Devil of the Highlands (Devil of the Highlands #1)(28)
Author: Lynsay Sands

Tavis, she saw, was also looking rather amused. Evelinde smiled faintly herself, then her gaze slid down to one of the lower tables, where Mildrede had seated herself, and her smile faded away to concern as she noted the concentration on her maid’s face as Mildrede nodded and listened to the old woman seated beside her. Evelinde was suddenly quite sure that—despite her ordering her not to—the maid was trying to find out what she could in an effort to put an end to these accidents. Evelinde understood her desire to do so, but really had no wish for the woman to endanger herself by drawing the attention of the culprit behind them. However, she knew the only way to stop her was to resolve the matter herself.

Biting her lip, she glanced to Tralin again, noting absently that he was really quite handsome. His easy smile and sparkling eyes were most attractive. However, while her own husband rarely smiled, his features were more noble and… well, she found Cullen more attractive for some reason. Perhaps because she had come to care for him, Evelinde acknowledged.

Despite her frustration over the lack of communication between them, his actions really did seem to speak louder than words at times. Ordering the men to stick with her every minute—while annoying—was also really quite sweet and showed a caring and concern she thought she’d seen on his face when he’d told her that she pleased him as wife. His expression had seemed to be… well, loving. It gave her heart hope, for Evelinde feared she might very well be falling in love with her husband. Although, if she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she suspected she was not falling so much as already there. And really, she had no idea how that had happened. While she enjoyed his kisses and caresses, found an excitement beyond anything she’d heretofore experienced when he bedded her, and was often and repeatedly touched by his consideration and kind acts…Evelinde also found Cullen somewhat frustrating because she often learned about these kindnesses through someone else or after the fact when it was rather too late to appreciate them.

"That was a heavy sigh."

Evelinde glanced to Tralin with a start, then forced a smile. "I was just thinking."

"They must be heavy thoughts to have produced such a sigh," he murmured.

She considered him briefly, then glanced around the room, becoming aware that most people had finished eating and were leaving the great hall. There were few still seated. Mildrede had left the table and was now mounting the stairs to the second level, no doubt to see how much damage the fire had done in the solar, she supposed. Tavis had left his seat and was presently flirting with one of the maids clearing away the lower tables. Even Fergus had left the table and now stood talking to Gillie by the keep doors, no doubt giving him instructions about something. Despite the fact that he was talking to Gillie, the man’s eyes were on her, she noted, and her mouth flattened with displeasure. She suspected she would have eyes on her every moment of the day until she resolved the matter of who was behind these accidents and the deaths in the past.

Turning back to Tralin, she announced, "Cullen and I stopped at the cliff where Jenny is buried on our return from Comyn the other day."

Tralin raised an eyebrow, curiosity clear on his face. "Oh?"

"Aye. He said you fancied Biddy’s sister, Jenny, . when she visited here."

A slow grin broke out on his face. "And ye wish to ken if he fancied her, too."

"Nay," Evelinde assured him quickly. "I just wondered if ’twere true."

He considered her with raised eyebrows for a moment and nodded. "Aye, I fancied her."

Evelinde was trying to figure out how to ask if he’d been her lover when he added, "No that it did me any good. She had eyes for another."

"Another?" she asked with interest.

"Darach."

Evelinde stiffened, her eyebrows rising. "Biddy’s husband?"

"Aye." Tralin laughed at her expression, then explained, "Darach was—Actually, he was much like Tavis is now," he said with a shrug, his gaze sliding to the man.

Evelinde followed his gaze to see that Tavis was whispering something in the maid’s ear that had her blushing and giggling.

"He was very similar in looks, too," Tralin continued. "Darach was fair-haired and handsome as Tavis is, and even more charming if you can imagine it."

Evelinde narrowed her gaze on Tavis as he slid an arm around the maid and drew her against him as he continued at her ear, though it was hard to tell if he were speaking or nuzzling the lass. The maid was looking a bit dazed, and Evelinde actually felt sorry for the girl, sure she was finding his attentions somewhat overwhelming. The man was definitely comely, and more than charming when he tried. She’d seen him working that charm on a few occasions since the men had arrived with the wagon. Just the night before, Evelinde had watched him tease, and flatter, and whisper to one of the maids she’d thought was more sensible until the girl allowed him to lead her to a quiet corner for more than talk. It looked to her as if this maid would hold up no better against his charms.

"Tavis causes quite a stir among the women, but Darach—" Tralin shook his head "He had every single female who came into his presence aflutter; from the very youngest to the oldest. How could a youth like I compete with that?"

Evelinde turned her gaze back to Tralin to see the wry expression on his face as he shook his head, and continued, "I was just a callow youth to Jenny compared to Darach’s attentions. He teased and flattered her, and she soaked up every word like a flower desperate for attention."

"And Biddy did not mind?" Evelinde asked slowly, wondering for the first time if Darach were the lover. If he were, he had been a despicable cur, taking advantage of a young noblewoman like that. Not to mention his own sister-in-law.

"Nay." Tralin waved the thought away. "She knew it was all teasing. We all did. Although, I think Jenny might have been naive enough to believe every word he said. As much as she thought herself so much older and more sophisticated than Cullen and I—we were a whole year younger than she," he added, rolling his eyes. "In truth, she was terribly naive."

"She was only fifteen then?" Evelinde asked with a frown.

"Aye," Tralin said, and shook his head sadly. "And a young fifteen. She never would have survived marriage to the Campbell."

Evelinde nodded, and murmured, "Cullen mentioned that she was betrothed to marry him."

"Aye. I doona ken what her father was thinking agreeing to the match." He shook his head, but then added cynically, "Or, actually, perhaps I do. The man was imagining all that Campbell wealth and the powerful connections that the marriage would bring him. ‘Tis no wonder the lass killed herself."

Evelinde considered that, her gaze sliding to Tavis, who was seated on the bench where the maid had been working. She was no longer working, however, but was seated in his lap, her arms around his neck, the rag she’d been cleaning the table with trailing down his back as he kissed her most thoroughly and eased one hand up her skirt.

Evelinde turned her glance quickly away, shaking her head at the man’s idea of guarding her. Fergus was still watching her closely, of course, but… Her gaze slid back to Tavis, and she frowned. She had no difficulty believing Tavis might think nothing of charming his way under an unmarried noblewoman’s skirts… if he thought at all before doing such things. Evelinde suspected the man didn’t think at all, at least not with his head. And if Darach was as Tralin described…

Turning back to Tralin, she asked, "You are sure Tavis’s father would have left Jenny alone?"

Tralin frowned at the question, and for one moment she saw uncertainty flicker on his face, but then he shook his head. "Nay. Darach was a bit of a rogue and liked to lift the skirts of the willing servant or wench, but he would never have dallied with a young noblewoman. And he would hardly ruin his own wife’s sister. Biddy would have killed him did he try."

Chapter Fifteen

Biddy would have killed him did he try.

Evelinde stared at the crack of light coming through the window a couple of feet from the bed and yawned wearily. She hadn’t slept well last night. Her mind had been taken up with what she’d learned from Tralin. Cullen had returned to the keep after Tralin had spoken those words, preventing her asking further questions, but it hadn’t stopped Evelinde from thinking over everything she’d learned.

While Tralin had said he was sure Darach wouldn’t have ruined Jenny by taking her as a lover, he hadn’t appeared certain. The only thing that might suggest Darach hadn’t been Jenny’s lover was that Tavis had told her that his father had ridden out of the bailey just before Jenny had gone for her walk the day she’d come back weeping and fled. However, it was possible Darach had ridden out and around the curtain wall to the cliffs. He could have been the girl’s lover.

It didn’t speak well of either Biddy’s sister or husband if they were lovers, but if Darach was as bad as Tavis, Evelinde didn’t think his conscience would trouble him much. She certainly didn’t see much in the way of conscience in Tavis when it came to the way he dallied with the women here. He got what he could from each woman and went merrily on his way to the next like a bee flitting from flower to flower, uncaring of the havoc he left behind.

As for Biddy’s sister, Jenny had been betrothed to a horrid man known for his cruelty and abuses. She may have been desperate enough to get involved with her sister’s husband in a bid to save herself, or simply for a last grab at happiness before being forced into the marriage.

Evelinde could almost understand that herself. Her own behavior the day she’d learned she was to marry the Devil of Donnachaidh had been less than exemplary. She had let Cullen kiss and touch her in ways she still found difficult to believe. And she had justified it by using the horrid marriage she’d thought was in her future. Telling herself it was the only pleasure she might experience in her life. She couldn’t even honestly say she would have pushed him away sooner had she known he was married, though she’d like to think she would have had she had a sister and he been her brother-in-law. And she wasn’t even as young as Jenny had been.

Evelinde yawned again and sighed as she thought that a child like Jenny might be able to justify taking her sister’s husband as a lover that way. She might even have hoped the man might somehow find a way to save her from the marriage.

She frowned at the possibilities floating around in her mind. Had Biddy found out her sister and husband were lovers? Was this one indiscretion she hadn’t been willing to forgive Darach? And why had Jenny returned after leaving so abruptly? Had she even really killed herself. It was possible she’d felt bad about dallying with her sister’s husband and killed herself, but it was possible her death was just another murder covered up.

Biddy could have murdered Jenny and her husband after finding out about them, she supposed, but if so, why kill Cullen’s father all those years later, she wondered. Had Cullen’s father, Liam, somehow figured out what had happened all those years, confronted her, and brought about his own death? Or perhaps that had simply been an effort to correct the injustice Biddy might have felt she’d caused by killing Darach while her son was too young to take over the position of laird. Her own son had been passed over due to Darach’s premature death. She may have hoped the title would be passed on to her son rather than Cullen if she killed Liam.

As for Maggie, either the questions she’d asked had made Biddy nervous enough to make her kill her, or Maggie had actually somehow stumbled onto the truth, bringing about her own death.

Evelinde scowled at her own thoughts. While it all made a sort of sense, she found it hard to see Biddy as a ravening murderer, running about killing off all those people; her own sister, her husband, her brother-in-law, and her nephew’s wife. Besides, Evelinde liked Biddy and didn’t want to believe the woman was trying to kill her.

She really had to sort the matter out and quickly, Evelinde decided, but just wasn’t quite sure how. Talking to Biddy wasn’t likely to get her any answers. The woman would either be insulted if she was innocent or just lie and deny everything if she was guilty.

Evelinde supposed she could try sneaking into Biddy’s room when she wasn’t around and seeing if there was something that would help her find out what had happened. Letters from Biddy to her sister and back, a diary… or maybe a written confession lying around, she thought dryly, and shifted impatiently in the bed. Still, it was worth doing.

"What has ye all upset?" The sleepy question sounded by her ear as Cullen cuddled up behind her, one arm slipping around her body.

"What makes you think I am upset?" Evelinde asked rather than answer, her hand covering his where it rested beneath her breast on top of the linens and furs.

"Because ye were sighing and huffing loud enough to wake me," he answered, and began to nuzzle her ear.

"I was not," Evelinde said a bit breathlessly, her eyes drooping closed as his lips moved over her neck.

"Aye, ye were," Cullen assured her, tugging down the linens and furs that covered her to expose her nak*d br**sts to his seeking hand.

"Oh," Evelinde breathed, as his hand closed over one breast and he began to fondle her, his h*ps pressing more firmly forward so that she could feel the hardness growing between them.

"What were ye thinking about?" he asked, nibbling at her shoulder now.

Evelinde swallowed, finding it difficult to think while he was touching her so.

"Tell me," he insisted on a whisper, his hand leaving her breast briefly to slip between them to rearrange himself so that his hardness pressed between her legs and against her wet core.

Evelinde groaned as he then shifted his hips, rubbing himself across the bud of her excitement as his hand moved back to her breast.

"Tell me," Cullen repeated, plucking at her nipple as he continued to move his hips.

"About Jenny and Darach and whether they were lovers and Biddy didn’t find out and kill them and—" Her words died abruptly as he suddenly stilled.

"Jenny and Darach?" he said blankly, and Evelinde twisted slightly so that she could see his face. He was looking stunned by the very suggestion.