The Highwayman of Tanglewood (28 page)

“You may refer to him as ‘the rodent,’ Faris,” he instructed, “for he deserves no other title.”

Faris smiled, amused by his wit. She thought of Lillias’s title for Lord Tremeshton—Kade the Heinous. She was delighted to see another similarity between her dear friend and her young master. Further, it seemed his mind had entirely shifted its venue. She was certain he had all but forgotten about the Highwayman of Tanglewood and his connection to a chambermaid at Loch Loland Castle.

“Go on, Faris,” he urged, eating more pie. “Tell me more of this.”

“We were gathered in the great hall to greet Lady Stringham and her daughter, and she—she asked your mother if it was wise to…to…” Faris stammered, unable to speak to him of what had transpired. It would seem somehow vain to repeat it herself.

“Go on,” he urged.

“She questioned your mother, asking was it wise for you to have a chambermaid who…who…”

“A beauty of a chambermaid who might drive me to distraction? To immoral acts the like committed by Kade Tremeshton?” he finished for her.

Faris paused. She did not like Tannis Stringham. Yet her feelings were not sorted even in herself. She could not fathom whether she disliked the girl simply because she was not likeable—or whether she disliked Tannis Stringham because it was assumed Lochlan meant to take her to wife.

“I see,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. “Still, what if my secret were this: that the only reason Lady Stringham and her daughter are here is because Tannis pestered me near to madness until I offered an invitation.”

Faris was startled by the leap of her heart, the light feeling in her veins, and the smile spread across her face. “Truly, sire?” she could not keep from asking.

“Truly, Faris,” he said, smiling at her. “I could no more take Tannis Stringham to wife than I could her giddy aunt!”

Faris bit her lip to keep her delighted smile from bursting into delighted giggles.

“You have no understanding of how it eases my mind, sire,” she admitted. “We would all be loath to see her as the young mistress, Master Lochlan.”

He laughed and enjoyed a bite of pie. His eyes lingered on her, seeming to consider her. “Speaking of mistresses,” he said, lowering his voice, “I
am
sorry Tremeshton has had such designs on you—that he stalks you—causes you to be fearful and unhappy.”

Faris looked at him, startled. Surely he could not mean he envied the Highwayman because of his liaison with her? But his next words both relieved and disappointed.

“Riding across the countryside, besting the boastful, cruel, and greedy. Bringing joy to those so in need of it. How free he must feel.”

“I am not certain freedom is his full feeling,” Faris said.

“Is it yours?” he asked.

“No and yes,” she said. “He is not free to be with me, which fact makes me a prisoner. And he is not free to wander unmasked, which fact makes him a prisoner. Still, your mother bringing me here—it did free me in many ways. So I am both free and not free.”

“He has your heart completely, doesn’t he?” he asked unexpectedly. “And why not!” he said when she did not respond. “He is a legend—a living hero in the flesh.”

Faris smiled, thinking of Lochlan’s championing her—lingering thoughts of the possessive kiss he had forced on her the night in the sewing room. Had not such protective deeds, such a rogue’s kiss, been rather that of a hero in its own fashion? Had not his besting Kade Tremeshton twice at Loch Loland Castle shown him to be brave, chivalrous, and a champion in his own right?

“He is a hero, sire—as are you,” she told him.

“Flattery!” he said, plunging his fork into the pie once more. “I like it.”

Faris smiled and ate from the pie. She could trust in him—this she knew with every shred of her being. Lochlan Rockrimmon would not betray her, nor would he betray the Highwayman of Tanglewood.

“Do you know, Faris,” he began, “this is the most delicious pie Mary has ever placed before me.”

“It is delicious, sire,” she agreed.

“Yes,” he said. “I imagine your kiss to be the same—your freely given kiss, that is—the like kiss you bless the Highwayman with, not the kiss I stole from you for vengeance and desire’s sake in the sewing room some nights past.”

“I beg your pardon, sire?” Faris whispered, coughing as she attempted to keep from choking on her pie. Could she have heard him correctly? Surely not.

He smiled and chuckled. “The first bite of this pie—you remember it, do you not? The very moment the sweetened berries touched your tongue, the manner in which moisture flooded your mouth and all you could think of was tasting that sweet flavor again. That is what I imagine the effect of your kiss to be, Faris. For my mouth warms and waters each time I imagine your own blending warm and moist against mine.”

Faris sat awed, stunned into silence by his implication—rather his pure assertion.

“Sire,” she whispered. “You only endeavor to tease me.”

His smile broadened. “But what is it about rogues? Women beg to belong to them. Yet take a simple man—a man such as myself—and they find nothing worthy of belonging to.”

Faris relaxed then. He was teasing. “You are no simple man, sire. And you
are
teasing me,” Faris said. She smiled as he did. He was a terrible tease—a jester in his own right.

“Yes, yes,” he said. “For, in truth, I am glad you have your Highwayman of Tanglewood.” He stood then, tossing his fork into the half-eaten pie and striding around the table until he stood near to her. He leaned toward her and spoke quietly into her ear then, “Yet there is something you should know, Faris.”

“And what is that, sire?” she asked. She tried to ignore the goose bumps rippling over her flesh—tried to ignore the mad hammering of her heart.

“You should understand well my implication—that were it not for trepidation of provoking the Highwayman of Tanglewood,” he began, “I would have already taken your mouth to mine—blending the two in such a rich, moist, and heated kiss as to have stripped the memory of any man from your mind forever—even that of your dashing and heroic rogue lover.”

Faris swallowed the excess moisture flooding her mouth—silently demanding her body to cease in trembling with residual delight. What was amiss in her? She loved the Highwayman—truly and wholeheartedly she loved him! Why then could Lochlan Rockrimmon evoke such stirring emotions, such blatant desires in her?

“However, I have no desire to be strapped naked to my horse and sent galloping for home,” Lochlan said. “Therefore, I will concede—for now. Good night, Faris. My regards to Bainbridge—if you please.”

Faris sat trembling, fork in hand. Every part of her body trembled, every inch of the surface of her flesh tingling with goose bumps. And yet disappointment flooded her as well—disappointment in sure knowledge she had only just gained concerning herself. Had she not already been in love with the Highwayman of Tanglewood, she would have most assuredly been in love with Lochlan Rockrimmon. She was not stronger than any other chambermaid ever to have walked the earth. In fact, she suspected she was weaker than some.

Self-loathing the like she could never have imagined overtook her. With one such as the Highwayman in her soul, how could she allow Lochlan Rockrimmon to so affect her? She was weak, disloyal, with a traitorous heart! To think of Lochlan when she had already pledged her heart to the Highwayman of Tanglewood—how could it be?

It was his championing of her. This is what she determined. Her soul did not threaten to love Lochlan as it did the Highwayman—only it endeavored to feel indebted to him for his chivalry in championing her against Kade Tremeshton. That was it. Of assurance it was! She felt nothing more than gratitude toward Lochlan Rockrimmon—indebtedness. She loved the Highwayman! Yet, as she looked at the abandoned pie before her—as her mouth began to moisten at the thought of Lochlan’s kiss in the sewing room—she began to weep. She felt it then—the tearing of her heart—the confusion of her mind.

Pushing her chair from the table, she dashed to the kitchen door—dashed out through it and into the night. Perhaps Bainbridge was yet awake. Perhaps he would reveal himself as the Highwayman—if she begged him to, appealed to his sense of desire and passion, perhaps he would reveal. And if he did, then Faris knew she could be saved. To have a face to put with her lover—to know he was near to her—it would save her heart, mend it into one piece again. She knew it would!

An Uncertain Heart

The night was warm and fragrant. As Faris approached the stables, she silently prayed for Graybeau’s waking presence there. She must know! This very night she must know whether or not Bainbridge Graybeau was, indeed, the Highwayman of Tanglewood. If it were true—if Bainbridge were he whom she loved in the amethyst of sunsets—then all would be well. If Bainbridge were the Highwayman of Tanglewood, she could rest and find easement of mind in knowing he was ever near to her.

However, if Bainbridge were not the Highwayman—what then? This thought frightened Faris, for there was another her consciousness yet suspected. In the deepest corners of her mind, Faris yet wondered if Lord Gawain Kendrick rode out as the Highwayman of Tanglewood. It was uncanny—his absence ever coinciding with the appearances of the Highwayman. Yet the Highwayman had assured her he was not meant for another—that he was not one to toy with Faris one moment and play Lillias’s lover the next.

Certainly there was every possibility the Highwayman of Tanglewood was a man entirely unknown to anyone at Loch Loland Castle, including Faris. Perhaps he was the son of an ill-treated tenant farmer or a simple merchant from the village. Yet Faris’s heart whispered differently: she knew him in daylight as she did in the amethyst of sunset.

She would seek him in the stables first. Everyone at Loch Loland knew Bainbridge Graybeau often lingered far into the night in caring for the horses at the castle stables. Perhaps she would have no need of endeavoring to raise him from his quarters.

Quietly, Faris entered the stables. Lady Violet whinnied at the sight of her, and Faris patted the animal’s velvet nose as she passed. Her heart leapt as she saw him then, just outside Jovan’s stall. Graybeau was there—and alone.

“Mr. Bainbridge?” she ventured. She fancied her softened voice sounded louder than she would have preferred in the quiet of the night-cloaked stables.

Bainbridge seemed startled as he quickly looked at her—as if he had been found going about something he did not wish to be found going about. How handsome he was! His dark hair seemed akin to the night, his dark eyes complemented by the light of the stars.

“Miss Faris,” he greeted then. “What brings you to the stables at such an hour?”

Swallowing the anxious lump in her throat, Faris walked toward him. Would he tell her the truth? Indeed, would he? Had he only just returned from meeting her outside the kitchen door? Had he only just finished changing from the black attire of the Highwayman of Tanglewood and into that of Bainbridge the stablemaster?

“Yes,” Faris said upon reaching the place where he stood. “I can no longer bear not knowing! I must know whether you are he whom I love or whether you are not.”

“He whom you—whom you love, miss?” Bainbridge stammered.

Faris smiled. He was indeed undone. She was certain of the truth of it then—Bainbridge Graybeau was the Highwayman of Tanglewood!