Page 33 of Highlander’s Devious Ally

“I have decided not to turn my house into a brothel,” Ailith informed Lyall at the breakfast table two days before the wedding.

Everyone stared at her, astonished.

“Were you seriously thinking about it?” Findlay asked, staring at her in astonishment.

Ailith sipped her ale and nodded her head. “It would be a very profitable enterprise, and one that will lead to gainful employment for girls in the village.”

There was a stunned silence during which everyone gazed at her in horror.

“But I decided against it,” she went on, “because I would have to build a home for unwed mothers behind it.”

Her face was so serious that it took a moment for the others to catch on. Findlay was the first to double up with laughter, and the others swiftly joined in. Lyall gazed at her; Ailith was the happiest when she was making people laugh.

“So what will you do with it?” Fenella asked curiously.

“I am going to make it into an almshouse for the elderly, the poor, and the infirm,” Ailith announced. “Marion—Sister Agatha—has medical skills. So has Mister Reid; the apothecary, Mistress Kennie; and the midwife, Mistress Grant. We can employ many people to clean, change linen, and help with washing patients. The church is nearby in case we have to have the services of the priest, and the house has plenty of space. We will need it, for the Sisters of St. Ursula have unearthed a holy relic which has already begun to attract many pilgrims, and not only will they need accommodation, they will need medical care.”

“What is the relic?” Maria asked curiously.

“It is a skeleton,” Ailith replied. “The church thinks it is the mortal remains of St. Columba McCarthy, an itinerant priest and gifted healer who traveled the Highlands preaching the gospel and tending to the sick two hundred years ago or thereabouts. Some say he even performed miracles. Anyway, he took his vows of poverty very seriously and one day he gave his horse to someone in need and he never got another one, preferring to walk everywhere in all weathers.

“Eventually it is said, because no one really knows, that he caught a fever and died, but no one could find his body. Until now. A crofter unearthed a skull on his land, and when he dug a little further he found the remains of a monk’s habit, a Celtic cross, and a set of wooden rosary beads still clutched in the skeleton’s bony fingers. It was established that he was traveling to St. Ursula’s, so the Church is sure that it is him.”

“Astonishing!” Findlay was awestruck. “I thought that was just a story.”

“Even if it is,” Matthew said thoughtfully, “more people are going to be coming to the town. They walk to the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain to see the remains of St. James, and he has been dead for hundreds of years. Perhaps Kinlochan and Inverlieth will be the same.”

“Then I will buy Jock’s castle,” Lyall announced. “And use one part for paying guests, the other for the staff and their families. It should benefit the whole village.”

“What a wonderful idea!” Fenella was exuberant. “When can we start?”

“When the castle is ours,” Lyall answered, laughing. “There will be other bidders too, Fenella.”

“But we can begin on my house straight after the wedding,” Ailith consoled her. “And you can help me find great bargains for the building materials. Between us, we can get the best prices for everything!”

Ailith looked at Findlay and saw that he was smiling at them.

“When are you going home, Finn?” she asked.

“The day after the wedding,” he replied, suddenly looking somber. “I will not be looking forward to it.”

“Can we not persuade you to stay longer?” Ailith asked.

“Yes, please do!” Fenella begged. Findlay looked at her, and his face was full of regret.

“I cannot, Ella,” he replied, sighing. “I have not seen the rest of my family for years, and I must go home.” He stood up, smiled at everyone, then he and Lyall walked out.

He felt wretched. He liked Fenella—more than liked her—but she was young, and he had just emerged from an experience which he would wish on no one else. He had succeeded in bringing Jock McCauley down. In fact, he had obliterated all traces of him from the face of the earth, but at a great cost to himself.

He and Marion had suffered years of indignity, but Ranald was still dead, and something inside Findlay was dead too. Now that his mission had been accomplished, what was left for him? Marion’s life had a purpose, but he felt as though his had none, and he had to find that purpose before he thought of a settled life with a woman, for he wanted to give her the best of himself.

Fenella watched him go with a heart full of longing. He was everything she wanted in a man: tall, muscular, attractive, but also good inside with a generosity of spirit that could only have come from maturity. She knew that she was already being sought after as a good marriage prospect and a beautiful wife, but none of the young, eager, wealthy hopefuls made her feel the way Findlay did, and it saddened her beyond measure that she could not be his.

Ailith would love to have started on sourcing materials for the alterations to her house straight away, but she wanted to give Fenella some idea of how to get the best price for anything she wanted.

“The last strategy I told you about was one of my least favorite,” Ailith began, “but it suited the mood of the day, when we all felt like playing the fool!” They laughed at the memory. “I am going to show you some more, but you need to practice when I am not here, so that you can go out and be prepared for anything.”

Fenella nodded eagerly.