“I suppose from time to time even the doctor needs healing.”
He nodded. “And from time to time, even the commander needs to be told what to do. Sometimes the captain could do with a bit of being ordered around.” He gave her a sly wink. “You dinna need to be timid with him, lass.”
Maddie smiled. “Thank you for the advice.”
Once Munro left her, Becky came in with two ewers of steaming water, which she added to a deep tub for Maddie’s bath.
Ah, a bath.
Here was one of Logan’s commands she had no desire to countermand. After the mud and the chilly rain today, a hot bath was just what she needed.
She used old towels and rags to scrub as much of the peat from her body as possible so as not to muddy the bathwater. For once, she made use of one of Aunt Thea’s purchases, adding a healthy dollop of a lavender-scented liniment to the bath. Then she twisted her hair into a giant knot atop her head and lowered her body into the steaming tub.
An involuntary moan eased from her throat as the hot water enveloped her to her neck.
So lovely. It was almost as soothing as a warm hug.
The tension in her muscles began to unknot.
All her relaxation was ruined, however, when Logan flung open the door with a crash.
Maddie gasped and flinched, sinking lower in the bath and using her arms to cover her most secret bits. “Did you never hear of knocking?”
“Not in my own house, no.”
She cast a longing glance at the towel at the end of her bed. Too far away for her to reach for it without exposing herself.
“According to Munro,” he said testily, “I’m not to touch you. For days.”
“Oh?” She tilted her head at an innocent angle. “What a pity.”
“Stop playing as though you didna ask him to say it.”
“You are the one who insisted he examine me. You can’t ignore his advice.” She ran the sponge down her arm, squeezing lather from it as she went. “Since we are forbidden from any strenuous activity, I think it would be best if you used the bedchamber Becky made up for you.”
“That will not be necessary. I’ll be damned if I’ll sleep down the corridor.” He exhaled gruffly. “I’m leaving.”
“Leaving?”
“Dinna sound so hopeful. It’s only temporary. I need to order timbers for the new cottages, so I’m traveling to Fort William. The journey should take me two or three days. When I return, I expect you’ll be in perfect health.”
He gave her a pointed look, and his meaning was perfectly understood. Despite the warmth of the bathwater, gooseflesh rippled down her arms.
When he returned, his patience would be at an end. Maddie would have no further tactics for delay.
At the end of three days, she would either be free of him . . .
Or she would be his wife.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie didn’t suppose Logan had been foolish enough to leave them behind, but if those letters were anywhere in this castle, she was determined to find them before he returned.
She was coming to care for him too much, too foolishly. She couldn’t repeat the same mistake she’d made when she was sixteen. Pitching those letters into the fire was her only hope if she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life caught in a lie of her own making.
Unfortunately, after many dusty hours of searching, she hadn’t found so much as a clue. Over the past two days, she’d opened every drawer in every piece of furniture—checked behind and beneath them, too. Now she’d turned her gaze to the walls themselves.
This afternoon, she stood back and surveyed the Long Gallery, a room on the castle’s top floor that stretched the full length of the tower. The oak paneling featured a molded ledge where the wall met the ceiling. From where Maddie stood, it didn’t look deep enough to hide a packet of letters . . . but there was no way to be certain other than to check.
She pulled a straight-backed chair to the edge of the room and climbed atop it, standing on tiptoe to reach her fingers into the cobwebby, linty crevice.
Nothing . . .
Nothing . . .
She stretched in an effort to reach the corner.
Noth—
“What’s all this, then?”
Maddie nearly fell off the chair. After regaining her hold on the paneling and securing her footing, she turned to face the intruder. “Oh. Good afternoon, Grant.”
“How do you know my name?” He searched the gallery, wary. “What’s this place?”
His hand went to his hip, as though he were reaching for the weapon he expected to be there. Maddie was suddenly aware of how large he loomed, and how small she was in comparison.