“We may have to shelter in a field tonight. Actually I should prefer it.”
“Aye, I would too,” she agreed. “We can purchase food at the inn we stayed at last night, but let us ride on beyond it. We should be able to make Brest by nightfall tomorrow. Perhaps even in time for the evening tide. The sooner we reach Scotland, the better I will feel. I heard the sailors aboard theGazellespeaking of how, now that the summer is just about gone, the weather at sea can be difficult. That one storm we suffered the night before we landed was enough for me. Where were you?”
“Playing chess with the captain,” he said. “The game kept getting interrupted because now and again he was needed on deck,” Angus explained.
“Master Hamilton sat up most of the night listening to the retching and howling of prayers from the father and son next door,” she told him.
“Ye’ve been so brave,” he told her admiringly. “Following after me not just across Scotland, but sailing on theGazelledisguised as a lad.”
“As a lass my face is so plain as to cause sympathy, but as a lad no one gave me a second glance,” Annabella said, chuckling. “Dinna be angry at me, Angus, for I fear once we reach the safety of Duin yer relief will turn to anger. Never before did I sense danger for another, but when ye said ye were returning to France, I felt it then. I just couldna let ye go alone. Men do not, I know, like to believe they are vulnerable, but I should not have remained behind had yer brother tied me to a stake, Angus. I would hae chewed the ropes until I was free, and gone after ye,” she declared vehemently.
“I believe ye,” he said quietly. “I hae come to love ye as I never loved another, Annabella. We hae forged a strong bond of passion between us.”
She felt the tears filling her soft gray eyes. “Aye, Angus, we have indeed,” she agreed with him. “Will ye forgie me for disobeying ye?”
“Ye saved my life,” he said. “How can I fault that? And yer judgment today was invaluable to me. Thank ye.”
“I must return to the ship as Master Hamilton,” she told him.
He laughed. “I heard the tale ye wove for the captain. What will ye tell him now?” He moved his mount closer to her.
“I shall say I found my master carousing in a tavern wi’ the innkeeper’s buxom daughter, who hae become his mistressandis wi’ bairn. That he hae promised her marriage, according to the gossips in the marketplace near the inn. Of course I dinna allow him to see me, and having learned what I needed to know for my mistress, I am returning as quickly as I can to her.”
The earl chuckled. “Ye hae a talent, madam, for telling tall tales. Should I hae cause for concern?” he teased her.
“Angus!” Her tone was aggrieved, but she was smiling.
They rode on the rest of the afternoon, stopping at twilight at the inn where they had stayed the night before. They ate a hot meal rather than take the food with them. Then, as there was still some light left, they rode out once again. A full moon rose, and so they rode on until finally the earl called a stop to their travels. The horses were turned out into the field bordering the road to rest and graze. Annabella and her husband curled up together near a cairn of stones.
When the skies began to lighten they awoke to find themselves surrounded by a silvery gray mist that hung in and over the fields and the trees. They could see the outline of their horses. Angus went to fetch them. Annabella noticed that even the birds were silent in this magical environment that had sprung up around them. Saddling their beasts, they rode on toward Brest, stopping at a small roadside hostelry at noonday to fill their empty bellies with hot food and good wine.
By late afternoon they had reached Brest and rode first to the livery stables to return their mounts. Then they walked through the foggy streets to the stone quay where theGazellebobbed in the water at anchor. They were greeted by the captain.
“Excellent!” he said. “We’ll make the tide in another hour. ’Tis early today. If ye had not come until later, we could not hae left until tomorrow. Master Hamilton, is that ye? Hae ye accomplished yer mission for yer mistress then, lad?”
“I hae,” Annabella replied. “ ’Twas nae difficult.” And then she recited to the captain just what she had told Angus earlier that she would say.
The captain laughed heartily, for there was nothing a sailor loved better than his beer and good gossip. “Ye’ll nae mind sharing yer cabin again wi’ His Lordship, will ye?” he asked. “The smaller cabin is occupied by a Scots merchant and his wife going home.”
“I found the earl a most considerate traveler,” Annabella said. “I hope he found me the same. I am happy to share wi’ him.”
“Good! Good! Then ye both know the way,” the captain said.
Annabella drew the fare she had paid last time from a small purse beneath her shirt and offered it to the captain. He pocketed it with a nod. “Thank ye, Master Hamilton,” he said to her. She moved quickly away, now seeking the security of the cabin. The fog was growing thicker, and she honestly didn’t see how they could get under way at the turning of the tide without a wind to encourage the sails. Oddly, however, there was enough of a breeze despite the gauzelike mist. They managed to get down the river and into the open sea, where the wind began to blow a bit stronger.
By the time Angus reached the cabin Annabella was fast asleep. He let her rest, for the past few days had to have been difficult for her, even if she did not complain. In the morning they found the fog gone, but the skies overhead were a washed-out blue, almost white. The pale sun was a smudge above the vessel. The wind began to freshen, and two days later was blowing strongly.
“We’re racing ahead of a fine storm,” the cabin boy told Annabella. “We’ll be to Leith several days ahead of schedule if these breezes keep up. Ye’re lucky, for ye’ll be home before ye know it. Unless, of course, the wind drops.”
“And if it does?” Annabella asked him.
“We’ll find ourselves in the midst of that fine storm for several days,” he said sanguinely. “But I think luck is wi’ us, Master Hamilton.”
TheGazelleentered the Firth of Forth seven days later, just as night fell. Their voyage had been three days shorter than they had anticipated. The ship docked. The merchant and his wife hurried down the gangway and into the dim street. Annabella disembarked as quickly, heading for the Mermaid, where she and Angus were to meet. She had not seen Angus leave the ship, but he was already awaiting. Taking her arm, he led her to a private room in the rear of the inn, where there was a fine supper already laid out for them, and off the supper room she saw a bedchamber with a large, comfortable-looking bed.
“We’re remaining the night?” she asked him.
“Aye. ’Tis too dark for us to go, but we’ll leave at first light. Unpin yer braid, sweetheart,” he said to her. “If anyone is looking for me they won’t expect a man and a woman traveling together, but rather will be seeking just a single rider.”
