The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber Page A

have to answer Alana’s question. To me,
     the real quandary was not whether I was being taken seriously, but whether I was being
     taken seriously as an assistant, or as a suspect.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    I managed to make it down the terrace steps and out of the earshot of anyone listening
     from the castle before rounding on Mr. Gage.
    “What ungodly whim possessed you to tell my sister about my head injury?”
    He threw up his hands in defense and paced a step away, his midnight-blue frock coat
     bunching at the shoulders. “She overheard me telling her husband,” he defended, nodding
     at Philip.
    My brother-in-law was frowning at the ground, his shoulders slouched forward, and
     I wondered again how fierce the argument between he and my sister had been that morning
     over the issue of the Westlocks.
    “Well now, it wasn’t very intelligent of you to hold such a conversation where Alana
     might overhear it,” I scolded Gage, irritated that his carelessness had not only caused
     my sister distress but also stirred up a fight between her and her husband.
    “How was I to know Lady Cromarty had permission to enter his lordship’s study despite
     the fact that the door was closed?” he remarked dryly.
    I glanced at Philip out of the corner of my eye in time to see the tick on one side
     of his jaw. So the Westlocks’ continued presence at Gairloch was not the only dispute
     they had quarreled over this morning. Under the circumstances, I was impressed by
     my brother-in-law’s discretion. Had the situation been reversed, I was certain Alana
     would have embarrassed Philip by retorting that he, in fact, did
not
have permission to enter her study at all times, as I knew she did not have consent
     to do so in this instance. However, Philip kept his mouth clamped tightly in a line
     and his gaze on the wet grass at our feet.
    At barely nine in the morning, the Highland sun had not yet burned away the dew and
     lingering dampness of the night. I was grateful for the snug wrapping of my new walking
     boots. My slippers would have been soaked through a mere ten steps from the stone
     terrace.
    Philip guided me across the stretch of lawn lying between the maze and the gardens
     proper. It was there that his wolfhounds liked to run and play with him and his seven-year-old
     son, Malcolm. Alana and I enjoyed watching their antics from the terrace, allowing
     them to mistakenly believe their laughter and voices did not carry so far. But laughter
     did not ring here today, only heavy silence. Even the birds seemed to have quieted
     their songs.
    Tension coursed through Philip’s body and into the stiff arm pressed against my own.
     Though I could do nothing about his unease over our current task, I could relieve
     him on one point. I squeezed his arm with my own. “She won’t do anything foolish,”
     I murmured when he glanced down at me.
    The tightness around his brown eyes eased a fraction, even if the tautness of his
     mouth did not. He nodded once, telling me he understood what I was referring to. Alana
     wouldn’t do anything rash. At least for the moment.
    The entrance to the maze suddenly loomed before us, sending an unexpected quiver down
     my spine. I took a steadying breath as Philip addressed the footman he had stationed
     at the entrance to prevent anyone from entering. I wondered if he and Gage felt the
     same sick swirling in their stomachs at the prospect of revisiting the site of such
     a gruesome crime. Gage in particular seemed remarkably calm and unruffled. However,
     I suspected he was just better at hiding his emotions. Philip pulled my arm in tighter
     to his side and stepped inside the labyrinth. Gage followed close behind.
    The maze was tucked into a corner of the wide cleared lawn on the eastern side of
     the castle. Forest bordered the maze on two sides, its tall trees stretching their
     long limbs over the hedges. In spring and summer, when the trees were lush and in
     bloom, they spread a canopy over