The Magnificent Rogue

  “You’ll have to come down and talk to him, Robert.”

  Her gaze flew to the man who had spoken and was standing in the doorway. Curly red hair, freckles, not much older than herself. Another stranger, but one far less intimidating than the Gypsy in the chair beside the bed.

  “She’s awake?” The man came a step into the room, his face alight with interest as he studied her. “Ah, that’s better. The eyes are really magnificent. You may not be as bad off as I feared, Robert.” He bowed. “I’m Gavin Gordon, and I’m delighted to meet you, Mistress Kentyre.”

  Robert didn’t give her a chance to reply as he asked impatiently, “Why should I come downstairs?”

  Gavin’s glance shifted to Robert. “Oh, the old man is roaring. He wants to see you.”

  “Later.”

  Gavin shrugged. “As you like, but he won’t let the woman bring up the hot water to wash the mud off her.”

  MacDarren made a low exclamation, and the chair scraped against the floor as he stood up. “Damn him, the stuff is beginning to cake on her.” He started for the door and then paused to look back at Kate. The harshness was gone from his voice when he said, “Try to go to sleep. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Gavin followed him out of the room and closed the door.

  Everything’s going to be fine.

  The words had been spoken with such cool authority that for a moment she almost believed him. He came from the lady, and Sebastian was always careful in dealing with those emissaries who came to receive reports and give instructions regarding her upbringing. Perhaps she could appeal to him to save Caird. He appeared to possess a boldness and arrogance that had not been apparent in the other messengers. He might intercede with Sebastian on her behalf.

  But then he would go away.

  They always went away, and she would be alone again. She was always alone. Sebastian would be free once more to do whatever he wished.

  However, the man was here now and distracting Sebastian’s attention from her. She must not depend on anyone but herself. She had to seize the opportunity that presented itself.

  She threw back the blanket and slowly sat up on the bed.

  She gasped as pain shot through her shoulders. MacDarren was right about the bruises. Every muscle in her body cried in protest at the movement.

  She was barefoot, she realized. Where were her shoes and stockings? She found them and put them on with stiff, fumbling fingers.

  She could not leave by the front door, but that presented no problem. The bedroom window had been her escape many times before. She had only to hang by her arms from the windowsill and let herself drop to the ground.

  She shuddered at the thought of putting extra strain on muscles already oversore. She cast a longing glance at the bed. How she wanted to lie back down and draw the covers up around her.

  But if she didn’t go now, heaven knows when she’d get another chance to escape, and Caird was alone in the woods.

  She took a deep breath and opened the window.

  Sebastian Landfield stood in front of the hearth with his hands clasped behind his back, the flames lighting the meagerness of his wiry body.

  “You wanted to see me?” Robert asked as he strode into the parlor.

  “I most certainly do.” Landfield fixed him with a stern glance. “I’ve been trying to be patient, but I find your interference intolerable, my lord.”

  “How unfortunate,” Robert said dryly. “But if you’ve read Her Majesty’s letter, you’ll realize you no longer have any right to object. The girl is mine.”

  “No!” Landfield took a deep breath and then said with less violence, “I’m sure Her Majesty does not realize what a mistake it would be to take her from my care at this delicate time. She is not ready to be left without supervision.”

  “As her husband, I’ll provide any supervision necessary.”

  “You’ll not be able to provide the guidance she needs. You don’t understand her. If she leaves me now, you’ll undo all I’ve worked to accomplish.”

  “I believe I’m capable of controlling one frail girl.” He smiled grimly. “And, if I have difficulties, I can always drag her behind my horse for a mile or two.”

  “You think me cruel?” Landfield asked harshly. “You know nothing. The punishment would scarcely affect her. She has a strength you would find unbelievable.”

  Robert had a fleeting memory of the pitiful fragility of the girl he had just left. Od’s bodkin, the man was crazed. “The matter is closed. Tell your wife to take the water upstairs.”

  “The matter is not closed.” Landfield’s pale eyes blazed with fury. “You will listen to me. I will not see her sent out into the world to wreak destruction as her mother has done. The queen must have told you whose child she is when she arranged this marriage. Do you know what evil lies waiting within her? Every day she changes and grows more like that Catholic whore at Fotheringhay. You cannot marry her. She must wed no one. She is a Lilith.”

  “Who the devil is Lilith?”

  “The first wife of Adam in Eden, the temptress, the mother of wickedness. Once she has you in her clutches, she will tempt and lure until you are helpless before her. She will mold you like wet clay.”

  Robert heard a sound like a smothered snort from Gavin, standing in the doorway behind him. Gavin’s reaction mirrored his own. The idea of that mud-soaked urchin upstairs being a Lilith and able to turn strong men weak was totally ludicrous. He had had enough of this nonsense.

  “Gavin, go to the kitchen and help Madam take that hot water upstairs.” Robert turned back to Landfield as Gavin left the room and said coldly, “I appreciate your concern, but I assure you I’m in no danger from a fledgling lass.”

  “You think you can master her when I still have not conquered her after all these years?” His lips thinned. “But I will conquer her, body and soul. Her Majesty must give me the opportunity. She must not be taken away.”

  He was tired of talking to this vicious old man. “As I said, the matter is closed. We will leave at dawn if the girl is well enough.”

  Two bright spots appeared in Landfield’s cheeks. “You cannot let her—”

  “Robert?”

  They both turned to see Gavin in the doorway, an uneasy expression on his face.

  “She’s gone,” he said.

  Robert stiffened. “What?”

  “She’s gone. The window was open. And …” He waved a hand. “Gone.”

  “How could she be gone? Her chamber is on the second floor, and she could barely lift her head—”

  “I told you.” Landfield smiled triumphantly. “A will of iron. Can’t you see what trouble she will bring you? She needs a firm hand to keep her in—”

  “Come on, Gavin.” Robert cut off the vicar in midsentence as he strode toward the door. “She can’t have gone far, and she’ll be easy to track in all this mud.”

  “Shall I get the horses?”

  “No time. We’ll go on foot.”

  She was being followed!

  Sebastian?

  Kate paused a moment on the trail and caught a glimpse of dark hair and the shimmer of the gold necklace about her pursuer’s neck. Not Sebastian. Robert MacDarren.

  The wild surge of disappointment she felt at the realization was completely unreasonable. He must have come at Sebastian’s bidding, which meant her guardian had persuaded him to his way of thinking. Well, what had she expected? He was a stranger, and Sebastian was a respected man of the cloth. There was no reason why he would be different from any of the others. How clever of Sebastian to send someone younger and stronger than himself to search her out, she thought bitterly.

  She turned and began to run, her shoes sinking into the mud with every step. She glanced over her shoulder.

  He was closer. He was not running, but his long legs covered the ground steadily, effortlessly, as his gaze studied the trail in front of him. He had evidently not seen her yet and was only following her tracks.

  She was grow
ing weaker. Her head felt peculiarly light, and her breath was coming in painful gasps. She couldn’t keep running.

  And she couldn’t surrender.

  Which left only one solution to her dilemma. She sprinted several yards ahead and then darted into the underbrush at the side of the trail.

  Hurry. She had to hurry. Her gaze frantically searched the underbrush. Ah, there was one.

  She pounced on a heavy branch, backtracked several yards and held it, waiting beneath the dripping trees.

  She must aim for the head. She had the strength for only one blow, and it must drop him.

  Her breathing sounded heavy and terribly loud. She had to breathe more evenly, or he would hear her.

  He was almost upon her.

  Her hands tightened on the branch.

  He went past her, his expression intent as he studied the tracks.

  She drew a deep breath, stepped out on the trail behind him, and swung the branch with all her strength!

  He grunted in pain and then slowly crumpled to the ground.

  She dropped the branch, ran past his body and darted down the trail again.

  Something struck the back of her knees. She was falling!

  She hit the ground so hard, the breath left her body. Blackness swirled around her.

  When the darkness cleared, she realized she was on her back, her arms pinned on either side of her head. Robert MacDarren was astride her body.

  She started to struggle.

  “Lie still, dammit.” His hands tightened on her arms. “I’m not—Ouch!”

  She had turned her head and sunk her teeth into his wrist. She could taste the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth, but his grip didn’t loosen.

  “Let me go!” How stupidly futile the words were when she knew he had no intention of releasing her.

  She tried to butt her head against his chest, but she couldn’t reach him.

  “Really, Robert, can’t you wait until the vows are said before you climb on top of her?” Gavin Gordon said from behind MacDarren.

  “It’s about time you got here,” MacDarren said in a growl. “She’s trying to kill me.”

  “Aye, for someone who couldn’t lift her head, she’s doing quite well. I saw her strike the blow.” Gavin grinned. “But I was too far away to come to your rescue. Did she do any damage?”

  “I’m going to have one hell of a headache.”

  Kate tried to knee him in the groin, but he quickly moved upward on her body.

  “Your hand’s bleeding,” Gavin observed.

  “She’s taken a piece out of me. I can see why Landfield kept the ropes on her.”

  The ropes. Despair tore through her as she realized how completely Sebastian had won him to his way of thinking. The man would bind her and take her back to Sebastian. She couldn’t fight against both MacDarren and Gavin and would use the last of her precious strength trying to do so. She would have to wait for a better opportunity to present itself. She stopped fighting and lay there staring defiantly at MacDarren.

  “Very sensible,” he said grimly. “I’m not in a very good temper at the moment. I don’t think you want to make it worse.”

  “Get off me.”

  “And have you run away again?” MacDarren shook his head. “You’ve caused me enough trouble for one day. Give me your belt, Gavin.”

  Gavin took off his wide leather belt and handed it to MacDarren, who buckled the belt about Kate’s wrists and drew it tight.

  “I’m not going back to the cottage,” she said with a fierceness born of desperation. “I can’t go back there.”

  He got off her and rose to his feet. “You’ll go where I tell you to go, even if I have to drag—” He stopped in self-disgust as he realized what he had said. “Christ, I sound like that sanctimonious bastard.” The anger suddenly left his expression as he looked at her lying there before him. “You’re afraid of him?”

  Fear was always with her when she thought of Sebastian, but she would not admit it. She sat up and repeated, “I can’t go back.”

  He studied her for a moment. “All right, we won’t go back. You’ll never have to see him again.”

  She stared at him in disbelief.

  He turned to Gavin. “We’ll stay the night at that inn we passed at the edge of the village. Go back to the cottage and get her belongings and then saddle the horses. We’ll meet you at the stable.”

  Gavin nodded and the next moment disappeared into the underbrush.

  MacDarren glanced down at Kate. “I trust you don’t object to that arrangement?”

  She couldn’t comprehend his words. “You’re taking me away?”

  “If you’d waited, instead of jumping out the window, I would have told you that two hours ago. That’s why I came.”

  Then she thought she understood. “You’re taking me to the lady?”

  He shook his head. “It appears Her Majesty thinks it’s time you wed.”

  Shock upon shock. “Wed?”

  “You say that as if you don’t know what that means. You must have had instructions on the duties of wifehood.”

  “I know what it means.” Slavery and suffocation and cruelty. From what she could judge from Sebastian and Martha’s marriage, a wife’s lot was little better than her own. True he did not beat Martha, but the screams she had heard from their bedroom while they mated had filled her with sick horror. She had thought she would never have to worry about that kind of mistreatment. “But I can never marry.”

  “Is that what the good vicar told you?” His lips tightened. “Well, it appears the queen disagrees.”

  Then it might come to pass. Even Sebastian obeyed the queen. The faintest hope began to spring within her. Though marriage was only another form of slavery, perhaps the queen had chosen an easier master than Sebastian for her. “Who am I to marry?”

  He smiled sardonically. “I have that honor.”

  Another shock, and not a pleasant one. Easy was not a term anyone would use to describe this man. She blurted, “And you’re not afraid?”

  “Afraid of you? Not if I have someone to guard my back.”

  That wasn’t what she meant, but of course, he wouldn’t be afraid. She doubted if he feared anything or anyone, and besides, she wasn’t what Sebastian said she was. He had said the words so often, she sometimes found herself believing him, and she was so tired now, she wasn’t thinking clearly. The strength was seeping out of her with every passing second. “No, you shouldn’t be afraid.” She swayed. “Not Lilith …”

  “More like a muddy gopher,” he muttered as he reached out and steadied her. “We have to get to the stables. Can you walk, or shall I carry you?”

  “I can walk.” She dismissed the outlandish thought of marriage from her mind. She would ponder its implications later. There were more important matters to consider now. “But we have to get Caird.”

  “Caird? Who the devil is Caird?”

  “My horse.” She turned and started through the underbrush. “Before we go, I have to fetch him. He’s not far.…”

  She could hear the brush shift and whisper as he followed her. “Your horse is in the forest?”

  “I was hiding him from Sebastian. He was going to kill him. He wanted me to tell him where he was.…”

  “And that was why he was dragging you?”

  She ignored the question. “Sebastian said the forest beasts would devour him. He frightened me.” She was staggering with exhaustion, but she couldn’t give up now. “It’s been such a while since I left him.…” She rounded a corner of the trail and breathed a sigh of relief when she caught sight of Caird calmly munching grass under the shelter of an oak tree. “No, he’s fine.”

  “You think so?” MacDarren’s skeptical gaze raked the piebald stallion from swayback to knobby knees. “I see nothing fine about him. How old is he?”

  “Almost twenty.” She went over to the horse and began to tenderly stroke his muzzle. “But he’s strong and very good-tempered.”

  “He won’t
do,” MacDarren said. “We’ll have to get rid of him. He’d never get through the Highlands. We’ll leave him with the innkeeper, and I’ll buy you another horse.”

  “I won’t get rid of him,” she said fiercely. “I couldn’t just leave him. How would I know if they had taken good care of him? He goes with us.”

  “And I say he stays.”

  The words were spoken with such absolute resolution, they sent a jolt of terror through her. They reminded her of Sebastian’s edicts, from which there was no appeal. She moistened her lips. “Then I’ll have to stay too.”

  MacDarren’s gaze narrowed on her face. “And what if Landfield catches you again?”

  She shrugged and leaned her cheek against Caird’s muzzle. “He belongs to me,” she said simply.

  She could feel his gaze on her back and sense his exasperation. “Oh, for God’s sake!” He picked up her saddle from the ground by the tree and threw it on Caird’s back, then began to buckle the cinches. “All right, we’ll take him.”

  Joy soared through her. “Truly?”

  “I said it, didn’t I?” He jerked off the belt binding her wrists, picked her up, and tossed her into the saddle. “We’ll use him as a packhorse, and I’ll get you another mount to ride. Satisfied?”

  Satisfied! “Oh, yes. You won’t regret it. But you needn’t spend your money on another horse. Caird is really very strong. I’m sure he’ll be able to—”

  “I’m already regretting it.” His tone was distinctly edgy as he began to lead the horse through the forest. “Even carrying a light load, I doubt if he’ll get through the Highlands.”

  It was the second time he had mentioned these forbidding Highlands, but she didn’t care where they were going as long as they were taking Caird. “But you’ll do it? You won’t change your mind?”

  For an instant his expression softened as he saw the eagerness in her face. “I won’t change my mind.”

  Gavin was already mounted and waiting when they arrived at the stables a short time later. A grin lit his face as he glanced from Kate to the horse and then back again. “Hers?”

  Robert nodded. “And the cause of all this turmoil.”