Page 50 of The Finest Scottish Fate

“No, no—that’s all right.” Evie waved her away. “I’ve always washed myself and prefer to continue doing so.” She’d only go along with this lady’s maid thing so far. “So you have no idea where Lord Blackmorrow got off to this morning?” He could’ve at least woken her up and kissed her goodbye. Then she remembered how snappish she’d been before they’d gone back to sleep and understood why. No wonder he’d slipped away. He was probably suffering from buyer’s remorse. “Never mind, Ada. It doesn’t matter.”

The maid eyed her while hanging a large panel of linen on a wooden rack close to the fire. “Aye, m’lady, I be thinking it does matter, because ’tis twice now ye’ve asked me.” Her reddish-blonde brows quirked up to her hairline as she gave a knowing nod. “I could be sending me brother to find out for ye. Wee Rabbie be quick as a mousie and slippery as an eel. No one ever sees him if’n he nay wants them to.”

As tempting as that was, Evie didn’t want to get the boy or Ada in trouble. “It’s okay. I was just wondering. Lord Blackmorrow is really the only one I know here. Well, other than Murdoch. But I don’t imagine he’s anywhere close.”

Ada wrinkled her small, upturned nose. “What be the meaning of that word? Okay?”

“In this case, it means never mind. Don’t worry about it.” Evie would have to remember to watch what words she used, or folks would be shouting about witches again. Last night’s incident at dinner still worried her. “How are the Heberdys? Any good gossip about them yet?” She might as well cut straight to the chase. Beating around the bush helped no one. “By the way, could you hand me my ring? The one I left on the bedside table over there?” Morganna had advised her to never remove it, but after snagging it one too many times in Drummond’s hair last night, Evie had relented and set it aside.

The maid frowned, tipping her head like a little dog concentrating on its master’s commands. “While ye’re in yer bath? Do ye not wish to keep it dry? The oils will dim its sparkle.” Then she popped a quick nod. “Course, I can always polish it for ye. I dinna mind at all.”

“Could you please just hand it to me? And I can always polish it if it needs it.” Evie tried to see the table on the other side of the bed, but the bunched piles of covers blocked her view. If she could spot the current color of the jewel, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but after last night, she wanted to take every precaution, especially after Morganna’s warning.

Ada stood there, staring at her, and had once again gone mute.

“What’s wrong?” Evie started scrubbing, sudsing her arms, then her legs.

“Mrs. Farris bade me take care of ye, m’lady.” The girl buzzed around the bed, found the ring, and brought it over. “Do ye think me unable to do the tasks? Shall I tell Mrs. Farris to send ye someone else?”

Thank goodness the stone was still red. Ada was as mortal as she was. “Of course not. Why in the world would you ask that?”

With a flick of her wrist, the maid pointed at Evie. “Ye bathe yerself. Speak of polishing yer own jewelry. Thank me for fetching water even though it’s my task to see it done proper by the lads.” She sadly shook her head. “Ye dinna behave as if ye even want a lady’s maid. Or is it just me ye dinna want? Did I do something wrong?”

Clearly, she had sent the poor girl into a panic. Evie held out the cloth she’d just dipped into the crock of soap. “Could you wash my back?”

Eyes lighting up with renewed purpose, Ada took the square of roughly woven linen and gave Evie’s back the most luxurious scrubbing she’d ever had in her life.

“I need a lady’s maid,” Evie told her. “I’m just a little unconventional and might not always need you to do everything a lady’s maid usually does. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need your help. Don’t worry. You’ve done nothing wrong.” She leaned back against the sloped end of the tub while nodding at the wardrobe. “There’s no way I can manage all those laces, ties, and teeny-tiny buttons.” Then she remembered that the girl had never answered about Clan Heberdy. “So, now that we’ve got that straightened out, any word on the Heberdys and when they’re leaving? Be advised that I’m counting on you to keep me informed about everything that goes on around here.”

Ada grinned. “Lady Merelys is not verra pleased at all that Lord Blackmorrow rejected her after inviting them to come.”

“It’s my understanding that it was Chief MacMuirrow’s advisors who invited her to come—not Lord Blackmorrow.”

“Aye.” Ada’s singsong tone, paired with a knowing nod, promised that she could be counted on to be a loyal informant. “Ye know that’s true as well as I do, but she’ll not admit to it. The peat boy heard her screaming at her poor maid to correct her, telling her it was Lord Blackmorrow who wanted her to come and marry him.”

Interesting—and also a bit worrisome. Would Lady Merelys turn into an enemy that warranted watching? “When are they leaving?”

“They say they canna leave until the ice clears.”

“Ice?”

“Aye.” Ada hurried over to the wardrobe and threw open both its doors. “Ye would think it already the dead of winter out there. Bitter cold and ice so thick, ye canna hardly walk, and the winter stores not even fully brought in yet. My sister Mary says ’tis the work of the Unseelie. Whenever an early winter comes, ’tis because of the war between the Fae of the Light and the Fae of the Dark.” Ada crossed herself, then glanced to the heavens with a sad shake of her head. “May the Almighty protect us. Our poor peat cutters set out early to fetch extra peat for the sheds, and the lads were sent to search for any wood washed up from the sea. It could verra well be a long, hard season for the clan.” Resuming her pawing through the depths of the wardrobe, she raised her voice to be heard. “Pray for a break in the weather so Clan Heberdy can leave and not be forced to winter with us.”

Evie winced. None of that sounded good, and she believed the bad weather was a by-product of the curse on those of Craig Durness, not necessarily the works of Callum and Morganna’s people. The storm hadn’t become so violent until she’d sworn to everyone in the meeting hall that she and Drummond had been together since the beginning of time. Apparently, she really needed to be careful not only about what she said but also about how she said it.

She set her ring on the small table beside the crock of soap. “Do you think the Fae are dangerous?”

“The Fae?” Ada peered at her in disbelief. “Aye, m’lady. Verra dangerous indeed.”

“And what about Clan Heberdy?”

The maid didn’t seem quite so convinced about that. “I dinna think them foolish enough to cause us any harm whilst they are guests here at Dubh Tower.” She emerged from the wardrobe with an armload of garments. “Course, they’ll be none too pleasant to yerself, seeing as how ye won Lord Blackmorrow’s heart and saved him from Lady Merelys’s clutches.” Her beaming smile stretched even wider as she draped the clothes across the end of the bed. “All of us here at Dubh are so pleased for his lordship. We canna remember when last we saw him so happy.”

Evie pressed a hand to the base of her throat, regretting her harshness with Drummond even more. He hadn’t deserved it. She’d made her choice—whether purposely or not, she’d made it, and now needed to own it, and not punish him for it. And last night hadn’t been a simple matter of lust or giving in to pure physical pleasure. It had been…right. More right than anything she’d ever felt before. Maybe they had just met, but they’d clicked in a way that defied explanation.

A knock at the door startled her from her ruminations, making her splash.

“Who dares interrupt my lady’s bath?” The sudden redness of Ada’s cheeks matched the indignation in her voice as she flew to the door. She yanked it open the barest bit and growled, “What is it?”