Jean hugged her, hard, and Lily kissed her, and when Jamie came to fetch her, Lily kissed Jean once again, and also gave a kiss to Bessie, and her baby brother, and went out into the strong midmorning sun.

Robin was there, too. He always came along now when they played outdoors, for reasons that had not been stated but which Lily gathered had to do with safety. Being Captain Graeme’s son had once been Jamie’s golden key to go wherever he might like within the town, with none to bother him—now it seemed more a key to hold him prisoner, confined to but a handful of the streets that were less troubled by unrest. The whispers ran beneath the cobbles like the waters of a swiftly flowing burn that had been deeply buried, hidden everywhere from light, but Lily heard them in the shadows.

They did not appear to bother Jamie, who skipped a small stone across the cobbles before letting her decide the day’s adventure. “Where are we away to?”

“To your house.”

“Why?”

“Has your daddie gone on duty yet?”

“Not till he’s had his dinner.”

“Then I need to speak with him.”

“He’s not alone,” warned Jamie. “Mr. Cant is with him, visiting.”

She did not think that Mr. Cant would mind the interruption. As the minister of their own church, he knew her well. “Your daddie telt me I could come at any hour I wished to speak with him, and he would always listen, and I ken he’d never say a thing that was not true.”

Robin took her side, with a slight smile at her reasoning. “No, he would not.”

They found Captain Graeme and Mr. Cant in the front drawing room, with the old chess board between them. Both men looked up in some surprise at the sudden invasion, but neither complained.

Mr. Cant went so far as to reassure Robin they’d done him a favor. “You’ve given my bishop a welcome reprieve, for he’s in mortal peril.”

The captain winked. “Aye, and ye might see your way to remove him from that, Mr. Cant. I’ve spent half of my life now defending the rights of your flesh-and-blood bishops on battlefields, and it would pain me to harm this one.” He turned to Lily. “What’s this, then? Have ye brought me something to eat?”

Smiling encouragement, he nodded at the small basket she carried.

She wanted to tell him that it was her kitten. She wanted to tell him she’d come here to speak with him. No words came. She could do no more than stare at his chair, for it was the same chair where she’d sat with her father, that last evening here in this chamber.

Captain Graeme, somehow, understood. “Would ye like to sit here, Lily?”

She nodded.

Rising, he pulled up another chair, close to the table, and gallantly waited while she sat before he did likewise.

She felt the smooth curve of the wood of the chair, with its tapestried cushion and woven cane back, and it felt like the warmth of her father enfolding her, giving her strength.