"Cam," she whispered and then rushed on. "Finola raised the candle, I saw it was her and that she was wearing my dress. And then she--she kissed Cam," she got out, her voice cracking as she said it.
"Oh, sweetling," Annabel murmured, bending to hug her. Rubbing her back soothingly, she asked, "What did he do?"
Joan shook her head and admitted, "I didn't see. I just closed the door and got back in bed." She cleared her throat as Annabel straightened to peer at her sympathetically and then added, "I waited for him to return to bed, but he never did and I thought they must be . . ."
Annabel reached out and squeezed her hand.
Joan smiled weakly, appreciating the supportive gesture. "Now I'm not sure what to think. Finola's dead and Cam is missing, and the candle--" She snapped her mouth closed and glanced quickly to the door when it opened. Jinny slipped in.
"Is something amiss, Jinny?" Joan asked, noting the excited flush to her cheeks.
"Someone locked yer husband in the storeroom last night," she blurted, almost dancing on her feet.
"What?" Joan and Annabel asked together.
The maid nodded excitedly. "Aye. Laird Sinclair went to get something out of the storeroom just moments ago and noticed it was unlocked, but the bar was down. When he opened it he found yer husband inside, sleeping against the shelves. It turns out he came down in search of candles last night after everyone retired, but someone closed the door behind him and dropped the bar in place. He says he pounded and yelled, but everyone was asleep and no one came to let him out."
Joan glanced to Annabel to find her peering back.
"Oh, he asked me to bring these up." Jinny held up the candles she carried. "I should clean out the holders and put the new ones in."
"Did he have a candleholder with him?" Annabel asked suddenly, her gaze still firmly on Joan.
"Yer husband?" Jinny asked and shook her head. "Nay. He was in the dark when his father opened the storeroom door and there were none about that I saw."
"Thank you," Annabel murmured and moved behind Joan to continue with her hair as Jinny quickly cleaned the melted tallow off the candleholders and placed the fresh candles in them.
"You thought Cam might have pushed Finola down the stairs?" Joan asked as soon as Jinny left the room again.
"Nay," Annabel answered calmly and when Joan turned to peer over her shoulder at her, added, "I knew you did though, and thought you should hear the answer to that question."
Joan turned slowly forward again and then asked, "You really didn't think he--"
"Nay," Annabel assured her solemnly. "And I do not think he encouraged or responded to Finola's kiss. But then I have known Campbell for most of his life. I know what kind of man he is. You have only known him for weeks, and while I think you have a good understanding of what kind of man he is, of course you will doubt yourself if given evidence like seeing another woman kissing him."
Joan let her breath out slowly and nodded. In truth, she never would have imagined that Cam might have had anything to do with Finola tumbling down the stairs before she'd seen the woman kiss him. She didn't think she'd really believed he could even afterward, which is why she'd been so shocked when Lady Annabel had asked her question about whether Cam had the candleholder with him when found in the storeroom.
"Joan?"
"Hmm?" She tore herself from her thoughts and glanced over her shoulder in question.
"Cam and I sat together for quite a while waiting for you to wake up, and while he did not say it, I am quite sure he feels deeply for you. And I know you feel deeply for him."
"I do," Joan admitted, and then sighed and lowered her head. "But he has hardly spoken a word to me since we arrived at Sinclair. The only time I see him is--"
"When you slip out at night to meet him?" Annabel suggested with amusement.
Joan glanced swiftly around. "You knew?"
"Aye," she said with amusement. "At least I assumed that was where you were slipping off to at night."
"Aye, well," Joan turned to face forward again. "He doesn't speak to me then either."
"He was hurt when you said you did not want to come to Sinclair with him," Annabel murmured quietly. "He is unsure of your feelings and fears you resent him for the forced marriage."
"What?" She turned with surprise again. "I thought he--"
"I know," her aunt interrupted quietly, setting a chaplet on her head and weaving the braids she'd placed Joan's hair in through it. "You both seem to be assuming a lot about each other that simply is not so. The two of you need to actually talk to each other and sort these things out. If someone is out to hurt you, the two of you need to work together. 'Tis better if these issues between you and Cam are resolved.
"There," she added, stepping back as she finished with Joan's hair. "How does that feel?"
"It's less tight," Joan admitted.
"Let us hope that it resolves the issue of your headaches," Annabel said on a sigh. "Now, come. We should go below, break our fast and find out if anything else has occurred that we should know about. These things often happen in threes," she added dryly as she led the way to the door.
Chapter 15
"I'M SORRY I WAS NO' THERE WHEN YE WOKE THIS MORNING."
Joan glanced around when Cam whispered that apology by her ear. He was standing behind where she sat at the trestle table next to her aunt and she wondered briefly how he'd approached without her noticing. He hadn't been at the table when she and Annabel had come below moments ago, but his father had explained that Cam was out at the stables seeing his brother off. It seemed that he and a small group of Sinclair warriors would carry the news of Finola's death, as well as her body, back to MacFarland. It was thought that a member of the family should deliver the sad news rather than just a clan member. Douglas had volunteered to perform the deed.
"Ye have no' already eaten, have ye?" Cam asked.
"Nay, we just sat down," she admitted.
"Good." Smiling, he held out his hand. "Come with me."
Joan hesitated, but then took the offered hand and let him help her up from the bench. He didn't release her then as expected, but continued to hold her hand as he led her to the keep doors. Distracted as she was by that fact, it took her a moment to notice the two saddled horses waiting at the base of the steps. Once she did, however, her eyes widened with alarm.
" 'Tis all right," Cam said at once. "Ye'll ride with me."
"Then why is the mare my aunt and uncle gave us here too?" she asked worriedly.
"He's tethered to the back of my saddle," Cam pointed out gently.
"Aye, but why?"
"I thought we'd go for a ride, break our fast, talk and then perhaps get in a quick riding lesson ere we come back," he explained.
"That's what I was afraid of," she said unhappily and Cam chuckled at her expression.
" 'Twill be all right," he assured her. "We'll go slow."
Forcing a smile, Joan nodded and let him lift her up onto his horse. He then mounted quickly behind her and took up the reins.
"Ease yerself," Cam said once they were out of the bailey and crossing the open area to the trees. "Ye're stiff as a log."
"Sorry," Joan muttered and tried to make herself relax. It was difficult though. It wasn't just her anxiety about riding lessons that had her tense. She was also concerned about the coming talk he'd mentioned. She knew they had to talk, Annabel was right about that, she was just worried about what she might learn once they did.
"Joan, I really did w
ant to be there when ye woke," Cam said suddenly. "I sat with ye from the minute I returned to the keep and learned ye were ill, but--"
"I saw you kissing Finola," Joan blurted.
Cam reined in, bringing both beasts to a halt, and then caught her by the waist and lifted and shifted her so that she sat sideways in front of him and he could see her face. Tipping her chin up with his fist, he peered solemnly into her face and said, "I did no' kiss Finola. She kissed me."
He paused briefly, but when Joan didn't respond, he added, "She took me by surprise with her boldness, and I didn't immediately react, but then I pushed her away and let her ken I was well satisfied with me wife and no' interested in stolen kisses with a wench in a stolen dress."
"I was rather insulting about it," Cam admitted quietly. "She tried to slap me, I caught her wrist and warned her if she did that, she could expect to be slapped back. Then, I told her she was no longer welcome at Sinclair and that I would arrange for men to return her to MacFarland today. After that I left her there on the landing and went below to fetch the candles I'd started out in search of in the first place."
"At least, I thought I left her there," he added suddenly. "But she followed me below and locked the storeroom door behind me."
"You saw her close the door?" Joan asked with surprise.
"Nay, but it must have been her. Everyone else was sleeping," Cam reasoned and then frowned and added, "She must have tripped over her skirts or something on the way back upstairs. I gather they found her dead at the foot o' the steps this morning, her neck broken from the fall."
"Aye, I heard that," Joan said thoughtfully, taking in everything he'd said.
She believed him. That might have been just because she wanted to, but Joan did believe him and now considered the possibility that Finola had simply lost her footing and fallen down the stairs as he seemed to think. She wouldn't put it past the woman to have been the one behind locking him in the storeroom. It would have been fine retribution for his insulting and rejecting her, but that didn't explain the missing candle and holder.
"Did Finola set her candle down during your exchange?" she asked now.
"What?" Cam asked with confusion.
"She had a candle with her when I saw her approach you last night. Yet they did not find one near her, nor at the top of the stairs when she was discovered this morning," Joan explained. "Did she set it down somewhere?"
"Nay," he said slowly, obviously thinking back to last night's events.