Lennox leaped down from his mount even while he approached, and urged Shadow to the trough. Glenna saw him and made her way over.
“What has occurred?”
“I am so glad to see you.” She wiped her hands on her apron. “I feared you would not return in time.” Her breathing was labored from her exertions. “It is Keavey. When Ailsa took your letter up there he caught her.”
Lennox grasped her by the shoulder. “Did he hurt her?”
Glenna shook her head. “No, but he threatened her with the gallows if she didn’t give him your letter.”
Lennox froze. If he had taken the letter, Keavey would know that he and Chloris had been secretly meeting. Cursing silently, he gripped Glenna’s shoulder tighter.
“Ailsa was afraid, Lennox. She had no choice.”
Glancing beyond her while she spoke, Lennox noticed that Ailsa continued to work with the others loading the cart. When she looked his way she hung her head in shame.
“It is not Ailsa I am angry with. It is myself for giving the letter to her and sending her into harm’s way. I am a fool, and I am unworthy of your loyalty. She should not have been put in that situation.”
Glenna hushed him. “Don’t fret. We are ready to leave. It is time. And your woman is safe. Keavey has sent her back to Edinburgh.”
Back to Edinburgh.
To her vile, brutal husband.
Lennox cursed and stared up at the sky, wondering if the tangled web of his life could get any worse. Why was it that he was doomed to fail when it came to keeping his women safe? He had vowed that no man would ever hurt Chloris the way she had already been hurt, and yet he had not been given the chance to see that through.
Life had dealt him another cruel blow.
“Edinburgh is no salvation for Chloris, believe me.” He looked into Glenna’s eyes and shook his head.
Glenna was watchful and canny and she quickly saw that he was even more afraid for his lover. Lennox paced from side to side, tormented by the notion that Chloris had been forced back to that bastard who had treated her so cruelly. If only Keavey had not found out. It was a particularly bitter twist of fate because when he first set about seducing Chloris he had anticipated Tamhas Keavey’s reaction, and had wished to see his face. Because of what had passed between them it was now the worst thing in the world for Chloris, who he cared about immensely.
And it was bad for the rest of them, by the looks of things.
“You are making ready to leave?”
“Aye. Keavey told Ailsa that he would find evidence against us if it was the last thing he did, and he would see us all burned. We gathered together to discuss it. Then Maura Dunbar came down from Torquil to warn us. She’d overheard Keavey shouting at his cousin. Poor Maura felt bad because she was the one who’d sent Mistress Chloris up here. Maura said that Mistress Chloris cried in her room. She told Maura she’d begged him to leave Somerled’s people alone. Keavey said he would, but only if she returned to her husband.”
Chloris. Pain knifed through him at the thought of her so distressed. Lennox could scarcely contain his anger at Tamhas Keavey.
“Then, when Maura left, Lachie and I talked. We knew Keavey would not let it rest, despite his supposed promise to his cousin. He was bound to use this against us. Lachie went into Saint Andrews and asked about. Keavey had already been in to the town and has requested the bailiff attend the town council first thing in the morning. He put the word about that there is evil in the forest and with the bailiff at his side he would be seeking the witches out and bringing them to justice. Keavey is readying his men for a morning raid.”
Lennox felt his anger turn inward as he realized he had lost control, and people who relied on him were being let down. All of them. How could this have happened? With his sister’s ousting so fresh in his mind, the news of Chloris and Keavey meant that pure, undiluted rage pumped through him. It was only his concern for Glenna and the others that stopped him bellowing aloud in his fury.
“When Lachlan returned,” Glenna added, “we made the decision to be ready to leave by dawn. There was so little time, we had to make the decision without you.”
“You made the right decision. If you are gone by dawn you will have a good start on them. Keavey will not be able to act alone. He’ll need the agreement of the town council and the power of the bailiff’s men. It’ll be midmorn before they get here.”
“What news of your sister?” Glenna was cautious in her question.
Lennox took a deep breath. “Gone. Escaped before her trial, thankfully.”
Glenna grasped his forearm. “You see, there’s no holding any of us.”
Her eyes glistened.
He sensed her relief, and he knew that she was taking strength from his news. News of running, hiding. That should not be something to gain hope from, but for them it was. The history of torture and death for those who practiced the craft was too long and too sordid in the Lowlands. He looked over at Somerled, where his people loaded the cart with their most prized possessions.
“You are ready for this,” he whispered, commenting more to himself than to her.
It would not be easy on them. The people he had gathered beneath his wing were a mix of witches born in and around Saint Andrews, and those from farther away, like himself. For a while it seemed as if they could be safe here. With an outward life of respectability and commerce, nurturing their practices until they became more widely accepted. Now they had to gather their chattels and leave, head north to the Highlands where the terrain was tough and unknown to them.
Glenna nodded. “You prepared us. We’ve been ready for this for a long while.”
Lennox was grateful for that much. Now he had to choose between seeking the trail of his sister, protecting Chloris and urging his people on their way.
The situation rent him asunder, for it tore his loyalties in three different directions. He looked at the members of his coven and saw what they were. Kin. Not family, but people brought together to support each other and protect each other. They would make their journey north and they would be strong. He would find them again.
That meant he had to choose between Jessie and Chloris.
Pain drummed at the back of his eyes. He closed them.
When he did he saw the scars on Chloris and his gut turned over, bile rising in his throat as he thought about the fact that that bastard Tamhas Keavey had sent her back to the cruel man who treated her so badly.
Jessie was not alone, and she had magic on her side. He was determined to find them both but he had to go to Chloris first. It was a hard decision, one of the most difficult he’d ever made in his life, but logic determined it would be so. He lifted his face to the sky, watched the passage of the moonlight and knew that he had to follow Chloris. Time would allow him to pull all the other pieces together, to find his sisters and to reunite with his coven. “You have closed the gate to Keavey?”
“We have. Lachlan sent three of the women out and they made magic between here, Keavey’s place and the roads into Saint Andrews. It will not hold them off for long, but they will find their path treacherous when they come.”
Lennox was proud of them. They had come together and taken action, everything he would have done and perhaps more, given his present rash of ill luck and lack of good sense. “Make haste, take only what you can, your tools and anything that ties you to your craft.”
“What are you going to do?” Glenna’s eyes were filled with concern.
“I know what I should do, go up there and give Keavey what he deserves.”
“No, Lennox, reel in your anger for you put yourself at risk. You will only give him what he is after, a reason to hunt us all down.”
Lennox stared down at her and realized that she spoke wise words. The fact that Chloris had been returned to the man who beat her was making it hard for him to act with caution.
Glenna covered his hand with hers and fed her calm and nurturing spirit to him. “We will not leave until we are certain y
ou are not going to put yourself in danger.” Still she waited to be reassured. “What will you do?”
He grasped her hand, squeezing it. She was the closest thing to a mother he had ever known, since his own was so cruelly put to death. “I must try once again to find Jessie before I head north but first I’ll go to Edinburgh to fetch Chloris.”
“You truly love this woman, Chloris.” Glenna’s mouth lifted at the corners and her eyes glistened.
“Aye, that I do.”
“Then you must find her and tell her.”
Lennox nodded. He had not told her enough. He had spoken most of all about desire and destiny, of forging a new path for them both, but he had not told her exactly how much she had come to mean to him. “You’re right, and I will be on my way to Edinburgh. Come now, I’ll help you clear the house. We need to be gone from here by dawn.”
As he covered the ground into the house in easy strides, Ailsa set down the goods she was carrying and came to his side. She rested her hand on his arm, drawing him to a halt. “I am so sorry, Lennox, I tried to hold tight to the letter when he descended, but he was strong. He taunted me and he threatened to bring us all to justice if I gave him the evidence he needed. It was as if he wanted me to show my true nature.”
“That does not surprise me. He’s long since wanted his proof.” Lennox remembered the conversation they’d had, the day he’d presented to council. For Keavey it was a step too far, and he could not abide it.
Ailsa peered up at him. “Even if I had used my craft to hold or destroy the letter, there was no telling what he would have done to us, and to her.”
She was afraid he would think badly of her.
“I could never hurt anyone that you loved,” she added, “believe me.”
Last time they had spoken, they had argued over Chloris. Ailsa had been jealous then. Lennox stared into her eyes, so mysterious, so capable of witchcraft, and yet deep down he knew she spoke the truth. “I do believe you.”
Her lower lip trembled and a plump tear rolled down her cheek.
Lennox embraced her. “No tears, please. Soon you’ll be safe in the Highlands.”
Looking down at her upturned face, her misty eyes made him think of the mountains, of the glens. “I do believe that you most of all will be at home there.”
Ailsa mustered a smile.
“Come, we must hurry. I’ll help you clear the house and then I must be gone. We must not leave a shred of evidence that will give Keavey and the bailiff’s men cause to come after us.”
They worked through the midnight hours and by the time the sky began to lighten the carts were loaded and ready to go. Lennox peered at the horizon, watching the sky. It was time. The house was stripped of all evidence of their craft, and Lennox’s precious papers that he had repeatedly presented to council in Saint Andrews were burning in the grate.
The mood amongst the coven members was stoic.
“It’s time to go,” Lennox called out. He gathered up Shadow’s reins and the horse lifted his head. “Head inland to Perth and from there turn north to Inverness. Be sure that you carry plenty of supplies at all times. If I do not find you along the route, wait for me at Inverness.”
He mounted his horse, then took one last glance at Somerled. “Protect one another, stay strong. I will find you again, never fear.”
“We will be with you in spirit,” Lachie answered, “until you come back to us.”
“Inverness,” he repeated.
Glenna nodded. “Take care, my dear boy.”
Lennox forced his gaze away from the house and the people who had come together under his wing. They would be long gone from here before Keavey came. Thankfully.
Then he turned his mount and urged it to a gallop, as he had so many times before when he set out looking for his two sisters, and now Chloris. His mate, his lover, the ruler of his heart. It was with no small sense of irony that he realized Mother Nature had deemed him this role. Nature had seen fit to make him an eternal hunter for those he loved. Knowing that was how his fate was cast only steeled his resolve.
He would find them all. He had to.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Chloris sat at the dining table and observed her husband with cautious detachment. It occurred to her that she did not know him very well. That had worried her about Lennox, but now she felt as if she knew Lennox better than she did her own husband. It was the closeness, the intimacy they had shared. There had never been any intimacy with Gavin Meldrum.
Gavin was an austere-looking man who rarely smiled. He had a neatly trimmed beard and he wore a wig, as befitted his landlord status, but it was not too fanciful. As a habit he dressed in somber clothing, which he felt appropriate for the business of collecting rent from tenants. The properties he owned were now many, and although Gavin had workers who could take on the matter of collecting, he preferred to collect the rents himself. Chloris had often suspected he enjoyed seeing the poorest tenants beg for leniency if they had not enough coin, but she always dismissed the notion as cruel and unfounded. She did not know how he went about it. She only knew that many people would be homeless in the burgh were it not for his property.
“Tamhas sends you his regards,” Chloris stated, trying to raise a conversation.
Gavin nodded and continued with his meal.
Chloris ate some of the roast pheasant and sipped her wine. They had to talk, and her intention was to launch on amiable matters then venture into the real subject that weighed upon her. “Jean fares well. She and I became good friends during my stay in Saint Andrews.”
Gavin met her stare briefly but did not comment.
It was the first she’d seen of him since the night before. He seemed intent on ignoring her presence, and now she knew why. When she quizzed Mary that morning, her maid revealed that he had gone out early. Although uncomfortable about it, Mary also answered Chloris’s other questions. Gavin’s visitor of the night before had left at midnight but had stayed in the house overnight on previous occasions during Chloris’s absence.
Now he had returned for his evening meal and it was quite obvious that Gavin had no intention of mentioning either her unexpected arrival home or the scene she had witnessed in his study. Chloris felt quite sure that the woman had been about to say something, and would have done so afterward. If Gavin had quizzed Mary, he would know that it was his wife who had entered the room.
He barely acknowledged her presence there when he entered the dining room. It was as if she had not been away. Chloris also noticed that he had not asked after the state of her health, which was supposed to be the reason for her trip to Saint Andrews. She smiled wryly at the idea of it. It was now blatantly obvious that he wanted her out of there in order to indulge himself further with his mistress. Traveling across Edinburgh to the district where her chambers were located was obviously a tedious task and he would rather have her here with him. Fair enough, she thought to herself, let it be that way.
The servants came and went with the dishes, and when they finally took their leave she steeled herself. “And you, have you fared well in my absence?”
Gavin stared across at her coldly, eyeing her body as if she were merely a vessel. Which of course she was. A vessel that would not hold his seed. Had he always looked at her that way?
He nodded. “Well enough.”
“Your mistress’s company made it easier, I’m sure.”
The tension heightened in the room.
Gavin set down his cutlery with a clatter and dabbed his mouth with his serviette, peering across at her with a warning glance. “What of it?”
“I will make this easy for both of us. I will leave, in order to make room for her to replace me.” She stated it simply enough, then clutched the stem of her wineglass to keep her hand steady.
Gavin’s eyes flashed angrily. He threw his serviette down on the table. “You will not.”
Chloris braced herself. “It is quite clear that you would do better to replace me with your mistress. I do not int
end to question your motives or argue on the subject. I will move aside.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be absurd. I have a reputation to keep.”
“You were not concerned about your reputation when bringing a mistress into our home?”
The cold, dismissive look he gave her was tempered only by a wry, almost smug smile. No, such infidelities only added to a man’s reputation. A woman was damned if she dared to do the same. Even if the marital bed had turned cold, it was not the woman’s place to find passion and comfort in the arms of another, but it was a man’s right to do so. The tension she felt built. She had hoped he would find her suggestion agreeable at this point. She had no idea where she would go and what she would do, but she could no longer continue to live this sham of a marriage. “Under the circumstances, I cannot stay.”
Gavin shifted in his carved wooden chair. Pushing it out from the table, he crossed one leg over the other. “I forbid you to leave.”
That smug smile was back, and the way he had moved his position meant he was ready to pounce.
Her heart thundered in her chest. This was so wrong.
She stood up, pushing her chair back so quickly it crashed to the floor behind her. Even as she turned away he was on his feet and in pursuit. She almost reached the door and he snatched her from behind, grabbing her by the arms and hauling her away from the door.
“You will stay and you will bear me an heir,” he barked into her ear. His hands tightened on her arms, straining her shoulders and forcing her to arch her back.
“I would prefer that your mistress took on the task.”
It flashed through her mind in that moment, what Lennox had suggested to her. What if it were not her that was infertile, but her husband? There was no guarantee the child his first wife had carried was his. Could it be true, that his mistress had not borne him a child, either? If she had given birth he would already have announced it. Chloris felt the rage at her back intensify, and realized that she had stumbled upon the truth—that his mistress had not fallen pregnant by him, either. Was that his purpose on having the woman installed in their home, to fulfill his dream of an heir? If he had been successful, would she have been banished to Saint Andrews forever?
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