She was gone!A godsend!A miracle, for Lisette was finally out of her life and no more did she need concern herself with her half-sister turning her new husband’s head.Yet a closer look at the trunk made her stomach turn and her knees suddenly feel weak as she pushed aside several garments, searching…
No, no, it couldn’t be!The burgundy cloak she’d had made especially from the finest and softest wool was gone, too—and with it a fortune in jewels that had been sewn into the hem.
Jewels that her mother, Claudia, had bought with the sale of some of their lands, a transaction that Isabeau had no intention of sharing with Euan.Claudia had sworn her to secrecy, her words flying back to Isabeau…
“One cannot say what life will bring to you, my darling daughter.With your marriage, Euan will be the master of your inheritance, but at least with these jewels, you will never be dependent upon any man.Guard them well!”
Guard them well…
Feeling as if she might retch, Isabeau spun to face Euan and did her best to force convincing tears to her eyes.“You must find her, Euan!I haven’t told you the truth because of the shame to our family, but Lisette is my half-sister.A bastard half-sister that my father brought into our home when she was just a babe, at my mother’s kind insistence.We’ve always done our best to do right by her and we grew to love her so.We can’t just leave her to this wretched abductor!”
“Your half-sister?”Clearly astonished, Euan nonetheless nodded grimly.“Whoever took Lisette must have been given your description, and with the two of you so favoring each other—och, I’ll slay the man as soon as I catch him!”
He stormed from the room with Isabeau running after him down the hallway, followed by Sister Damaris.Yet he stopped just before reaching the door to the sleeping quarters and spun to face them.
“I’ll post guards all around the convent.Once her captor discovers his mistake, he may try tae come back for you and they’ll be waiting for him.I’d swear on my life that Robert the Bruce lies at the heart of this plot tae steal my intended bride on the eve of our wedding!Aye, an attempt at revenge for his traitorous brothers’ execution, but our marriage this very hour will thwart him.”
Isabeau gasped as Euan grabbed her by the hand and pulled her with him out the door as he barked an order at Sister Damaris.
“Summon a priest from the adjoining abbey, Reverend Mother, and tell him tae meet us in the chapel.Go!”
With a nod, the older woman went running, her black habit flapping around her legs.Isabeau hastened alongside Euan, doing her best to keep up with his long strides.
“We’re to marry today?”
“Aye, not the grand occasion I envisioned for us,” Euan said as they reached the convent chapel, Isabeau breathless now and half stumbling up the steps.“Nor the wedding night, but there’s no help for it.I dinna know how long it will take me tae find your half-sister, so I must leave as soon as the ceremony is done.”
A quick look around told Isabeau that they were alone as Euan drew her into an alcove and pressed her to the wall.She guessed his intent before he even yanked her silk tunic above her hips, and then hoisted up his own tunic and clutched her bare bottom to draw her against him.
“Consummation before the blessing, but we’ve no time tae spare, aye?”he said thickly, not waiting for an answer as he thrust his swollen flesh into her, Isabeau gasping at the sudden piercing pain.
All she could do was hold onto him and think of the jewels…anythingfor the jewels, her hatred for Lisette growing all the hotter as Euan rutted against her, his loud groans echoing from the chapel walls.
Chapter4
“She still sleeps, Laird Campbell?”
Conall nodded at the balding middle-aged priest, as unsettled to hear himself calledlairdas that Isabeau had barely fluttered an eyelash since he and his men had stopped to rest for a few hours.
An owl hooted from a high branch, the trees so dense where they had taken shelter that he had deemed it safe enough to build a warming fire against the night’s cool dampness.Sighing heavily, he drew the blanket up beneath Isabeau’s chin, her lovely features illuminated by the flickering flames.
“If I might ask, how much potion did you give her?It doesna take much tae induce sleep—”
“Too much, Father Titus,” Conall cut him off grimly, scowling.“Does that satisfy you?If she never wakes, it will be my fault alone.One more transgression tae send me straight tae hell.”
“Och, Laird, no, you mustna say such things!”the priest countered, crossing himself.“I’m praying for the lass…and for you, that all will be well.”
Conall felt a tic working along his jaw as he watched Father Titus hasten back to his blanket and lie down, following the lead of the fourteen men who were stretched out upon the ground, asleep.
Another six warriors guarded the perimeter of their camp, their shapes barely visible in the darkness, while Conall turned his attention back to Isabeau.
Och, the poor lass!What had he done to her?
He should never have made her swallow the entire vial, but everything had happened so fast.He’d had barely enough time to subdue her, wrap her in a cloak, and then carry her from the women’s quarters—aye, with that old nun’s scream ringing in his ears—as haste had been of utmost importance to the success of his mission.He couldn’t help wondering again if that gullible young novice had suffered for allowing him entrance into the convent compound, but then he thrust the thought away.
He hoped not, but he could do nothing to help her…and there didn’t appear to be anything he could do to help Isabeau, either.
She slept so soundly, too soundly.Anyone might have thought her dead if not for the gentle rise and fall of her breasts.
