The Devil’s Due by Boucher, Rita (free reads txt) 📗

it to slide to the ground. To be sure, the castle of Eilean Kirk was not a mansion in Mayfair, but it was far better than the alternative. Kate’s throat tightened as she recalled those first frantic weeks, when she had felt like a fox with the pack’s breathe on her tail. It had taken every stratagem she could muster to evade John’s hounds. They had hidden among the briars and brambles of London’s stews, trying to cover their scent at Dover before backtracking and heading north. The journey had almost been beyond endurance, especially with a young child in tow. The possibility that they might have to run again was almost beyond bearing.

Still . . .

“Anne!” Kate called, beckoning her daughter to her.

The little girl hesitated, but after a moment, she led the dog to her mother’s side.

Kate knelt and cupped the child’s face in her hands. “Sweetheart, I want to ask you a question and I expect an honest answer from you.”

Anne nodded slowly, her eyes filled with curiosity and not a little apprehension.

“You know that we are prepared to leave here,” she continued. “But Lord MacLean has offered us the opportunity to remain in his castle for the time being. Would you like to stay?”

Daisy uttered a sound of protest, but a look from Kate quelled her.

“Lord MacLean will be living here too, Anne, as well as his servant,” Kate continued, watching her daughter closely for any change of expression. “It is his home, but he has agreed to share it with us for now. Do you understand Anne?”

Once more, Anne nodded an affirmative.

“Do you wish to stay, Anne?” Kate asked. She could almost see the thoughts whirling through the girl’s head, the same uncertainty and trepidation that Kate herself felt. “Or shall we leave here and find a new place for ourselves?”

“What are you thinkin’ to be givin’ this to the wee one to decide?” Daisy asked, unable to contain herself any longer. “We’re goin’ and that will be that!”

“If Anne fears Lord MacLean, then we shall go, regardless of any other risks,” Kate agreed, dusting off her skirt as she rose. “I will never allow Anne to lie awake in terror again, Daisy, you know that.” Kate felt a tug at her knees and looked down at her daughter. “Do you have your decision, sweetheart?”

The little girl nodded.

“Is it your wish to go?”

Anne shook her head in a vigorous negative.

“We can stay?” Kate asked again to be absolutely certain of Anne’s answer.

Anne nodded a ‘yes.’

“If you ever are afraid and change your mind, you will tell me?” Kate knelt before the child, resting her hands on Anne’s shoulders. “Do you promise?”

Once again, Anne indicated her emphatic agreement, her eyes going to Cur, then back to her mother in an obvious question.

Kate nodded. “Of course, you may go back to playing, my dear.”

“‘Tis because of the mutt, she wishes to stay,” Daisy grumbled. “Anne would keep company with Lucifer himself for that mangy hound’s sake, I’m thinkin’.”

“No, Daisy, I believe not,” Kate said, slowly. “You recall when we ran from Steele House; she left everything behind without a murmur, all the things that she had loved, her toys, even the kitten that I gave her last Christmas. If MacLean truly worried her, I wager that the dog would make no difference.”

“Aye, like a puppet the poor mite was,” Daisy recalled, sadly. “Might have been a stick of wood.”

“It took months for her to come this far.” Kate pressed her point home. “She is almost happy here. If we uproot her again . . .” She shrugged her shoulders doubtfully.

“But to stay here with that man!” Daisy shook her head in vehement disagreement. “I say take the money, sell your Ma’s brooch and the ring too and go while we can. It’s been months now since we-”

“You know that the ports will still be watched,” Kate argued. “As for the signet ring, it is not mine, but Lord MacLean’s. The ring and the book of poetry that he left for Marcus are in a packet upon my bed. I felt that he was entitled to have his things back, particularly the ring. He looks as if he is not particularly well to do.”

“Might’ve known you’d do some fool thing like that,” Daisy grumbled in exasperation. “But that was before his lordship was flingin’ purses of gold at your feet. Don’t seem like his pockets are to let to me! It would fetch a tidy sum, that ring, with that big ruby in it. Besides, leavin’ that behind for his lordship is good as leavin’ a callin’ card with your name upon it.”

“I had not thought of that,” Kate said ruefully. “It would surely give us away.”

“Aye,” Daisy nodded. “Best to take the signet with us, I’d say. Don’t sell it, if you don’t want, but keepin’ it against a rainy day seems good to me. Between the gold in that purse and the brooch we can-”

“Selling Mamma’s brooch would be as good as leaving a marked trail behind us, too, Daisy.” Kate pursed her lips. “It is a rather distinctive piece and John has surely given its description. Heaven knows it was the only piece of jewelry that he could not take away from me on the pretext that it was some family heirloom that was too valuable to keep about. How could I have been so very blind, letting him hack to bits any claim to independence that I had?”

“Tis not your fault, lamb,” Daisy said soothingly. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Couldn’t I have?” Kate said bitterly, watching her daughter fling a stick for Cur to fetch.

“We’ll be far enough away from him in America,” Daisy said.

“There is nowhere far enough,” Kate said, her fists clenching at her sides. “John would pursue us to the gates of Hell, even if he thought the devil himself was sheltering us. We will stay here for as long as we may, Daisy, and pray that we have