‘I’ve been called worse,’ said Peyton.
‘Not by her. Why would she say that?’
Lowri leaned back on the table and hoisted her bottom up onto it. She swung her legs back and forth like a bairn. ‘Nothing to say? No matter, for I got an earful of gossip from Selby once I came in. His tongue is as slack as his fat belly. He told me about Lorna and that blonde one brawling in the yard. I am amazed Lorna had it in her. And then I sought out Bertha, and she told me about you sweeping in to rescue the beautiful Cecily MacCreadie from foul English ravishment.’
Peyton sighed. ‘So why the pretence, Lowri?’
‘I thought it might be more entertaining to hear you explain it all yourself, Peyton.’
‘Bertha should keep her mouth shut,’ said Peyton. ‘And you can’t say anything about Cecily’s real name. She is Connie to you.’
Lowri snorted in a most unladylike manner. ‘I am the soul of discretion. And Bertha knows by now that she can trust me. I am your sister.’
‘Half-sister,’ he corrected.
‘We don’t know that for certain, given our mother, God rest her soul.’ Lowri’s face softened to prettiness. ‘And you will never be a bastard in my eyes, Peyton.’
Her devotion and loyalty touched him, and he coughed to cover his emotions. ‘Well, whatever you have been told, that lass is not your concern, and you must not speak of her. Call her Connie so that we can keep her name a secret.’
‘Alright. How exciting that you rescued her from a fate worse than death. I would think it chivalrous of you had you not had your tongue in her mouth just now. Why not send her back to her family?’
‘She has secrets to spill that could send me to the gallows.’
‘What kind of secrets?
So, Bertha had not told Lowri everything. ‘Murder.’
Lowri’s face fell. ‘Well, I cannot tease you about that.’
‘It was not exactly murder, but I killed the son of a powerful man, and we are in dire peril if anyone finds out.’
Peyton sighed and retold his fatal encounter with Edmund Harclaw, the rumour of a new Warden, and the danger he was in.
‘So that is how Cecily ended up in my hands,’ he finished.
‘Quite literally,’ smirked Lowri. ‘So, are you seducing her to keep her on your side?’
‘No. I am seducing her because she….’ Peyton stopped himself at the amused expression on his sister’s face.
‘Ah, so you are seducing her,’ she said, jabbing a finger at him.
‘Look. The lass has as much to lose as me by giving me away.’
‘If that is the case, why not pack her off to the abbey instead of me? That way, you are both out of temptation’s grasp. And they will lock her safely away from danger, apart from the Bishop’s fingers, that is.’
‘You got out of there.’
‘I had help.’
‘Aye, those dunderheads you ride with.’
‘I grew up with Donnan and Rory. I trust them.’
‘Aye, you grew up together. Donnan and Rory are now men, not lads. And you are a woman. They will be looking at you differently.’
‘As you look at Cecily?’ she said in a high, little voice. ‘You are keeping her because she is bonnie.’
‘No. I am keeping her so that she stays alive.’
