“Ye canna be serious.” Eoin’s expression was aghast as he stared at this brother. “Nay one’s ceased clishmaclavering aboot how chivalrous ye were to help Allyson, but they’re also wondering what ye’ve been on aboot up here. How could any of them believe Mary is here instead?”
“Because they think the worst of me and dinna place any value on Ally.”
“I canna say that I’m surprised that they sent Mary’s clothes,” Eoin agreed. “After the way she threw herself at me in the garden, assuming I was you. She would have had me toss her skirts right there and then. I was just lucky you and Allyson found us rather than someone else.
Ewan and Eoin made their way to the Great Hall. The twins went to the base of the stairs, and Ewan beamed at Allyson as she descended. She’d combed her hair, and it lay across her back and shoulders like a glimmering halo, the candlelight illuminating the blond strands. When she reached the brothers, Ewan brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss against the back.
“Ye’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and a Gordon plaid has never looked better, mo aingeal. Ye look like one.”
“I don’t feel like one, unless it’s an avenging angel.” The trio turned to watch Lady Margaret approach. Ewan wrapped his arm around Allyson’s waist after she adjusted the arisaid to display the kirtle she wore beneath. She steeled herself for whatever her mother had to say, knowing it would likely humiliate her in front of Ewan. She felt his arm tense around her and realized he was preparing for the inevitable too.
“Where have you been?” While Margaret kept her tone low, there was no missing the demand in her words. “Ewan, why is my daughter wearing your plaid? Has something transpired while I’ve been busy?”
“A great deal has trans—” Ewan didn’t finish before Mary cut him off.
“Why’re you wearing my gown?” Mary demanded.
Allyson didn’t flinch as she answered. “When Eoin requested a maid deliver dry clothes to Ewan in their chamber, the maid assumed it must have been for you. Your reputation made your clothes seem like an obvious choice. It’s not as though I could walk around naked once I left the chamber, so I had no choice but to put on your gown once we finished my bath. I wanted to wear Ewan’s plaid.”
Ewan waited for her mother to sound the alarm after she left little to anyone’s imagination.
“For hours? Unlikely. I can imagine what you’ve been up to.” Margaret’s sneer set Ewan’s nerves on edge. “I shall send Berta to see you this very night,” Margaret’s lip curled in disgust.
“Do as you must. But does it matter? Either I’m just as I was when I arrived, and there is naught to fash over, or I’m not and I must marry Ewan. One way or another, he and I will stand before the kirk in a few sennights.”
Ewan pushed Allyson behind him and put his hands on his hips.
“Are you questioning my honor, Lady Elliot?” Ewan’s ominous tone had Allyson pulling on his arm, but he didn’t budge.
“Not yours. My daughter’s. She seduced you.”
“You have the wrong lass. That was Mary who tried not Allyson. We talked. That’s all.” Eoin was the only person he would admit to that he’d done far more with Allyson than talk.
“Mary? Very well, Laird Elliot will amend the documents when they arrive from court,” Margaret gloated.
“I said tried. She offered herself to me more than once and even accosted Eoin, thinking he was me. Not very discriminating in her tastes.” Ewan leaned forward, his own sneer clear on his face. “I wouldn’t have any of your other daughters even if the king paid me. That you’d so gladly put Allyson aside only drives me to remove her from this keep and your family as soon as possible. The documents have already been signed. You can’t undo what the king decreed.”
“You’d rather take a fourth daughter of questionable morals than the oldest daughter who was married to a laird.”
“What is questionable about Allyson? She has a pristine reputation at court. Unlike two of your other daughters, she doesn’t offer herself to strangers. What if I prefer a virgin? Allyson’s the only one in the family who would pass.” Ewan didn’t wait for Margaret’s response.
He spun on his heels and practically dragged Allyson back outside. As though Mother Nature understood his need to get away, the rain ceased and the sun appeared. He stormed across the bailey to the stables with her in tow. Once they were inside, he came to a stop so abruptly that Allyson crashed into his side, and he had to catch her before she fell. “Wait a moment.”
Ewan offered no other explanation before striding to his horse’s stall and rapidly saddling his mount. He led the animal to Allyson and lifted her into the saddle once they were outside. He swung up behind her and spurred the steed toward the gate. Neither of them spoke until they were once more outside the keep’s wall. Ewan wrapped his arm around Allyson’s middle, holding her tightly against him as he spurred the horse into a gallop. He wasn’t sure where he would take them, but he headed west. After ten minutes of hard riding, he considered taking them to the Hermitage and Robert Bruce, the king’s son. He’d seen a priest there, and it tempted him to elope. He seethed at Margaret’s vulgar accusation. He might have been tempted to couple with Allyson, and she might have been a flirt at court, but he’d never questioned her virtue. That her mother would do so once again, and in front of anyone, let alone her daughter’s potential groom, was so outrageous that Ewan had to leave before he struck something or someone. He refused to leave Allyson behind to face her mother’s wrath, of which she would undoubtedly be the recipient. He’d caused the situation by keeping her in the tower for so long, and he’d only made it worse by losing his temper. After a wonderful afternoon with Allyson, her mother’s viperous tongue was more than he could overlook. He shifted Allyson’s hand that held a hank of mane, and placed it against her belly, then covered it with his own. He wove his fingers between hers as they continued to ride.
Allyson remained silent for as long as she could, but as the minutes dragged on, she feared Ewan might ride away with her for good. “Are you taking me all the way back to court?” She tried to infuse humor into her voice, but she suspected she failed.
“Nay, but I am considering the priest at the Hermitage.”
“What? Nay!”
“Have you decided then? You won’t marry me?”
“I won’t marry you without your brother there.”
“What does Eoin have to do with aught? Why do you want him there? Hoping the wrong one of us will await you at the kirk’s steps?” Ewan was aware his comments were uncalled for, but he had bile to spew, and he was being an arse for doing it at Allyson. She pushed his hand away before pulling on the reins, bringing the horse to a halt. She swung her leg over the saddle and turned to look at Ewan. She had a fleeting urge to slap him, but she refrained.
“No, I don’t want Eoin. And it angers me as much as my mother’s words angered you that you would even suggest such a thing. I was thinking of you. I’m positive you’d regret it for the rest of time if he wasn’t there. I don’t want you to live with regret for marrying me.” She glared at Ewan as she ground her teeth. “You do more than just insult me. I expect this from my mother. I don’t expect it from you.”
