Euan nodded though his face was still swarthy with fury, Isabeau taking heart that he seemed to be considering her words as she rushed on.
“You’ve two spies that managed to accompany them, both clever and resourceful enough to insert themselves into this new household and find a way to see the thing done.Yet here we still are with an hour at least until dusk.We’ve time enough to sail a good distance before dark and we’ll have the light of the moon and even torches to guide us further—”
“Aye, beacons tae draw down upon us cold-blooded raiders that ply these waters—woman, are you mad?”
His incredulous bellow silencing her, Isabeau swallowed at the hard glitter in his eyes that truly frightened her…and heightened her deadly resolve to be rid of him as soon as she found the right moment.Taking a risky gamble, she lifted her chin higher and stared right back at him, defiant.
“Mayhap if such a ship comes upon us, you can make a bargain with them to help us in our quest.Half the jewels for safe passage to the castle and then southward to Dumfries,non, mayhap only a quarter or a third will be enough.You would know best how to haggle with such men if we encountered them…but there’s always a chance that luck will remain with us, Euan, and we’ll come and go with no one the wiser!”
He grunted as if still not convinced, but gestured for her to continue, Isabeau’s mind working fast.
“No enemies have yet come upon us and the MacDougalls will give you aid in whatever way you need, surely.They know this region where Lisette has gone.Bring some of those clansmen aboard to guide us to a secluded place where we can drop anchor—and then send them out to watch for when your spies leave the fortress.They’ll make their move soon, they must!You see, husband?It’s all not as impossible as it may seem—”
“You’d best pray it is so.”
Isabeau felt a shiver at the ominous tone in Euan’s voice, but he turned to confer with some of his men standing off to one side and didn’t see her edging away to the other end of the ship.
For now, she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, but she knew what would happen as soon as they set sail.
He would grab her arm and thrust her inside the tent, for he had already proclaimed a dozen times that the surging of the waves only heightened his pleasure.Mayhap this night would be different, though, with so much at stake and time slipping through their fingers.
Isabeau wasn’t a woman for prayer, far from it.She nonetheless murmured a fervent entreaty that the young man posing as a priest as well as that stout maidservant would devise a way to procure the cloak and find a way out of the fortress before nightfall tomorrow.
She didn’t care, either, if heaven or hell answered her.
Yet something told her as the MacDougall clansman who had brought them the wretched news came aboard along with two of his kinsmen—Euan shouting for the oars to be lowered—that it would probably be the latter.
“Does our new home please you, lass?”
Lisette bobbed her head, a shiver of anticipation coursing through her to hear Conall call her “lass” in his husky Scottish brogue.
They sat together on a bench in front of the immense hearth, most of the great hall cleared out but for servants carrying to the kitchen the last remnants of the evening meal…which had proved a boisterous occasion.
Somehow Finlay had discovered that the abundant provisions supplied by Cameron and Aislinn had been intended for a wedding feast, so the huge Highlander had seen to it that Lisette and Conall were so honored.
She could not believe that the cook and his helpers could have turned out so sumptuous a meal within a few hours’ time, but they had done so with heaping platters of roasted venison and braised mutton on every table.
Savory side dishes of cooked vegetables and a thick barley stew flavored with leeks, garlic, and spices had been served alongside, as well as crusty loaves of bread, the fresh-baked aroma filling the air.Cups had been filled to the brim with ale or wine—Lisette wondering with a small hiccough if mayhap she had imbibed a bit too much—and the meal made complete with pear tart sweetened with honey and studded with dried cherries that Colin had especially enjoyed.
After eating so filling a supper, the sleepy little boy had been taken off to bed by his nursemaid, though it had been Conall who had filled his son’s plate and given him the tiniest sip of ale, Colin smacking his lips and demanding more.
That had set the entire hall to laughing, and the merriment had continued for another hour or so with Finlay offering a congratulatory toast that other warriors soon followed with their own.Some flowery and some ribald, which had left Lisette blushing and Conall squeezing her hand and chuckling.
He clasped her hand now, absently playing with her fingers as they both stared into the fire.Another hiccough escaped from Lisette that made her gasp with chagrin.
“Too much wine, wife?”he teased her, while she could only nod truthfully, which made him give a low laugh though he seemed to grow serious of a sudden.
The next thing Lisette knew, he had gathered her into the crook of his arm to gaze down at her, his eyes darkened to the deepest blue in the firelight.
“I know you saw Lorna throw her arms around me and kiss me…but it was all her doing and not mine, wife.She wanted tae hurt you and stoke doubt in your heart, and I think mayhap she succeeded, aye?”
Again, Lisette could but nod for she wouldn’t lie to him no matter that she could see a flicker of hurt in his gaze.She reached up to touch his face, feeling terrible about the fears that had plagued her during the journey, but it was done and she could not change it.All she could do was tell him how sorry she felt…so sorry.
“Forgive me, Conall, please—”
“Shh, love,Ishould be the one tae ask your forgiveness.I should have spoken tae you in the bailey and allayed your fears, but Cameron wanted us gone and on our way.I should have told you that Lorna will never see Colin again until he’s grown into a man and can decide for himself if he wishes his mother in his life.”
“Truly?”
