The Chase (7 page)

Lord Rolfe's gaze narrowed slightly. “Where were you coming from?”

The alarm on her face was telling. Frowning, Rolfe glanced past her, his gaze going first
to the gate, then to the stable entry not far away. Without a word, he moved past her
toward the stables.

Biting her lip, Sister Blanche watched with some distress as he entered the stables.

Blake watched curiously too, then glanced toward the bishop as he spoke.

“It really is necessary we find Sister Blanche. After speaking with Lady Elizabeth and the
others, it has been decided it might be best if Lady Elizabeth resigns her position. She
is preparing to leave. I would like Sister Blanche to take her place until another abbess
can be found. If another is needed. The rest of the nuns seem to think this Sister Blanche
would fill the position quite satisfactorily.”

Blanche forgot about Lord Rolfe, her mind filled with wonder. “Truly?” she asked
breathlessly.

“Aye.” The bishop frowned slightly and glanced briefly around the garden. “I should like
to tell her of my decision and speak with her myself.”

“Oh, of course, I” Her words were cut off by a sudden shout from behind her. Recalling
Lord Rolfe's foray into the stable, she whirled to peer at the man as he hurried toward
them.

“I think they have fled,” he announced grimly, coming to a halt beside Sister Blanche and
facing the other men.

“Who?” the bishop asked with dismay. “Lady Seonaid and Aeldra. There are at least two
horses missing from the stables. Mayhap three.”

Every gaze turned on Sister Blanche, and she felt the position as abbess slipping from her
grasp. For a moment she struggled with herself, ambition and what was right battling
within her. Then she straightened her shoulders, faced them grimly, and did as her
conscience bade; she lied to save the women who had sought shelter and been betrayed.
“They were my horses. I sold them to one of the lords from a neighboring estate. He just
left after collecting them.”

“You are a poor liar, Lady Helen,” Lord Rolfe told her gently. “But the fact that you
bothered to lie tells as much as the truth would have.” His gaze turned to Blake and he
smiled widely. “It appears we shall not be forced to try to talk your errant betrothed
into leaving the abbey. She has flown the cavie again.”

Far from looking pleased, Lord Blake grimaced at the news and muttered under his breath as
he moved toward the gate. Little George and the rest of the men followed.

Sister Blanche was desperately searching her mind for some way to detain them when the
bishop suddenly paused at the gate and turned back, his expression distressed. “Pray, find
Sister Blanche and explain what I told you, Lady Helen. If she can see her way clear to
running the abbey until an alternative arrangement is decided, it would be appreciated. I
shall return as soon as I am able to assure all is well.”

The man whirled and followed the others as his words sank slowly into her stunned mind.
Only the click as the gate closed, reminded her that the men were leaving to seek the
three women. Giving a little gasp of dismay, Blanche rushed forward, running to the gate
and tugging it open. It was too late. The men had mounted their horses and were already
riding off. The only thing that kept her from calling after them was the direction they
had taken. The men were headed the wrong way. Sister Blanche's anxiety immediately gave
way to a slow, relieved smile, and she slipped back inside, then pushed the gate closed.

“Thank you, God,” she murmured as she slid the bar back into place. “You are truly most
wondrous and merciful.”

“Where are we heading?” Helen had been wanting to ask the question for the past several
hours but had convinced herself Lady Seonaid and her cousin knew what they were doing. But
at last she could not ignore her instincts any longer. All the signs seemed to indicate
they were heading east, rather than south toward her home. Seonaid's answer made her heart
sink in dismay.

“Fer the moment, east.” “East? But my home is in England. In the south.” “Aye, but that's
also where Cameron'll expect ye to head,” Seonaid reasoned calmly. “But what is in the
east?” she asked at last. “Dundee.” Helen raised her brows. “And what is at Dundee?”
“Nothin'.” “Nothing?” She gaped at her. “Well, if there is nothing there, why?”

Sighing, Seonaid drew her horse to a halt and turned to peer at the woman. “We're bein'
pursued by two groups of men, are we no?”

“Well, as to that, who can say?” Helen murmured. “Cameron may or may not be on our trail,
and as for Lord Blake, he may still be at the abbey.”

“ 'Tis doubtful Sherwell is still at the abbey. Even if Sister Blanche manages to keep our
absence secret, a mere glance into the stables will tell him that we've fled.”

When Helen's eyes widened in realization, Seonaid continued. “As fer Cameron, he may not
be on our trail yet, but he's certainly seekin' ye. Now,” she began with the attitude of
someone teaching a lesson, “should Cameron trail ye to the abbey an' find ye've fled,
he'll expect ye to flee south, straight fer England, and no doubt by the most direct
route, like a fox seekin' its hole. Blake, if he kens yer quandary from Sister Blanche and
that we intend to see ye home, will expect us to take the same route. If he doesna find
out about ye, he'll most like expect us to head west, toward me father's castle, or
possibly north, where I've some relatives who might be of assistance, and where there's
another abbey, one without Lady Elizabeth. Neither of them have any reason to think we
might go east, hence, we'll go east toward the coast, then follow the coast south-ward to
England.”

Lady Helen smiled suddenly. “That is very clever.” Seonaid smiled slightly at the praise,
then turned to urge her horse into a trot again.

“Anything?”

Little George peered up from the area he was surveying to meet Blake's gaze and shake his
head.

“Damn.” Blake sank back on his saddle with a frown. “I do not understand it. We have
ridden hard for several miles. We should have overtaken them, or at least have seen some
sign of them by now.”

“Mayhap they did not head this way,” Rolfe suggested with a frown. “Where else would they
go?” Blake muttered. “There is another abbey farther north,” the bishop suggested when
everyone else remained silent. When Blake glanced at him hopefully, Rolfe frowned. “You do
not think she left one abbey for another?” “ 'Tis more likely than that she returned
home.” “She's gone east!”

They all whirled around at that shout to find the speaker was a mounted Scot on the trail
behind them. Alarmed by not having heard his approach, the men-at-arms whirled furiously,
drawing swords as they faced the man. A shout from Lord Rolfe made them still where they
sat, but every man retained his grasp on his sword as Rolfe urged his own mount through
theirs to face the sandy-haired Scot.

The man had not reacted to the threat of all those swords being drawn, but sat his horse
with a slightly amused expression on his face, calmly meeting Rolfe's gaze as he stopped
his mount several feet away.

“Who the deuce are you?”

“Gavin. The Dunbar sent me to follow ye to be sure Sherwell didna get himsel' killed 'ere
catchin' up with Seonaid.” He waited just long enough for the insult behind the words to
sink in, then grinned widely and announced, “Yer goin' the wrong way. The lass an' the
other two headed east on leavin' the abbey.”

Rolfe sensed rather than heard Blake's shifting impatiently in his saddle and could
sympathize. He himself was a bit annoyed at the insult but managed to keep the irritation
from his expression as he asked, “The other two?”

The Scot nodded. “Aeldra an' a nun were with her. They headed east. I started to follow,
but recalled 'twas Sherwell I was to be tendin' to an' turned back to the abbey to be sure
ye followed. Ye must have left 'ere I returned, fer yer horses were gone when I arrived
back. I asked at the abbey an' was told ye'd gone south. I headed in that direction, but
it took little time to realize ye hadna gone that way, then I backtracked an' checked the
road. I soon saw ye'd headed back for Dunbar. So I hurried after ye. Yer headin' the wrong
way.”

“Who told you we had headed south?” Blake asked, urging his mount up next to Rolfe's.

The Scot shrugged. “A lady. I doona ken who she was, but she werena dressed like a nun.”

“Lady Helen. She most likely lied to protect the women,” Rolfe murmured, then sighed and
considered the man's words. “Why would Lady Seonaid head east?”

The Scot shrugged. “Most like she headed the way ye'd least think she'd go. She's a smart
lass.” The men glanced at each other. “Do you believe him?” Blake asked. Rolfe shrugged.
“I do not suppose there is any reason for him to lie.”

“Nay.” “ 'Sides, we had already decided she did not head this way.” “Aye.” “I suppose we
shall have to head east and find out.”

“Aye.” Blake sighed, and wondered why he did not simply turn and ride for home. Surely
that was within his rights? A groom was not generally expected to chase his betrothed all
over the country just to marry her. On the other hand, he did not wish to explain his
thinking to the king. He would head east. He urged his horse to follow Lord Rolfe and the
bishop as they rode toward the waiting Scot.

“Is it Cameron?” Seonaid glanced sharply at Aeldra when she asked the question, then
supposed she should not have

been surprised that her cousin had also realized they were being followed. Seonaid herself
had sensed they had company even as they had ridden out of the abbey. She'd thought then
that it must be Cameron, and had hoped that after following them for a while, the fact
that they were headed east rather than southnot to mention Helen's disguisewould fool him
and make him turn back to wait outside the abbey. He had not turned, though, but had
continued to follow them for the entire day and now into the night.

“I doona ken,” she admitted on a sigh. “If 'tis, then he wasna fooled by Helen's dress.”

Aeldra grunted her agreement as Helen wearily urged her horse up between them.

“Will we stop for the night soon?” the Englishwoman asked hopefully. “I am fair sore from
being on horseback.”

Seonaid remained silent for a moment, considering their options. They could not continue
to ride the horses indefinitely; the beasts were already showing signs of tiring and she
disliked riding them too hard. On the other hand, if 'twas Cameron following, he would
make himself known once they stopped. At least he would not catch them unawares. In fact,
she and Aeldra just might take him by surprise. Doubtless he would not expect much of a
fight from three lone women.

“Aye. There's a clearin' jest ahead. We'll stop there,” she decided aloud, then glanced
toward Aeldra. “Be ready.”

Ignoring Helen's confused expression, the two women nodded at each other solemnly.

“ 'Tis lovely,” Helen murmured as they slid from their horses moments later and peered
around the small clearing.

“Magnificent,” Seonaid agreed, her gaze running over the area with satisfaction. One side
was taken up with a small rock cliff, another by the river running along the clearing.
That left only two sides for attackers to approach from. It would be easier to defend,
especially if they blocked off one other side with the horses. She did not like doing so,
since it placed the animals at risk of being injured. But she had no idea how large a
party Cameron had with him, or just how much danger they were in.

“We'll settle here for the night,” she announced, unhooking the satchel of food from her
horse's back and handing it to Helen. Nodding, the other woman moved at once toward the
spot she indicated and began digging through the contents of the bag. Seonaid and Aeldra
saw to the horses, leaving their saddles on in case they had need of a speedy escape, and
settled them where they made a third barrier against their would-be attackers. The women
washed their hands in the river and sat to eat, their eyes and ears alert to any sound or
sight that might warn them of an oncoming attack.

Once they had finished eating, they all stretched out to rest. Or at least Helen did.
Seonaid and Aeldra insisted she sleep with her back snug against the cliff, then lay down
before her, situating themselves between the woman and the world at large. But they had no
intention of sleeping. They were waiting for the attack they were sure would come, now
that they appeared at rest and vulnerable.

“Wake up, sleepy heads.”

Seonaid came awake with a start at Helen's call, her body and mind immediately alert.
Sitting up, she glanced sharply around and spotted the Englishwoman approaching from the
river. Seonaid gaped. Morning had dawned, there had been no attack, and she'd fallen
asleep. Worse yet, so had Aeldra, she saw with dismay, as the other woman sat up beside
her and frowned around the clearing.

“How the devil did ye slip by us?”

Helen's brows rose at the question. “I stepped over you. You were sleeping so soundly, I
did not wish to wake you.”

“Ye stepped o'er us?” Seonaid asked with disbelief, then glanced toward Aeldra. “She
stepped o'er us.”

“A fat lot of good we would have been had we been attacked,” Aeldra muttered, getting to
her feet. “Why didn't they attack?”

“Who?” Helen asked wide-eyed as she reached them.

“I'd be thinkin' she means us.”

All three women whirled toward the deep baritone voice. Seonaid and Aeldra both grabbed
for their swords, but they sagged and sighed when they saw who it was.

“Gavin!” Seonaid snapped as she set her sword back down. “What're ye doin' here?” “Makin'
sure the Sassenach doesna get hissel' killed.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is he with ye?”

For answer, Lord Blake stepped out of the trees and into view. Seonaid shook her head with
disgust. “Ye could have let yer presence be known last night. Then we wouldna have had to
stay awake the night through thinkin' we were about to be attacked.”

“It looked to me as if ye slept jest fine,” Gavin commented with amusement. “An' so ye
should have; ye were watched ower throughout the night.”

“Not the whole night,” Lord Rolfe corrected, joining the other two men. “We only arrived a
couple of hours ago. We stuck to the woods to avoid disturbing your rest.”

Seonaid frowned, her gaze moving to Aeldra. The other woman appeared just as worried. They
were both convinced someone had trailed them all day. They had felt that presence as they
had settled down here for the night. Yet Lord Rolfe claimed the men had arrived only hours
earlier.

“Why are you looking so worried?” Blake's question drew Seonaid's gaze back to her
betrothed. He did not look overly pleased to have found her. Truth to tell, he looked
about as cranky as she felt on the little sleep she'd had. Not that she'd expected
anything else, but still it rubbed her pride the wrong way.

Gavin saved her from having to comment by giving a harsh laugh. “ 'Cause she kens we're
no' the only beasties in these woods.”

Before either Englishman could ask what he meant, the Scot pursed his lips and released a
piercing

whistle. Seconds later the bushes on either side of the men rustled as two Scots slid out
into the open. Both of them were from Dunbar. Gavin nodded, then explained, “I left them
to trail Seonaid an' Aeldra while I returned to fetch ye.”

Seonaid glared at her father's soldier as he made the admission, knowing now who to blame
for her betrothed finding her. Turning, she fixed another glare on the Englishman. “What
do ye want?”

“What do you think?” he snapped back.

“I think ye want to go home an' forget ye ever heard me name,” she admitted. “An' since
that's what I'm wantin' as well, why don't ye do it?”

Blake blinked at her surly words in confusion. “What?”

“Ye heard me. I don't want to marry you an' you don't want to marry me, so go home an'
leave me be.”

Blake gaped at her in astonishment. Her mettle amazed him. The women he knew, and he knew
a lot of them, did not often speak so bluntly. They would have mewed and sighed and
hinted, but would never have said something so unpleasant straight out. He couldn't
believe she'd done it. And had he heard her correctly? Many women had begged Blake to
marry them, and still others had threatened to kill themselves for love of him. He
supposed in his mind he'd imagined the chitif he'd ever thought of her at allpining away
the years, wondering when he would come to claim her and praying nightly to God that he
should. This was not wholly because of the way women threw themselves at him; it was also
because a life of spinsterhood could be so unpleasant. Yet here she claimed to desire
nothing more than to be left to that sad state. It must be an act, he decided, and
actually smiled at the realization. Women often played games to attract his attention,
andAmazon or notSeonaid Dunbar was still a woman. Relaxing as he regained some of his
confidence, Blake tossed her a charming smile, “Careful, my lady; one would almost think
you were not pleased to see me.”

“One would think correctly.”

Blake's gaze narrowed. “If you expect me to believe you have not been pining away these
last ten years”

“Pinin'?” Seonaid interrupted with a harsh laugh. “Do I look the sort to pine? No, indeed,
m'laird, I've been quite enjoyin' my freedom... in many an' diverse ways.”

Blake's eyes widened, then his face flushed angrily at the suggestion behind her words.
“You”

“Enough,” Lord Rolfe interrupted sharply. “We have wasted enough time. Let us head back to
Dunbar and see the deed done.”

“Go ahead,” Seonaid muttered, turning toward the horses. “Aeldra an' I'll meet ye there
after we go to England.”

“England!” Rolfe and Blake echoed the word as one.

“Aye, England,” Seonaid said firmly. “We promised.” She gestured toward Lady Helen, taking
in the nun's habit with new eyes. “We promised the sister we'd see her home to England.
She wishes to visit her family. We promised we'd see her safely there.” She turned to peer
at them sweetly. “Ye'd not wish us to break our word to a woman of God, would ye?”

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
marryher, 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 handle it myself.” With
those insulting words, he turned to continue forward, only to pause as Little George
appeared, trailing three horses.