Into the Wilderness
Page 295

Nathaniel jerked in surprise, so that he dropped the brush and had to retrieve it. "What do you know of Giselle?" he asked, not quite managing to hide his surprise or discomfort.
"Oh, this and that," Elizabeth said, glad that her back was still to him and he could not see her face, for she feared she could not hide her scowl. "Richard apparently had a bit of an encounter with her this past summer, as well. Aunt Merriweather mentioned it to me. To think of Richard and Otter at odds over the same lady—it would explain Richard's long absence, in part. "But I would have thought Otter far too young for her?"
"Then you don't understand the kind of woman we're talking about," Nathaniel said gruffly, taking up his brushing again. He worked in silence for a minute, one hand on her shoulder to hold her still. She had the urge to rub her cheek on his hand, but her bones were turning to liquid and she could do nothing but sit there and let him have his way.
"It explains Richard's sudden interest in Kitty," he said after some time. "After Giselle, he's got a better appreciation of a worthwhile girl." Before she could answer, he put his hand lightly over her mouth. "Never mind about Giselle," he said. "I got something else to say to you."
His whole posture changed.
"I'm sorry, Boots," he said quietly. "If I had known Moncrieff's purpose, I would never have let him in the door."
She turned to him awkwardly, taken by surprise. "But why?" she asked. "Nathaniel, I don't understand. Mr. Moncrieff's news is certainly a shock, but why this hostility?"
There was an unfamiliar uncertainty in his face, and worry. He leaned toward her and put his forehead on her shoulder, and her arms came up around him.
"I thought you would be angry," he said. "Back when you found out about the gold, you asked me if I had told you about everything. And I said I had."
She stifled an uneasy laugh. "But you didn't know about this. You could not have."
He shook his head. "No, I didn't know."
"You think that he is right, that James Scott was your grandfather."
He nodded wordlessly, and then turned from her to slip out of bed. From the small pile of things he kept on a shelf, he took a leather bag she had seen before, but never thought to ask about. Out of it he took a bound volume to put into her hands. A bible, well worn in bindings that crackled slightly when she opened it. And there, on the flyleaf
James Scott and Margaret Montgomerie
Bound in Holy Matrimony on the sixteenth day of July, 1716."
"The farm was burned in the raid," Nathaniel said. "The story goes, a trapper called Bonner found my father sitting next to the body of a woman. She was holding that bible when she was struck down."
After a long while, Elizabeth said: "You did not show this to Mr. Moncrieff for a reason. Do you not wish your father to claim the title and lands?"
"Christ, Boots," he said, all of his exasperation and anxiety surfacing again."Can you imagine my father an earl?"
"He has a greater acuity of mind than many I have heard of."
Nathaniel grasped her by the arms. She saw with some shock that he was on the edge of tears, a place she had seen him only one other time.
"Do you want him to sail off to Scotland? You haven't had enough of leave—takings?"
Elizabeth cursed herself for her shortsightedness, and put her hands on Nathaniel's face. "He need not go to Scotland," she whispered. "Neither need you."
He pulled away with a harsh laugh. "Moncrieff came all the way here to talk him into laying claim to the title, and he expects nothing in return? You heard them, they want us to go fight the English for them. As if we didn't have enough of fighting the damn English."
"There will be no more war between England and Scotland," Elizabeth said. "The country was razed so thoroughly after Culloden, Nathaniel, that there is no chance of it. And the war with France takes precedence right now. If there are battles to be fought over Scottish holdings, it would be in a court of law."
He grunted. "I ain't so sure you're right. You saw Robbie's face tonight; he'd pick up a musket and be on a ship tomorrow if he thought he could make a difference in throwing the English out of Scotland. But even if you're right, even if this is nothing more than a legal battle, it's one I want no part of And neither should you."
Elizabeth sat quietly, thinking.
"You want to go," he said finally, in amazement and unease.
"Oh, no," she said, with a sharp shake of her head. "It is hard enough for me to think of leaving Lake in the Clouds at all. Scotland is not a temptation, Nathaniel."
He relaxed suddenly. "That's good to hear."
"Which part is good to hear?"
He blinked at her, confused and a little wary.
"Nathaniel," she said softly. "I think all this time you have asked me to make the decision about staying or going from here, and you have been struggling not to tell me what you want."
"I want you to be satisfied," he said, his breath stirring her hair. "That's all that concerns me."
"And you want to stay on Hidden Wolf," she said, pulling his face up to look into his eyes. "Wherever we might go, you will always want to come back home to Lake in the Clouds. This place is in your blood. Please just say so."
"I want to stay on Hidden Wolf," he parrotted obediently. "If you'll be satisfied here."