Chapter8
“My half-sister is wed?”
Isabeau had fairly screeched her query as she stared at Euan in disbelief, her husband sweaty and unkempt as he nodded wearily.
“Aye.My men and I couldna have been more than a few hours behind the bastard who took her, his trail steering us north, just as I suspected.Ten leagues from Dumfries, he joined up with at least twenty other riders and set a hard pace—too hard for us tae catch up, even with them stopping tae rest for a few hours.We had tae stop, too, for the horses, but once we set out again, we found where they’d camped, the fire pit still warm.We tracked them tae a village church where an old priest said a marriage had taken place no more than an hour past—”
“But to whom?”Still so incredulous that Isabeau found it difficult to croak out the words, she grabbed Euan’s arm.“Did the priest give a name?”
“Something better, wife…written in the church record, but curious, too.”With a heave of exhaustion, Euan sank into a chair.“Pity these nuns have no ale tae offer me, but water will do.Pour me a cupful, will you?”
Isabeau wanted to shriek again that Euan would make such a demand when she felt desperate to hear what else he might have to say, yet she quickly obliged him.She must have paced back and forth across this wretched convent room a thousand times while awaiting his return, so what was one more?
Her hands shaking with agitation, she filled a cup with cool water from a decanter placed on a table near the bed, and then hastened back to him.
“Here, drink.”
Water sloshed onto Euan’s hand when she thrust the cup at him, her brusqueness making him meet her eyes.
“It’s for my mouth, not my fingers, Isabeau.”
His gaze didn’t leave her as he took a long draught and drained the cup, and then handed it back to her.Her impatience mounting, she thought he might ask her for another, but instead his expression hardened as he glanced out the narrow window.
“Aye, a vengeful plot tae steal you away and marry you off tae another.Yet Robert’s man married the wrong woman…Conall Campbell’s his name.I know of him and his brother Cameron, both seasoned warriors, and their commander, Gabriel MacLachlan—och, at least he was until some weeks past when Earl Seoras was slain—”
“What are you speaking of?”Isabeau interrupted him shrilly, nearly beside herself now.“I don’t understand—oh!”
Euan had grabbed her and set her down so hard upon his knee that she was wholly taken by surprise.She gasped when his hand found her breast, his fingers rough as he kneaded her.
“Have I married a shrew for you tae speak tae me thusly?”he said in a low voice tinged with anger.“Dinna forget who is master here, Isabeau—and it isna you.”
She nodded as he pulled her against him to nuzzle her neck, his gruff laughter surprising her even more.
“It seems your half-sister took your name as part of her own, which means her new husband must believe he has the right woman—by God, it’s too rich!I would give anything tae see Campbell’s face when he realizes his mistake.The church record bore the name Lisette Isabeau Charpentier.Is that her true Christian name?”
“Non,” Isabeau murmured.“Lisette Mathilde Charpentier.”
“So it’s just as I thought, yet why would she have concocted such a ruse?Was she afraid for herself if Campbell knew the truth?That he might abandon her somewhere or cause her harm?Or mayhap she did so because shewantedtae wed her captor and has no wish tae return tae your side.Is that the way of it, Isabeau?”
She shook her head, but Euan’s kneading at her breast only grew rougher, which made her wince.
“Och, woman, I’m your husband now with only your best interests at heart.There’s no need tae carry on with any lies.It occurred tae me after we were well into the chase that I never saw you show Lisette one moment of affection from the time you came ashore.Mayhap you dinna love her at all—and there’s another reason you set me after her.Now I ask you again.Isthatthe way of it, wife?”
Isabeau swallowed hard, his hand clasping her breast so tightly that tears of pain sprang to her eyes.
She had sensed upon first meeting Euan that he was a hard man from the scowl lines etched deep into his face—not handsome, but not unattractive, either, and his body strong and well-muscled.Yet now she knew for certain that he wasn’t to be trifled with or lied to—oui, she had truly wed her match.She didn’t feel defeated…only resigned that her mother’s fervent wish for the jewels to remain a secret would be thwarted.
“If you must know, husband, I’ve hated Lisette all my life—for that’s how long I’ve been made to suffer her presence.The kitchen maid who bore her stole my father’s love from my mother…and cursed me with a half-sister who did the same to me by stealing my father’s affection.Nothing I did made his eyes shine with love as they always did for Lisette.Nothing.”
Euan’s hand had fallen still at her breast, Isabeau so filled with bitterness that she felt choked by it.Yet somehow she went on, wondering if what she was about to reveal would make him forgive her for deceiving him.
“I could not care if she lives or dies…but something else was stolen when Conall Campbell took her away, believing she was me.Something very precious that must be regained.”
Euan stared at her, his hazel eyes darkening to a deep green as he reached up and entwined his fingers tightly in her hair, making her scalp sting.
“So you did lie tae me.”
“Mayhap I did not want you to think me spiteful and vicious to hate Lisette so—”
