Page 80 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
“How can I leave them like this?” Alex asked.
“Ye must do as your father says,” Finn said, resting his hands on Alex’s shoulders. “Your duty to your parents and to your clan is to save yourself.”
“I promise, Alex, I’ll see that everything possible is done to save them,” Margaret said.
Like hell she’d see to it. Finn pulled her aside and told her, “You’re coming with us.”
“I can’t leave Ella, and we’d slow ye down,” she said. “The earl was adamant that whoever did this intended to murder Alex.”
“I’ll not leave ye here with a murderer,” Finn said, trying and failing to keep his voice down.
“If they’d wanted to poison me at supper, they could have,” she argued. “But if the earl is right and the villains want to murder Alex, then riding with you would be far more dangerous for me and Ella than staying here.”
She was right, damn it. He and Alex could have armed men chasing after them or already waiting in the dark to ambush them. Still, Finn hesitated.
“I’m no threat to anyone. As far as anyone knows, I’m an impoverished widow with no ties to a rival clan,” she said. “The only people at Helmsdale the killer lacked the opportunity to poison are Alexand you.”
Finn ran his hands through his hair.
“Please, ye must go!” she pleaded. “Ride hard for Dunrobin before they catch you.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said, giving in. “Lock yourselves in Una’s chamber and don’t leave it until I return.”
“Be careful.” Her beautiful brown eyes were filled with worry. Did she care for him after all? He could not help but hope.
“I will,mo chroí,”my heart. He cupped her face between his hands and kissed her hard on the mouth.
CHAPTER 22
“What in God’s name have ye done, sending them off?” Isabel greeted Margaret the moment she reentered the hall. “Alex should be here to comfort his parents.”
“I did as the earl bid me,” Margaret said as she removed her rain-soaked cloak.
“Of all the foolish things,” Isabel huffed. “If there is a murderer at Helmsdale, we need our men here to protect us. Go fetch them back!”
“They’ve already gone,” Margaret said. “How do the earl and Helen fare?”
“Not good,” Isabel said through pursed lips. “I’ve sent for the priest. He’ll be here in the morning.”
Margaret ignored Finn’s instructions and hurried up the stairs to the earl and Helen’s chamber. As she entered the room, she cast sidelong glances at the two men guarding the door and the maids attending the ill couple. Was it one of them who poisoned their laird and his wife?
She was shocked at the earl’s transformation. An hour ago, he looked like a man in robust health with his ruddy complexion and powerful presence. Now he was covered in sweat, and his face was ashen with pain.
When the earl saw her, he attempted to sit up, but he was too weak. “Did ye—”
“Rest easy.” She waved the maids away from the bed and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Finn and Alex are on their way to Dunrobin. They rode off a short time ago.”
“He…didn’t…” the earl attempted to croak out the question.
“No food or drink passed his lips, I’m certain of it,” she said in a hushed voice, and took the earl’s hand between hers. “Finn will keep him safe.”
“Aye, ye can count on Finn when it matters,” the earl said, forcing the words out between harsh breaths.
His eyes drifted closed, and she thought he had fallen asleep, the poor man.
“But he needs a good woman. Told him to…hold onto Maggie,” he said in a voice so weak she had to lean down to hear him. “Didn’t know…how lucky he was…to lose Curstag.”
Lose Curstag?Finn had told her there was nothing between them. She could not think about that now.
