To add to her woes, she realised by the excruciating stinging of her wrists that they had been bound with rough rope, which was chafing her skin away.
She lay for some moments, trying to remember what had happened, but she could only summon a hazy recollection of a bearded man’s face leering down at her. Eliza made an attemptto wrestle the rope off her wrists, but gave up after a few moments because it was so acutely painful that she could not soothe the throbbing agony, which persisted long after she had given up.
Eliza sighed, and with a heroic effort involving much twisting and turning, she eventually managed to sit up on the hard floor, despite the rocking and rattling of the carriage. It was slippery with rainwater that was seeping through the roof. Her head was spinning, and she took a moment to adjust her balance before making an attempt to climb up on the seat, which had a little padding and would give her a modicum of comfort.
Eliza braced her bound hands on the floor and tried to force herself upwards, but it was hopeless. She managed to raise herself a few inches off the floor, but the effort was too much, and she flopped down again.
The noise of the thunder was gradually dying away, but the carriage was obviously moving over some rougher ground and Eliza was being jolted up, down and sideways. This was causing her head to thump against the floor, adding a headache to her misery.
Eliza tried again to free her hands, but all she achieved was such piercing agony that tears began to leak uncontrollably from her already sore eyes. She tried to conjure up some happy thoughts, as her mother had always taught her to do when she was feeling sad or trapped.
However, all she could think of was Duncan’s smile as he pulled her into his arms after they had made love, but rather than feeling joyful, she sank into a pit of despair. She was leaving Lennoxburn, he had no feelings for her, but she would likely never see him again. He was the love of her life, yet not every love story had a happy ending, and it seemed that hers would be one of the unlucky ones.
Still, she consoled herself, at least she was not one of those women who would go through life never having experienced the joy that love and a man’s body could bring. Whenever she was lonely, she could unpack the thrilling sensations which Duncan had bestowed on her and relive them, and no one could ever take those memories away from her.
She had just pictured Duncan’s face again when the carriage jerked to a halt, and she let out a squeal of fright. Heavy footsteps sounded outside, and a moment later the door was wrenched open, and two men stood leering down at her, laughing.
Eliza stiffened in fear. Duncan had warned her about three men, and two of them were here in front of her. She remembered what he had said about them,
Robert Kincaid, tall, fat, and full of his own importance, and Kenneth Armstrong, whom I loathe with every fibre of my being.
“Well, look who’s awake!” Kincaid said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in an expression of greedy delight.
“I have to give you credit, though,” Armstrong conceded. “You might be a troublesome wee thing, but you put up a good fight. I must say I would not have thought you had it in you—you look so delicate.”
“Aye,” Kincaid stroked his red beard thoughtfully. “It really is a pity we have to do this, Kenny. Look at those lovely bre?—”
“Enough, Robbie!” Armstrong snapped. “I know what you are thinking, but we have no time for any of that, not if we want to carry out our plan. This is not a game. The future of the clan rests on it, and we are not sacrificing everything because you want to have a bit of… fun!” He gave his cohort a meaningful frown.
While he was speaking, Armstrong had withdrawn a small glass phial from his pocket, and suddenly Eliza realised whatwas going to happen to her. A bolt of sheer terror shot through her, and she let out a piercing scream for help, but Kincaid clamped a hand over her mouth with one hand and pinned her down with the other.
“Don’t waste your breath, My Lady Sassenach,” he warned her. “We are miles from anywhere, and nobody can hear you scream.”
Eliza managed to force out one word. “Why?”
“Because our family has borne the taint of English blood for too long,” Armstrong said, his voice throbbing with rage. “But we are going to put a stop to that. Once you are out of the way, Duncan will come to his senses. If he does not… well, there is plenty of space for a grave at Lennoxburn. Now stay still. This will not be painful unless you make it so.”
Eliza tried to struggle, but she was only one little woman against two big men—it was hopeless. She clamped her lips shut, but it took little effort for Kincaid to grab her jaw and force her mouth open. The poison flowed into her mouth, despite her trying to spit it out, and the two men smiled down at her with smug satisfaction as they watched her.
“Relax and go to sleep now,” Armstrong said soothingly. “I promise you will not feel a thing when the horse tramples you. You are such a poor rider that everybody will think it was an unfortunate accident.”
The two men burst out laughing, but Eliza hardly heard them as her eyes closed and darkness began to creep over her. In the last few seconds of consciousness, she saw Duncan smiling at her.
Duncan wanted to see Iona off in her carriage, despite the thunderstorm that was roaring overhead. It was not because he was worried that she would think him ill-mannered if he did not say goodbye, but because he wanted to make sure that she had really left.
The journey to her mansion would be cold, wet, and miserable, but that suited him just fine.Let her suffer,he thought bitterly.I cannot wait to be rid of her.
He wanted to see Iona climbing into the carriage and depart from his life forever, but he had to go to find Eliza first, she was his priority. Therefore, he had to trust that she would see herself out of the castle. However, he knew that she had to pack the half dozen trunks she had brought with her, and the storm would hold her back.
Iona was absolutely furious at having been dismissed in such a manner, but she had the satisfaction of knowing that she had ended any relationship between Duncan and Eliza. She smiled to herself as she went to instruct her maid to pack her luggage.
Mission accomplished,she thought smugly.
Duncan left the study and slammed his way through the castle, thrusting aside anyone who got in his way, guards, servants, even the housekeeper. He ran to Eliza’s chamber, desperate to speak to her and explain that he had not been the one to initiate the kiss. He had expected to find her packing her trunks, and knew that since this would take some time, he could sit her down and reason with her.
However, the room was empty, and although Eliza was not there, most of her clothes were strewn all over the bed, the floor, and the rest of the furniture. The place was in such chaos that it seemed as though the thunderstorm had somehow found its way inside and done its worst.
Duncan looked around, puzzled. Why had Eliza left her room in this state? She had accumulated many clothes since herarrival, but why had she treated them in this disrespectful way? He looked down at an evening dress he had bought for her so that they could attend a ceilidh in a friend’s mansion. It was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, torn and dirty.
