Highland Barbarian Part 12

He seemed not to notice Meredith. With a laugh he motioned for his men to put away their weapons. And then, as the woman was being helped from her mount, he was rushing out the door with Jamie and the dogs at his heels. His men followed and came to attention, forming two columns on either side of Brice and the woman.

Meredith lingered only a moment longer. This was the perfect opportunity to make good her escape. While the others were occupied with their visitors, they would never notice that she had slipped away from the castle. Perhaps, if the Fates were smiling upon her, she would be miles from here before she was missed, She hurried along the dim hallway and pushed open the door to the library. Opening the armoire she pulled out the heavy woolen cloak and filled the pockets with the bread and meat she had secreted among the folds of her gown.

She slipped her arms into the sleeves of the cloak. Because it had been made to fit Brice, it engulfed her, the sleeves completely covering her hands, the hem dragging upon the floor. She pulled up the hood, covering her head and leaving her face in shadow.

She stooped and lifted the fur throw from its place of concealment, folding it over her arm. No matter what weather she encountered on her escape, this would afford more than enough protection.

She closed the armoire and crossed to the door of the library. At the sound of voices she froze in her tracks. G.o.d in heaven. The voices were coming this way. With a cry of dismay she raced across the room and pulled open the armoire. Just as the door to the room opened, she leaped into the cupboard and pulled the door shut. With the door to the armoire closed, she was in total blackness.

"I cannot believe you are here." At the sound of Brice's voice, Meredith gritted her teeth.

"Nor can I." The young woman's voice was low, with a trace of an accent.

Meredith heard the dogs sniffing at the door to the armoire.

"Why did you not send riders ahead to announce your arrival? I would have prepared a more fitting welcome."

"I wanted to surprise you. Besides, just being here at Kinloch House is welcome enough."

"How did you manage to slip away from your brother?"

"James has other things on his mind these days." The sound of feminine laughter drifted across the room.

"He is enamored of Agnes Keith. I hope it will soften him somewhat."

In the armoire Meredith crouched in a most uncomfortable position. She could neither sit nor stand, but was forced to stoop. To add to her discomfort the woolen cloak was so heavy it weighted her down. The warmth from the cloak and the fur draped over her arm, combined with the heat of the fireplace, left her soaked with perspiration. And still the dogs sniffed. When would they settle down before the fire?

Why had they taken this occasion to pay her any interest?

"Ah, yes. Agnes, his new bride. How do they fare?"

"At least he has someone other than me to bully."

"Has it been terrible?" Brice's tone was tinged with concern as he crossed the room and cuffed the hounds' heads.

"Off with you now."

With a whimper the dogs moved away a few paces before renewing their sniffing at the armoire.

"Oh, Brice. The tales I could tell. The last days in France were worse than the torments of h.e.l.l."

"Poor Mary." Meredith could hear the sound of footsteps and sensed that Brice had crossed the room to the woman's side.

Peering through a crack in the door, Meredith watched as Brice drew the young woman into his arms.

"I know how much you miss Francis."

"My darling Frangis. Aye, I miss him terribly. But it is more than that. It is this place. It is so forbidding. All the gaiety, the laughter, seem to have died since I returned." Her voice lowered.

"And all because of that horrid little man who preaches fire and brimstone."

"Ah. Knox. He has caught the ear of the people."

"He watches and waits, Brice."

"For what, madame?"

"For me to slip so that he can publicly humiliate me."

There was silence in the room and Meredith watched as Brice and the young woman strolled to a window overlooking a vast expanse of forest.

The dogs did not follow their master. Instead, they continued sniffing at the armoire.

The heat in the tiny s.p.a.ce was becoming unbearable. Soon, Meredith thought, she would suffocate.

"Be very careful not to offend him, Mary. He could cause you great harm."

"I am only now learning that." The young woman gave a deep sigh.

"I.

long for the dancing, the singing, of France. I long to give elegant parties, to laugh, to--flirt. Oh, Brice. I am eighteen years old and no longer have a husband, nor any sort of life. It is terrible.

Terrible."

Meredith detected a note of unspoken laughter in Brice's tone.

"You are too beautiful, Mary, too full of life and laughter, to be condemned to a life alone. What man in his right mind would not lose his heart to you?"

"Did you?" It was the voice of a coquette, warm, inviting.

"You know I did. We all did while we were with you in France."

"Oh, you. I know better. Brice Campbell, you were the only Scotsman who never let himself be swept away by the charm of France."

"Only because I yearned for the Highlands. I feared it would be too easy to be seduced by the life you offered us."

"Is that why you left so abruptly?"

"Aye. I had to return to my home. Or be lost."

"Poor Brice. Has it all been worth it?"

There was silence. For long minutes the only sound Meredith could hear was the hiss of the fire. She staggered and leaned heavily against the door to the armoire. If she did not slip out of this heavy cloak soon she would faint from the heat. While she listened to the growing silence she wriggled out of the cloak. When she had managed to free one arm she sighed and began the struggle to free the other.

She was so engrossed in her struggle to free herself from the cloak she did not hear the sound of footsteps.

"So."

The door to the armoire was yanked open, causing Meredith to fall forward into Brice's arms. She would have slumped to the floor if he had not held her firmly.