Blake frowned at his betrothed, suspecting her sweet smile and the veracity behind her words. Rolfe's interruption, however, caught his attention.
"That is impossible. It would prolong the ordeal by at least another week, perhaps two."
As Blake absorbed the truth of his words, Seonaid turned on him bitterly. "What do ye propose? Shall we just leave her here in the woods to make her way alone, unattended?"
"Nay, of course not," Blake murmured, suddenly cheerful. "We shall have to see her home." When Rolfe turned on him with dismay, he shrugged. "Well, she gave her word, and as my betrothed, her word is my word. And a promise is a promise. We can hardly force her to break her word." When Rolfe continued to glare at him, too angry to speak, Blake shifted uncomfortably and turned back to Seonaid more sternly. "We shall see her home as you promised, howbeit that is all I will agree to."
Seonaid relaxed and even smiled at him. " 'Tis all I ask, m'laird."
Blake blinked. She really had a charming smile. Quite charming. Why had he not noticed that before? Because she hadn't smiled at him before.
"Nay."
All of them turned toward the bishop as he stepped out of the bushes to join the growing group.
"Forgive an old man for interrupting, but it would seem to me a detour to England would serve little purpose and merely delay a wedding that has been delayed far too long already. We shall hie to Dunbar."
"But what about the sister?" Seonaid asked with a sinking heart, seeing all chance for delaying the wedding slipping away.
"There is a simple resolution," he said soothingly, then turned to Helen. "Sister ... ?"
"Helen," the woman squeaked.
The bishop nodded solemnly. "Sister Helen, you may travel with us to Dunbar to attend the wedding if you wish. Lord Rolfe and I shall be traveling back to England then, and we would be pleased to escort you on your visit. Or," he added, when Seonaid made to protest, "or we can surely spare three men to escort you now. We presently have three more men than we started out with anyway, thanks to Lord Angus." He nodded pleasantly toward Gavin and his two men as he spoke, then raised his eyebrows and took a listening attitude as he awaited Helen's decision.
For her part, Lady Helen looked rather confused. Turning, she peered uncertainly at Seonaid, then back to the bishop before blurting, "I shall attend the wedding."
"Good, then we shall head for Dunbar." The bishop smiled graciously, then turned and moved back through the trees until they enveloped him, presumably to return to the camp the men had inhabited during the wee hours of the morning.
Blake peered unhappily from the bishop's disappearing back to his would-be bride and sighed, then shook his head and turned to order Little George to bring their horses into the clearing. Rolfe moved to his side.
"We should disarm them," the king's man murmured, considering the women as they prepared their mounts.
Blake raised his brows. "Do you think they would use their swords against us?"
"They already have."
"That was at the abbey, and they knew not who we were then. They did not try to fight their way out of the clearing," Blake pointed out, his gaze slipping over Seonaid's body. While he had, at first, been shocked at the sight of her in braies, he was beginning to appreciate the way the outfit outlined her slender curves and--
"Aye," Rolfe said, interrupting his thoughts. "But they will be less likely to try to escape do they not have their swords."
His words brought a frown to Blake's lips. It still rankled to think his betrothed might actually not wish to marry him. He was the one who should, and had, been reluctant to marry her, one of the dreaded Dunbars. She should be grateful he had even shown up, no matter how late in the day. Yet she appeared less than eager to be his bride. Fascinating, he decided, then realized she had yet to experience any of the sweet words that normally dripped from his honeyed tongue in the presence of women. Normally he began to spin a verbal web of beauty about a woman the moment he met her. Yet he hadn't had the least urging to do so with his betrothed. In fact, he found himself more prone to curse at her than soothe her with sweet assertions. Most odd.
Shaking his head, he moved forward as she hooked a satchel to her horse and quickly grabbed for her sword. Seonaid must have sensed his approach for she stilled a moment before he reached her but made no movement as he disarmed her. Instead, she waited until he'd stepped away, then turned slowly to face him.
"You could have asked, m'laird."
Blake raised his eyebrows. He'd expected anger, rage, even snarling and spitting fury. Instead she appeared completely calm. She even tossed a glance toward her companion, which caused the smaller warrior to unsheathe her own sword and step forward to offer it to him.
Blake accepted the weapon with some surprise. He took a wary step back as he confessed, "I did not think you would surrender it willingly."
"Why not?" Her lips curved up in amusement as she shrugged. "If 'twill make ye feel safer to have me unarmed, so be it. 'Sides, surely with such big, strong men around we'd have no need to defend ourselves?"
Blake frowned. There was no guile in her expression, not the smallest sign of sarcasm in her tone, and yet he was positive she was laughing at him. Worse yet, he suspected the little woman, her friend, had caught the joke and was silently laughing as well. Scowling, he muttered under his breath and turned away to rejoin Lord Rolfe.
"Think you it was wise to give up our weapons?" Aeldra asked quietly.
Seonaid shrugged. "They're less likely to expect an escape attempt if we are unarmed. 'Sides, we can replace them easily enough."
"How?" Helen asked, moving to join them.
"We have friends not far from here," Seonaid informed her quietly, then glanced toward the men. The bishop and the big man from the chapel had left the clearing, presumably to gather their animals as well as the rest of the men and clear away the signs of their camp. That left Sherwell, Lord Rolfe, Gavin, and the other two Dunbar men present, but without their horses. There would hardly be a better time to attempt an escape. "Aeldra, help Helen mount her animal."
Catching the meaningful expression Seonaid tossed her, Aeldra nodded and took Helen's arm to lead her around the large beast Seonaid stood before. Moving calmly, Seonaid stepped to the front of her mount's head and began to coo and pet him softly, her gaze shooting first to the men still talking at the edge of the clearing, then to the two women and two horses hidden by her massive animal's bulk. Aeldra helped Helen mount her horse, instructing her to lay her upper body flat along the animal's neck and head to prevent drawing attention, then moved to her own mount and quickly slid atop the beast, pressing herself flat on the animal's neck as well.
Seeing the men hadn't noticed their activity, Seonaid moved back to her stallion's side, grabbed the pommel in one hand, jammed her foot in the stirrup, and quickly pulled with her hand and stepped with her foot to propel herself upward and sling one long leg over the beast's back.
She had mounted and was grabbing for Helen's reins even as the expected cry of alarm went up. Ignoring it, Seonaid tugged on her horse's reins and pressed her heels to his belly, urging him into a bolt. The beast immediately shot forward, Helen's horse following. Aeldra took up the rear.
"Damn! Little George, bring the horses!" Blake roared, whirling from the sight of the disappearing women and starting through the woods.
Rolfe followed him closely. "Do not tell me you have decided to participate in getting the wedding done? I began to think you would simply trail me about, hampering my efforts as much as possible until it was either a fait accompli or the lady escaped."
Pausing, Blake turned to face him. "Do not think I have changed my mind about the wedding. Howbeit, do I continue to leave the situation in your hands, I very much fear I shall be bounced around indefinitely, chasing the woman from one end of Scotland to the other. 'Tis far better to see the matter settled one way or the other by escorting her back to Dunbar, and it appears to me the only way to accomplish the task is to h
andle it myself." With those insulting words, he turned to continue forward, only to pause as Little George appeared, trailing three horses.
"They made a run for it," Blake explained dryly, answering the question in his massive man's eyes as he accepted his own reins. He quickly mounted, as did Lord Rolfe. His gaze shot to the Dunbar men and he frowned at their solemn expressions. "Mount up and follow with the rest of the men."
Gavin nodded stoicly, his expression remaining dignified and grim until the three men had ridden out of view; then his face cracked in a grin. "I can hardly wait to return to Dunbar and tell the laird about this."
"He's sure to get a good laugh oot o' it," one of the other men agreed, then commented, " 'Tis twice now the English has lost oor Seonaid. Hoo many more times diya reckon 'twill happen 'ere we arrive home?"
Gavin shrugged and turned to move into the woods, intent on gaining his horse. "Twa or three, I'd wager. Fetch yer beasties and follow me. We'll gather the rest of the English and follow."