Lord Browne began to speak, slowly. “Ruth...your sister, is gone.”
Marianne gasped. It was not uncommon for Ruth to come to the breakfast table late, and so they had not waited for her. It had not occurred to her to have the maids check her room.
William waved a maid down and sent her off to check it. “Father, explain yourself. What is this letter?” Marianne asked.
Marianne grew angry as her father hesitated to speak and hid the letter from view. She sat back down again with William’s assistance. “Tell me, Father. It’s enough now. What has happened?”
William broke in. “Aye,” he said gruffly, his arms crossed. “It’s time ye tell us, lad.”
Normally, Lord Browne would have stood up against his unwanted son-in-law to fight such informal titles aimed at him, but he hadn’t the energy. Dougal’s letter had stripped him of everything. He was lost. And so was Ruth. It hurt more than he had expected it to.
“The letter is from Dougal Menzies. Ruth has gone with him to his ‘adventure across the sea’ as he calls it.” Marianne gasped. She knew that Ruth wanted to leave, but with Dougal? And right now?
William sat down at this news. Lord Browne began stammering. “There is much more to this story. It is so much more complicated than you know.”
“Then, tell us, man!”
“I have not the energy to continue at the moment. If I could but rest…” William wanted to lunge across the table and grab the bastard by the cravat. Marianne had never seen her father in such a weak state. She knew something much deeper had occurred. She placed a calming hand on William’s arm.
“Father, this is very important. You must tell us all now, so that we can do what we can to retrieve Ruth. She may be in danger.”
At that moment, Troy burst into the hallway, gripping a letter of his own, looking just as white as Lord Browne.
* * *
A little bit earlier, a stunned Troy stood in his sanctuary, holding onto the letter that he’d found there. It was all too much to bear. First, he thought that Ruth had betrayed him by secretly arranging a more prestigious marriage in London, but now he found out that no, she had merely betrayed him by revealing the location of the cross. How could she have known where it was?
And now, she was off with Dougal. What had the blaigeard said to convince her? Or maybe she had not gone of her own accord, just as Dougal had threatened. A sliver of ice went through Troy’s heart at the thought. Ruth could be in danger. Dougal will take her with him and make her his mistress, whether she would want to or not. She would have no escape. Dougal was a dangerous man.
His mind raced for a solution. Where could they have gone? How could he collect her again? He hesitated. Perhaps she wanted this for herself? It would give her the adventure she so desired, but it would be a life of enslavement, just to a different person, and in a different way. He sat in a church pew for a few moments, breathing quickly, trying to string everything together.
He needed to leave the church and go and find her. That was the solution. He would find a new life after this, once he knew that Ruth was safe and living a life that she enjoyed. That was all that mattered. Ruth and her happiness and safety. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Her family. They might not yet know. It was still morning yet. If he was going to enlist anyone’s help to go and find her, he would need to go to them now. Besides, it was time he stopped hiding and came out with everything: about his past, about the cross, and about him and Ruth.
He stood up and began to run down the aisle and out the door, clutching the letter tightly in his hands.
* * *
“Troy!” Marianne said breathlessly. “Are you all right? What are you doing here?”
Troy hurried to the table. “Forgive me, please. But, I had to come and tell you that Ruth is gone.”
“Yes, we’ve heard that much, lad,” William said angrily as he looked at Lord Browne.
Troy looked between them all. “How did you know?” And he spotted the pale face of Lord Browne and the letter before him. “You have a letter as well?”
At that moment, the servant returned from checking Ruth’s room, and hurriedly spoke to Marianne. “Miss, Lady Ruth is gone for certain. She has left these three letters.”
“Bloody Hell!” William threw up his arms in frustration. “So, we are tae be told the story multiple times?”
Marianne threw him a look and took the letters in hand. “One is for you and me, William. One is for Amelia and Jamie. And one is for Robyn, her friend.” Marianne could feel the tears coming, but she needed them to stop. She had to think clearly in order to be able to do anything.
Troy interrupted. “Please, let me tell ye what has happened.”
“Aye, that’ll do.” William said gruffly.
Troy exhaled sharply. “There is much tae tell. ‘Tis a long story, I’m afraid.”
“Get on with it, lad,” William said impatiently.
“I intend tae go after Ruth and bring her back tae safety. But there is something ye need tae know about me.”
Marianne watched him intently; William scowled, and Lord Browne still looked ill, but he was watching Troy.
“I have studied tae be a minister, yes, but I was not always so. My da was a pirate before the battle with England, and he wanted me tae join the ‘family business’ as it were. I didnae have much interest until after the Battle of Culloden, as ye know, it was brutal beyond words.” He glanced at William, who nodded, knowing the fate of many of his friends and relatives, although he had not been there himself.
“After the battle, I joined my father upon the sea, but he died shortly after. The captaincy of the ship came under my control, and so I led a ship of pirates for a few years, around the coast of Scotland and across tae the Americas as well as further south. We preyed on English ships when we could, stealing from them, and leaving no survivors.”
He watched Marianne pale with the words, but she didn’t say anything. He wished for anything in the world that this was not his past, but there was no use in hiding anymore. He would do what he had to do to bring Ruth back.
“But one day, I had enough. Something snapped. Too much stealing, philandering, and killing had been done, and under my command. I wanted tae make a change. I dove intae the sea with naught but the clothes on my back and a jeweled cross. It was our most prized booty, stolen from a priest on the Isle of Skye. Once I left that day, it has been my mission and goal tae return this prize tae whom it belonged, but I had tae wait. I wanted tae wait for fear that my crew would find me one day and take me back or worse. And find me they did.”
William nodded with understanding. “Dougal Menzies?”
Troy nodded slowly, “Aye. He came under the pretense that he was searching for a minister tae make his confession. All he wanted was the cross back and tae take his revenge upon me. He has done so, tenfold.”
Marianne wiped a tear from her eyes. “And Ruth? What has happened to her? Why would she go with him?”
Troy swallowed. “You all know that Ruth sought tae have a life of adventure. She has told me many times, and one day, I took it upon myself tae teach her navigation. She was delighted.” Troy felt himself smile, in spite of all that had happened. “I believe that Dougal has told her lies tae convince her tae accompany him, or else he has taken her against her will.”
Marianne began to cry softly.
“He said that he would give her the adventure that she so desires. But what he really means tae do is regain the ship we lost after I left the crew and use the cross tae do it. He has found the cross and gotten his revenge. He means tae make Ruth his mistress aboard ship.”
Marianne gasped, and William swore loudly.
“Perhaps she did go willingly with him, but if so, she did it under false knowledge, and she is headed tae a life of further entrapment. She will not be happy. I wish tae go after her, if ye will accompany me, William. I know ye may not approve of what I have done, but please know, I love Ruth Browne with every bone in my body, an
d my only wish is for her happiness and safety. I expect nothing else.”
Troy hung his head, his speech finished and all secrets revealed.
Marianne was quiet, but then she turned to her still silent father. She was surprised by Troy’s words, but she was touched at the strong emotion he expressed in confessing his love for Ruth. “And Father, why have you received a letter? What have you to do with all of this?”
“Speak man, or lose yer tongue,” William said harshly, and Marianne could not fault him for it.
Lord Browne swallowed weakly, and Marianne called for wine for each of them. “‘Tis my fault your sister has left. But she would have been taken anyway, for it was I that plotted with Dougal to convince Ruth to return to London. And if she would not come willingly, then Dougal would...assist me in that matter.”
Marianne was quiet when she asked, “How could Dougal ever convince her to go with you? And why would Dougal want to help you?”
“He was to tell her that the carriage parked outside at midnight tonight was to take her to her next adventure, when it would have been me inside instead. He agreed to help because I was to either distract Troy, so that Dougal could get the cross, or go in search of it myself.”
Troy suddenly spoke up, confused. “Go in search of it? You did not already know where it was?”
Lord Browne shook his head, and gratefully took a sip of the wine that had been laid before him. It was an indulgence, but the Lord would understand in this situation. “No, we did not know where it was. But he suspected it was in your rooms.”
Troy was silent. So, Ruth did not tell Dougal where the cross was? His heart flipped at the thought. Perhaps there was hope that she had not betrayed him after all? That she was not who her father said she was?
“And the marriage?”
Marianne and William looked at Troy, confused. “What marriage?” William belted out.
Lord Browne seemed to go a few shades paler at the sight of William’s youthful, brazen anger, boiling below the surface. “There was a marriage soon to be arranged back in London. It was to an acquaintance of mine.”
William stood and kicked his chair to the floor with a loud crash. “Another arranged marriage? When will ye learn, man, ye bloody blaigeard, that yer daughters are humans with their own minds and hearts? They will not be forced into marriages or even lives that they dinnae want. How dare ye do so again with yer other daughter? What kind of a man does something like that tae his own children? And for yer own gain, I imagine?”
William was leaning over the table now, close to Lord Browne’s trembling face. Lord Browne looked almost like an apologetic sheep, his face had now altered so greatly from all of the emotions of the morning. “Yes, yes,” he stammered. “‘Twas for my own gain. It is too bad that Dougal asked me not to speak of it to Ruth until I met her tonight, or else all of this would have been solved.”
“Nae! Ye would have taken her for yerself, ye stupid fecking idiot!” Marianne winced at William’s tone, and he placed a calming, protective hand on her shoulder. “Ye will leave. Ye will not be a part of this family. Marianne, do ye disagree?”
She looked up at William. “Now is not the time. We must find Ruth and bring her back.” He nodded, moving away from the table. He couldn’t bear to be in the man’s presence anymore.
“Come, William. Let us go and find her,” Troy said, grateful that now the truth had been revealed. Ruth had not told Dougal where the cross was, and Ruth did not know about this upcoming engagement. It gave him hope.
“And where are we tae go, lad?” William asked, the fury still lingering in his voice.
“I think I know.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ruth looked out of the window of the carriage she shared with Dougal and three of his men. They had met the evening before at the local pub, the same pub Marianne had told her stories about after visiting there with William in the disguise of a boy. It had been a little concerning to enter into a carriage with two strange and gruff-looking men, but she put her trust in Dougal, and he had smiled at her and winked, letting her know that all was well.
But as they traveled for hours on their way to Inverness, and the morning sun began to shine through, Ruth began to feel more uneasy. The men in the carriage were staring at her in a lustful way and smiled whenever they made eye contact, looking as though they knew something she didn’t. She moved closer to Dougal, hoping that these men would not be as wicked as so many of the men she had heard about. But she chastised herself for such fears.
This was her new adventure, and she wanted to enjoy every minute of it. She watched the countryside fly by. Dougal told her, once they started the journey, that they would be traveling to Inverness, so that he could find his old ship. He said that she could decide what she wanted to do from there. She was more than welcome to board ship with him though, as they were traveling around the coast of Scotland and then to the colonies.
Ruth was taking the silence of the carriage ride to think about what she wanted to do. She could become an apprentice or work as a governess to help earn some money while she considered traveling. If men like this were aboard Dougal’s ship, she was not so certain that she wanted to join him, although a journey to the colonies did sound deliciously exciting.
If they did not stop, it would take them four days to get to Inverness, but they would have to stop along the way, and Ruth idly wondered who was paying for all of this and where she would sleep. She glanced over at Dougal who was sleeping, and she thought about him. How well did she really know him? She didn’t actually know anything about his connections or whether or not he could connect her with a good prospect. Did he assume she would automatically join him on his ship?
She thought back to the few times Dougal had attempted flirting with her. It had made her uncomfortable, but she hadn’t really thought much of it. Now she worried about it. Maybe he had more intentions than she had realized? In the darkness, and with the betrayal of Troy and her father in her mind, it had all seemed so simple to leave Brechin in a hurry. It was thrilling, and she had ridden the wave of energy she felt pulsing through her veins as she rushed with Dougal in the darkness to meet up with his men.
But now, as the sunlight began to creep over the hills and fields of the countryside, coloring them with its fresh light, her mind was filled with questions and concerns. What if she was riding into imminent danger? How was she going to survive if she had nothing set and prepared for her on the other end of this journey? How did she know they were really going to Inverness?
Ruth Browne chided herself for the hundredth time. She realized she may have made a terrible, terrible, mistake.
* * *
William and Troy prepared their horses and their belongings. They would ride as opposed to taking a carriage, so that they could be quicker and less conspicuous. William smiled to himself as he remembered he and Marianne’s story.
“What are ye laughing about in a time like this?” Troy asked.
“I took a similar journey with Marianne myself, last year, when she had been taken back tae London. I wanted tae save her, I guess.”
“Then ye know my feelings well.”
“Aye, although I dinnae approve of ye lying tae my sister. She is in love with ye tae be sure, but she has a fiery spirit. She will chastise ye for that.”
“I am sorry. But please know that my heart is true.”
“Aye. That I do know, lad. I have always known, no matter what ye tried tae say. Ye both were besotted with one another from the beginning. ‘Tis bloody ridiculous we always let things get this far afore we admit love.”
Troy laughed. “Aye. Does seem a bit dramatic, does it not? Although I am unsure as tae whether she’ll accept me if we find her. She may throw me out, and she would be right tae do so.”
Troy and William mounted their horses. William sighed as he grabbed the reins. “Women are confusing, bewildering, infuriating creatures, but they love strongly. She willnae forget it. She may hiss and fight i
n the beginning, but I’m sure she’ll come around, wild sister, and all.”
He clicked to the horse, and Troy’s heart was filled with new hope as they began the journey towards Inverness.
* * *
Marianne sat in the main hall, hands over her stomach, trying to summon up every bit of Christian hospitality within herself that she could. Her father sat next to her, and Ruth’s friend, Robyn, sat nearby as well, clutching quietly to a teacup, looking supremely uncomfortable. Marianne had called Robyn to the house, so that she could collect her letter and speak to her about Ruth.
Capturing The Reluctant Highlander (Lasses 0f The Kinnaird Castle Book 3) Page 21
