Sarah Gabriel (27 page)

“Chocolate soup?” Alec asked. “We did not have that before.”

“Aye, it’s but a puddin’ over bread, wi’ thick chocolate and eggs. Oh, and Effie wants to add a more Continental flavor to our place, so she is offering mocha custards and chocolate liver.”

“Liver?” Kate asked, looking at Alec.

“Aye, liver fried up and dipped in a chocolate sauce. And she doesna like my eating chocolates, but she says the liver is fine, see, because ’tis Continental,” he added, shaking his head. “What would you like to try?”

“I’d love to try some Spanish-style with the cinnamon, please,” Kate said.

“I’d be happy to make it for you myself. We make it in the best chocolatières, large silver pots with
molinillo
sticks to whip up a very thick froth. You’ll never have it so good as at Fraser’s. Alec?”

“Aye, lass, you’ll never have it so good as at Fraser’s,” Alec drawled. She kicked him beneath the table. “I’d like some coffee, Uncle, if you would be so kind. Strong and bitter, with sugar on the side.”

“
Och,
this lad never did like the cacao, though his brother loved it. Edward kept this business thriving, while this lad lets me tend to it and mucks about with espionage,” Walter murmured to Kate.

“But Mr. Fraser, Scotland needs men who are willing to muck about with such things, just as we need men who are willing to muck about with chocolate, to create the most wonderful eating chocolate imaginable.” She smiled sweetly.

“And you enjoy tending to the business,” Alec said. “You manage it much better than I could do.”

“When you have time, lad, we’ll need to go over the accounting books. Our exports of Fraser’s Fancies—cocoa, teas, and coffee—are finally beginning to grow again, though our import costs are climbing quickly, too.”

“Flax,” Alec said. “I’ve been thinking. We need to consider investing in another commodity. Flax is a stable industry for Scotland, and can expand very rapidly—if we invest in flax and fabrics, we will better be able to support Fraser’s Fancies. And we can contribute to the welfare of Scots who need small industries in their towns.”

Walter lifted his brows high, and his glasses slid to the end of his nose. “Of course!
Och
, we’ll talk about that. It could be you’ll be as brilliant as your brother
was in business matters! Now, we’ll make these drinks up for you.” He smiled and left the room.

Alec reached across the table to touch Kate’s hand. “You’re anxious, lass. And since I’ve known you, I’ve seen a good deal of courage, and temper. What is it?”

She shook her head, smiling a little, then got up to peer through the door that Walter had left open a bit. “The soldiers are still there. But where are Rob and Connor?”

“They will not come inside if they see soldiers here. You may have to go up to the castle as we agreed, to see Ian and the others, and wait for us.”

“But our plan depends on all of us staying together. We agreed on it.”

“Aye. First Jack and your kinsmen must do their part, and we must wait for them. Is that the one o’clock bell?” Alec rose and went to the door with her to watch for a moment. Soon the door of the shop opened, and several men in black robes and old-fashioned white periwigs came into the Chocolate House. Three or four redcoat soldiers were with them, although Alec could not immediately see them for the crowd of black robes and gesturing hands in the way.

It hardly mattered who they were. Any development involving justice and military could be disastrous if Kate was recognized, or if Rob and Connor were questioned. Walter rushed forward to greet them, and after talking for a few moments, nodded and indicated the private room with an eager smile.

“Aye, he’s here,” Walter was saying. “And Kate, too.
Oh, aye, you will want to meet her. Come this way, Lord Hume.”

“By the devil,” Alec muttered under his breath. He looked at Kate. “I hope you have your fairy charm well in hand today, lass. Uncle George is here, and he looks none too pleased. If you’ve never prayed for a miracle before, this would be the time.”

Kate’s face went ashen so fast that Alec thought she might faint, but she sat straight, put a hand to her throat where her necklace lay hidden, and smiled. It was like a bit of sunshine emerging.

God bless the lass, he thought in admiration, then he prayed himself—though he had not done anything like it for a very long time—as he stood there looking mild and nonchalant, prayed for a miracle to guide them through this.

For he could not lose her now, not to this fate or any other. He was her fate now, as she was his—and that would be complicated enough where this lass was concerned, he thought, without long-robes passing judgment.

Alec stepped back as Walter and one of the justices approached. And then he saw that the Lord Advocate, one of the most mean-spirited men he had ever known, uncle or not, was walking directly toward the private room.

And behind him was Colonel Francis Grant.

“T
his is the man, Lord Hume,” Grant said. He had a tight smile on his face as he looked first at Alec, and then at Kate. “Captain Fraser. And this is the girl he stole away from the prison at Inverlochy, ignoring his orders from General Wade.”

Kate stared hard at Grant, who gave her a narrow glance, then could not help but sweep his gaze down her body, neatly defined by the snug jacket and flaring skirts. He lifted one brow in a rude acknowledgment of her attractiveness to him.

Beside him, the Lord Advocate had a scowl so deep it carved troughs in his jowly cheeks and in his brow. “Alexander,” he said in a gruff voice, “how are you?”

“Fine, sir, thank you, and you?”

Kate looked from one to the other, noting Alec’s cool formality as he answered his uncle.

“Alexander?” Colonel Grant repeated.

“Lord Hume is my uncle,” Alec told Grant.

“Uncle! Damn you, Fraser—”

“That’s no matter to me,” Lord Hume snapped. “If he’s guilty, he’s guilty, nephew or none, and he knows me well enough for that. Where is my chocolate? And who the devil are you?” The Lord Advocate peered at Kate from under shaggy gray eyebrows. His eyes were blue and rheumy and he looked supremely annoyed. She smiled timorously.

“This is Katherine, sir,” Alec said.

“Katherine who? I will not play games. Is this the girl who is to be interviewed for treasonous crimes and espionage? The one Wade wrote about in his report to me—and the one this gentleman is whingeing on about?” He peered again at her.

She wanted to take a step backward, but did not, holding her ground and regarding the Lord Advocate calmly and silently.

“This is the one, sir,” Alec said. Kate glanced at him, dumbfounded by his open admission, tantamount to a betrayal that left her on her own—but for the fact that he sent her a covert glance that said, inexplicably, all would be well.

“Where’s Walter’s lass with that blasted cocoa? I do not have all day for this. Well, sit down, all of you, and tell me what this is about. If she is to be interviewed, it may as well be here since I do not even have my chocolate yet and must wait.” The Lord Advocate sat down,
heavily, for he was apparently a robust man under his voluminous black robes.

Alec pulled out a chair for Kate, and he sat beside her. Grant remained standing.

“Lord Hume, sir, this girl was caught stealing documents from officers’ tents,” Grant began. “You have seen the reports. She was seen again and again, and she did bodily harm to some of the men, including myself. She is a harlot, to be frank, and though Captain Fraser had her arrested, he has since changed his mind and abetted her escape.” He looked so smug that Kate wanted to reach out and slap him.

Lord Hume grunted. He looked from one of them to the other, and at that moment Walter walked into the room carrying a tray with a tall silver pot with a long, narrow spout. He was followed by a servant carrying another tray with a second pot and various cups. “Finally,” Lord Hume muttered.

Watching Walter froth the chocolate in the pot by whipping it fervently with the stirring stick, Kate waited, heart pounding hard, dreading the rest of the meeting with the justice.

First Walter poured out Lord Hume’s chocolate—steaming and rich, it smelled like heaven—into a small porcelain bowl. Then he set a small bowl before Kate and poured her another serving of the same.

“Spanish-style with cinnamon,” Walter said, looking pleased to have such distinguished guests and cherished visitors gathered together. With a flourish, he offered Grant a bowl as well, but the man declined with a curt, dismissing wave of his hand.

The servant girl poured a small china cup full of hot black coffee for Alec, setting it in front of him with a bowl of sugar and a delicate silver spoon. Biscuits on a tray, with marmalade and butter, completed the meal. Bowing, Walter left and ushered the girl out of the room with him.

“Now,” Lord Hume said, “go on. I have only a few minutes before I return to the courts.” He sipped his hot cocoa, holding the bowl with both hands. “The girl stole documents, et cetera. I know all that. Now I want to hear something I don’t know. Katherine who?” He looked at her over the rim of his bowl of cocoa. “What is your name?”

“Uncle George, this is Katherine Fraser,” Alec said.

“What! What do you mean? A long-lost relation of yours?” Lord Hume picked up a biscuit and bit into it, crumbs flying.

“If she were Fraser,” Grant sneered, “you would have said so earlier.”

“Katherine Fraser,” Alec repeated. “She is my bride.”

Kate sat silent, watching the others warily.

“Bride,” Grant growled. “What the devil is this about?”

“You married your prisoner? That was damned foolish.” The Lord Advocate sipped loudly. “You could be imprisoned and stripped of your military commission for that, lad.”

“Exactly what I think, sir,” Grant said. “Treason, lying to the court, stealing the prisoner away without permission. She was arrested in his quarters, and now he’s trying to protect her. She does that to gentlemen,
Lord Hume,” he said, leaning down. “She’s a Jezebel and a strumpet—”

“You’re unpleasant to listen to,” Lord Hume barked. “So be quiet. I rather like the look of the girl myself. Are you a strumpet?” He peered at Kate.

“I am not, sir, and I’ve never been,” she replied quietly, and thought he began to smile. Lord Hume leaned toward her, but then exhaled loudly and returned his attention to his steaming drink.

Like his nephew, the Lord Advocate seemed immune to her presence and any charm she might have. She watched him, realizing that she was so anxious about her fate, and Alec’s as well, that she could not deliberately charm anyone just now. She trembled all over.

“Hmph. Now I want to hear what this is about. Alexander, explain.” Lord Hume sipped again, noisily, and munched on another biscuit, then dipped it into his cocoa.

“Sir, when she came into my tent that night…I believe she was searching for me,” Alec said.

With her own little bowl raised in her hand, Kate stopped, the chocolate scent of the steam surrounding her. She stared at Alec in disbelief.

“I can say for certain that I have been looking for her ever since we met, months ago in London. We pledged our love when we were together there. I gave her my heart, and she gave me hers, if I may be honest with you gentlemen. And then we were separated. Ever since then—”

“We have been searching for each other,” Kate said. “It’s true. I have looked for him every day since I first
saw him…I have dreamed about him and feared I might never see him again. Everywhere I went, I felt compelled to look for my Highland officer.” She glanced up at Alec. “No matter what I did, I was always looking for him. Only him.”

“As I have looked for her,” Alec murmured, setting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, I can’t bear this,” Grant said in a snide tone. “And you never looked for military documents?” He snorted.

“Only those with Alec’s name on them,” Kate said.

Lord Hume, chewing a mouthful of dry biscuit slathered in marmalade and dipped in cocoa, watched them, crumbs spilling from his mouth. “Mm-hmm,” he mumbled. “So then you had her arrested?” He sent Alec a sharp glance.

“Lovers’ spat,” Alec answered.

Kate nodded vigorously. “We had a terrible disagreement.”

“That’s a hell of a way to punish a lass for disagreeing with you. I should try that with my wife.” Lord Hume began to wheeze with laughter.

Grant looked thunderous. “And you never said a word about this?” he fumed.

“I was sure of my heart, but not of hers,” Alec replied. “But we were married in a Highland fashion.”

“For how long?” Grant snapped.

“It seems as if that happened the moment our eyes met,” Kate said. “We committed our hearts to one another.”

“Lord Advocate, sir,” Alec said formally. “She has
never done such crimes as have been attributed to her. She is an impetuous lass and thinks with her heart, not always her head, and so she has done some foolish things—but she’s no strumpet, and she’s no thief. This girl is loyal, sir, and devoted.”

“But she’s a spy,” Grant said bluntly.

The Lord Advocate slurped up the last of his cocoa and poured another helping from the silver bowl, fragrant mist rising as he poured. He said nothing as he took the last biscuit and dipped it in the hot chocolate.

“Sir, this is utter nonsense,” Grant said. He was scowling, his hands knuckled white on the back of the empty chair in front of him.

“So you’re vouching for this lass?” Hume looked at Alec, who nodded. Then the old man looked critically at Kate. “And you swear you never took a military document, or any other thing, with criminal or treasonous intent?” His glare was powerful.

“I can say in honesty, sir, that I never entered an officer’s tent, or looked at a document, without Captain Fraser on my mind, without him being my sole purpose, my sole reason for…doing anything. I can tell you truthfully that he fills my every waking thought, and my dreams. I could not rest, sir, until I found him again.” Truthful enough, she thought. Reaching up, she rested her hand on Alec’s, which still gripped her shoulder.

“Oh, please, do not expect us to accept this,” Grant said.

“It’s true,” she said. “We have been searching for each other for months.”

“Make of that what you will, sir,” Alec said quietly. “I only want to clear this matter up and take my wife back to Kilburnie House, where we can begin a peaceful life together.”

The Lord Advocate grunted again. He finished the second helping of cocoa, brushed the crumbs off his black robes, and stood. “I am not wasting my time, or the crown’s time or money, on a lovers’ spat between two besotted fools. This is not worth presenting in court. I am the Lord Advocate of Scotland, not a blasted matchmaker. And if the girl is a spy, she is not a very good one, and again it is not worth presenting this at the Court of Justiciary. We have a burden of cases as it is.”

“Sir—” Grant began. “I implore you to pursue this.”

“Love and such has no place before my bench. Alexander, good day to you. Katherine, welcome to our family. And Colonel Grant—come with me, sir. You have a report to prepare.” Though Grant protested loudly, the old man was intractable. He waved Grant toward the door, then turned.

“Excellent choice in a wife, Alexander—and that was a damn fine story.” He smiled then, truly smiled, for an instant.

“Thank you, sir,” Alec said, and Kate stepped forward to kiss the Lord Advocate on the cheek. He blustered, said nothing coherent, and left, slamming the door behind him.

Alec looked down at her. “Now that,” he said, “was either a miracle or some very fine fairy magic.”

She laughed then, with breathy relief and true joy.
She threw her hands around his neck, and he hugged her to him, arm in a sling between them, and she lifted her face for a deep, rich kiss that mingled chocolate and coffee and the sweetest measure of passion and tenderness she had ever known.

Then Alec pulled back and looked down at her. “My love, as much as I would love to continue this, we have another task more pressing to see to.”

She nodded. “Alec—if we should be caught removing Ian and the others from the castle dungeon—after the Lord Advocate’s leniency here, we would have no more chance for mercy, or miracles. What if it goes poorly?”

He held her then, in silent answer, just held her, and that rock of security and comfort he offered was one of the most wonderful sensations she had ever felt. Then he drew back.

“We’ll have to take the risk. We cannot let the lads linger there awaiting their deaths, and Ian will be transferred to the Tower of London very soon, I think. But you do not have to do this if you are anxious over it.”

“I’ll come with you.” She lifted her head.

“Good,” he said softly. “We’ll need your glamourie up at the castle to shield our way.”

He led her out of the little room and through the main room of the Chocolate House. Waving to Walter Fraser as Alec opened the street door for her, Kate did not notice, at first, the group of people standing outside on the pavement, talking to a pair of sedan chair carriers.

She looked, and gasped, and looked again. Alec gave a low huff that sounded like a smothered laugh.

Rob, Connor, and Jack turned, all dressed in long, dark, hooded cloaks, similar to the one that Kate had with her. And all of them, beneath the cloaks, were dressed in gowns.

None of them looked particularly pleasant as ladies, Kate thought, trying not to laugh. The situation was desperately serious, she knew. Men could die this day for what they had planned—and she was sure none of them would want to die looking like this.

“Well,” Jack said, coming toward them. “We’re ready. Let’s do what must be done. The chairs are hired, so we can go up to the castle now.”

“Jack,” Alec said, “you look quite ravishing.”

“Go to the devil,” Jack growled, and spun to return to the sedan chair awaiting him.