Eve blushed.
Deirdre continued, “Was she taken against her will?”
Louder than she intended, Eve replied, “Nay!I would ne’er do such a thing.”
“And where are they now?”
“I can’t say,” Eve said, lowering her eyes.“I vowed I would not.”
Deirdre didn’t like that answer.She looked daggers at Eve.“Are they safe?”
“Aye,” Eve was quick to assure her.“They haven’t been apart.Hew has watched o’er her since that day.”
Deirdre scowled.“That was months ago.”
Eve nodded.
But what she thought was reassurance triggered something very different in Deirdre.“She’s likely with child now then.”
Eve gulped.
Deirdre cursed under her breath.Then she muttered, “What kind of nun gets embroiled in this sort of mischief?”
Isabel cooed, as if this was exactly the kind of entertaining exchange she enjoyed.
Eve, however, was getting more and more agitated.It seemed the laird was missing the point.What did it matter how the deed was accomplished?She had the document in her hands, and it was approved by the king.
Deirdre narrowed her eyes.“Are you even a real nun?”
“O’ course I’m a real nun,” Eve snapped in a tone that wasn’t the least bit nun-like.
Isabel drew in an exaggerated gasp.“You aren’tthatnun, are you?”
Ian looked up to interject, “What nun?”
“The nun Hew tried to court,” Isabel told him.
Eve’s cheeks flushed hot.
“Youare,”Isabel confirmed with delight.“Sheis.”
“That was an honest mistake,” Eve muttered.“I wasn’t wearin’ my habit at the time.”
Deirdre’s brows rose at that.
“Nay,” Eve quickly corrected, “I mean, I wasn’t wearin’ my habit, because I was wearin’ a gown.”
“So are you a nun or not?”Deirdre asked.
Eve grimaced.“Sometimes.”
Deirdre’s brow darkened.
Isabel giggled.“Och!She’s a master o’ disguise, isn’t she?Just like Adam.”
“What?”Eve felt all the air empty her lungs.Surely she’d heard wrong.“What did ye say?”
“My cousin Adam.One day he’s a monk.The next he’s a warrior.Once, at Darragh, he feigned to be a rat-catcher.He’s such a talent.He can make himself nigh invisible.”
