The Heiress

  “And welcome you are,” Rhys said, sitting up, then wincing with the pain. “Tell me what has been found. Any news on Frances?”

  “Nothing yet, but that is not why I am here. Come, come, you must forget that, or your leg will never stop aching. Let me tell you an amusing story I heard.”

  Two hours later, Tode left Rhys’s room, and he was smiling beneath his hood. It had not been difficult to get Rhys to talk about extraordinary people he had known in his life.

  “But no one is dumber than Henry Oliver,” Rhys had said after the first hour of gossip and stories. “He thought he was deaf because he had only half an ear.” When questioned, he told how Jamie’s older brother, when they were children, had hit Oliver on the side of the head with a sword, and when the top half of his ear had fallen off, Oliver had cried that now he would be deaf.

  “To this day, I think he still believes he can’t hear well out of that side of his head.”

  “And what sort of man is this Henry Oliver?” Tode asked, trying not to sound frantic. “Dangerous?”

  “Oliver? No, not at all, unless blind stupidity makes a man dangerous. He loves Jamie’s sister, and he’s been trying for years to force Jamie’s family into allowing them to marry.”

  “Force them?” Tode was glad Rhys was getting drunk so that he couldn’t hear the rising panic in Tode’s voice.

  “For years he tried to buy her from Jamie’s older brother, and Edward would have sold her, but Jamie’s father looked up from his books long enough to say no, that he didn’t think that was a suitable match.” Rhys chuckled. “I think this decision was influenced by Berengaria saying she’d throw herself off the roof before she married Henry Oliver. And since the death of the brother and father, Oliver has offered Jamie some lands that flood every spring, a few run-down cottages, and some ancient horses in return for Berengaria’s hand.” Rhys took a deep swig of the wine. “And once he tried to kidnap Berengaria.”

  “Kidnap her?” Tode asked, unable to breathe.

  “Well, at least he threw a sack over her and carried her off.”

  “What happened?” Tode asked.

  Rhys could hardly contain his laughter. “Somehow—Oliver has very poor eyesight—he got the other sister in the bag. Joby. You don’t know her, but believe me, no man wants to rile that girl. I’d rather open a bag full of Scottish wildcats than one that contained an angry Joby.”

  “Like Axia,” Tode said softly.

  Rhys smiled in a dreamy way. “No, they are not at all alike. Axia is a terror to one man only. Joby makes everyone’s life difficult. Except for Jamie’s and Berengaria’s. Let me tell you what she used to do to her brother Edward.”

  And with those words, he launched into a completely different story, but Tode had his information, so now it was going to be an easy matter to find out where this Henry Oliver lived and easier still to guess where he was going. No doubt he was taking Frances to his home. No wonder Jamie had not understood his message: “You took my woman so now I’ll take yours.” In Jamie’s eyes his sister never had and never would belong to Henry Oliver, but obviously Oliver thought differently.

  So now, leaving Rhys’s room, Tode was smiling. He’d found out a great deal, but what could he do with this information? Take it to Jamie? But he knew what Jamie would do, he’d run after Frances and leave Axia behind, as was right. But Tode knew that it was Axia who needed protection, and Tode knew that if Jamie knew that, he would protect her with his life.

  How could he get Axia and Jamie away from the Teversham estate before Jamie found out what Tode knew? How could he get Jamie to protect Axia and leave Frances to Tode?

  Chapter 18

  Jamie angrily crumpled the message into a tiny ball. He was going to show this to no one. With every passing minute he felt more stupid, more helpless, as he couldn’t figure out what he should know. Who had taken Frances? From the way the first message was worded, it seemed that he was supposed to know, but he didn’t.

  He hadn’t slept in two days now, and his chin was black with whiskers, but he wasn’t going to rest until he found out something. There had to be a clue somewhere. He’d just told Thomas to bring him the stable lad again when this second message had arrived. It said that Jamie was to go west to his uncle’s house and wait there for another message.

  But what bothered Jamie was that at the bottom of the message was written, “Better take care of your women.”

  Not “woman,” but “women.” Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe the writer’s pen slipped. Maybe he meant that only Frances was in danger and no other woman.

  And too, Jamie was bothered that he’d found the message on his bed, which meant that it had come from inside the Teversham household. It had been put there by someone who was inside the castle, someone so familiar his presence would interest no one.

  Jamie could not lose much time in contemplation. He would go to his uncle’s house and await further instruction. In the meantime, to make sure she was safe, he’d send Axia away with Tode and Thomas; they were the only people he could trust.

  Thirty minutes later, Jamie was cursing, for both Thomas and Tode were down with a debilitating flux. Clutching his stomach as he ran to the garderobe in agony, Thomas was ashen, his guts gripping.

  As for Tode, he was so weak he could hardly look up as he clung to Jamie’s arm. “Do not let the kidnapper take Axia. You must protect her. I fear that she is not safe here. That man took Frances with everyone looking on. He could do it again.”

  Tode echoed Jamie’s worst thoughts. As Axia had told him, people knew that Frances was the Maidenhall heiress, and perhaps because Axia was traveling with them, they would think that she had something to do with all that gold as well.

  Because Jamie had not slept in days, he was not aware of time, was unaware that it was the middle of the night when he burst into Axia’s room. Frowning, he was instantly aware that there was no maid sleeping in her room. She was unprotected.

  When he touched her shoulder, she snuggled deeper under the covers, so deep in fact that he had to reach down under them and pull her up.

  “Axia,” he said softly, “I want you to get up. I want you to go with me.”

  “Sleep,” she murmured, keeping her eyes closed.

  “No, not sleep. You have to get up. Where is the maid to help you dress?”

  “Jamie helps me dress.”

  Tired as he was, he smiled at that, then gave her a little shake. “We are going to my uncle’s. He has a very nice wife named Mary, and she will take care of you.”

  Yawning, Axia was beginning to wake up. “What are you doing in my room again?” she asked. “Why are you always in my room?”

  “I’m a soldier, remember? I go where the danger is.”

  Axia tried not to smile but couldn’t prevent it. “Have you found Frances?”

  “No, but I’ve received a second note, and I’m to leave here at once and go west to my uncle’s. It is about a day’s ride from here, and you are to come with me.”

  “Why?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

  “Both Thomas and Tode are ill, so they can’t take care of you, and since there is no one else, you must go with me.”

  He was not prepared for the suddenness of her leap from bed. As she flung the covers back on him, one corner caught him on the eye. Pushing the covers off his body, his hand to his eye, he wasn’t surprised to see a spot of blood on his finger.

  With a hand to his eye, he pivoted on one foot and, stretching, caught Axia by the arm before she ran out the door in her nightclothes.

  “Tode!” she gasped, pulling against him with all her strength. “I must go to him if he is ill.”

  Jamie held her easily. “Axia, I am tired; I am worried; do not make my life more difficult. Now come here and see if you have blinded me.”

  Turning, she saw a tiny spot of blood at the edge of his eye. That didn’t bother her, but when he sat down on a chair by the bed, she saw his shoulders sag, and that posture made her see the burden
he felt. “Your beloved Tode is all right,” he murmured, “merely a flux.”

  She was fully awake now as she went to a basin and wet a cloth, then standing between his knees, she touched the cloth to his eye. “What is the news?” she asked softly.

  “None. I am to wait.”

  When he looked up at her, she saw the strain of him. There were black circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. If she were missing, poor that he thought she was, would he be looking for her this hard?

  She knew the answer to that. Yes, he would.

  Fighting an impulse to put her arms around him, she stepped away to stand by the bed, her back to him. “You want me to go with you?” She hated how much hope built up inside her as she waited for his answer.

  “I cannot leave you here. I wanted to send you away with Thomas and Tode, but they are both ill. Thomas will join us as soon as he is able.”

  “And Tode?”

  “He is to remain here. Lachlan will look after him.”

  Whirling about to face him, she said, “Could not Lachlan look after me as well?”

  “No,” Jamie said. “The note hinted that more than one woman was in danger. That could mean you as well as Frances.”

  “But Lachlan could take me away somewhere,” she said, her eyes pleading. “Oh, Jamie, please. Do you forget that he has asked me to marry him?”

  “He meant it in jest!” Jamie snapped. “You had made a fool of yourself in front of all the company so he tried to save you embarrassment.”

  “Oh? Is that what he did? Then he is indeed a good man. He would be a good match for me, so perhaps if you could persuade him to take me away somewhere, he would propose again. This time not in jest.”

  He was frowning at her, but he did not answer.

  Moving toward him, she again stood between his knees. “Please, Jamie, please. You know that I have no money. Like you I must make a good match, and this Lachlan with his adorable sons would be a very, very good match for me.” She was standing very close to him. “Please,” she whispered.

  Jamie was too tired to think what he was doing, but he pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth. At least the kiss started out hard, then it turned into such soft sweetness that he was all too aware that they were alone in her bedchamber and she was naked under her nightclothes.

  Abruptly, he thrust her from him. “Are you so eager to get a husband that you will take anyone?”

  “Oh yes,” she said happily. “Anyone except you, that is. You would make me remember that I was poor all the days of my life and that I had cheated you out of the Maidenhall heiress.”

  With that, Jamie jumped up from the chair, raising his hands skyward. “You know that Frances’s father will not allow the match. Most of the trouble now—” Halting, he glared at her. “What is the use trying to talk to you? You are not going to remain here with Lachlan and make a fool of yourself. You are under my protection, and until I am released from that duty, I will see to your care. Is that understood?”

  “Quite well. And I am sure that half the household heard you too.”

  Jamie grimaced. “Get dressed. We ride at dawn.” With that he left her room, not bothering to close the door behind him.

  But Axia closed the door. Closed it, leaned against it, then smiled. Then she moved away from the door and danced about the room, humming a very happy little tune to herself.

  Chapter 19

  Jamie was tired, and his temper was blacker than the circles under his eyes. what in the world had made him decide to take Axia with him? He knew very well that Lachlan would guard her with his life, as would Rhys, and when Thomas got out of bed, so would he. She would have been safe. They would protect her from kidnappers and from Frances’s father.

  But even knowing that, he could not leave her. It made no sense to him, but he knew that he had to have her with him, where he could see her. Perhaps later he could leave her with his uncle, but truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to then either.

  So now dawn was breaking and sleepy servants were milling about, he was ready to go, but there was no sign of Axia. She was not in her room, and no one had seen her. For a few seconds, his heart leaped to his throat in fear, then he calmed. Without a doubt, he thought, she was with her beloved Tode.

  As a surge of jealousy flooded him, he didn’t bother to tell himself that it was only right treat she’d want to say good-bye to her childhood friend. All he knew was that he didn’t want her alone with another man.

  “I will be alone,” Axia was saying to Tode as he lay on the hard bed of horse blankets.

  “Your Jamie will be with you.”

  “He is not mine. If he belongs to anyone, it is to Frances.”

  Tode gave a snort of laughter. “You do not believe that. Frances wants him because he is available, and he wants her to help support his family. You cannot fault him for that. Axia,” he said softly, “Jamie is a good man, and I think he loves you.”

  “Me? Loves me? You must be very sick indeed. James Montgomery cannot wait to get rid of me.”

  “Oh? Then why is he taking you with him to his uncle’s?”

  Axia gave a little one-sided grin. “To keep me away from Lachlan.”

  “Exactly. And why does he want to keep you away from Lachlan if he does not care for you? Since he thinks you have no dowry, he must know that a match between you and Teversham would be a good one.”

  “The best.” Axia was grinning. “I begged Jamie to let me stay with Lachlan and his dear sons.”

  “Those demons from hell, you mean. They think it is a great joke to put burrs into people’s beds.”

  “And tadpoles and other crawly things,” Axia said with a grimace. “You cannot believe what they offered the chief steward to drink!”

  “Mmmm. Unfortunately, I can imagine. I have done the best I could to hide myself from them as I do not want to be on the receiving end of their merriment.”

  At that thought, Axia’s eyes widened. “You must go with us,” she said. “You do not seem so ill that you cannot go with us. I will tell—”

  Tode caught her arm as she started to rise from the side of his makeshift bed. “I am not ill,” he said softly. “I am going to ride ahead and see if I can stop your father.”

  “My—? Oh, Tode, he will murder all of us. Why is Frances always stupid? Could she not once offer some variety? If she’d just come to me and told me that Jamie wanted permission from my father, I could have arranged something.”

  “What would you have done? Written the letter yourself? Given permission for the marriage to take place? By now Frances would have connived to marry your dear Jamie.”

  “My what!” she gasped. “You know very well that I hate people who think more of their looks than they do of anything else.”

  “Jamie is not like that, and you know it. You delight in tormenting him.”

  She looked down at her hands. “But he has no use for me.”

  “The man is nearly insane with wanting you. I thought he might cry when you gave that pillow to Rhys.”

  “This is true? Do you think he likes me? No! Do not answer. He thinks I am a great nuisance and no more.”

  “Oh yes. That is why he is taking you with him.” At a sound outside, Tode said, “Listen. He will be here soon, and you must leave.” His voice lowered. “Axia, do you know that I—that I …”

  She well knew what he was trying to say, words that they had never before exchanged. But then there had been no need for an exchange of words. Since she was a child and her father had sent her a thin boy who was in constant pain from what had been done to him, Axia had loved him. It had taken years to make him trust her, years for him to get over his fear of other people, years for him to stop hating, but they had done it. They had learned to give and receive trust, and together the two misfits had made a life for themselves inside the beautiful prison.

  Axia threw her arms about his neck. “I love you, I love you, I love you. I will love you all my life, and what wi
ll I do without you for even a day?”

  For just a moment Tode held her close, but then he pushed her away. “Go on before I make a fool of myself. Please do not hurt Jamie; I do not want him to wind up looking like me.” He was smiling, but his eyes were serious.

  Axia was working too hard at not shedding tears at leaving her friend to be able to think of a clever retort. And she was trying not to let him see that she was afraid to be without him.

  Tode put his hand under her chin and tipped her head up. “And do not worry too much about Frances.” Guilt ate at him as he could not tell her that he was sure her cousin was in no danger.

  “Oh, Tode, Frances does not even know how to dress herself. What if she tells the man she is not the Maidenhall heiress and he tosses her out? Who will take care of her? Frances wouldn’t know what to do to save herself even if she is given the opportunity.”

  “There you are wrong. Frances has the cunning of a cat. Didn’t she manage to take an obscure relationship with the Maidenhall heiress and get herself out of her father’s poor household? If not for Frances’s shrewdness, she would no doubt be a washerwoman with two children by now.”

  The image of beautiful Frances doing any work was so ridiculous it made Axia smile.

  “There, that is better. Now go. He is waiting.”

  “You will not allow my father to harm you?” she said. “And remember that no matter what he says he will do to you, I will take care of you. If I have a penny, you will have half of it.”

  Tode lifted her hand and kissed it. “Axia, if you have a penny, you will somehow manage to turn it into a hundred pennies.”

  “Then you shall have half of that,” she said smiling, then quickly, she rose and ran from the room and ran smack into Jamie’s hard chest as he stood outside the door. “You were spying on me!” she accused, looking up at him with defiant eyes.

  “I have much more interesting things to do with my life than spy on you. Now come, we will lose the whole day if we continue to dawdle.” Taking her by the arm, Jamie led her back to the middle of the courtyard, where two horses were waiting.