The Freemason's Daughter by Shelley Sackier

Author:Shelley Sackier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

JENNA’S FATHER PACED THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE fire. The other men sat in their usual spots, apart from Ian, who stared out the window by the door. He rubbed a shoulder that stretched the fabric of his shirt across his back.

“I ken she’d get us in trouble one day—and dinna say I havena warned ye.” Ian spoke out of the side of his mouth, his voice a low growl, but Jenna could hear from upstairs, the door to her room opened a crack. She rested her head on the frame and closed her eyes, mindlessly allowing the sharp edge of her sgian dubh to trace the pink-ridged scar along her palm.

“Said she needed a tighter rein, and all I got was grief, aye?”

“Be quiet, Ian,” Malcolm snapped. “We’ve precious little information as to what the duke’s son knows—if anything. And I willna have ye passing judgment on anyone unfairly.”

Jenna’s stomach pretzeled and writhed from where she sat listening.

Most of her discomfort stemmed from her secret—that she’d mistakenly revealed the method to decipher the garrison’s codes.

How was I to know that my daily math assignment was not simply some pleasurable number riddle?!

She peered down, watching her father walk to the table and take a swig from his glass. “Daniel only heard the words our friendship before steppin’ in to interrupt.”

“Doesn’t it seem likely he was trying to canvass information from her?” Ian asked. “Perhaps he was tryin’ to sway her to see the plans again!”

“Even if he did,” Angus spoke up, “what could he make of them? They’re nothing but a bunch of lines to anyone save us. They’re coded!”

Angus rose from his chair, grabbed an iron poker, and jabbed at a few bits in the fire. Sparks exploded upward in bright bursts of orange. “Jenna said he wanted to ken who Daniel was, that’s all.”

But that wasn’t all, she thought, curling tightly around her knees. What would the men do if they discovered Lord Pembroke could break the code? Would they immediately pack up and haul out—or would they head out to hunt him down? She couldn’t imagine the men doing anything drastic to silence the young man.

And was Lord Pembroke telling her that he’d uncovered their schemes? His words hung in the air:

Something has come to my attention—something awful and grave.

Awful enough to end their friendship, but was it awful enough to end their lives?

Malcolm sighed heavily from below. “I say we wait to see what Daniel comes up with. It’s about this time most of the free liquor’s been drunk and the men who’ve taken advantage of it will be more than keen to waggle their tongues wi’ a man who’ll spend his coin for their drink. He’s most canny, that Daniel. If there’s news out there that’s shining a light on our cottage—he’ll find it.”

Jenna felt relief, however slight it was. She remembered how Daniel had grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her away, a bull barely controlling the urge to charge. She was certain Lord Pembroke had been watching.

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