"And ye ha'e to consider," Alick continued now. "Our cousin has seen four husbands into the grave in four years now. That jest has to be more than bad luck," he said, shaking his head. "And if she killed them, who is to say she has no' killed others and might try to kill our Saidh too?"
"But why kill Saidh?" Conran asked. "She'd no' gain from her death."
Alick shrugged. "Mayhap she is jealous o' Saidh's happiness, or something. As I said, I do no' think she's right in the head, staying up in that room all day and night. There's something wrong with her."
"Wife?" Greer said suddenly. "Ye're biting yer lip. What are ye thinking?"
Saidh gave a start at Greer's solemn voice, realizing only then that she had indeed been chewing anxiously on her lip. For one moment she thought perhaps she shouldn't say anything, but someone had tried to kill her twice now, and Alpin had been terribly injured in the last attempt. What if it was Fenella behind it? And what if the next time Greer was hurt, or one of her brothers? What if they even died? She could never suffer that on her conscience, knowing that if she'd just said something . . .
Sighing, she reluctantly admitted, "The morning me brothers arrived, Fenella did mention that ye were verra kind to her, and that mayhap ye'd be as . . . er . . . considerate about the marital bed as Allen. I think she was considering ye fer her fifth husband."
"What?" he said with dismay, and then scowled and asked, "And did I ha'e any say in this?"
Saidh patted his arm soothingly. "I think she thought because ye were kind to her, ye may be interested in--"
"The only kindness I showed her was no' pushing her away when she sobbed all o'er me plaid, which she did repeatedly and often," he said with disgust. "Other than that, we've barely e'en spoken. If she thinks that is kindness, and a sign that I might marry her, the lass really is no' right in her head."
"Perhaps we should speak to her," Aulay suggested quietly.
Greer frowned, but nodded grimly. "Aye."
"I'll do it," Saidh announced abruptly and stood up. She'd come here to find out whether Fenella had killed her husbands or not, and then had instead tiptoed about, not wanting to upset the woman. The sad truth was, Saidh was seriously uncomfortable around weepy women. It was not in her nature to go about weeping and wailing over life's cruelties and she had no idea how to deal with women who did. But it was past time she sorted the matter one way or another. Especially now that Fenella was under widespread suspicion of being behind these new attacks.
"Nay," Greer said firmly, catching her arm. "Ye'll go rest. Aulay and I'll speak to her."
Aulay raised an eyebrow at being roped into speaking to the woman with Greer, and arched an eyebrow. "Afraid she'll cry on ye again?"
Greer scowled at the suggestion, but said, "Aye, and that I'll strike her dead if I deduce she is behind these attacks."
"Ah," Aulay said with amusement, getting to his feet as Greer scooped Saidh up into his arms.
"What are ye doing?" she cried with surprise and began to struggle, kicking her legs and pushing at Greer's chest with her good arm as he started toward the stairs. "Put me down."
"I am carrying ye up and putting ye to bed. Ye should be resting, ye're still healing."
"I can walk," she protested with a scowl.
"I ken it," he assured her. "But I like the feel o' ye in me arms."
Saidh blinked at this claim, her struggles stopping as he started up the stairs. "Ye do?"
"O' course I do, ye daft woman. Why do ye think I married ye?"
"So ye could tup me without me brothers killing ye?" she said dryly.
He chuckled at the suggestion and reminded her, "I am the one who told them I'd tupped ye."
"Aye, ye did," she said with a small smile. "More fool ye. I ne'er would ha'e told them or demanded marriage from ye. I'd ha'e just enjoyed ye while I could and then gone about me business."
"I ken that too," Greer said, not looking pleased. "I realized it the morning yer brothers arrived. Ye'd intended to take yer pleasure and then abandon me." Peering down his nose at her, he shook his head and said conversationally, "Yer a cruel wench, wife. 'Tis no wonder someone is trying to kill ye."
"Oy!" she bellowed in surprised offense and began to kick her feet and push at his chest again. This time though, he opened his arms, dropping her. Saidh gasped in surprise as she fell through the air, but before she could do more than that, she landed on something soft. She peered around with surprise to see that while she'd been distracted, they'd reached the bedchamber she'd originally stayed in and that they'd made love in before joining her brothers earlier. He'd dropped her on the bed, and managed to do it in such a way that she'd landed sitting up, saving her wound.
She turned to raise an eyebrow at her husband. "Why am I here?"
"To rest while yer brother and I talk to Fenella," he answered, and then bent at the waist, pressing his hands on the bed on either side of her hips so that he could claim her lips in a sizzling kiss that had her slipping her arms around his neck and clinging to him. By the time he tore his mouth away to kiss his way across her cheek, she was breathless and terribly excited.
"I'll return shortly to tell ye what we learn and finish this," he murmured in a husky voice, nipping at her ear.
"Finish what?" Saidh asked weakly as he nibbled at her neck. Her brain appeared to be having some difficulty processing what he was saying at that moment.
"This." His hand slid under her skirt and along her thigh until he could lightly brush his fingers against the already dampening skin between her legs.
"Oh," Saidh moaned, reaching to catch his hand as he started to withdraw it. "Can we no' finish this first?"
Chuckling, Greer tugged his hand free of her hold and gave her another kiss, this one quick and hard. He then removed her clinging arms and said, "Yer brother's waiting in the hall. But I'll be back."
Saidh let her hands drop to her sides and watched him walk to the door. Once he'd slipped out and pulled the door closed behind him, she lay back with a little sigh, then grimaced and quickly rolled to her side as pain shot through her back. She'd forgotten her wound.
The sudden opening of the door again when it had just closed startled her, and Saidh sat up with surprise, but relaxed when Greer merely stuck his head in to tell her, "Geordie and Dougall will be outside the door. Shout do ye need them."
He didn't wait for a response, but then pulled the door closed once more.
Saidh stared at the door for a minute, then lay down on her side again and closed her eyes. It had been after the nooning when she and Alpin had snuck out to the gardens, and while she'd lost consciousness, she didn't think she'd been out for long. Rory hadn't been far enough in cleaning Alpin's wound on his back for much time to have passed. Of course, she had dallied with Greer in here briefly, and then sat below, so by her guess, the afternoon was somewhere between half and three quarters done. Time enough for her to enjoy a wee nap before the sup. Well, time enough for a very short nap and, hopefully, some houghmagandie with her husband.
The thought made her smile as she allowed her eyes to close, but the smile faded when a rustling sound reached her ears. Blinking her eyes open, she listened briefly. Were she asked to describe it, she would have said it sounded as if a great huge snake were slithering through the rushes on the floor. The problem was, she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Sitting up, she peered around the room, but there was nothing and no one to see.
Frowning, she pushed her hair behind her ears and listened carefully, but couldn't really tell where it was coming from. It almost seemed to be coming from all around her . . . or beneath her, she thought suddenly and quickly slid her feet off the bed intending to get up.
Saidh stopped short, however, when a startled gasp sounded as her feet landed on something much softer than the hard floor with its scattering of rushes. Leaning quickly forward, she peered down to see that she had her feet on Fenella's gown-covered rump.
Chapter 16
"I'm sorry if I start
led ye," Fenella said quietly, glancing up at her. "Do ye think ye could lift yer feet so I can finish getting out from under the bed?"
Saidh briefly considered pushing down more firmly and holding her in place as she demanded an explanation, but this was a Fenella she had never met before. She appeared subdued and her expression was actually apologetic, something Saidh did not think she'd ever seen on the woman's face. Relenting, she lifted her feet to sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed as she watched Fenella finish dragging herself out from under the bed.
Once out, her cousin got to her feet and began to brush at her gown and skirts, trying to remove the bits of debris stuck to her. Plucking irritably at the pieces that wouldn't brush away, she muttered, "Yer maids ha'e been lax about their job. 'Tis filthy under that bed."
"Hmm," was all Saidh said, although she could have pointed out that she had only been lady here for a very short time and that Fenella herself had been lady before that.
"Ye should order them to clean out the rushes in the room, including those under the bed and lay fresh ones," Fenella instructed, giving up on her gown with a grimace.
"I shall consider it," Saidh murmured, and then raised an eyebrow. "Would ye care to explain what ye were doing under the bed?"
Fenella hesitated, her gaze moving reluctantly to Saidh and then sliding quickly to the door, almost with longing. Saidh supposed the girl would rather leave than give explanations, but much to her surprise, Fenella sighed, her shoulders slumping, and then asked politely, "Might I sit with ye?"