Free Tamed by a Laird by Amanda Scott

day of his death,
     she had often imagined him sitting.
    “Take that lute with ye, lass, and practice whilst we make ready to go. Choose two songs—one to sing and the second to sing
     if they like ye.”
    “How will I know to play the second one?”
    “I trow ye’ll ken that fine, lassie, just as ye will if they don’t.”

    In the Annan House stable, Hugh looked long at Mairi before he said, “How many of your guests are missing jewelry, my lady?”
    “I do not know, sir. I heard our steward telling my father and Phaeline only that Lady Johnstone and her daughter had missed
     things. It did seem to me, though, as if they had been discussing the subject before I entered the room.”
    “Surely, neither Dunwythie nor Phaeline would suspect a servant in their household of theft,” Hugh said.
    “I know not what they suspect, sir. I do know Peg, though, and I am sure she would not steal from us or our guests. My sister,
     Fiona, was also present then, however, and she has a knack for making mischief even when she does not mean to. She demanded
     to know if our steward suspected
Jenny
of taking the jewelry.”
    Although it was clear to Hugh that Mairi thought that unlikely, he did not know Janet Easdale. “Might she have taken it?”
     he asked her.
    “She has no need, sir. Indeed, I should think it more likely that one of the minstrels, or even a servant, took it. But Lady
     Johnstone says she is nearly certain she put her necklace away before she went to bed. The minstrels had gone by then.”
    “Sakes, lass, so had Lady Easdale and your Peg if you are right about them leaving the house with the minstrels.”
    “I know that,” Mairi said. “I am merely repeating what I heard, sir. I do not have any notion what became of the jewelry.
     Nor do I know how much is missing.”
    If the two young women were indeed with the minstrels, Hugh had no doubt that he would quickly find their trail, wherever
     they had gone. It occurred to him, though, that before he left, he should learn more about the missing jewelry.
    Mairi might be wrong about when it went missing. But, even so, if anyone raised a hue and cry to find the women or the minstrels,
     it would considerably impair his chances of resolving anything quietly.
    Leaving word with a lad to tell Lucas he would soon return, Hugh escorted Mairi back to the house and went in search of his
     host. With a gillie’s assistance, he found Dunwythie in a small chamber off the hall, looking over his accounts.
    Gently raising his eyebrows, Dunwythie said, “Ye still here, lad? I thought ye’d be well away by now.”
    “I expect to be away shortly, my lord,” Hugh said. “I just learned, however, that some jewelry has disappeared.”
    “By the Rood, I learned that myself only twenty minutes ago. I am coming to believe that rumors fly through the air on their
     own wings!”
    “ ’Tis only a rumor, then?”
    “I wish it were. At least five people have reported missing items, most last night but others this morning, my own wife amongst
     them.”
    “Phaeline has lost something?”
    “Aye, her pearls, if she didna misplace them,” Dunwythie said with an affectionate smile. “She does forget what she’s done
     with her things, as I expect most of us do. But she nearly always has one hand on her pearls and is sure she put them away
     early this morning. She says she awoke, realized she had not done so, and got up to attend to them. I suppose she might have
     dreamed all that, but…”
    “ ’Twould be a most coincidental dream, and Phaeline is not fanciful.”
    “Nay, although she does seem more forgetful when she is with child.”
    “Still, it seems unlikely that the minstrels or your Peg had aught to do with the thefts if things went missing after they
     left,” Hugh said.
    “Aye, and minstrels do take care to keep their reputations clean, lest they lose all chance of plying their craft. My lads
     searched them even so, and I dinna want a fuss. I’ve told everyone