"Now jest a minute there, lad," Angus interrupted grimly, obviously not wishing to lose his excuse to remain close to Lady Wildwood. " 'Tis me daughter who made the first promise to see her safe, and I shall take on that burden, as I said. 'Tis me responsibility."
"Gentlemen," Lady Wildwood interrupted quietly, bringing silence to the party. "I think you are focusing on who Helen is and forgetting something more important."
"What's that?" Angus asked with a frown.
"As Seonaid pointed out to me abovestairs, there is the Cameron to worry about. He will hardly wish Helen to return safely to her father and tell all. His head will be on the block should she manage it. He will be desperate to stop her. The men who attacked in the woods would have trailed you all here, and by now there may be a small army of Camerons on its way, if they are not here already." She allowed that to sink in. "And then there is her father to consider as well. If Helen's maid did manage to ride all the way to southern England on her own, and he has heard what has happened, he too may be under threat."
"You are right," Rolfe said with concern. "I shall send a messenger to him at once. If the maid hasn't reached him, the message will inform him of what has happened. Either way, I shall instruct him to stay within Bethencourt and to keep any Camerons out until we reach him."
"We?" Angus asked grimly.
"Helen and I. As things stand, a large party would simply draw Cameron's attention. 'Twould be better if Helen and I were to sneak out on our own, perhaps with her disguised as a boy. Then we can head for Bethencourt."
Angus was frowning over this. Obviously his plan to use Helen as an excuse to remain close to Lady Wildwood would not work if Rolfe rode alone with Helen. On the other hand, taking the girl with the larger party would put Lady Wildwood and the bishop in jeopardy. They could take most of the men and brave an attack by the entire Cameron clan, as Duncan had done when he had ridden out after Seonaid, but after the attack and siege of Dunbar, he was reluctant to leave his home vulnerable again.
The sudden bang of the great hall doors slamming open interrupted the silence as everyone turned to see who had entered. Recognizing the messenger hurrying across the hall, Rolfe stood to meet the man and accepted the scroll he carried. He broke the seal on the scroll, unrolled it, and read the missive with a frown.
"The messenger I sent to the king with the news of Lady Wildwood's presence here 'ere we left for St. Simmian's arrived safely. He is ordering me to escort Lady Wildwood to court posthaste to discuss 'matters of great import.' "
"What matters of great import?" Angus asked suspiciously.
"And why the rush?" Iliana's mother asked.
"No doubt he knows Greenweld is dead by now too," Rolfe muttered. "News moves quickly."
"So?" Lady Wildwood asked warily.
"On Greenweld's death, you became mistress of both Wildwood and the neighboring Greenweld, my lady," Bishop Wykeham pointed out quietly.
"Aye." Rolfe scrubbed the hair back from his face with irritation. "And with Iliana as your only heir--and she married and installed here at Dunbar--he no doubt wishes to see you remarried. Preferably to someone with more than one heir to step in and take over each estate."
Margaret turned a horrified glance toward Angus. He stared back at her, stunned for a moment, then rose to his feet roaring, "The hell he will! I am marrying Margaret. In fact, I am doing so right now. Bishop, get yer Bible."
"Now just a minute," Lord Rolfe protested. "You cannot marry Lady Wildwood against her will."
"It is not against my will," Margaret said quietly. "I wish to marry Angus."
"But, I cannot let you marry him. The king--"
"Has not sent orders against it," Blake interrupted with amusement. He rather thought the pair would make a fine couple. Blake had noted a distinct difference in his father-in-law since returning with Seonaid and suspected it had to do with Lady Wildwood's influence. The two were obviously in love, and the woman was softening him. The Dunbar had even taken Blake aside to tell him that he intended to rectify the old rift between himself and the Earl of Sherwell.
"Aye, but--" Lord Rolfe began, and Blake interrupted again.
"He has not sent orders regarding anything except that Lady Wildwood travel to court. Does he have plans to marry her off, he should have said so. I see no reason they should not marry. Then the laird can take some of his own men, along with the king's men, and see his wife and the bishop to court, leaving you free to slip away with Helen and hightail it to Bethencourt," Blake pointed out slyly. "Then you two can collect her father and make your way to court to meet up with them."
"In fact," he added, "their leavetaking might be a good diversion for you. They can parade out of Dunbar slowly so that the Camerons, if they are hiding out there, will watch and eventually can see that Helen is not among them. Meanwhile you can take Helen and slip out through the secret passage in Seonaid's room."
"That may work," Duncan murmured, speaking up for the first time. "Lady Helen could leave disguised as a boy as ye suggested, and I could arrange horses to be waiting fer ye at the end o' the passage. Ye could slip away undetected."
Seonaid watched the men pack Lady Wildwood's trunks onto the back of the cart and shook her head in wonderment. She had no clue what all the woman had in them, but Lady Wildwood had insisted they were all items she would need at court. Lady Dunbar, she mentally corrected herself. Her father had married the woman the night before. She was now Seonaid's stepmother.
" 'Tis glad I am we're no travelin' with them," Aeldra murmured suddenly, and Seonaid nodded in agreement. She did not mind long journeys as a rule but was used to traveling with a small army of men, and without a wagon of trunks to slow her down. The cart of goods Lady Margaret was taking with her would force the party to travel at a snail's pace. Not that Seonaid supposed her father was in any rush to reach the English court. He would no doubt have to face the English king's wrath over their marriage, and there was nothing to rush back for. Duncan already all but ran Dunbar in deed, if not in name, and could tend it well enough in their father's absence.
"Seonaid."
She turned to find her father approaching and offered a smile.
"Lady Margaret and I will stop at Sherwell on our way back from court to see how yer gettin' along, and to tell ye how things went with the English king," he announced, his gaze shifting to the men preparing the wagon and horses for their journey. Then he glanced back. "I still think 'twould be better were ye travelin' with us at least til we reached England, but that stubborn husband o' yers refuses, so ..." He shrugged, then turned away to yell at one of the men to make sure everything was tied down.
Seonaid smiled to herself while his back was turned. She and Blake were not traveling alone--Aeldra and Little George were to accompany them--but they would not be joining her father's party after all. The change had come about during her father's wedding to Lady Wildwood. Iliana and Duncan had been standing near Seonaid and Blake during the ceremony, and the smaller woman had commented that her father-in-law and soon-to-be stepfather looked very handsome in his newly cleaned and mended gold doublet and braies. The doublet had sported a hole from the arrow her father had taken until Iliana had taken care of it.
Blake had grimaced at the woman's comment and muttered that the man should look good in his doublet and braies; the outfit had cost him a small fortune. He had then turned to tell her what she already knew, that he had traded her father the outfit for his plaid, explaining that he had wished to wear the Dunbar "colors" while traipsing across Scotland to avoid as much trouble as he could while he hared after her.
Iliana had appeared confused by this news, Duncan had burst out laughing, and Seonaid had bit her lip briefly, then taken pity on her husband and explained that he had been misinformed: Scots did not have clan tartans. When he had argued the point, assuring her that everyone in England knew clans had specific tartans, she had sighed and informed him that everyone in England was wrong.
It had taken some talkin
g to convince him, and then he'd been irritated to learn that he had been so foolish as to give up his new doublet and braies to her father under false pretenses. Seonaid couldn't really blame him--her father's plaid was rather malodorous, and she was always relieved when he took it off. Blake was rather relieved to be free of the thing himself. And before he could become too upset over the matter, Iliana had soothed him by offering to sew him a new doublet and braies for their trip home.
Blake had accepted the offer gratefully, claiming he would rather wear English clothing on English soil. But even with the small army of servants she had asked to set to the task with her, the outfit would take Iliana two days to create. This news hadn't seemed to bother Blake. In fact, she suspected it rather pleased him to announce that they would just have to wait the extra day and give up the chance to travel with the others.
Seonaid was not surprised that he would rather not journey with her father and the others to England. The two men got along much better now that the marriage was accomplished. Her father even showed some signs of liking her husband, but she doubted very much that Blake wanted to be hampered by the presence of so many people so soon after their marriage, at least not if he wished to continue to bed her as they had since the wedding. That thought was enough to ensure that she had no desire to travel with the others. She couldn't stand the idea of laying next to Blake night after night, not being able to touch him for fear of waking everyone with the moans and sighs she seemed unable to contain.
"Where is yer husb--Oh, there ye are," her father said, and Seonaid glanced over her shoulder to see Blake approaching. When he paused, he stood so close that his chest brushed her back, and Seonaid was tempted to lean into him but controlled herself. She had not yet gotten used to the difference in their relationship. She had gone from battling and fleeing the man to reluctantly giving up her injured pride at Lady Margaret's urging to the intimacy that took place in their bedroom of a night. She still had no idea how to behave around him once they were out of the bedroom.
"Be careful on yer way."
Her father's solemn words drew Seonaid's attention to the two men as he cautioned Blake.
"Remember," he continued, "Greenweld's men are out there."
"Surely they would not still be after me?" Blake said with surprise. "Greenweld is dead."