“That must have outraged Tyrsdale,” Daniel observed, pulling a book from its place.
“Och aye, it did. Fur a little while it looked as though Great-grandmother had made her point an’ nothin’ would come ay it, but in actuality he spent th’ time rootin’ around fur information ‘at might bring down my family’s good name. He found it in Kinross an’ brought charges against Great-grandmother, insistin’ she bewitched him intae sellin’ th’ property.”
“And you indicated how that ended,” he pressed his lips together. “But what of the land dispute?”
“As mentioned, nothin’ came ay it. Outraged, Great-grandfather called out Tyrsdale an’ proved th’ more skilled wi’ his weapon. Th’ events left both families devastated. Th’ survivin’ family members maintained a strong dislike fur one another, but didnae bring it up again.”
“Until now.”
Lenore nodded.
Mulling over the fascinating piece of family history, Daniel thumbed through pages, scanning each line as he went.
“I think this is what we need,” he announced after another extended silence. He moved to a small desk near a window to better inspect the ledger in his hand. Lenore came up beside him, pressing in eagerly to peer over his shoulder. Her proximity unsettled him, warmth seeping into his side from where she stood. He angled his gaze toward her, breath catching at the sight of her golden hair glinting in the sunlight, rosy lips parted as she reached to run a delicate index finger along the columns in the book. Swallowing, he beat a hasty retreat under the guise of allowing her more space.
“Quite the tale,” he croaked. “How is it you and Gavin never mentioned it before?”
“People may be more enlightened now than they have been in th’ past,” she murmured, leaning in so closely her nose nearly skimmed the pages. “But dae ye really think it would’ve been wise fur us tae mention having witches in th’ family?”
“Witches?” He gave a small laugh. “I thought it was just your great-grandmother.”
She paused in her inspection, sliding him a sideways glance under her lashes. “How many ay th’ MacAllister women hae ye seen dabblin’ wi’ herbs?”
Daniel thought a moment, remembering his infrequent but enjoyable visits to the MacAllister estate in his youth, during which time various aunts and relatives had been in residence. He also remembered the time Lenore and her aunts devoted to making the seasonal stores of tinctures and balms. The family’s proclivity toward medicine-making was what led Gavin to his calling as a physician.
“All of them.”
“Exactly.”
“But medicine-making is a common affair,” Daniel shrugged.
“Up until an accusation is made,” she responded grimly, her fingers once again taking up their glide across the pages. “It should be right...” she mumbled under her breath. “Blast!”
Daniel raised his brows at the sudden unladylike exclamation and moved a step closer. “What’s wrong?”
“It should be right here,” she insisted, jabbing a finger at the book. “But it isnae.” Riled, she flicked through another few pages both before and after her desired location but ended with a shake of her head. “Ah dinnae understand. Why isnae it here?”
“Perhaps it wasn’t actually recorded correctly?” Daniel offered, earning him a fierce glare.
“That’s nae possible!” She straightened swiftly, necessitating Daniel to do the same and jump out of her way as she turned to pace up and down the aisle. Not wishing to incite any further anger from her, he turned away from her simmering ire inspected the pages himself.
“Here’s the problem,” he looked up and, with a tilt of his head, indicated she should return her attention to the book.
“What?”
“The page numbers, such as they are,” he shrugged, looking at the numbers jammed into page corners with far less care than the information on the columns. “A page is missing. And from the looks of it,” he squinted, bringing the book up closer to his face and bending the covers back until they creaked in protest. “Very carefully removed so it wouldn’t be noticed simply from paging through. The page numbers could be construed as a clerical error. But look, he pointed, and Lenore came in close to him, peering around his shoulder. He indicated the barely visible edge of the page which had been cut precisely, the edge no longer visible when holding the book at a normal angle.
“But how can ‘at be?” She asked
“My guess is your suitor was already here,” He concluded.
“Well what dae we dae now?” She lamented.
Daniel gave the question some thought before snapping his fingers. “These sales are usually recorded twice, once for the seller and once for the buyer. Since the focus is on you proving your ownership, it’s possible Tyrsdale may not have thought to remove the entry under his own family name.”
Lenore’s countenance brightened. “I’ll start in ‘at direction,” she grinned, moving toward the rows of shelves they’d passed earlier. “Why dinnae ye see if ye can find Aunt Lily tae help us?”
Daniel nodded, veering off in the opposite direction as they re-entered the hall, realizing as he hurried down the walkway with a light step this was the most useful he’d felt in months.
A giggle of delight tickled its way up Lenore’s throat as her fingers paused in their scanning of the book in front of her. Snatching it up, she looked up and surveyed the space around her. Eager eyes met nothing but emptiness. What was taking Daniel so long? Narrowing her eyes at the offending open space in front of her and allowing a small growl of indignation to rumble in the back of her throat, she clasped the book to her chest with one hand and plucked up the hem of her skirt with the other. Her companions couldn’t be that far off. She would meet them half way. Charging forward, she rounded the aisle at a healthy clip.
Only a few rows of books blurred by in her peripheral vision before she spotted a distinct blue coat through the gaps in a shelf a bit closer to the clerk’s desk. The Admiralty forbade most wearing of the naval uniform when not on duty, but Daniel had grown so accustomed to the color, and indeed it suited him, he requested several coats of similar shade and cut made, almost without thinking of it. Grinning, she darted off in that direction.
“There ye are,” she announced as she rounded the corner separating her from her target. “Why huvnae ye—”
Daniel darted out a hand in her direction, clasping her by the arm and tugging her into an alcove between two sets of shelves before repositioning his hand over her mouth. A soft shhh sounded at her ear, ruffling the wisps of curls at the nape of her neck and causing her to shiver.
Lenore gasped, eyes going wide as she swung them up to Daniel’s face for an explanation. An explanation not immediately forthcoming as she noted his attention off to the side toward the clerk’s desk. An index finger pressed to his lips provided partial clarity as to his actions. From around the corner, the sound of voices drifted into her awareness.
“Why the devil did you let them in?” Tyrsdale’s angry voice hissed.
“Nothin’ Ah could dae,” The disgruntled tones of the clerk countered. “They showed up here wi’ a vouchsafe. He’s got th’ same right tae haunt th’ shelves as ye dae.”
“I haven’t searched for the other record yet.”
“Not mah concern.”
“Had you done as I’d told you to in the first place, you useless—”
“Ah earn my livin’ keeping these records, nae destroyin’ them. Told ye already, ‘at pittance ye gave me only guarantees Ah didnae tak’ note ay yer search.”
“How dare you—”
“An’ Ah dinnae guarantee that if ye tak’ up wi’ insults.”
A brief silence ensued, followed by the crisp clack of heels across the floorboards and the splintering slam of the front door.
“It appears our friend the clerk honors equality in his uninviting nature. Beneficial for us,” Daniel noted, but his thoughts were still preoccupied, and he didn’t seem to note how he still pressed
Lenore into the alcove, one broad hand resting over her lips, the other having come to rest on her upper arm. “And it sounds as though we were right. The Tyrsdale records must still be here.”
He might not be aware of their position, but Lenore was. Very much. Her knees quaked and her head swam, her breath puffed in stilted gasps. Heat suffused her face while the rest of her traitorous body warmed to Daniel’s nearness, her arm burning where his hand rested on it. Embarrassed by the involuntary display and worried she might soon swoon from lightheadedness, she found her strength in irritation and pointedly cleared her throat.
The noise served its purpose and caught Daniel’s attention, his eyes blinking down at her in confusion a moment before they widened, and he snatched his hands away, taking half a step back and allowing the cool, semi-damp air to wash over her. Lenore dragged in a substantial breath.
“They are still here,” she breathed. “An’ Ah found them. With nae thanks tae ye, Ah might add.” She attempted a stern assertion, failing when a grin crossed her features.
“Perfect!” Daniel returned her smile, falling into boyish delight at their adventure and angling in close to her again with a nod to the book still clasped tightly to her chest. “Let’s have a peek then.”
Ignoring the inappropriate thoughts his wording and the direction of his gaze ignited, she held the ledger out to facilitate his observation of it over her shoulder. Trembling finger running along the first column, she attempted to ignore his arm snaked around her back, palm pressing into her lower ribs. Her sense of decorum demanded she move away from him, but her heart delighted in the nearness and the brief return of brightness to his eyes.
“It’s here,” she noted, deciding to focus on the task at hand rather than the more complicated play of emotions in her. There’s Tyrsdale’s great-grandfather, ours, an’ th’ sale price. Th’ date an’ land survey measurements are indicated here,” her finger glided across to a reference column on the other side of the page. “’At book is in a different section ay th’ archives, but as long as this page is here, it should be what we need.”
“Then we shall see to it this page remains in place,” he asserted.
Anticipating the disappearance of the arm at her back now that she’d relayed the pertinent information, Lenore turned toward Daniel. “But how—”
She’d misjudged. Daniel remained in place, his arm caging her from behind as he leaned in to inspect the information in the book. The resulting tightening of space between them saw Lenore drowning in the sea of Daniel’s eyes, suddenly much brighter and more turbulent than they’d been a moment before. Their profiles hovered a hair’s breadth apart from each other.
Before her mind had time to contemplate her predicament, she absently registered Daniel’s movement. Not away from her as she ought to expect, but toward her. An instant later, warm lips pressed lightly against hers, uncertain. Her knees buckled, sending her leaning into him for support, her arms still occupied in maintaining a hold on the record book.
His arms tightened around her in response, holding her steady as his lips gained confidence, exploring the shape and texture of hers. She exhaled a soft sigh, unwittingly providing Daniel with greater opportunity. Her heart took up a violent thudding in her chest as he deepened the kiss, laying claim to her mouth with muted urgency.
A shiver wandered down her spine, dissipating in heated sparks flying along her limbs and spreading through her belly. The surreal sensation both invigorated and frightened her. Tingling fingertips hesitated between maintaining their grip on the book wedged between them and letting it fall in favor of searching out the texture of his raven-black hair. Visions of her arms wrapping around his neck, their bodies pressing together unhindered, danced in Lenore’s imagination. Her fingers began to relax their hold as Daniel changed the angle of his lips against hers, sending the next bolt of newfound desire straight through to her heart.
“Are ye two almost done wi’—”
The sound of Lily’s voice sent them jumping apart, but the expression on her aunt’s face indicated the move made little difference.
“Nae, Ah dinnae think ye are,” she mused. “But Ah think we best get going anyway.”
Without any further invitation, she led the way toward the front of the office.
“I’ll see that this gets re-shelved,” Daniel offered, tugging the book from Lenore’s slackened grip but not meeting her gaze.
“But,” Lenore struggled against the haze in her mind, attempting to remember the overheard conversation. “Th’ page, we need tae—”
“In the merchant records,” he clarified, shifting his glance to hers just long enough to send a wink before turning down the hall in the opposite direction to where she’d procured the ledger. “I’ll meet the two of you up front.”
Nodding at his back, Lenore set out to catch her aunt, hands moving to smooth imagined wrinkles along the front of her dress.
Aunt Lily stood beside the door as Lenore came up to meet her, waging a silent war of glares with the clerk.
“Daniel is re-shelvin’ th’ last ledger an’ will join us in a moment,” She explained. Her aunt nodded but offered no further comment. They waited in silence until Daniel joined them, looking far too composed for Lenore’s liking. Her head still swam, and her legs only just managed to keep her upright through an exceptional show of will on her part. A few minutes ago, she’d been sure the thrill of the moment encompassed them both, but observing his calm, marbled expression now, she wondered if their kiss hadn’t been some sort of dream or illusion.
Thankful for the arm he offered, she trailed along beside him to their coach, not daring to divert her attention either to him or Aunt Lily. She mentally prepared for a full dressing down from her aunt the moment they sealed themselves off in the coach but, to her surprise, that eventuality never materialized.
Silence permeated the conveyance, each occupant lost in thought. Lenore knew where her own thoughts dwelled, alternating between fond recollection of Daniel’s kiss and heartsick worry over his apparent lack of interest in it. Not willing to contemplate his thoughts on the event, Lenore focused her curiosity instead on her aunt, a forlorn expression deepening the lines beside the woman’s eyes and lips as she stared out onto the moors. She wondered what her aunt had searched for in the archives. Blinking, she considered the three of them, all harboring secrets, and couldn’t suppress a shiver.
Chapter 7
The dining room appeared to shrink about Daniel as he paced, shrugging his discomfiture. The uniform he’d come to view as a second skin chafed, constraining his movements. If tasked to explain the feeling, he might not accomplish it. An odd sort of confinement, it stemmed less from the space afforded him than from the lack of movement around him. Land seemed so... Stagnant. Though he could say honestly that the quiet of the MacAllister estate and the beauty of the Scottish Moors around him did a great deal to calm his senses, it was nothing compared to the sense of freedom and vast possibility of the sea.
He huffed a small laugh at himself as he paused beside one of the windows shaking his head. How fittingly ironic he felt himself more constrained here, on this estate offering vast expanses of land to traverse and explore, than while confined for months at a time to the decks and quarters of a ship. Taking a breath, he resumed his pacing, tugging slightly at his cravat. He arrived at the room early, while the staff were still setting out the place settings and cutlery, no longer able to endure the silence of his room. He tried to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, but knew the staff were not happy about his presence. In another moment or two the ladies would arrive, that would at least trigger some sense of normalcy in that they would begin their evening meal. Unfortunately, for all he adored both ladies, he had no particular desire to meet the gazes of either of them tonight.
Adored. That word was far more fitting than he realized. He applied the term to both women, knowing full well Lenore’s was the only face that sprang to mind. He’d always acknowledged Lenore’s presence i
n his life, but that presence took on something of a new meaning earlier today at the clerk’s office.
He hadn’t meant to surprise her or confine her to the small space in the alcove, but he’d heard Tyrsdale enter, and didn’t want her to alert the man to their presence. He snatched at her without thinking, his behavior ungentlemanly and uncalled-for, but hadn’t given it a second thought at the time. Not until the end of the conversation did he allow himself the presence of mind to take in their surroundings and realized how closely he held her, and how oddly comfortable her small frame pressed in against his much larger and more imposing one.
Even with that massive book wedged like a shield between them, his body knew her softness, and her nearness had a strange effect on him. It calmed him and warmed him through like fine brandy. For those brief seconds when he gazed down into her eyes, a sense of belonging and peace overtook him. He hardly noticed when he began to tilt in her direction and couldn’t say for certain he intended to kiss her at the outset, only to be nearer to her and preserve that calming effect.
But as he drew closer to her, and once his eyes beheld the softness of her plump lips, there was no question he indeed intended to kiss her and could easily have forgotten himself amid the rows of books, gotten lost in every sensation. At that moment, she embodied temptation more alluring than any opiate his sailors ever smuggled aboard.
The knowledge left him shaken, and he hung his head at the memory, turning direction yet again, his continued motion something to concentrate on rather than a nervous tick.
“Ah hope we huvnae left ye waitin’ long,” Lily’s voice sounded from the doorway, and Daniel raised his head from its bowed position as the older woman entered the room with a smile, followed a short distance behind by Lenore. Her expression was somewhat distant and not for the first time Daniel noted the conspicuous lack of reprimand at his behavior toward her niece. He speculated about it during their carriage ride back to the estate, and again when she immediately excused herself to her rooms when they arrived back. Whatever she found in the archives took a significant toll on her, and he wondered if he should be concerned.
The Captain's Surrender (Currents of Love Book 6) Page 6
