“You are very welcome for my intervention,” he teased, hoping to encourage her smile.
She caught her breath instead. “And I do thank you, but the fact remains that he is angry and injured, which does not bode well for the future.” Her words were proof that she already understood much of her betrothed’s nature. “Even with our short acquaintance, I know he is the manner of man who will be vicious when he retaliates.” She shook her head, her grip tightening upon his arm. “I will have no peace until he is dead, I fear.”
“Does that mean you now trust my warning?”
She drew herself taller to his relief, appearing regal despite her bedraggled state. He took encouragement from that. “It means I wish to hear the fullness of your evidence against him. You were right in one matter—I have no desire to wed him.” She sneezed, then shivered violently.
Ramsay swept her up and placed her on the palfrey, disliking how she clutched the saddle, as if uncertain of her seat. “Are you unscathed, my lady?”
“Nay, but hale enough.” She strove to smile, as if she knew that might reassure him, but Ramsay saw tears gather in her eyes, then she sneezed again. He urged the horse toward the stream, knowing he had to ensure Evangeline was far away before Rufus returned.
This time, he would not fail her.
“Unfasten the kirtle and leave it behind,” he instructed. “We must make haste to escape.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“I told you we would be pursued…”
“Nay, about leaving my garments behind. That, Ramsay, is impossible.”
“There is naught impossible about it. Shed the kirtle,” Ramsay said again. “It is heavy beyond all, my lady, and we have no time to see it dried. The weight might make the difference between a successful escape and a failed one.” His voice hardened. “Leave it. I vow I will not look upon your chemise or take advantage of you.”
Her eyes flashed with a familiar fire that might have been more encouraging in other circumstance. “I will not!”
This was no time for modesty in Ramsay’s view. “My lady…”
Evangeline leaned down to chastise him, and Ramsay was relieved to see her spirit unquenched at least. Her gaze blazed into his own, leaving no doubt of her conviction. “If you believe that I will readily ensure that I have no kirtle to wear, that I will be naked at the encouragement of a renegade, you may think again.” She flung out a hand. “And what conclusion would be made, if my kirtle was found without me in it? They would know I had survived.”
That was a more salient point. “I meant to cast it into the river so it was lost.” He guided the horse across the stream to the far bank.
“It might be found. Nay, I must keep it.” She was resolute and Ramsay wondered that a woman could be so attached to her garb. “And what of Anna? I must collect her.”
“Anna?”
“My maid. I must fetch her.”
“Your loyalty is admirable, my lady, but you mustride.”
She met his gaze, her fear restored by his urgency and he cursed himself for his error. Her gaze flicked back to the other side of the river. “But I cannot leave her in that household alone and undefended,” she whispered.
“I will find her. Did she ride to hunt with you?”
Evangeline nodded. “She is unlikely to trust you.”
“Then I must convince her, and you, my lady, must ride.”
At a distant sound of pursuit she straightened like a doe hearing the hunter. “I must trust you to save her then,” she said, with less confidence he would do as much than Ramsay might have hoped.
“I see few other candidates for the task,” he felt compelled to note.
She smiled unexpectedly. “Aye, you speak aright.” Her voice softened. “Thank you, Ramsay. I will see you compensated for your efforts.”
The pledge, evidently meant to reassure him, rankled instead. Ramsay disliked the implication that he was a brigand with no honor, that he must be paid in hard coin for undertaking such a quest.
But then, she could not know his truth, for he had not confided it in her. He would repair that matter this very night—once they escaped.
She must have thought him skeptical in his silence, for she brushed her hand across his. “I promise it to you, Ramsay,” she said with quiet heat.
