Tears tumbling again down her cheeks, Aislinn turned her face to the narrow, mullioned window and the brilliant morning outside that seemed to mock her sorrow.
Not for her father, though she prayed that he had found peace, but for Cameron, whom she would never see again, while Lord Aengus Butler would soon arrive to claim her—
“Enough tears, Aislinn, you must get up! I’m certain your betrothed will be coming here all the sooner tae fetch you for your father’s burial.”
She stared in shock at Sister Agnes, who gestured for Sister Tabitha to leave the room and then threw aside the covers.
Her stern tone unlike anything Aislinn had heard from so caring and good-hearted a woman, though Sister Agnes’s hands were gentle as she assisted her out of the bed.
A sudden wave of dizziness made Aislinn stagger a bit, that ill effect from her injury still not having left her, but Sister Agnes held onto her arm until Aislinn gave her a small nod.
“Good, now you must get dressed. I’ll fetch your clothes.”
As Sister Agnes went to a plain wooden chest at the foot of the bed and threw back the lid, Aislinn felt a terrible certainty that all of her desperate entreaties had fallen onto deaf ears.
She couldn’t have been more astonished when the nun didn’t retrieve the sapphire-colored gown Lord Butler had sent over yesterday, but a neatly folded pile of clothing, and a leather belt and pair of shoes that Aislinn at once recognized.
“Here, you must hurry if you’re tae put some distance between yourself and Lord Butler. At least with your tunic and trousers, you’ll look more a youth and less worthy of notice.”
“Reverend Mother!” Her heart racing, Aislinn stripped out of her nightgown and wound the binding around her breasts, Sister Agnes tying the cloth at her back.
A few moments more and she was fully dressed, the nun handing her the same fur-trimmed cloak that had caught fire but with the hem now mended.
“It’s warm today, but the nights are cool. I canna let you out the front gate in case others might see you, but you’re a brave and clever lass. I know you’ll find a way out of the convent. Your escape must come as an utter surprise tae me—do you understand, Aislinn?”
She bobbed her head, such gratitude filling her that she couldn’t speak as Sister Agnes moved to the door. Yet the nun turned around suddenly, her eyes shining with tears, to look at Aislinn.
“Mayhap you think because of my sacred calling that matters of the heart are a mystery tae me. I sought refuge here years ago because my husband was slain by English soldiers. I loved him so—a good and honorable man like Cameron Campbell. I know that about him from what you’ve told me—all he’s done tae help you, and because I saw it in his face when he came here with Laird MacLachlan tae fetch Magdalene.”
“You’ve met him?” Aislinn blurted, reaching out to squeeze Sister Agnes’s hand.
“We did not speak, but enough now, Aislinn. I canna say what God holds in store for you, but I pray it’s not as the wife of Lord Butler. Ride straight tae the north and by dusk tomorrow, you’ll come upon Campbell Castle—”
“Ride, Reverend Mother?”
“Aye, there’s a farm close by where you’ll find ponies grazing in the pasture. I know the man well, he’s a generous patron of our order. Tell him I need one of them, which is true enough—for you, sweet child. God bless and keep you.”
Sister Agnes stepped forward to wrap Aislinn in her arms with the kindest hug she had ever known, and then the nun released her to open the door and disappear out into the hall.
Leaving Aislinn so stunned still, that she didn’t move for a long moment as her gaze swept the room.
Her refuge, too—ah, God, would Cameron open the gates for her if she was able to find her way back to his fortress?
And even if he did, wouldn’t Aengus know to seek her there and demand her return?
So many unsettling questions swirled in her mind, but now wasn’t the time to worry about what might happen—but to flee!
Aislinn ran to the door and after a quick glance, she ducked into the empty hallway. She heard low murmurings from other rooms, the nuns at their morning prayers, which made her whisper one, too, that she would quickly find a way out of the convent.
She tried not to make a sound as she hastened outside, closing the door to the nuns’ quarters as quietly as she could. The stone walls around the convent were high, but not so much that she couldn’t climb over them if she found some way…
Her breath caught at the sight of a covered rain barrel resting against a nearby wall, Aislinn struck by a surge of hope that her desperate prayer had been answered.
Wasn’t that a sign from heaven that all would be well? She kept right on praying as she climbed atop the barrel, biting her lip at the dizziness that assailed her, and jumped upward.
Her hands caught the top of the wall. With all the strength she could muster, she hoisted herself up and over and jumped down this time, exhaling with a whoosh when she hit the grassy ground hard.
She didn’t wait to catch her breath, but set off at a run for a copse of trees where she could find cover. Only when her back was up against a gnarled trunk did it occur to her that she hadn’t asked Sister Agnes where the farm lay from the convent. North? To the west?
