opposing army slams a battering ram into a castle gate.
Fingal pointed his nose to the sky and howled.
“Ach, I canna bear it either,” Angus said from his place at the tiller. “Can ye no’ make her stop, Rob?”
“She’s probably just tired,” Rob said, sure that wasn’t the cause of her weeping. If he admitted she wept because of him, he’d have no way to hide from his guilt. “She passed a long, weary night.”
“Aye, and so did ye,” Angus said. “Why do ye no’ join her? Mayhap it will settle her.”
“And mayhap it will set her to keening,” Rob said, knuckling his eyes. Angus was right. He, too, had passed a weary night. “A woman is chancier than the weather.”
“Aye, there is that.”
Angus rummaged in his sporran and came up with a greasy packet. He unwrapped the cloth that held the cooling sarnies. He offered one to Rob, but Rob declined with a wave of his hand. The pallet in the cabin called to him louder than his stomach complained, but he didn’t want to share that small space with a weeping woman.
“Weel, in a few hours the tide will turn, and I’ll need ye to spell me at the tiller once we come about,” Angus said, licking the extra grease from his fingers and helping himself to another sausage. “I think ye should rest in the cabin for a bit.”
Rob would sooner face another wolf pack. “The cabin is occupied.”
“The lass is a wee thing. She doesna take up much room, ye ken.”
A loud sniff came from the cabin.
“I’ll make do here.” Rob settled himself on the curved hull and leaned against the mast. When he first devised this plan to take revenge on Drummond, he hadn’t reckoned on having to deal with the man’s bride. Before he met her, Elspeth Stewart was merely a pawn in his game with his enemy. Only a thing, a parcel to be stolen and used in his struggle with Drummond.
Now she was a real person. A real person who was crying her eyes red because of him , not because of the fiend she was set to marry. Drummond would undoubtedly break her heart a dozen times once the knot was tied. Instead, she wept on account of Rob’s misdeeds.
Truly, there was no justice in the world.
“Ye traveled all night, Rob. Ye’ll be no use to me if ye’re bone tired,” Angus said. “So as captain of this vessel, I order ye to join Lady Elspeth in the cabin.”
“I’d sooner wrestle a kelpie .” Rob knew Angus believed in those malevolent river spirits as thoroughly as he assumed the existence of the water horse.
“I can arrange that,” Angus said darkly. “How would ye fancy swimming to Lochearnhead?”
His friend had set his feet, and there was no budging Angus once he’d done that. Unless Rob wanted another dip in the frigid loch, he had to join Elspeth in the little cabin.
He rose and made his way to the prow of the boat like a man destined for the stocks.
Chapter 11
Rob squatted down to peer into the cabin. It was a neat little space, compared to Angus’s cluttered house. There was an inviting pallet and a couple plush wolf pelts to soften the plank floor. A badger-skin pouch hung from a hook on the back wall. Rob guessed that was filled with provisions, since a wineskin swung near it. A covered chamber pot rested in one corner.
Elspeth was seated on one of the wolf pelts in the other corner with her knees drawn up, her forearms propped across them, and her head bowed down. Her shoulders shook like a lost child.
Guilt made him snort out his breath in self-disgust.
She looked up at him, her eyes and lips swollen with weeping. Her expression of abject misery made his chest constrict. Then she swiped her face with her sleeve, and misery was quickly replaced by cold fury.
He could have kissed her. Tears rendered him defenseless. Wrath was something he understood and could return with little effort.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
He crawled into the low space and stretched out on the pallet. “What does it look like?”
“Go away. Haven’t
Fingal pointed his nose to the sky and howled.
“Ach, I canna bear it either,” Angus said from his place at the tiller. “Can ye no’ make her stop, Rob?”
“She’s probably just tired,” Rob said, sure that wasn’t the cause of her weeping. If he admitted she wept because of him, he’d have no way to hide from his guilt. “She passed a long, weary night.”
“Aye, and so did ye,” Angus said. “Why do ye no’ join her? Mayhap it will settle her.”
“And mayhap it will set her to keening,” Rob said, knuckling his eyes. Angus was right. He, too, had passed a weary night. “A woman is chancier than the weather.”
“Aye, there is that.”
Angus rummaged in his sporran and came up with a greasy packet. He unwrapped the cloth that held the cooling sarnies. He offered one to Rob, but Rob declined with a wave of his hand. The pallet in the cabin called to him louder than his stomach complained, but he didn’t want to share that small space with a weeping woman.
“Weel, in a few hours the tide will turn, and I’ll need ye to spell me at the tiller once we come about,” Angus said, licking the extra grease from his fingers and helping himself to another sausage. “I think ye should rest in the cabin for a bit.”
Rob would sooner face another wolf pack. “The cabin is occupied.”
“The lass is a wee thing. She doesna take up much room, ye ken.”
A loud sniff came from the cabin.
“I’ll make do here.” Rob settled himself on the curved hull and leaned against the mast. When he first devised this plan to take revenge on Drummond, he hadn’t reckoned on having to deal with the man’s bride. Before he met her, Elspeth Stewart was merely a pawn in his game with his enemy. Only a thing, a parcel to be stolen and used in his struggle with Drummond.
Now she was a real person. A real person who was crying her eyes red because of him , not because of the fiend she was set to marry. Drummond would undoubtedly break her heart a dozen times once the knot was tied. Instead, she wept on account of Rob’s misdeeds.
Truly, there was no justice in the world.
“Ye traveled all night, Rob. Ye’ll be no use to me if ye’re bone tired,” Angus said. “So as captain of this vessel, I order ye to join Lady Elspeth in the cabin.”
“I’d sooner wrestle a kelpie .” Rob knew Angus believed in those malevolent river spirits as thoroughly as he assumed the existence of the water horse.
“I can arrange that,” Angus said darkly. “How would ye fancy swimming to Lochearnhead?”
His friend had set his feet, and there was no budging Angus once he’d done that. Unless Rob wanted another dip in the frigid loch, he had to join Elspeth in the little cabin.
He rose and made his way to the prow of the boat like a man destined for the stocks.
Chapter 11
Rob squatted down to peer into the cabin. It was a neat little space, compared to Angus’s cluttered house. There was an inviting pallet and a couple plush wolf pelts to soften the plank floor. A badger-skin pouch hung from a hook on the back wall. Rob guessed that was filled with provisions, since a wineskin swung near it. A covered chamber pot rested in one corner.
Elspeth was seated on one of the wolf pelts in the other corner with her knees drawn up, her forearms propped across them, and her head bowed down. Her shoulders shook like a lost child.
Guilt made him snort out his breath in self-disgust.
She looked up at him, her eyes and lips swollen with weeping. Her expression of abject misery made his chest constrict. Then she swiped her face with her sleeve, and misery was quickly replaced by cold fury.
He could have kissed her. Tears rendered him defenseless. Wrath was something he understood and could return with little effort.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
He crawled into the low space and stretched out on the pallet. “What does it look like?”
“Go away. Haven’t
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