Page 48 of A Temptress in Tartan

Elizabeth’s heart pounded in her chest as she nodded.

Then, as abruptly as he had come, he turned and left the room. When he was gone, and the physician with him, Elizabeth collapsed back upon the bed and clutched her trembling hands in her lap. “That man is utterly terrifying!”

Lucy laughed as she came around to Elizabeth’s side of the bed and dropped down beside her. “At this moment I would have to agree, but I have seen a very different side of our king at another time in the not too distant past. One where he stood, trembling with fear in front of all his subjects.”

Elizabeth gaped at her cousin by marriage. “Do tell, please, so that I might have something else to think about every time I am in his presence.”

With a conspiratorial smile, Lucy told her about the time she had pretended to assassinate the king with her bow and arrow in his own court at Falkland Palace.

Bolstered by Lucy’s story, Elizabeth quickly dressed and the two women left the Hardgate Manor, returning to the carriage that had brought them there. The carriage jerked forward as the horses were set in motion, forcing the two women back into the squabs.

“What will you do now?” Lucy asked as they headed back to Haddington.

“As I am ordered,” Elizabeth said with a shy smile. “I wish to see my husband.”

“Is he faring better now that he is at least out of a cell and away from Swinton?”

Elizabeth nodded, but could not stop a shudder that came at the memory of the striping to Lachlan’s back. “He is healing and gaining strength. But how does one ever put that kind of abuse behind them?”

Lucy’s lips turned up into a smile. “With your help and a little time and attention, I am certain he will be renewed.”

“We still have the trial ahead—”

A horse neighed in agony. The carriage lurched and shuddered to a halt, throwing both Lucy and Elizabeth to their knees.

Lucy slowly rose and carefully peered out the window. The blade of a dagger pierced the wood beside her head, pointing into the frame. Lucy jerked back from the window, but not before retrieving the blade. She held it out to Elizabeth. “Take this. You might need it.”

Crouched on the floor, she heard the shouts of men and the clashing of metal against metal mixing with the screams of the horses. “What is happening?” Elizabeth asked as she accepted the weapon.

Lucy reached into the folds of her skirt and pulled free a dagger she obviously kept hidden there. “There are several men attacking the carriage.” Her expression deadly serious, she added, “One of them is your father.”

“I refused to go with him after Lachlan was charged, and now he seeks to kidnap me instead.” Elizabeth staunched the surge of emotion that threatened. “We must get out of here. I cannot let him take me. If he does, I may never see any of you again.”

“Your own father would harm you?”

“Either harm me or hide me away where no one will ever find me. Then he’ll blame my disappearance on the Douglases, and continue the feud for the next generation.” Elizabeth raised herself up and peered through the window on the left side of the carriage. As she suspected from the sounds, all the fighting was coming from the right side. She cautiously opened the door and peered out. A copse of rowan trees was only a few yards away, and no one else was in sight. “Come. We can take cover in the trees.”

Clutching the dagger in her hand, Elizabeth drew a deep breath and leapt from the carriage. With Lucy at her heels, she darted across the grassy road and into the gorse that lined the roadway before reaching the cover of the trees. Branches lashed at her face and arms as she pushed through the barrier.

“Stop!”

A sudden chill gripped her as she glanced over her shoulder to see not only her father, but also Keddy crashing through the gorse behind them.

Elizabeth ran faster, trying desperately to outdistance her father. Lucy kept pace beside her as they scrambled over the mossy forest floor that was riddled with exposed roots, rocks, and fallen logs. There was a stream on their left and another on their right, but they picked their way around the obstacles, keeping several paces ahead of their attackers.

Elizabeth’s breath was coming in little gasps as they broke through the tree line and emerged into the open. Instantly the whoosh of wings filled the air as the birds resting there took flight. Once that sound dissipated, another took its place, that of the roar of a waterfall. They had come to the edge of a cliff.

Elizabeth and Lucy stopped, then turned back to the forest, their harsh breathing mingling with the rush of the water behind them. They couldn’t go forward, and they could not go back toward her father and Keddy, who had stopped a few yards from them.

“There’s no way out of this, Daughter, except leaping to your death,” her father said between breaths.

Elizabeth swallowed hard. She had considered that once, and fortunately Lachlan had come along to stop her. “Nay, I have too much to live for, too many things that remain yet undone.”

“Such as consummating your marriage?” Her father sneered. “I was outside the door at Hardgate Manor. I heard the king’s demands. But I have my own demands. What you failed to accomplish shall never come to be between the Douglases and the Ruthvens. I would rather you die at my hand than let that vile man have you. Now put down your daggers, both of you, and come here.”

Keddy and her father both held swords in their hands. The longer and stronger weapons would overwhelm two small daggers. She and Lucy might get in a few strikes if they attempted to battle, but the ultimate outcome would most likely be their deaths.

As a sudden chill gripped her, Elizabeth looked at Lucy, trying to assess what they should do. There was something in the woman’s eyes . . . a spark of mischief followed by a plea of trust.