comers of her eyes. 'I hate him, Jamie. I've run away.'
'No, you cannot mean what you say.'
'Don't sound so horrified, sister. I hate him, I tell you.
He's cruel and mean. When I tell you what happened, I swear you'll hate him, too.'
They reached the gap in the wall. Jamie and her sister sat down on the low stone ledge. 'All right, Mary, tell me what happened,' Jamie instructed. 'We're quite alone here.'
'It's such an embarrassment,' Mary warned. 'But you're the only one I dare talk about this to, sister.'
'Yes?' Jamie prodded.
'Daniel didn't demand that I give myself to him.'
The sentence fell between them. Jamie kept waiting for Mary to say more, and Mary kept waiting for Jamie's reaction.
'Did he give you a reason?'
'He did,' Mary answered. 'And at first I thought he was being most considerate.
He said he would give me time to get to know him.'
'That was very considerate of him,' Jamie admitted. She frowned, wondering why Alec hadn't shown such compassion with her. Then she remembered Alec didn't have any compassion to show anyone.
Mary burst into fresh tears. 'I thought so, as I've told you. Then he told me he was most unhappy with me because I made you protect me when those men attacked us. He actually thought I should have shielded you.'
'Why?'
'Because you're the baby.'
'Didn't you explain that I was far better trained than you in the skills-'
'I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen to me. And then he insulted me again.
I admit I said some rather mean things to him. Still…'
'What did he say?'
'He said I was probably just as cold as a fish, Jamie, that all the Englishwomen are.'
'Oh, Mary, it was an unkind thing to say to a new bride.'
'That isn't the worse of it, Jamie,' Mary mumbled. 'When we reached his home, there was a fat, ugly woman waiting for him. She threw herself in Daniel's arms right away. He didn't fight off her advances, either. They kissed each other in front of me. What think you of that?'
'You're right, sister.'
'I'm right?'
'You've made me hate him.'
'I told you I could,' Mary announced. 'Well? What am I going to do, I ask you?
I'll never find my way back to Papa, and I'm certain Daniel's men won't believe me if I tell them I have their laird's permission to go back to England.'
'No, I doubt they'll believe that lie,' Jamie agreed.
'I want Papa!'
'I know you do, Mary. I also miss him. Sometimes I want to go home, too.'
'Does Alec think you're as cold as a fish?'
Jamie shrugged. 'He hasn't said so.'
'Does Alec have a leman?'
'What?'
'Does Alec have a mistress?' Mary repeated.
'I don't know,' Jamie answered. 'Perhaps he does have another woman,' she whispered. 'Oh, God, Mary, I hadn't thought of that possibility.'
'Could I live here with you, Jamie?'
'Are you certain you want to do this?'
Her sister nodded. 'Mary, do you know, when we first met our husbands, I thought Daniel was the kinder of the two. He smiled and seemed to have such a cheerful disposition.'
'I noticed that, too,' Mary said. 'Jamie, what if he's right? What if I am as cold as a fish? There are women who can't respond to a man's touch. I think Aunt Ruth was like that. Remember how mean she was to her husband?'
'She was mean to everyone,' Jamie interjected.
'I know this is embarrassing for you, but I was wondering…'
'Yes, Mary?'
'Are all men like Daniel, or is Alec more… Oh, I don't know what it is I'm asking. I'm terrified of letting Daniel touch me now, and it's all his fault.'
Jamie didn't know how to help Mary, but she was determined to try. 'Mary, I must catch Alec before he leaves on his hunt,' she blurted out.
'Do you need his permission for me to stay?' Mary asked, her fear obvious. 'What if he says no?'
'I don't need his permission,' Jamie boasted, trying to make that lie sound true. 'It's another matter I must speak to him about. Go and wait in the hall, Mary. Introduce yourself to our priest. His name is Father Murdock. Now, don't frown, sister. You'll like him. He isn't at all like our Father Charles. I'll join you just as soon as I've spoken to Alec. Then we'll finish this discussion, I promise.'
Jamie watched her sister leave before she started down the hill. She thought she'd look to the road below to see if Alec and his men had already left.
Her exit as soon as she stepped outside the wall was blocked by a line of soldiers. They filled the wooden planks of the pathway across the moat. She thought they'd dropped out of the sky. They were certainly more formidable than the wall. And damn if she didn't have to look up at every single one of them.
'Why are you blocking my way?' she asked a red-bearded man directly in front of her.
'By order, mistress,' the soldier announced.
'Whose order?'
'The Kincaid's.'
'I see,' Jamie replied, trying to keep her irritation out of her voice. 'And has my husband left his fortress yet?'
'Nay,' the soldier answered. A smile softened the corners of his eyes. 'He's standing right behind you.'
She didn't believe him until she turned around and came face to chest with Alec.
'You move like a shadow,' she muttered when she'd regained her composure.
'Where did you think you were going?' Alec asked.
'I was looking for you. Why did you order your men to block my way?'
'For your safety, of course.'
'I'm to be a prisoner while you're gone, then?'
'If you choose to look at it that way,' Alec answered.
'Alec, I would like to go riding in the afternoons. If I give you my promise not to run away. Surely-'
'Jamie, I never thought you'd run away,' Alec countered, his exasperation most evident.
'Then why?'
'You'd get lost.'
'I never get lost.'
'Aye, you do.'
'If I promise not to get lost?'
He let her see how foolish he thought that question was. Gavin approached his laird, holding the reins of Alec's stallion. Before Jamie could explain her need to talk to him about Mary, he had mounted his steed.
She blocked his path. 'Mary's here.'
'I saw her.'
'I must talk to you about my sister before you leave. It's a very important matter, Alec, else I wouldn't bother you.'
'I'm listening, wife. Ask me what you will.'
'Oh, no, it must be in private,' Jamie explained hurriedly.
'Why?'
