature, that you needs must see your wife’s image in me as well!”