“Ye may be upsetting yerself for naught, good dame,” the earl said in a kinder tone. “It is our wedding day, and she may have been unable to sleep. Go to Mistress Hamilton and see if Arabella Grey is wi’ her. If she is nae there, then ask in the hall if any have seen her this morn.”
Flora scurried off, to return several breathless minutes later. “Mistress Hamilton says she has nae seen Lady Arabella since last night, and no one else has seen her either, my lord,” the serving woman reported. “Mistress Hamilton, however, says that the lassie showed an interest in the postern gate while they were walking about the courtyard yesterday.”
“The postern gate?” the earl inquired.
“The servants use it to slip in and out unnoticed when they want to meet wi’ a lover,” Calum said dryly with a knowing grin.
“Jesu!”The oath exploded from the earl’s mouth, and then he turned to the cringing Flora. “Run to the stables, woman, and have them saddle the gray stallion! I’ll be in the courtyard in five minutes! Calum, help me dress, damnit!”
Flora flew from the earl’s apartments as if she were being pursued by a pack of wolves. Once in the stables, she urged the groom to speed. By the time the earl came down the main staircase of his dwelling, Flora was waiting, holding his horse herself. “Watch says a servant girl left by the postern gate no more than a half an hour ago, my lord. No one else has left this morning.”
“Which direction was she headed in?” he demanded, already knowing the answer.
“South, my lord,” Flora answered with predictability.
The earl vaulted into his saddle and turned the horse about, pushing him into an instant canter as he headed out across his drawbridge. “Tell Father Colin to be ready to perform the marriage the moment we return,” he called back to the woman.
“Dinna be harsh wi’ her, my lord,” Flora cried after him. “She’s but a little lass.”
The earl grimaced at her words and muttered beneath his breath. “She may be wee, but she’s given me more trouble than any six females, I’ll vow. She’ll nae be an easy wife, I’m thinking.” His horse’s hooves now hit the hard dirt road, turning south as his master urged him onward. The earl’s plaid began to blow in the morning breeze.
It was Arabella’s bad fortune that she was crossing a relatively flat stretch of ground when the earl finally caught her in his sight some long minutes later. Although she had heard him coming, there was simply nowhere for her to hide, and she sincerely wished she might be a bird so that she could fly away. For a brief moment she considered that it might not be him. Hesitantly she turned about to look at the horseman who was fast closing the distance between them. She had known him but three days, but she recognized him immediately, even imagining the grim expression upon the face that she could not yet see plainly. Heart pounding, Arabella began to run, but her legs suddenly felt leaden in her fear. He would surely kill her!
Tavis Stewart almost laughed aloud, seeing her pick up her skirts to flee him. Then he considered that she had made a fool of him, promising to marry him and all the while planning her escape. He kicked his stallion into a steady gallop, and when he was abreast of his quarry, he leaned from his horse and, lifting her up, threw her none too gently facedown over his saddle before him.
“Let me go!” Arabella shrieked furiously, kicking and squirming.
Angrily the earl brought his hand down upon her wriggling backside. “Madame!” he roared. “I have had all I will take of yer duplicity! Be silent now, or as God is my judge, I will strangle ye!”
The blow shocked Arabella more than it hurt her, for her clothing took the brunt of the smack. Its effect, however, was to startle her into silence, and she lay quietly, albeit uncomfortably, as he returned them the short distance to Dunmor Castle. As they clattered over the drawbridge, the men-at-arms broke into laughter at the sight of the English girl slung so rudely over their master’s saddle.
Stopping his mount in the courtyard, the earl slid easily from the animal, turning to yank the girl off the horse. For a moment she reeled giddily as the blood rushed to her head, but then as the dizziness faded, Arabella swung on the earl with a furious fist. Anticipating her action this time, he ducked, and fingers fastening about the nape of her neck, he hustled her into the Great Hall, where Meg Hamilton, her brother Robert, and the earl’s brothers awaited.
“Sweet Mary!” whispered Meg to her Gavin. “They look as if they would kill each other.”
“‘Tis a mistake, I tell ye, but he’ll nae listen to anyone,” muttered Donald Fleming darkly.
“Shut yer mouth!” hissed Gavin as the earl pushed Arabella to the forefront of the little gathering.
“Perform the marriage ceremony, Colin,” the earl ordered his youngest brother.
“Nay, Tavis, I will not do it until ye and Arabella have both cooled yer tempers,” the priest said. “Yer to go to opposite ends of the hall and calm yerselves. I will nae wed ye for at least an hour. Meg, keep Arabella company, and I will come to ye in a few minutes to hear yer confession, for marriage is a sacrament, and ye should enter into it honestly shriven.”
“Colin,” the earl growled warningly, but he stopped when the priest held up his hand.
“Be warned, Tavis, I serve God first, and man second,” Colin Fleming said quietly. “Now on yer knees, or I swear I will order yer excommunication, brother mine.”
Sudden laughter lit the earl’s eyes. He was not so filled with pride that he did not see the humor of the situation. He wasthe Stewart of Dunmor,the head of his entire family. Even his stepfather deferred to his judgment, yet here he was, in the twinkling of an eye, made painfully aware of his own mortality, and by his little brother to boot. Tavis Stewart knelt meekly before the priest.
At the other end of the hall Arabella grumbled to Meg about the earl’s high-handed treatment, and Meg, somewhat astounded by the English girl’s ferocious anger, listened quietly. Colin came, and in his capacity as a priest spoke with Arabella, hearing her confession, but failing to cool her anger. Finally the hour was up, and the priest led the English girl back down the hall to where the earl awaited her.
“Perform the marriage ceremony now, Colin,” the earl said, repeating his words of an hour before.
“Am I to be wed likethis?”Arabella demanded, outraged. “In these rags?”
“I’ll nae let ye out of my sight again until we’re man and wife,” Tavis Stewart said grimly, feeling his own anger beginning to rise once more. “If it would please ye, however, I’ll hae Flora bring yer wedding gown, and ye can change here in the hall.”
Her green eyes narrowed dangerously. “I will never wear that accurst garment again!” she said vehemently. “But neither will I wed ye dressed like this!”
