Page 75 of Highland Spy

Ariana positioned herself between the guard and Connor, intentionally grabbing the man’s attention once more. The way any woman who intended to be in the employ of a lady would.

“Lady MacAlister is expecting me.” She met the man’s gaze levelly. “I’m here expressly on her invitation.”

Irritation flickered over the man’s brutish features. “I told ye, she’s no’ here.” Again, his gaze settled on Connor.

Again, Ariana thrust herself back into his line of sight. She crossed her arms over her chest in a show of impatience. “Well, when will she be back?”

“She’s no’ arrived yet.”

Ariana sighed in the snobbish way the ladies at court did when dealing with those they found insufferable. “Then when will she arrive?”

Someone pressed past her and bumped her sideways, knocking her into Connor. Before she could right herself, a man’s aged voice whispered toward Connor in a fierce tone.

“I recognize ye. Many of us do.”

She had to force herself to not jerk her head in the direction of the man who had spoken. What had he meant by what he’d said to Connor? Who was the “us” he referred to?

The guard did not reach out to help steady Ariana after she’d been jostled and she gave him a look of reproach. “When will she be back?” she asked, louder this time, to mask the voice which had just spoken.

But her mind was not on his answer. She knew Lady MacAlister would not arrive until the evening at the earliest. A coach with a noblewoman inside could not travel as fast as she and Connor had on horseback. But she hoped it was enough of a ruse to get either herself, or Connor, into the manor.

“Very well,” Ariana said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I’d like to see Laird MacAlister, then.”

The guard gave her an unmasked glower of irritation and turned his gaze toward Connor. “Is this man with ye?”

Ariana put her hands on her hips. “He was hungry and I expected your household would see him well-fed.”

The guard smirked. “We dinna take beggars. And ye’ll no’ be seeing Laird MacAlister.”

Ariana had trusted in the nobles to see their poor fed and had assumed she could get Connor inside with the ploy. But their apparent lack of interest in keeping their paupers from going hungry turned her stomach. Whoever owned the manor had immediately lost her respect.

“I’ll ensure Lady MacAlister hears of this,” she said sharply.

The guard did not seem at all bothered by her threat. The lout.

“Is Laird MacAlister arrived yet? I expect you to show me to him posthaste.” She stated her demand with precise indignation.

“Aye, he’s here, but he’ll no’ be seeing ye.” The guard gave her a triumphant look. “He’ll no’ be handling his lady’s business.”

“Very well,” Ariana snapped. “You’ll be seeing me tomorrow, and I’ll ensure her ladyship hears of your lack of manners and your obvious disinterest in helping those in need.”

She spun away before the man could respond, if he’d even meant to do so.

She had the information they needed, even if she hadn’t been able to get inside.

Laird MacAlister had arrived and was in Loch Manor.

• • •

Connor had been recognized.

But by whom?

He pulled the hood lower over his face and glanced toward the market from his place in the shadows of an alleyway.

Everything still looked as it had three years prior. The same small, neat rows of cottages with their thatched roofs, the same wares being sold in the same luckenbooths.

Only the people had changed.