“I fear I have been unable to defend you in this matter.”Calum shook his head.“It is most unjust, but then, such matters usually are.”He sighed.
“What is unjust, my lord?What matter?”
“The matter of the missing Templar prize, of course,” Calum admitted heavily.“You were right to tell them of what you saw, but they are not inclined to sense.It is Enguerrand’s conviction that Lady Leila must have had an accomplice.”
“But why?”
“How else could she sell the prize, knowing so little of Scotland and of Gaelic?”Calum shook his head.“Nay, by their thinking, she worked with another to ensure her success.They seek that accomplice now.”
Agnes paled and licked her lips.“Surely she might have made such an acquaintance on her journey north?”
“But someone must have hidden the treasure for her.How else could she fulfill her obligations of that day, as well as hide the treasure?And given her activities of the day, it must have been someone within the hall.”
“Must it have been, sir?”
“Of course!”He ticked off events on his fingers, watching the girl’s fear grow.“On her first morning here, Lady Leila broke her fast early at this very board, with Duncan.Iain saw them both, for he told me of their farewell when I rose.”
“Perhaps she gave it to Duncan.”
“Nay, Iain said Xavier packed provisions for him and that Duncan took naught else from the hall.”
Agnes sat down.
“Iain told me also that Lady Leila was subsequently with Xavier in the kitchens, reviewing inventories and making plans.She went then to the smithy, where she aided poor Nellie, and all the village knew of that.The rain was such that she could not have gone any farther without being in a more foul state.Then we two sat together, here by the fire, awaiting Fergus.”Calum shook his head.“Nay, if she is the culprit, she had an accomplice, and you can be certain that the accomplice will be the one to bear the burden of the blame.”
“What is this?”the girl cried.
“My son will hear no criticism of his lady wife!He believes her innocent.Nay, Agnes, the sole person who could have aided her in this hall, by Enguerrand’s reasoning, is you, and I wager that he will not be silent until he has seen you tortured and tried for the crime.”
The girl rose to her feet.“Me, sir?”
“You, Agnes.There is no other person who could have so aided Lady Leila.”He held her gaze for a moment, letting her see his conviction.“I fear for you, Agnes, which is why I tell you of this.”He dropped his voice to a whisper.“Is there a place you might find sanctuary?For once the Templars return to the hall, your fate will be sealed, and even I will not be able to speak for you.”
Agnes surveyed the hall, her panic clear.“Dunnisbrae,” she whispered.“My brother is there.”
“Then flee, Agnes,” Calum advised.“Flee now while there is a chance.It will not endure long, so do not delay.”
“I will not, my lord.Thank you for this!”She kissed his hand, then walked quickly from the hall.Calum sat back in his chair, not doubting that she broke into a run as soon as she was out of sight.
He wondered how much she would steal on her departure and could not help but think that any loss was worth the price of being rid of Agnes and her schemes.
Leila could not believethat Fergus had convinced the Templars to take her side.She stood at the window of the solar with him, the same one from which she had watched Agnes visit her prize.
Fergus was at the opposite window, both of them ensuring that they remained out of the light.“My father has done as he suggested.She is running to the stables.”
“But she has no horse.”
“Hamish thinks Stephen is her lover.”
That would explain the girl’s scent.Leila gripped the sill, watching.She had a glimpse of Enguerrand and one of Yvan.The pair had separated in the forest and their mail had shone briefly in the sunlight.She guessed that they had both closed their cloaks for she could not see them any longer.There was no motion below at all.
Fergus muttered a curse.“And so she steals one of my palfreys,” he muttered.“I suppose I should not be surprised.”
Leila turned to him as the sound of the hoof beats echoed in the village.“Will she go to back to Dunnisbrae?”she asked and he shrugged.
“I do not care where she goes, so long as the reliquary remains safe and we are rid of her.”He came to Leila’s side and they watched together.Soon enough, Agnes and a palfrey came into view.She had arrived so quickly that she could not have stopped at the hut of Hamish’s aunt and uncle, even if she had divined the new location of the reliquary.She hesitated at the point where the road curved toward the forest.
“Let us send her on her way,” Fergus muttered.“Wherever she is going.”He leaned out the window then, pointing at her.“There!”he cried.“There is the thief!”
