“You cannot be serious.” Her jaw dropped.
“Oh, lass, but I am,” he explained. “Ye see, there’s a royal envoy waitin’ at me hall. They’ve been sent tae tie me tae another English woman. I’ve nae wish tae wed, at least nae fer true. If I arrive after bein’ away already wi’ a wife, the matter will die a quiet death.”
She blinked at him. “So, you are trying to avoid an unwanted marriage with an unwanted marriage?”
“Aye,” he shrugged. “But once the envoy leaves, I will send ye on yer way, wi’ coin and an escort back tae yer sister in England, if that’s what ye want.”
She stared at him in silence for a long moment, the wind playing with the loose strands of her hair. Her eyes bright with not only disbelief but also something similar to rage.
“You truly are out of your mind.”
“Perhaps,” he shrugged. “But it’ll keep ye alive, and it’ll keep me from refusin’ th’ Crown and havin’ a noose around me neck. Seems fair.”
“You cannot possibly think that anyone would believe that I married you of my own free will?”
He gave her a sidelong glance with humor in his eyes. “After watchin’ ye kick a man double yer size intae th’ mud, lass, I’d say marryin’ me would nae be too far-fetched fer those we ken ye tae believe.”
Her lips twitched into a smile that she could not seem to help. “You are quite impossible.”
“Aye,” he nodded, nudging the horse to move again. “But I keep me word. So, Lady Elsie Montgomery of Hertfordshire, what daeye say? Shall we make the world and the Crown believe ye are Lady MacLeod?”
She let out a deep sigh. “I don’t see where I have much choice.”
“Nae a choice worth takin’” He smiled.
CHAPTER FIVE
“You are mad.” Elsie said again after they had ridden in silence for a bit.
“So ye’ve said twice now,” Halvard replied keeping the horse’s pace steady as the sun set completely behind them.
“I truly mean it!” she insisted. “Pretending to be your wife in front of a royal envoy? That’s treason!”
“Only if ye get caught,” he replied with a wink. He actually winked at her, as if his proposal was a jest.
“You truly are insufferable.”
He swung easily out of the saddle and pulled her down alongside him. “Ye’ve said that twice at least now as well.” His expression was completely unreadable. “But if ye truly feel that way, ye best stay here, Lady Montgomery. I’ll inform th’ next pack of thieves tae keep their knives clean this time.”
Her mouth fell open. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He shrugged, jumping back in the saddle without her and reining the horse around. “It’s a long walk back tae Hertfordshire,” he said over his shoulder. “Will ye start now?”
Elsie froze. Halvard MacLeod may be a practical stranger, but she had learned enough about him in the last few hours to know he made no idle threat. The wind tugged at her hair, carrying the faint scent of the sea, and a promise of a cold night ahead. For one, wild moment, she thought of calling his bluff, but then she looked down at her torn skirts and her bare feet poking from underneath and her stomach went tight.
“Wait!” she called after him.
Blast it!
He was serious about leaving her. “I’ll do it.”
“Dae what?” He turned and cocked his brow.
“I’ll fake marry you,” she replied crossing her arms. “But it is preposterous, and if we are caught, I will claim you forced me.”
“I kent ye’d come tae yer senses.” A slow smile crept across his face, and Elsie felt her breath catch. If not for their circumstance, Halvard was quite something to look at when he smiled. In the waning light, she could not help but find his rugged hair rather handsome in the golden hour, as much as he was infuriating her.
“I haven’t,” she replied with an edge to her tone, defiant. “I’ve simply realized you’re much too thick to see any true reason.”
