“Not that I am aware of, though I assure you that I know very little about Ewan’s private affairs,” Lord Niall replied. “He has always been curiously reserved, hard as nails in some things and soft hearted as a woman in others. Look at last night – how, despite my express instructions, he had food and drink taken to the prisoner. A ridiculous gesture, but he made it, I believe, to please that red-headed chit because she said the fellow had befriended her.”
There was a sudden silence.
“Do you think it was to please her?” Beatrice asked slowly.
“As like as not,” Lord Niall said. “Did you not notice the way Ewan looked at her at dinner when she sat there dumb as a dog, white-faced and on the verge of tears? The man means a great deal to her, that’s obvious, and I know, as surely as I know
