Highland Velvet (Montgomery/Taggert 3)

Mary gasped in horror.

“We would have been killed if it weren’t for Roger. He was fourteen and big and strong. He ran right in front of Edmund’s horse and grabbed both of us. But the horse’s hoof hit his left arm and he dropped me.” Brian looked away for a moment. “The horse crushed my leg from the knee down.” He gave a weak smile. “I’m lucky I didn’t lose it. Elizabeth said it was Roger’s care that saved the leg. He stayed beside me for months afterward.”

“You love him very much, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Brian answered simply. “He…protected both Elizabeth and me all our childhoods. He put Elizabeth in a convent when she was six.”

“And she’s there now.”

Brian smiled. “Roger says he’s looking for a man fit for her but he’s not found one yet. How can you find a husband for an angel?” He laughed in memory at something Elizabeth had said. She’d suggested Roger find her a devil. Roger had not found Elizabeth’s statement humorous. Too often, Roger didn’t laugh at Elizabeth’s sharp remarks. Sometimes her tongue was at odds with her sweet looks.

“We can’t let our families fight,” Mary was saying. “You’ve shown me that your brother is a kind, loving man. He’s just angry at Stephen. And no doubt your sister-in-law is angry too.”

Brian almost laughed at that. Alice’s half-crazy rages were more than anger. Sometimes she was totally insane and sleeping herbs had to be given her. She screamed about Judith and Gavin Montgomery constantly.

“You’ve said so little about yourself,” Brian said quietly. “Here you are held prisoner, you’ve been crying for days, yet you ask about me. Tell me, why have you been crying? For yourself or for your brothers?”

Mary looked at her hands. “I am a weak, cowardly thing. I wish I could pray as I should, but my brothers have taught me realism. When they find I am gone, they will be so angry. Gavin and Stephen will calmly prepare for war, but there will be nothing calm about either Raine or Miles.”

“What will they do?”

“No one can tell. They do whatever seems good at the moment. Raine is usually so gentle, a great bear of a man, but he can stand no injustice. And Miles has a horrible temper! No one can guess what he will do.”

“This must be stopped,” Brian said, rising. “I will go to Roger and demand that he release you.”

Mary stood beside him, shorter than he. “Do you think demands will make him angry? Shouldn’t you ask?”

Brian looked at her, her soft roundness, her

great liquid eyes. She made him feel as strong as a mountain. He’d never asked Roger for anything—except his very life. She was right. How could he make demands of someone he loved so much?

He touched Mary’s face. “I will take you from this place. I promise you that.”

“And I believe you,” Mary said with great trust. “You must go now.”

Brian looked about the small, damp cell. There was straw on the floor and it was none too clean. The only furniture was a hard cot and a bucket in a corner. “This is a foul place. You must leave with me now.”

“No!” She backed away from him. “We must be careful. We cannot anger your brother. If he is like mine, he may say things he will regret later, but then he will be forced to hold to them. You must wait until morning when he is rested and then talk to him.”

“How can you concern yourself with my brother when it means another night for you in this hell-hole?”

She answered him only with the look in her eyes. “Go in peace now. You needn’t worry about me.”

Brian stared at her a moment, then grabbed her hand and kissed it. “You are a good woman, Mary Montgomery.” He turned and left her.

Mary looked away as she heard the door locked once again. She hoped she hadn’t let Brian see how very frightened she really was. Something scurried across the floor and she jumped. She shouldn’t cry, she knew, but she was such an awful coward.

Roger looked at his little brother with shock.

“I want her out of that cell,” Brian said quietly. He’d done as Mary’d said and waited until morning to confront Roger. Not that Brian had slept any, nor had Roger from the look of the dark circles under his eyes.

“Brian, please…” Roger began in that voice he used only for his younger brother and sister.

Brian didn’t relent. “I still haven’t heard why you have her prisoner, but whatever the reason, I want her out of that cell.”

Roger turned away from Brian so the pain in Roger’s eyes couldn’t be seen. How could he explain his humiliation at the hands of the Montgomerys? It had hurt him when his sister-in-law threw herself at Gavin and was rejected by him. Later Bronwyn had chosen him and he’d felt redeemed. But Stephen had gotten in a lucky blow that had sent Roger sprawling. He’d been so angry, he hadn’t thought but had attacked Stephen’s back. Now he wanted to let the Montgomerys know he couldn’t always be beaten.

“She won’t be harmed,” Roger said. “I promise you I won’t harm her.”