Days of Gold p.21 Read online

  Every day he had one of the waitresses in the bar check the newspaper; he expected to hear that Edilean had announced her engagement to one of them. He figured she’d marry some man who owned so much land that it was going to be named a state. And her husband-to-be would probably be so besotted with her that he’d name the state “Edilean.” Or maybe that was just Angus’s wish. If he started a town, if she was with him, he’d name the place Edilean.

  When Angus realized that the jewels had been stolen, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. For all he knew, Edilean had taken them back. He didn’t think she would, but maybe she’d so much wanted him to stay in Boston with her that she’d made it impossible for Angus to leave.

  Or maybe that was something he wanted to believe.

  She stirred on the bed, groaning in pain.

  “Ssssh, lass,” he said. “I’m here now and I’ll take care of you.”

  When he heard a man’s footsteps coming toward the door, he covered Edilean’s nude body with a blanket.

  “I had to wait until the water got hot,” Cuddy said from the doorway, and when he glanced at Edilean on the bed, his eyes widened. “You took her clothes off?” His anger at Angus and his concern for Edilean were evident in his tone.

  “If I hear one more disrespectful word out of you, you will live to regret it,” Angus said, his eyes flashing in threat.

  “All right,” Cuddy said as he plopped down heavily on a chair on the far side of the room. “It ain’t none of my business, even if I did nearly get killed while helpin’ her.”

  Angus dipped a cloth in the hot water and began to gently wash Edilean’s face. “I want to hear every word of what happened. Don’t leave anything out.”

  Cuddy didn’t like the way Angus was treating him, and he didn’t like the way Miss Edilean had told him to take her to the Scotsman. Cuddy told her that Miss Harriet would do a far better job of patching her up than any man would, but Edilean had insisted. She’d said she’d walk if he wouldn’t take her. Cuddy gave in when Edilean nearly fell from her horse. He got off his and got on behind her and five minutes later she’d fallen asleep against him. He’d been tempted to take her to Miss Harriet, but he didn’t. He went miles out of the way to deliver her to some man who’d stripped her naked on a bed.

  Cuddy didn’t like the man, and his tone let him know it. Reluctantly, he told the story about Tabitha, but he didn’t tell Angus how Edilean had sent him, Cuddy, out to look for Angus weeks before.

  “So how did she know I was here?”

  When Cuddy said nothing, Angus turned to look at him. “Did she send you to look for me?”

  Cuddy nodded.

  “And you told her in detail about where I was working and how I was living in the barn, didn’t you?”

  Cuddy gave a curt nod, and Angus relented. “Don’t worry yourself, lad, she has a way of making men do things that they wouldn’t normally do.”

  “She does that to me!” Cuddy said, and some of his anger left him. “I’ve run after her like I was her maid.”

  “So have I,” Angus said as he stood up. “I don’t think she’s badly injured, just worn out. What did Tabitha look like after the fight?”

  “Worse than Miss Edilean.”

  “Did she now?” Angus said, and there was pride in his voice. “She fought a big girl like Tabitha and won?”

  “Yeah,” Cuddy said, smiling. “I was in the tent most of the time, on my hands and knees searching through the woman’s frillies, but I saw enough of the fight to know it was bloody. I can’t believe the women didn’t lose teeth and eyes.”

  Angus frowned. “That bad, was it?”

  “Worse than you can imagine.” Cuddy looked at Angus in question. “So why was she fighting for you? Your name’s Harcourt, so are you related to her?”

  “Her husband,” Angus said without a thought. “More or less. You’ve had a rough night, so why don’t you go inside and get some breakfast? If you want to sleep, tell Dolly I said to give you the best room.”

  “Her husband? But she has men courting her all day long. You never saw the number of horses I have to feed while they’re inside trying to make her laugh. If you ask me, they want the money she has more than they want her. And I think that if they knew she could punch a face with a one-two jab, then come up under with her left”—he demonstrated—“I’m not sure they’d want her.”

  Angus couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s enthusiasm. “Go on,” he said gently. “I’ll take care of her. You get something to eat and take a nap. You can go home this evening.”

  “But what about Miss Edilean? Miss Harriet will skin me alive if I go back without her.”

  “She’ll go with you when you leave,” Angus said. “She’s just bruised and sore, nothing permanent. Now go and let her rest.”

  As Cuddy left the barn, he heard the door close behind him. Her husband, eh? No wonder Miss Edilean was so wary of those men who visited. She was already married to a tavern keeper, a man who spent his days serving beer. And no wonder she didn’t show him off to the world. Chuckling, Cuddy went into the tavern and had a huge breakfast.

  Edilean awoke with a start, and panic ran through her. She put her arms over her face in protection.

  “There now, lass, you’re safe with me,” Angus said as he sat down on the bed by her.

  She started to sit up, but she hurt too much. She looked about the room, noting the austerity of it. “Is this the tavern where you work?”

  “It’s the barn,” he said. “I’m not worth enough for the owner to give up a bedroom above the tavern.”

  She knew he was opening a way for her to make a joke but she didn’t. “Did Cuddy give you the jewelry?”

  “Aye, he did.”

  “Could I see it?”

  “No.” He was smiling. “I know you’ve already seen what’s missing.”

  “But I need to—”

  When she started to sit up, he gently pushed her back down. “No, lass, what you need is rest. I hear that was one hell of a fight you had.”

  “It was nothing to what I did to Bessie Hightop when we were both fourteen. Her father is a duke, and she said I was the school freeloader, always looking for somebody to live off of.”

  “So you showed her, did you?”

  “Actually, in the long run, I lost. Her father was told what happened and he made Bessie invite me to their house over Easter. I was very proud back then, so I went.”

  “And what happened?”

  “Bessie’s old grandfather, her mother’s father, asked me to marry him.”

  Angus couldn’t help laughing. “I wish I’d been there to hear you tell him what you thought of his proposal.”

  “When he suggested that I sit on his lap, I said his bony knees would hurt my backside.”

  “Oh, lass, but I’ve missed you so!”

  Edilean didn’t smile. “I’ve not missed you. After you threw me away like so much rubbish, the only thing I wanted to do was clear the obligation between us.”

  “Obligation?”

  “That I owe you. You’ve certainly told me often enough that if it weren’t for me you’d now be at home in Scotland with your dear family.”

  “I also told you that you’ve given me an opportunity that I’d not have had without you.”

  “Yes, I did. When I gave you the parure, I was giving you a way to buy a farm and maybe later you could invite your family here to America. But that was taken from you. When Cuddy told me about your circumstances here, I knew that I was once again in your debt. You’d gone from being the laird of a clan to the stableboy.”

  “I don’t think it was that bad,” he said. “If things keep up the way they have been I could well own this place one day.”

  “Ha!” Edilean said as she grit her teeth against the pain and sat up. “If the owner has a third cousin thrice removed he’ll leave the place to him rather than to you. When it comes to property, blood will always win.”

  “Edilean,” Angus said,