‘You’ve mixed us up. I am Briony,’ cried the lass, her little hands in fists at her sides.
Murphy was not to be swayed. ‘No. I noticed you. Being so pretty, how could I not? There is no mistaking it. You are not Briony Fallstaff.’
‘You have taken leave of your senses, you fool,’ said Drummond.
To Cullen’s amusement, Murphy suddenly located his spine and shouted, ‘No. This servant may be a good deal prettier, and I’m sure you’d have her in a flash, but not as a wife. She’s a liar, so she’s only good for a quick tumble, nothing more. I believe Briony’s father even availed himself of this one’s favours from time to time. Surely, you’ll not take a whore for a wife, Master?’
From the smug look on his face, Cullen guessed that Murphy was enjoying his master’s humiliation a little too much.
Briony grabbed Drummond’s arm. ‘He is lying. Please. I am Briony. I will swear it on the Bible.’
Drummond looked from Murphy to Briony, and then plucked her fingers off his arm as if she were a thorny bush he had become entangled with. ‘Get away from me, harlot, liar.’
Briony fled in a rush of tears. Lowri shook her head at Cullen. ‘We can’t trust a word that lass says. It seems she has been lying all along. But why?’
‘I think you should go and find out what kind of woman we have been harbouring,’ said Cullen.
Lowri nodded and rushed off.
‘If this isn’t Briony Fallstaff, where is the real one?’ said Cullen.
‘You should know. You are in league with that she-devil, that imposter. Trying to pass her off as my betrothed,’ spat Drummond.
‘I did no such thing, and accuse me again, and you will regret it.’
Murphy stepped forward. ‘Don’t you threaten my master. He has a right to know where his betrothed is.’
‘And I cannot tell him, for there were no other survivors from the wreck, as far as I know. And that lass was wearing a wedding dress when I plucked her from the waves. She named herself Briony Fallstaff, a bride-to-be, and I believed her. Why would she lie? She has the manners of a lady, and she certainly has the airs and graces.’
‘Copied from her mistress, no doubt,’ sneered Murphy.
Drummond paced back and forth. ‘Oh, this is unconscionable. It cannot be. I will not stay in this infernal hellhole to be insulted and humiliated. I am returning to the ship at once, for it is not safe here with all these lying scoundrels.’
Drummond stormed off, and Murphy said smugly, ‘It’s the loss of the fortune he grieves, not the bride. He was only marrying her because he needed the inheritance. Gaming debts.’
***
Lowri caught up with Briony in the churchyard, standing amongst the gravestones. She cut a lonely figure, head bent, hair taken by the wind, lost and helpless in her pretty yellow dress.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she sneered when she spotted Lowri.
‘What is your real name, lass?’
‘It is Briony Fallstaff. I’ll not answer to any other. And I said, I would swear it on the Bible.’
‘Shall I bring one and watch you burst into flames as you lie?’ said Lowri.
‘Go to hell, and take your lecher of a husband with you.’
‘Not lecher enough, seeing as he resisted your advances.’
‘If you believe that, ‘tis a fool you are. Cullen leapt between my legs with little urging from me, thrusting like an eager dog on a bitch, his tongue practically lolling out of his head.’ The lass’s face twisted from loveliness to low cunning, her eyes flinty with spite. ‘I must say, I’ve had better.’
‘Stop lying. It will not serve you now. Why did you pretend to be someone else?’
Briony took a deep breath. ‘Why not?’ she spat. ‘I could be Drummond’s wife. I could bear that old pudding for the sake of afortune, and I would be a better wife than she would have been.’ She paced, glaring at Lowri as if it was all her fault. ‘I deserve a better life than I had.’
‘It can’t have been that bad. You had an occupation, a roof over your head.’
