This was the important part. There was nothing wrong in selling the surplus unless Hector took the money for himself.
“Let me find the clerk’s notation,” Sybil said, flipping through the pages again. “Ah, here it is.I…, clerk and loyal servant to Sir Hector of Gairloch, this twenty-seventh day of February in the year of our Lord…”
By the saints, how did she have the patience to wade through such tedious detail for hours? Even if Rory could read, he could not have kept his eyes open.
“…did place the above recorded amount,” she continued, “into the hands of Big Duncan of the Axe to deliver to Gairloch.”
“That proves it,” Rory said, stabbing the open ledger with his forefinger. “Duncan is Hector’s most trusted man, and he took the money from the chieftain’s castle at Eilean Donan to Hector’s lands in Gairloch.”
Hector had stolen from the chieftain, which was stealing from the clan.
“I’m going to kill Hector!” Rory clenched his fists. “When I’m done with him there won’t be enough left of him to feed to the crows.”
“Killing him may not be necessary,” Sybil said, “when you can use this information to keep him in his place.”
Rorywantedto kill him, but killing him might do more harm than good.
“News of his thievery will badly damage Hector’s reputation in the clan,” he said. “I’ll announce it in the hall in the morning, and word will spread fast.”
“I believe this will also help sway the regent and council to throw the crown’s support behind you,” Sybil said. “After all, they are all chieftains. This evidence of Hector’s theft from his chieftain will weigh heavily against him.”
“I can’t leave MacKenzie lands to make my case to the council.”
“Let Lord Lovat show them the evidence,” Sybil said. “He’ll know how best to present this to your advantage. As your mother’s brother, he’s also in a good position to persuade them that Hector’s lies about your birth are false. He’s sure to argue passionately for the crown to recognize you as chieftain.”
Rory had to admit, at least to himself, that she was right.
“What would we do without you?” Catriona kissed Sybil’s cheek and gave Rory a pointed look. “I’m leaving tomorrow to help Alex’s wife with the children, so I’ll bid ye goodbye now. Ye should get some rest. Ye must be exhausted.”
The excitement that had animated Sybil’s face faded like a cloud passing over the sun. She squeezed Catriona’s hand and then left them without a word.
“Would it hurt ye to show your wife a wee bit of gratitude?” Catriona put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “Ye wanted to know what Brian was desperate to tell you and why he rode to Edinburgh. Sybil not only found the answers ye wanted, but she also gave ye a powerful weapon to use against Hector.”
“That served her own interests. She wants to keep her position as a chieftain’s wife,” he said, though his sister’s criticism did tug at his conscience.
Catriona raised her hands as if beseeching the heavens. “How can the big brother I’ve always looked up to be such a fool?”
“You’ve no notion just what a fool she made of me,” he said. “I’ll not let her do it again.”
“Sybil told me everything,” Catriona said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “If ye ask me, her brother’s trick brought ye the best luck you’ll ever have.”
“She used and deceived me,” Rory said. “I’ll never be able to trust her.”
“Of course ye can,” Catriona said. “Can’t ye see that she loves ye?”
Was it possible, despite her deceit, that her feelings for him were true? He did not know what to think anymore.
He slept in the stables with the damned horses. In the morning, after announcing the theft in the hall and telling his men to be ready to ride to Lovat’s, he decided to take the advice Alex had given him days ago. He went to talk with Sybil.
She was still in her night shift and brushing her hair when he entered their bedchamber. Her toes peeked out from under her white shift, making her look young and innocent, which she was not, but the sight somehow made him feel protective.
“When ye told me ye were married before, ye said there was more ye could tell me when I was ready to listen,” he said. “I’m ready to listen now.”
She was quiet for so long he did not know if she would speak.
“I was wed when I was thirteen,” she said.
Ach, that was young to wed. Rory recalled his sister at thirteen. Though Sybil would have been far more sophisticated at that age than Catriona, it did not sit well with him.