‘You know him?’
‘Aye. Glendenning is one of my bitterest enemies. I cannot stand the man.’
‘Finally, something we can agree on.’ She flashed a little smile like the sun bursting from a cloudy sky. ‘Why are you enemies?’ she said.
‘There was a fight, and he stole land from Clan Strachan, prime farming land at Liddesdale, up the glen not far from here. But that is not important now. So, Cecily, faced with the prospect of Glendenning, you decided to run away with Edmund to a new life as his wife.’
‘But then I got suspicious when he said we would not be married right away and needed to spend the night at Rascals Inn. I had heard of it and knew it was a place of ill repute. Do you know of it?’
‘I have visited from time to time, and it was no place for someone like you.’
‘Like me?’
‘Aye, you being delicately raised and such. So what happened when you refused to go there?’
‘Well, then he got nasty and started to hurt me, and he tried to make me…’ She looked down at her boots, and pity twisted his gut.
‘I have to tell you something that might wound you, lass, or help you,’ said Peyton. ‘Edmund lied.’
‘I know. He told me he couldn’t marry me, for he was already married.’ Cecily seemed to find her boots fascinating.
‘No, lass. It is worse. He was no merchant’s son. His name is, or was, Edmund Harclaw, son of Sir Henry Harclaw.’ Cecily’s head snapped up. ‘Lass, the man who tried to dishonour you was English nobility.’
She shook her head. ‘That cannot be.’
‘Did you not notice his fine clothes, the well-bred horse?’
‘He told me his father was rich.’ She swallowed back tears and twisted her hands together. ‘Are you saying he lied about everything, that he never had any regard for me at all?’ She gasped. ‘Could I have been more of a fool?’ Cecily began to shake. Peyton risked putting his hand upon hers, for he loathed what he was about to do, and in her distress, she let him.
‘I think he wanted you, Cecily, because you are so bonnie, but that was as far as his regard went. Now you must hear me, for we are in a good deal of trouble for despatching the evil Edmund.’
‘We?’
‘Aye. Eventually, Sir Henry will come looking for his lost son, and if he ever finds out what happened, we will both die for it.’
‘But I did nothing wrong.’
‘Nor did I. But lass, a woman can swing as high as a man on the gibbet, and what little I know of this Sir Henry, he is not a man to show mercy. It will be the end of both of us. Worse, he will wipe out Clan Strachan and Clan MacCreadie in a heartbeat.’
She stood. ‘But I am not part of this.’
‘The English will not see it that way. Aye, you tempted Edmund to meet you on the moor. You could have been laying a trap for him. They will paint a pretty picture, and the King’s justice will be swift and bloody. Sir Henry will have the magistrate in his pocket. So you see, lass, you’re in a world of trouble. It is best you stay lost.’
Cecily had thought her predicament was dire – being in the clutches of her rescuer, at the mercy of a ruffian. But now it was so much worse than she imagined. She hesitated to ask, but she had to know her fate.
‘Are you saying I can’t go home?’
‘Not now.’ Peyton shook his head, and sadness softened his eyes. ‘Perhaps never.’
‘But I have to. My family will be looking for me.’
‘Did you tell them that you were meeting Edmund?’
‘No. I told no one.’
‘Do you think he told anyone? The mongrel was likely to brag about the beauty he had on a hook. Tell me the truth. Your life depends on it.’
‘I clearly had no idea what he was thinking or what he might have said. It seems he was a stranger to me. If he was married, perhaps he kept it to himself, not wanting his wife to find out.’
