Excerpt from A Bachelor No More, Book 1

in the Quest for the Shroud series,

the continuing adventures of the Avalon Society from

the Lords of Avalon series.

These are both new characters, that were never introduced in the Lords of Avalon series. However, they a re both very important to the Quest for the Shroud series.

 

Kilrea Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, Early in May 1835

It had been three years since he had buried his brother, William. Finlay was never meant to be the Earl of Dunloy, but had been since William met his end. He’d done a damned fine job of it too, if he didn’t say so himself. He’d improved the Castle, overseen the modernization his father, Patrick, had oft spoken of doing. The MacDonnell people in this part of County Antrim now thrived. The farming, the livestock, all had been improved upon. His father would be proud of what Fin had accomplished in a short three years. He knew it. He’d done a better job than William, he knew that too. For his brother hadn’t the drive or the ambition to change anything. Most importantly, William had preferred his drink, whores, and gambling over any estate business.

William had never taken the ancient Oath of the MacDonnell as seriously as Fin and his father had either. It was the fault of William’s obvious weaknesses that Fin was now preparing to leave Kilrea for God only knew how long. He hoped like hell it was not forever!

And it was William’s fault too, that across the North Channel, Jamie MacEwen was in danger also. Fin and Jamie, had become good friends in the five years they’d corresponded since Patrick MacDonnell had passed. They were of an age, and spoke of many things other than their inherited tasks in their letters. Though he’d never set eyes on the man, as yet, Fin thought of Jamie as a good friend. They had many shared interests. Fin had sent a letter off to Jamie first thing upon discovering that someone, probably more than one someone, knew about the MacDonnell/MacEwen secret and was asking questions. Questions they should not have known enough to ask.  

It wasn’t that William MacDonnell’s love of the ladies had caused this predicament precisely, rather that he’d blabbed about the Oath and the MacDonnell secrets, a boast of sorts, to at least one lass while either in his cups, or in the heat of passion. Hell, it was probably both. 

It was when William’s last known paramour, a particular Scottish beauty, who visited family in Antrim and had spent time with his brother when in Ireland, called upon Fin at Kilrea almost one week ago and started asking about the MacDonnell secrets that Fin realized how careless William had been. He wondered now if William’s death might have been more than the accident it had seemed to be. Sure, a highly inebriated man could fall from his horse, hit his head upon a rock and die, but Fin guessed the Scottish beauty was dangerous. He knew, for certain, that she was after the secrets secured and safely hidden by the MacDonnells for centuries, and more than likely those of the MacEwens at Dunrostan. She might have had a hand in William’s death as well.  

She had tried her best to seduce Fin that day, but he was known to be a much more clever man than his brother was, and he was certainly smarter than a woman with manipulation in the way of seduction on her mind. Without arousing her suspicions, he’d escaped her greedy clutches that afternoon by claiming he was quite busy preparing to leave for a business trip to the Continent in a few days.  

Finding out that he would be gone from Ireland a month entire, she promised she would return to Antrim then. He said he’d send word when he arrived home and that she should come immediately upon receipt of his missive. Oh, Fin could talk a good game, and rake was a part he played well. He did. Sure, he’d practically mastered being a rake before he took up the title of Earl. He was well schooled in the seduction of women. He’d pressed a few strategically placed, soft, warm kisses upon her person, let his fingers wander about her bodice a bit, and whispered a few sweet lies into her ear that hinted of the sensual delights that would await her upon her return to Kilrea.

“Come, lass. Stay a week with me then. Can you manage that? There’s a fine cottage on the grounds where we’ll not be disturbed. I assure you, you’ll not regret a moment of it,” he’d told her. He could lie with the best of them – especially to women of that ilk. He did not like women who lied and he detested those who used their bodies for their own personal gain. An honest prostitute with no alternatives, who earned her bread on her back, he could appreciate, but a scheming Lady, full of lies and deceit, was about as useful to him as a thief was. Then there was the fact that this particular Lady had more than likely had a hand in the murder of his brother. It was possible William fell from his horse, but not likely, the more he pondered over it. It was mid-day when William was found, after all. Fin remembered his brother seeming to be as sober as he ever was that particular morn at breakfast.  

The first thing Fin had done after he sent the seductress on her way, (after having a bit of a wash in the basin, of course) was to check the hiding place to relieve his mind that the MacDonnell secret was still safe. He’d had to reassure himself that William hadn’t been so foolish as to show the woman the location of the actual goods. He’d promptly moved it to a new location for assurance. Of course, he’d checked the MacDonnell treasure first thing after William died too, but the woman calling at Kilrea three years after his brother’s death had raised his suspicions and set the hairs on the back of his neck to prickling. In his experience, that was always a sure sign that trouble was on its way. The last few days he’d spent getting everything in order at Kilrea, so he could leave for an indefinite period of time. And of course, he was taking the MacDonnell secret along with him.

The woman would be back and when she realized he had done such a fine job of lying to her, she and whoever she was partnered with, he had no doubt someone else was involved for why would she wait three years to pay him a visit, would search Kilrea if they had the chance. Good luck to them, for he had taken on a large body of well-armed men to protect his home while he was away. Then of course, the very capable Mr. Clancy would be in charge in his absence.   

In order to protect the family secret and himself, Finlay MacDonnell, and that entrusted to him by his father and their ancestors before them, needed to disappear for a time. At least until he was certain it was safe to return. He needed to make certain Jamie MacEwen of Argyll and the MacEwen half of the secret were safe also.  

Fin turned to look upon Kilrea Castle one last time before the carriage passed through the Barbican Gate. The gate looked to be medieval, yet the Barbican, made of course rubble and red ashlar sandstone, was built the decade prior at the behest of his father. As Castle Street led right up to the bridge that crossed the river, and then became the drive to Kilrea, the large gothic edifice and connecting wall gave the MacDonnells much needed privacy. For directly across the river, Castle Street cut through the village. Though Kilrea Castle, was no longer a castle, but a house rebuilt in the eighteenth century, a castle had stood on the spot since twelve hundred and forty-seven. Prior to Kilrea, the MacDonnells had lived in the big castle, at Lower Dunluce. Dunluce was a ruin now, since sixteen hundred and forty-two, though it stood upon the cliff top like a sentinel looking out over the sea.

As the carriage rolled across the bridge, before his thoughts settled upon the next stage of his plan, he said a silent prayer that he would be able to return home soon.

 

Dunrostan Castle, Knapdale, Argyll, Scotland, Mid-May 1835

Jamie MacEwen retreated to the study, closed the door, and opened the letter that had just arrived from Ireland. It was from Finlay MacDonnell. Correspondance had regularly been exchanged between them since Fin’s father, the Earl of Dunloy, passed.  

Dear friend,

I fear the time we have long feared would come, has indeed arrived. I am removing from Kilrea because a former lady friend of William’s (you know the kind of woman she was, for I’ve oft described William’s exploits to you) visited and inquired about the secret. Her curiosity was more than mild. She was willing to seduce me to get her information. I sent her off with her desires unfulfilled and a promise of a future tryst upon my return from the ‘Continent’. I must surmise that William must have spoken of the Oath and the reasons behind it at some point in his dealings with this person. No doubt, he was in his cups, (for he nearly always was) and it would be my guess she coaxed him to tell of it while he had her on her back! Why she has waited until now to come to me, I cannot guess.

I wanted to come straight to Dunrostan to see for myself that you are hale and whole. Alas, though I have been careful and not noticed a thing out of the ordinary these weeks leading up to and the days following my suspicious visitor, I must accept that there is the possibility that I might have been being watched before this person arrived, as well as after. Therefore, I must abide by the agreement and the rules of the Oath made by our families. You must take your leave, for if this woman knew of the MacDonnell secret, chances are William told her about you as well. As our ancestors before us decreed, we both must take to hiding in our safe places, and we will meet in three months time at the appointed rendezvous point, on the fifteenth day of the month.

I pray that you are safe and remain so until we meet. 

 

Your friend and partner,

Fin

“I can’t believe it. It has happened,” Jamie spoke aloud to no one. Only once in these five hundred years since the MacDonnells and MacEwens made their pact had the families had to flee for safety and make a rendezvous. In 1657, the families had reason to believe they were being watched, but in the end, it had amounted to nothing. A scare they had called it. In six months, they had returned to their normal lives.

Jamie numbly reached for the bell pull. Duncan must be summoned so that preparations could be made to leave Dunrostan at once. Fin’s letter was dated almost one week ago.

 

“There will be no argument, Duncan. You know as well as I, that this is how it must be.”

“If your father were here-”

“He is not,” Jamie interrupted the faithful butler. “So I must go alone. You must stay and protect our interests here at Dunrostan while I am gone. I will be back.”

There was so much determination in Jamie’s golden eyes and such conviction in the words spoken that Duncan was reminded of the late Earl of Dunrostan. Duncan had sworn to Alexander MacEwen before his death that he would do his part in this if the occasion should arise, and it had. As hard as it was, he resigned himself to the fact that he could not serve as Jamie’s protector during this time.

“You will be back. I will see you soon.” With a firm nod, the loyal butler stepped back and closed the carriage door. It was the hardest thing he had done since the old Earl passed and they put him into the ground. He stood and watched the carriage until it was out of sight, all the while praying for the safety of Jamie MacEwen’s person, and even that of the Irishman named Fin MacDonnell.