The horse shot off like something had stung her on the flank. I leaned low over her neck, letting the wind whip at my clothing. I felt my jaunty little hat rip free of its pins and go sailing into the firth, but I didn’t stop to worry about it. My hair began a cascade, and soon all of it was billowing down over my shoulders and behind me.
We had emerged from the trees and the trail was running directly alongside the shore now. I let Dewdrop veer toward the firth to gallop in the surf. The water she kicked up was cold against my ankles, and I knew the hem of my gown would be soaked, but I didn’t care. The wind tasted sweet and salty on my tongue, washing away the bitterness Gage’s revelations had left behind, and it dried my tears almost before they had a chance to fall. I couldn’t even be sure whether my eyes were watering because of the wind or because of Gage’s betrayal, although from the continued ache in my chest I suspected it was the latter.
Banbogle Castle loomed up ahead, its craggy walls dominating the landscape, and I set it as my destination. I had not heard Gage follow, and I was glad he’d listened for once. Thankfully he understood that I did not play coy. I truly couldn’t be around him right now. I was too angry, too . . . hurt.
How could he do such a thing? Take on an investigation for Dr. Sloane? Perhaps he hadn’t known about the man’s ill treatment of William at first, but surely it was obvious that if a doctor was making such claims, his institution was shoddy at best. In any case, what kind of man tries to get back a patient who has been removed from his care? Gage must have seen there was more to Dr. Sloane’s eagerness to see William returned to the Larkspur Retreat than a simple concern for the safety of the public. There had to be something he was afraid would become known, something he was worried that Will had already revealed or might reveal in time. And Gage had agreed to help silence him.
How could he look Michael in the eye knowing he was being so disloyal? I was half tempted to tell him about Gage’s perfidy, but I knew it would only hurt him. To think we had believed he was our ally when all the time he had been working for the enemy.
I had heard his claim that he’d done it for the Dalmays, fearful of what another investigator might do, but I could not accept it. Couldn’t he have simply warned them of Dr. Sloane’s intent? Why all the subterfuge?
Unless he thought Dr. Sloane’s claims might be true—that Will had killed a woman? It would explain his extreme aversion to my spending any amount of time with Will from the very beginning. If that was the case, what did today’s revelations mean? That he no longer suspected Will of foul play, be it to Miss Wallace or this woman at Larkspur Retreat?
I could hardly turn back and ask him the answers to those questions now, not after riding away from him in such a fury. I would just have to save them for later.
For a moment I had an irrational fear that I would return to the manor to find him gone, disappeared from Dalmay House like he had from Gairloch, without giving me any answers. But then I realized he couldn’t leave. Not with this investigation still hanging over his head and the fate of Miss Wallace unknown. He was trapped there by his duty, and by whatever sense of obligation he felt in his friendship with Michael. He couldn’t escape me so easily this time.
I checked my horse’s gait as we neared the crumbling castle and was surprised when I passed a bit of overgrown scrub grass to see Mac standing there watching my approach. William was perched on a rock from a tumbled section of the wall not far away. Now that they had seen me, I couldn’t ignore them and ride off. And, I realized, I didn’t want to.
I turned Dewdrop toward the pair, pushing a hunk of fallen hair out of my eyes. I’m sure it looked a ratty mess, but I knew they wouldn’t care. William was grinning, and so I couldn’t help but offer him a smile in return.
“Good afternoon,” I said as Mac took hold of my reins. “Enjoying the fine weather?”
“It’s not quite the same from my bedchamber window,” Will replied.
“No, it isn’t,” I agreed.
Mac guided Dewdrop over to a flat stone to be used as a makeshift mounting block, and I unhooked my left leg from the pommel of the sidesaddle and slid off the horse’s back. On the beach, not far away, there were the charred remains of a fire. I wondered if Mac had built a blaze here on a recent excursion to keep Will warm. Will scooted over, offering me part of his rock. I sighed as I settled on the hard surface, and then breathed deeply of the fresh air. It was a lovely prospect. If only Will’s ancestors had kept the castle in good repair it might have been their family home still.
“You’re distressed,” he said, and I was taken aback by his perceptiveness.
“I was,” I admitted. “But I’m calmer now.”
“What happened?”
I considered lying to him, but then I realized that would make me no better than Gage. I could try evading the question, but that seemed just as bad. He was looking at me with such steady patience that I decided it couldn’t hurt to confide in him. He’d always been a good listener. There was no reason to think he wasn’t now just because of where he’d spent the last decade.