Page 84 of A Highland Duke to Claim Her Heart

His eyes were boring into Ewan’s now, so full of hatred that they appeared almost black.

“To have the love of the woman who loved me. Margaret.”

Ewan looked back up into his brother’s eyes. He did not blink. He did not look away. And he knew that what Chrisopher saw was the opposite of what he saw.

Christopher saw love in his eyes.

Despite everything.

“Christopher,” he murmured. And he spoke not in the voice of the duke, but the voice of the man who had raised his brother, who had shown Christopher nothing but love over all the years they had spent together, even in the hardest moments, even when Margaret was listing to him the reasons she would never love him, that Christopher would forever have her heart.

“Christopher,” he said again. “You can kill me now. But it will not erase my love for you. You are my brother. And I will always love you. I forgive you.”

Christopher blinked. His face went slack. He stared down at Ewan, his expression entirely neutral.

And then he dropped the blade.

A moment later, the door burst open again, and a man in a constabulary uniform ran inside. Behind him, Ewan could see Lady Pembury holding a handkerchief to her forehead, clearly exhausted from the quick dash she had made into the village to call the constable.

“Christopher Dunmore,” the constable said, seizing him by the arms and pushing him roughly against the wall. “You are under arrest for the attempted murder of the Duke of Calder.”

It was over, and as Ewan watched the constable march his brother out of the room, he was not sure if it was relief he felt, or grief.

Chapter 30

Ewan had slept deeply for the first time in what felt like weeks. As Cassandra watched him, his breathing gentle and his eyes unmoving behind their lids, she calculated he had been asleep for at least fourteen hours. Ever since Christopher had been arrested the night before, he had immediately fallen into a slumber so deep that she was loath to wake him.

He needed the rest, after all.

She was sitting in her rocking chair, trying to read but really watching him, as the sun slanted in through the windows, casting a golden glow over the floorboards. The gentle twitter of birds calling to one another floated in through the open window, along with a breeze, bringing with it the fresh smell of grass.

Everything felt at peace.

It was hard to imagine that several miles away, Christopher was sitting in a prison, facing punishment for his crimes. But she couldn’t think of that. Not right now.

There was a soft knock on the door, and she looked up to see Dr. Ludley standing in the doorway. He gave her a small wave, and she stood and joined him out in the corridor, shutting the door so that they would not wake Ewan.

“How is he doing?” Dr. Ludley asked.

“I think well,” she said. “I have not seen him sleep this much or this deeply in a long time.”

“I can confirm that he is going to make a full recovery,” the doctor said. “I have been examining other case studies, and it seems that with the level of illness he had, I can approximate just how much arsenic was given to him. And when I compare that to other cases, it is clear that if the arsenic is fully stopped, it will lead to a full recovery with no lasting damage.”

Relief flooded Cassandra, and she actually had to put out a hand to steady herself. She hadn’t realized how much she had been living in dread of a different outcome.

“We were lucky, though,” the doctor said grimly. “Any more, and he might not have made a full recovery. There would have been trouble walking and breathing possibly for the rest of his life.”

“Were you able to examine the tea that Christopher brought for him last night?” Cassandra asked. “Did it contain an amount that would have killed him?”

The doctor hesitated, but Cassandra laid a hand on his arm.

“You can tell me,” she said. “The danger has passed.”

Dr. Ludley looked down at the ground, then nodded. “I fear that the amount in the tea last night would have killed him within a few hours. Christopher must have known that either the arsenic wasn’t enough, or we were thwarting him, and he put significantly more into this brew. We are very lucky that he did not force it down the duke’s throat. I must admit I do feel some regret that I allowed the plan to go forward… Although we caught Lord Christopher, the outcome could have been very different.”

“You have nothing to feel regret about,” Cassandra assured him. “It was my idea, and the duke was willing to take on the risk in order to catch his brother and put an end to this. You have played your part extraordinarily well. In fact, the duke owes you his life”

Dr. Ludley gave her a small, grateful smile. “Anything I can do to help my liege laird. The duke has always treated the people of Calder very well. I am only glad I was able to repay him for all the years that he has brought prosperity to these lands.”