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"If the mast drifted up by the lodge, surely the ship would ha'e had to limp into a nearby port," Greer said quietly. "It could no' travel far without the main mast."
"Aye," Aulay agreed, but then pointed out, "howbeit the storm could ha'e pushed them a good distance along the coast ere dying out."
"Oh aye," Greer said with a frown.
"Then 'tis a waiting game," Dougall said solemnly. "There is little we can do until the lads return with an answer."
"Unless there is another attack," Aulay said grimly.
"That'll no' happen," Dougall assured him. "Ye ha'e men on Jetta now. And at the door to Katie's room as well. Only a fool would try to go after either woman with guards in the way."
"Mayhap," Aulay agreed solemnly. He'd decided on stationing guards on Katie's door the morning after the wedding when it occurred to him that it was unfair to use the lass as bait, even if he had someone in the passage watching over her. He had been in the stables with Jetta, and still she'd nearly died. They both had in that fire. He'd never forgive himself if something similar happened to the lass Geordie cared for.
A sigh from Niels drew his gaze, and Aulay frowned. His brother was being unusually quiet. As a rule the man had an opinion on everything, yet hadn't offered a single comment since his round of apologies. It was enough to worry him. That worry only deepened when he noted the way he was holding his head in his hands. Edith, he noticed, was watching her husband with deep concern too, which he understood completely. Aulay had never known Niels to suffer such a bad hangover. Even Alick hadn't been this bad when he came from his room. But then if Niels had won, it meant that after Alick had acknowledged himself the loser, or passed out--as was usually the case since none of them had been raised quitters--Niels had then had to gulp back whatever remained in the pitcher or pitchers they'd been drinking from. Still . . .
"Why do ye no' retire to yer room and rest awhile?" Aulay suggested.
"Aye. I think I will," Niels said with relief and stood up, only to sway a bit. When Edith rose as well, he waved her back down. "Nay. Ye do no' need to come, wife. I'm just going to sleep, and I'd feel bad fer ye missing out on visiting with Saidh and the others on me account. Besides, 'tis me own fault. I drank too much. Something I vow I'll no' do again."
"Why do we not move over by the fire and continue working on those gowns we were making for Jetta," Jo suggested suddenly, and Aulay turned from watching Niels walk away to see that Edith was staring after her husband with deep concern on her face.
Jo had apparently noticed that and hoped to distract the woman. Fortunately, Murine and Saidh seemed to realize that too and stood quickly.
"Oh aye, we should do that," Murine said with a good cheer Aulay suspected was feigned. "Come along, Edith. Niels'll be fine. A little rest and he'll be his old self."
"Aye," Edith whispered with little conviction as she stood to follow the women to the chairs by the fire.
"The women are making me wife dresses?" Aulay asked with surprise as he watched them move over to the chairs set up by the fire.
"Aye. They ha'e no' been able to find the gowns missing from the chest we think the attacker hid in. Since they were the only ones they thought would fit or look good on Jetta, they decided to use some of the fabric Jo supplied and make her a couple o' new ones," Greer answered.
Nodding, Aulay switched his gaze back to Niels, frowning at the way he was dragging his feet as he made his way above stairs. He wasn't the only one to notice.
"Mayhap Rory should take a look at Niels," Dougall suggested, watching their brother as well. "Drink does no' usually hit him this hard and I'm thinkin' . . ."
Turning a sharp eye on him when he paused, Aulay asked, "What are ye thinkin'?"
Dougall hesitated, and then shook his head. "I do no' ken what to think. 'Tis just that I ha'e never seen Niels like this, and with everything that has been going on here . . ."
"Did ye notice his eyes?" Greer asked suddenly.
"What about his eyes?" Aulay asked at once. Rory was always looking at his patients' eyes as if they could tell him something.
"The blacks in the center were almost pin-sized, they were so small," Greer said with a frown. "I do no' ken what that means, but they did no' look normal."
Aulay didn't know what that might mean either, but a glance at Cam, Greer and Dougall showed that the blacks of their eyes were bigger in the dim lighting of the Great Hall. Nowhere near pin-sized. Mouth tightening, he stood up. "I'll go ask Rory to take a look at him now."
Leaving them at the table, he moved quickly upstairs. He was stepping onto the landing when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning his head quickly, he caught a glimpse of Jetta slipping into Niels and Edith's room and paused abruptly. He watched with surprise as the door closed and then glanced the other way up the hall, wondering where the hell her guards had gone, but the hall was empty in both directions now.
Thinking he'd give the men who were supposed to be guarding her a good ballocking when he found them, Aulay headed toward Niels and Edith's room, thinking to see Jetta safely back to their chamber before he went to talk to Rory about Niels. He'd reached the door and had raised his hand to knock when he heard Niels's raised voice.
"God, woman, leave me alone. I do no' feel well."
Aulay's hackles rose along with his eyebrows at Niels's tone of disgust and the fact that he'd called Jetta woman as if 'twas an insult.
Jetta's answer when it came was too soft for him to hear more than a murmur of sound, but he heard Niels's response quite clearly again.
"Ha'e ye lost yer mind, Jetta?" Niels said, sounding more confused than angry. "He's me brother, and ye're his wife."
Aulay eased the door open a crack and this time heard Jetta's bitter words in response. "Open your eyes and look at me! I am beautiful! Do I not deserve a beautiful man? You are beautiful. All of you Buchanan brothers are . . . except for Aulay."
"But he loves ye, and you love him," Niels protested, sounding befuddled.
"Love?" she said with disgust. "He is a monster with that scar. It turns my stomach just to look at him. I could not bear his touching me. No woman would. Every time I see his face I think someone should kill him while he sleeps."
Aulay stiffened, his heart shriveling in his chest.
"But you would be different," she went on. "And I know you must want me too."
"All I want is to sleep until I stop wantin' to puke up me guts," Niels moaned.
Aulay heard some rustling sounds and opened the door further to see that Niels was reclined on the bed with his arm over his face. What little Aulay could see of his skin looked green. That didn't seem to bother Jetta, however. She was climbing onto the bed and as he watched, she kissed his brother. Mouth tightening, and teeth grinding, he watched Niels turn his head with a start and tangle his hands in her hair to drag her face back away from him.
"The devil take ye!" Niels growled. "Go away and leave me alone."
"Nay. I want you to pleasure me."
Aulay started into the room, and then stopped and backed up instead, his hands clenching. He didn't dare intervene. In the state he was in, he feared he very well might beat his lying, faithless, whore of a wife to death for her perfidy.
Rustling drew his attention away toward the stairs, and much to his horror he saw Edith hurrying up the last few steps to the upper landing. He couldn't let her see this. Niels was doing nothing wrong, but Edith would still be hurt if she walked in on this and it was bad enough that he was suffering. Pulling the bedchamber door silently closed, he turned to rush back toward her.
"Aulay," Edith said with surprise when she reached the top of the stairs and he hurried forward to block her way. "I was just going to check on Niels. Is he--"
"Rory is with him," Aulay lied and took her arm to turn her back to the stairs. "Why do we no' let him examine him and see what he has to say?"
"Oh but . . ." Dragging her feet, Edith glanced back over her shoulder. "I want to
see if he's okay."
"Aye. Rory will come below and let us ken once he's examined him," Aulay said, urging her along. "'Tis better if we no' distract him while he works, else he might miss something."
