Janet’s eyes flashed wide when the door to Robert’s chamber burst open. Her breath stopped and her palms grew sweaty as she inched her head beneath the bedclothes. For the second time, someone had caught her sleeping in Robert’s arms. I am doomed for utter ruination.
How could she be so daft as to allow herself to fall asleep in his bed? Hadn’t things been bad enough when Emma found them in the parlor? And after Mrs. Tweedie’s reprimand, the entire serving staff was rife with gossip.
“Robert.” It was Lewis. Blast it, his footsteps clomped nearer.
Janet cringed while beside her the laird rolled to his back.
Please don’t notice me.
“Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel and his army are camped on the southern shore of Loch Ness. I reckon they’ll be here by noon.”
“Och, Christ. My missive explained things plainly enough. I didn’t expect the man to make a show of aggression, especially on the verge of winter.” Robert sat up while Janet slunk lower.
Da? Holy help! I’ll be imprisoned in my chamber for the rest of my days if he discovers us here.
“I’m surprised we haven’t seen him sooner. The weather has been fine the past few days, though it looks as if another storm’s brewing.”
“Grand. What are their numbers?”
“A retinue of twenty.”
“It could be worse. Mayhap he’ll be open for discussion. Alert the guard, but tell them not to fire their muskets unless fired upon. I want the Grant men to do everything to ensure a peaceful meeting. And tell Cook we’re expecting another twenty or so mouths to feed.”
“Feed, sir?”
“You heard me, now off with you.”
“Straightaway.”
As the bedclothes lifted, Janet peered at the man responsible for her compromising situation. “Is he gone?” she whispered.
“Aye.”
She could only shake her head. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“It seems it is a calamitous habit we’re forming of drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.” He urged her up. “Though I must admit I’ve enjoyed it.”
Janet had as well. Too much so. She pulled the plaid from the end of the bed and covered herself. “I must haste to the rose bedchamber and dress. Curses. Why did my father not send a messenger ahead? ’Tis only proper.”
“Proper if you are paying a call. Which I doubt he’s planning.”
“Good heavens, he can’t be thinking to put Moriston Hall to fire and sword.”
“I fear that is exactly what he’ll do if he doubts my motives.”
Holding the corner of the plaid against her midriff with her left hand, Janet threw the wool about her shoulders and hopped out of bed. “Then I must speak to him afore he tries to break down your door.”
Stark naked, Robert began collecting her clothing, which lay scattered across the floor. Gracious, even if Lewis didn’t recognize her form under the comforter, he would have known she was there by the stays and blue taffeta strewn about. “Nay. I will be the one talking,” he said.
“He will not listen to you.” She shoved a foot into her shoe. “Unless he sees that I am in good health, he will behave like a raging bull.”
“Then we shall greet him together. However, I shall speak to the man, clan chief to clan chief.”
“Very well, but first I must ensure I do not look like a ravished harlot.” She marched toward the door. “How am I to make it all the way to the rose bedchamber without being seen?”
Robert set her things on a chair. “Give me a moment to dress, then I’ll help you with these.”
“Don the blue taffeta?”
“’Tis better than traipsing through the passageway wrapped in my tartan blanket—the very one woven by my ma.”
“Ugh.” Janet hid her face in the palm of her hand. “And you’d best have a word with Lewis and tell him to hold his tongue.”
“You needn’t worry there. He’s my most trusted man. He’d sooner ride into battle than divulge my confidences.”
* * *
Robert stood in the grounds before Moriston Hall while snow accumulated on his shoulders. There was already a good inch on the ground, and by the looks of the sky, there would be several more before this storm came to an end.
Lewis waited beside him, as did twoscore Grant men. Janet had insisted on being present, though she was securely under the portico with Jimmy bearing arms beside her. Robert didn’t expect a bloody battle to erupt, especially with Sir Ewen’s daughter behind a barrier of Grant men, but he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
When the dark figures of the retinue appeared at the end of the drive, he checked his pocket watch—seven minutes to twelve. Lochiel was arriving exactly when expected, even with the accumulating snow.
As they neared, the great clan chief rode at the head of his men, his gray beard full, his head topped by a red feathered bonnet. He wore a heavy woolen cloak that hung over his horse’s back clear down to the man’s spurs. Broad shouldered and scowling, Robert’s nemesis was fearsome to behold.
Though much older and not as skilled with a blade by half.
Interestingly, Kennan Cameron was not riding beside his father, though Janet’s younger brothers John and Alan were.
Once Lochiel led his retinue up to the inner gate, he held up his hand and stopped his men. “I received your missive, Mr. Grant.”
“I gathered.” Robert spoke loud enough to be heard. “Will you not come in out of the weather, sir?”
“What assurances do I have that your men will not attack mine? I see you outnumber us two to one.”
“I give you my word. I offer you and your army Highland hospitality whilst you are on Grant lands. Your men are welcome to stable their horses and take their nooning in the servants’ quarters.”
Sir Ewen leaned forward in his saddle. “You offer this after accusing me of stealing your cattle? Why is it I cannot trust your word, sir?”
Robert’s fists clenched. “My word is always true. You of all people must ken that. And on the count of my accusations, I have centuries of feuds between Clan Grant and Clan Cameron on which I formed my supposition. Your men were seen in the vicinity of Grant summer grazing lands. Circumstances suggested they were guilty.”
“Guilty with no proof?” Lochiel shook his riding crop. “And what say you about my missing beasts? I reckon your claim against me is a sham to cover up your own thievery.”
Robert strode forward while his eyes narrowed. “The Grants have never been cattle reivers—”
“Och, your great-grandfather spent a year in the Montrose tolbooth for raiding.”
“And he was pardoned.”
The Cameron laird sniffed, raising his haughty chin. “Pardoned by a purse of coin.”
“Stop this!” Janet dashed down the steps and straight past Robert. “I do not believe either of you is guilty. Both Camerons and Grants lost livestock, and Mr. Grant has a half-dozen tinkers incarcerated on the premises who might lead us to the true culprits.” She thrust her finger at Robert. “Why did you not say so in the first place?”
Tapping his heels, Sir Ewen walked his horse forward and stopped beside his daughter. “Aye? What is this skulduggery? Why keep silent about such information?”
“Because I’m not as convinced of it as the wee lass.”
“Robert!” Janet whipped around with her fists on her hips.
“But it is a possibility.” Uttering those words nearly killed him, but not as much as the injured look in her eye, which was exactly why he’d wanted to meet with Sir Ewen man-to-man in the first instance. I will apologize later. Robert beckoned Lochiel. “Come, sir. I would have a word with you.”
“Oh aye? Afore I’ve inquired as to my daughter’s health?” He shifted his attention to Janet. “I see Grant’s claim that your arm is broken was no lie.”
She nodded. “I wrote you myself and said it was true.”
“But how would I deduce if you’d been coerced into doing so?” Sir Ewen dismounted and looked her from head to toe. “You have disgraced the name of Cameron by remaining in this man’s house, broken arm or nay.”
“I—” Peering at her father with eyes wide and nostrils flared, the lass turned as red as a blood rose. “But he rescued me from Lieutenant Cummins and those vile dragoons. Without Mr. Grant’s assistance, I would have been imprisoned or worse.”
“Aye, and if you’d spent a few days in Fort William, the colonel would have released you into my care—”
“I do not agree,” said Robert. “Cummins might have ravished—”
“Of course you do not agree, you buffoon! You are smitten with my daughter and always have been in your own perverse way. Do not deny it. More than once I saw you gawking at her during your sham of a gathering at Urquhart Castle nearly two years past.” Lochiel signaled to his men. “Bring the horse. I trust you can ride with one arm, Daughter. If anyone is an accomplished horsewoman, it is you. And on that point, how the devil did you fall? What did Grant do, push you off the cliff?”
Janet took a bold step forward. “He did not, nor would he ever contemplate such a thing. My mare slipped and broke her leg—she’s still lame. I would have died had it not been for Mr. Grant.”
“Hmm.”
Robert’s every muscle clenched. Good God, he’d heard enough of her father’s drivel. “This is madness. Sir, if you will cease your baseless accusations, I bid you come inside and fill your belly with a warm meal and a dram of Highland whisky.”
“My baseless accusations? Everything I have uttered is the unadulterated truth. You, sir, are the brigand who implicates innocents.”
“Forgive me.” Robert practically swallowed his tongue along with the bile burning his throat. “Please come inside. There is something of import I would like to discuss.”
“I doubt there is any more to be said between us. Come, Janet. Alan will help you mount. We mustn’t tarry, and God willing, the snow will cease as soon as we ride off Grant lands.”
“But, Father, Robert—”
“Do as I say, or you will be responsible for the spilling of your kin’s blood this very day. By the word of the Almighty, I thirst to take up my sword for your honor. You ken I will.”
Robert’s hand slipped to his hilt while Lewis raised his musket to his shoulder, their gazes connecting in an unspoken understanding. Never in his life had he wanted to order his men to attack as much as he did in this moment. But if they battled, Janet would be caught in the crossfire. If he fought for her, Sir Ewen would certainly attack. The lass could be hurt, even killed.
I cannot risk her safety.
He shook his head at Lewis and released his grip. With this one hateful act, Lochiel reached inside Robert’s chest and ripped his heart clean away. While he watched the woman he adored mount the horse, every fiber in his body screamed at him to fight for her, to shout that he loved her. Yes, he would even admit that he had yearned for her for years and years, just as Lochiel accused. Janet had caught Robert’s eye at every gathering they’d ever attended.
As she took up the reins, her eyes reflected the same searing pain burning his chest. This was not how he wanted to part from her. He never wanted to part from her. He would have asked Lochiel for her hand if Lochiel hadn’t accused him of being a lecherous cur.
“Don’t go,” Robert pleaded through clenched teeth.
“I’ll not let her suffer your presence a moment longer.” Sir Ewen turned his horse to go. “We ride.”
“I can’t go without my mare.” Janet pointed toward the stables while her father grabbed her bridle and started off.
“We leave her.”
“You have my word I’ll see to the filly’s care!” Robert shouted, shoving his hand into his sporran and sprinting to Janet’s side. He kept pace while he slipped the hazard dice into her palm. “I shall never forget you, mo cridhe.”
She looked to the dice, then back at his face as he continued to run. “Is what my father says true?”
Before he could answer, Lochiel dug in his heels and led his daughter away at a canter. Robert stood in the snow watching her leave until nothing remained but a blanket of white.
“Ye had to have kent it wasn’t meant to be,” said Lewis. “She’s a bloody Cameron.”
The rage inside him boiled over. With a roar he balled his fist and slammed it across his henchman’s jaw, sending him careening to the dirt. “Don’t ever speak ill of her. She is an angel. Better than all of us!”
Lewis rubbed his jaw and sat up. “Och, everyone cared for Miss Janet. ’Tis her kin who are questionable.”
“That’s right, and I’ll have you and every other Grant man own to it.”