If the bastard child had been a boy (as he had vaguely imagined, when
he thought of it at all), the problem might have been more easily
reconciled and acted upon, one way or the other. But a young woman,
and still more, a young woman who had evidently sparked some feeling
of affection in his son---the only person he cared for in the
world---this was far more complicated.
Sending his mistress to the floor with a savage kick, he bellowed for
his servants, ordered her dismissed, then sent for his son to learn
the particulars of the MacCain girl. He was a man of action, and
action would be taken.
One way or the other.
It was the widow Scott who woke them. A premonition of danger had come
to her, and whether real or imagined, she would take no chances so
long as her son remained a wanted man. She knocked on their door as
the mantle clock struck eleven, and asked them to dress quickly and
come out, that they might formulate precautions in the event that
mounted soldiers, or other unwanted strangers appeared at the house.
When the two emerged and sat down to breakfast, and again as they
moved to sit by the fire to hold counsel, the woman was struck by the
seriousness of both faces.
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