Beyond the Highland Mist

Page 71

“How could this be?” Lydia paced the kitchen, a flurry of claret-colored damask and concern.
“I don’t have any idea, Lydia. One minute I was in the gardens and the next thing I knew I was in my bedroom back in my own time.”
“Your own time,” Lydia echoed softly.
Adrienne met her gaze levelly. “Almost five hundred years from now.”
Lydia cocked her head and fell still, as if having a brisk internal debate with herself. The silence stretched into a protracted length of time while she pondered the limits of her beliefs. Lydia had always thought that women were more open-minded and adaptable than men when it came to inexplicable happenings. Perhaps it was because women experienced firsthand the incomprehensible and astonishing miracle of childbirth. To a woman who could create life inside her own body, why, time travel seemed like a minor miracle in comparison. But men … men were always trying to find a rational explanation for things.
When the Hawk had told her what strange news Grimm had discovered at Comyn keep, Lydia had studied Adrienne closely, watching for any signs of instability or peculiar behavior. Through her close observation, she had only become more convinced that Adrienne was just as sane as a person could be. She had concluded that while something had hurt Adrienne deeply in her past, whatever had hurt her had far from weakened her mind—Adrienne had been strengthened by it, like tempered steel. Oh, Lydia knew there was a very lonely young woman behind some of Adrienne’s caustic humor and sometimes cool façade, but Lydia had found that stern walls most often guarded a treasure, and a treasure her daughter-in-law was indeed. Lydia cared for her enormously and had every intention of having grandchildren from her son and this lovely young woman.
The idea that the entire Comyn clan was suffering some strange madness didn’t make sense. Lydia knew Althea Comyn well from time spent at court together, years past. She was a practical, worldly-wise woman, and although over the years Althea had grown more reclusive, she still remained pragmatic and levelheaded.
Lydia had long suspected the Laird Comyn of acts of twisted violence. Could she believe he had killed his own daughter in an act of senseless violence? Easily. He’d had his youngest son slaughtered like a lamb to the sacrifice for crossing clan lines and taking up with one of the Bruce’s grandnieces.
Through all of the Red Comyn’s acts of twisted and petty vengeances, Althea Comyn had managed the aftermath to the continued benefit of her clan. She was an extraordinary woman, holding her children and grandchildren together with sheer will and determination.
And so to Lydia, the thought of the pragmatic Lady Comyn suffering a fit of fantasy was more difficult to believe than the possibility of time travel. Simply put, Althea Comyn was too much a cold realist to indulge in any nonsense.
Having reached her conclusions, Lydia smiled gently at Adrienne, who had been waiting in tense silence. “Hawk told me what Lady Comyn said, Adrienne. That you’re not her daughter. That you appeared out of thin air. Indeed, I have heard your brogue ebb and flow like a stormy, unpredictable tide.”
Adrienne was momentarily chagrined. “You have?”
Lydia snorted. “When you were ill your burr disappeared entirely, my dear.”
Adrienne blinked. “Why didn’t anybody ever ask me about it?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, things haven’t been exactly calm since you’ve come to Dalkeith. Not a day has passed that hasn’t brought new surprises. Murder attempts, unwelcome visitors, not to mention the Hawk behaving like a besotted lad. Besides, I hoped that one day you would confide in me of your own choosing. Now, the guards tell me they watched you disappear and reappear several times before their very eyes.” Lydia rubbed her palms against the skirt of her dress, a far-off expression in her eyes. “From the future,” she murmured softly. “My son believed it was some trauma that made you believe such madness and yet …”
“And yet what?” Adrienne urged.
Lydia met Adrienne’s clear steady eyes. They stared at each other a long, searching moment.
Finally Lydia said, “Nay. Not a hint of madness in that gaze.”
“I’m from another time, Lydia. I’m not mad.”
“I believe you, Adrienne,” Lydia said simply.
“You do?” Adrienne practically yelped. “Why?”
“Does it really matter? Suffice it to say, I am convinced. And when things finally return to normal around here, if they ever do, I want you to tell me all about it. Your time. I have many questions, but they will wait. For now, there are things we must be clear on.” Lydia’s brow furrowed in thought. “How did you get here, Adrienne?”