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She certainly did not wish to be married to him, but perhaps it would be great fun taunting him, since he did seem to rile easily. ’Twas a shame she hated him so.
Tor MacRob, and his tongue, could go to the devil. But first, it seemed, he would be going to Berwick, and Ainsley would accompany him there.
Chapter 7
“The priest?”
If this was not already the oddest of days, from waking up both wed and alone in his bed—two circumstances Tor never imagined would go together—to agreeing to take his wife on the journey with him, now they stood in front of Shaw’s chapel. He’d taken an immediate dislike to the priest, perhaps because the man had wed him against his will. Though he’d not done it out of any fault of his own, Tor still did not care for the man.
When Ainsley had left him earlier to pack her belongings, he’d done the same and bid adieu to his brother. They’d argued for some time, Tor refusing to accept escort to Berwick. Ainsley had been similarly surprised when he told her they traveled alone, that no maid would accompany them. If his clanswoman was truly alive, and headed to Berwick, he would find her there. ’Twas the only hope they had at ending this feud and annulling his marriage.
“I would speak to him to learn if an annulment is possible.”
“I dinnae need a priest to tell me what I already know. It is as possible for the king to annul this marriage as it is for him to force us to marry.” Ainsley’s low neckline distracted him for a moment. When he looked up, she did not seem amused. Gone was the woman who’d stolen glances at him from across the hall. From the moment they married, she had done naught but frown at him, and Tor was unaccustomed to such treatment from a woman.
She was, however, a Shaw.
“So ye’re one of those men who would prefer to flail about rather than ask for assistance?”
“I dinnae flail, Lady Ainsley.”
“Ainsley,” she ground out. “I suppose as I am yer wife . . .”
She never finished. The doors of the chapel were flung open by the same man who’d married them. His high forehead was underscored by long brown hair that stuck out in more places than it did not, its length only surpassed by a beard just as unruly. The priest looked from Tor to Ainsley.
“I heard voices,” he said, indicating they should enter. “Good day, my lady. My lord.”
“And to ye,” she said with apparently much less apprehension than Tor felt around the man. He watched as the priest sat on a bench next to them, his chapel empty. Father Godfrey was leery, for certain. Likely because of Tor’s presence—the man did serve his enemy.
“We would speak to ye about an important matter,” she said.
“Of course, my child.”
Tor watched his eyes carefully as the priest spoke.
“We would like to have our marriage annulled.”
As expected, the priest, unprepared for her bold statement, began to cough.
“She is no’ asking for ye to do it,” Tor assured him. “We know the king must agree.”
“The king who ordered ye married?”
“That is the one.” Tor had little patience for the conversation. They were packed, their mounts ready, and he wished to leave. After meeting resistance from his own brother, and even more so from Ainsley’s, the Shaw laird all but forbidding the journey unless they took escort, Tor was already weary and the day was not yet done.
Ainsley had assured her brother they would return to the keep and accept the men he offered, but in truth, this chapel was their last stop before they would leave Castle Shaw for the road to Berwick. That is, unless there was a contingent of men outside the chapel doors even now.
“I . . .” Father Godfrey touched his fingers to his lips. “There is a bishop in Berwick. If ye had his blessing, I suppose the king could grant a divortium ad vinculo, but he’d no’ do so without the Church’s agreement. Neither would he be likely to since he married ye for a reason, if I may be so bold to say.”
“We understand,” Ainsley said in a tone Tor had not yet heard used on himself. As he’d told her, Tor’s sister spoke highly of her sister-in-law. Ainsley had welcomed her into their family, and for that, he had been grateful. But he’d not yet seen this “extremely beautiful and kind woman.” At least, not the second part. “We have a plan for that. Tor and I ride toward Berwick to find Ian and Marta. If they are truly alive, and together as a couple, that could put an end to the feud. No feud, no need for us to be wed.”
At the mention of the missing couple, the priest most definitely changed his manner. Tor continued to watch him closely.
“Ahh, yes, I did hear the rumor of the couple being spotted.”
“’Tis no rumor at all. My brother can confirm that the healer made mention of a pair matching their description.”
As they continued to speak, Tor thought back to the priest’s first response to Ainsley. He’d mentioned a bishop in Berwick before they’d told him their plans.
