Chapter 12
Honoria stared at her brother, who wore the wool carpet thin pacing up and down its length, a crease deepening between her brows. His hands were fisted at his sides, his shoulders tense, and his movements jerky. Edgy, restless, and downright impossible to manage. A caged animal.
Every few seconds, he would spin towards her, narrow his eyes to a frosty glare, and spin away to continue his pacing.
Honoria cast Isla a concerned glance. She silently returned it.
They had never seen Hugh this wired. But she supposed as far as being the protector of the family in the absence of their brothers, he might have every right to be unsettled.
A pang of guilt pinched in her breast. Hugh wanted only to protect them, and Honoria might have placed them in terrible danger. It pained her to see her brother, usually full of good humor, so ill at ease.
“What the devil have you gotten us into, Honoria? Those are the men that hurt the gypsy, aren’t they? Christ, Adair is going to kill me, if those cutthroats don’t manage to do so first.” He raked a hand through his hair. “They will be back, mark my words.”
“We saved a man, Hugh.”
And she had gotten them into nothing, at least not intentionally. But it was clear enough they hadstumbledinto something.
Of course, no adventure was without its obstacles. This was merely that. An obstacle. One slightly more alarming than she first imagined. But certainly not one she’d allow to derail her ultimate goal to travel to Edinburgh. They would overcome this hurdle.
She hoped.
“And it appears we must save him again, and ourselves, too,” Hugh muttered.
“I find it all thrilling,” Isla said to their collective surprise. “It was about time something exciting happened in our lives.”
“At what cost?” Hugh complained. “You couldn’t avoid getting into trouble thisonetime, Honoria?”
“Did you expect me to leave him for dead?” Honoria demanded.
“Nay, but we should have sent him to a proper healer. Did you see those men, lass? They were nasty-looking and dangerous. It will not take much for them to learn I lied about the rest of us being home. And if they discover I lied about that, won’t they wonder what else I could be lying about?”
“We will find a solution,” Honoria placated. “Should that arise. If we are lucky, they’ll move on. They have no reason to suspect anything.”
“Let us hope that’s true. When Adair learns of this, heads will roll. And by heads, I mean mine.”
“We have done nothing wrong,” Honoria argued. “Adair will understand. Besides, how were we supposed to know danger would come knocking on our door?”
“His injury gave us the indication.” Thick sarcasm rolled off Hugh’s tongue. “And upon my honor, Adair will no more understand than I did.”
“You let him stay.”
Hugh dragged a hand over his mouth. “You have no idea what it’s like to be a man—I was outnumbered by stubborn lasses.”
Isla snorted. “We were, and still are, duty bound to protect him. He is our guest and in trouble.”
“We should alert the authorities. It is what Adair would have done.”
“We can’t do that, Hugh, and you are not Adair,” Honoria pointed out.
“Why the hell not?”
“They will lock him away even though he was the one who’d been hurt.”
“Absurd.”
“He is a Rom, Iamsure.”
Her brother came to stand before her, a looming presence with hands planted on his hips. “I am responsible for you and Isla’s welfare. If anything happens to you,” he shook his head, “I will never forgive myself.”
