“And how much does that cost?” Catherine asked skeptically.
“Twenty pounds.”
“Twenty? Bluidy hell.”
“That’s why we must pray it works out with the three Masses.”
“Rab, I’m sure ye didna bring extra coins for such an expense. And I can already guess ye’ll refuse, but I willna listen. I have the twenty pounds squirreled away. I will pay for the license if it means we can marry legally.” Catherine paused. “If we marry at a monastery, we probably canna spend the night there. That means an inn. Should we have the village midwife and mayhap even Michael witness a bedding ceremony, so nay one can contest we’re actually married?”
“Nay. Absolutely nae. I am nae subjecting ye to that. I trust Michael nae to covet ye, and the midwife is probably auld enough to have delivered us both. But nay one is watching such a private moment. We can ask if we can spend the night at the monastery and show Michael the bedsheet the next morn.”
“I’d prefer that, but I’m willing to do aught we have to, so nay one can try to overturn our union.”
“I ken. Pray that it doesnae come to the inn, but I ken I canna totally refuse the idea yet.”
Catherine once again reclined against Rab. They fell into their usual companionable silence as they both considered the two looming scenarios. Eventually unable to remain quiet any longer, Rab asked Catherine, “Do ye think ye can escape court for the three Masses?”
“We dinna have much choice. I’m going to have to.” Catherine frowned and gave a long shrug. “I must find a way. It’s best if I could pack the most essential items I need, and we could leave on All Hallows Eve morn and nay return at all. But I doubt that’ll work. If I canna be away from court for at least those three days without causing a stir, then I will have to return after each Mass, until we are wed.”
They sat in silence again, both lost in thought as they tried to determine how best to execute their plan. Neither wanted to speak aloud the various things that could go wrong.
“Kitty, now that I can think more clearly aboot this, there is nay choice but for ye to return each day. Even if ye could somehow find an excuse to be away, the monastery willna let an unwed woman and an unwed mon traveling together, but arenae related, stay there. I canna take ye to an inn. It costs less than the marriage license, but we’d have to say we’re already married. If anyone at the inn hears the banns read, they’ll ken we’re lying.”
“I suppose that answers the question aboot us leaving on All Hallows Eve and nay returning, or at least nay coming back each day. But what do we do after we marry? Where do we go?”
“I dinna have an answer to that yet.” Rab gazed through the hayloft window as the stars continued to multiply in the ebony sky. “I dinna think it would be wise to go straight to Edinample, but we canna remain here or roam the countryside without a plan.”
“How will we tell yer father and mother? I canna even imagine trying to tell Óg or Mòr what we’ve done.”
“Neither can I, but we both kenned all along the time will come.”
“That doesnae make it any easier, does it?” Catherine smiled.
“Nay, it doesnae, but we will figure it out together. Always together.”
“Can we sleep on it and make the hard decisions in the morn or sometime tomorrow? We have two days before All Hallows Eve. Let me figure out a way to escape the queen’s attention for those three days.”
“Vera well. It’s better we think this through than do aught that’s rash.”
“Ye mean, aught that’s more rash than eloping?” Catherine nudged Rab with her shoulder.
“It isnae eloping when the banns are posted.” Rab grinned, feeling more lighthearted than he had for the past five minutes. “But promise me, ye willna let planning this distract ye from being vigilant aboot Dennis. I’m glad that I sorted things with Katherine and arranged for the banns, but I feel guilty that I left ye here while I dealt with ma past deeds.”
“I willna. I dinna think he will do aught while Dom is nearby, and I’m certain he’s terrified of Catriona. I watched him push three women aside to put distance between them.” Catherine grinned as she recalled watching Dennis stare over his shoulder as he veritably bolted from Catriona as they left Mass the morning before. “I look forward to when I can stand by yer side and ken I’m safe.”
“I pray that ye are, Kitty. I pray I’m nae endangering ye more than ye’ve ever been. Part of me fears I’m being incredibly selfish and foolish for wishing to marry ye, but I have felt so damnably incomplete for the past three years. I finally feel like I can breathe fully and think straight. I finally feel like I have purpose again.”
“I feel exactly the same. It scares me to imagine what Mòr will do when he finds out. I pray I’m nae sentencing ye to death, but I finally feel hope for the first time in three years. After Aveline and the girls—I didna want to feel hope. It seemed utterly pointless. I was doing what was expected of me, what I had to, to get by. With ye, I feel like I have a reason to truly live rather than barely exist.”
They inched closer until their bodies pressed together once more, their arms draped over each other’s waists, and their mouths joined them as one. The kiss drew out, neither in a hurry to end it. When they finally had no choice but to draw breath, their soft smiles matched.
“If I thought it could work, I would handfast with ye right this minute and announce it to all and sundry in the morn. But if we let anyone ken our plans, it means people will try to pull us apart even sooner.” Rab ran his hand over Catherine’s hip and backside in slow, broad circles. She found the sensation soothing and one she intended to have Rab create every night they laid together in their bed once they were safe at Edinample, or wherever they wound up.
“I thought aboot that, too, while ye were gone. If we canna marry in the church, then that’s what we will do. I ken Catriona would stand witness for us if we married by consent. Despite how things are between yer clans, it wouldnae surprise me if Dom and Emelie would bear witness too. With three people nae from either of our clans, it makes it hard to contest such a marriage once we consummate it.”
“It’s good to ken we have alternatives. We need to get to Dunblane those three morns.”
A clap of thunder warned of an impending storm neither expected. They scrambled to their feet, brushing the hay from their clothes and each other’s hair. They made it to the keep as the first drops fell.
