Amanda Scott (35 page)

A chill shot up her spine, but she managed to retain the blank look, hoping he would think her witless. “I … I do not understand, sir. Why should I ride anywhere with you? Indeed, how can you expect such a thing?”

“Do you forget so quickly, lass, the accusations laid against you? You ought to remember them, particularly as your dear Lestalric even suggested he might consider marrying you because of them. As if a wedding could save you,” he added snidely. “That he later realized he had no need to sacrifice himself to enjoy your evident charms must have been a grave disappointment.”

“I do not understand what you are saying,” Adela said, although she did indeed understand and burned with anger at the insult. But she had learned much about concealing her feelings during years of managing her father’s household, and even more during her abduction. Although she hid her anger, she knew she could not continue to pretend she did not know he thought them as yet unmarried.

“What do you not understand?” he asked with another sneer.

With calm civility, she said, “I don’t understand how you came to think that Sir Robert and I did not marry.”

For the first time since his entrance, he hesitated. But then his eyes narrowed and he said, “Don’t try to cozen me, lass. Lestalric would never be so foolish as to wed a woman about to hang for murder.”

A scream of fury welled up in her but she stifled it ruthlessly to say, “Again you mistake me for another sort of woman, sir. I have killed no one.”

“Do you deny that Lord Ardelve died of poisoning?”

“I do not know if he was poisoned or not,” she said honestly. “He collapsed against Countess Isabella after sipping wine. He and I were both in plain view of the entire company from the time we entered the hall. I gave him naught, nor poured his wine. Gillies served us.”

“What about the time you spent with him in the ladies’ solar, alone?”

“Faith, my lord,” she said, nettled and not caring if he detected her displeasure now. “Did you set spies to watch me my whole wedding day?”

“Don’t challenge me. I set no spies, but I did hear from those who were there that they saw you go into the solar with him and stay for some time. They likewise reported that you showed none of the joy of a bride when you returned. As Ardelve likewise remained stoic, the rumors of his anger over the unfortunate result of your abduction must be true.”

“I fear your informants are merely evil-minded men, sir.”

“Nonetheless, you will come with us now for questioning. Lestalric can follow as he will and answer to the King’s justice when he does.”

“Faith, if you believe we never married, what makes you think he’ll follow?”

“I don’t care if he does. I can hang him and forfeit his so-called claim to the Lestalric barony without having to prove that he conspired with you in Ardelve’s murder or that he tried to kill de Gredin. The fact is that I mean to question you, Lady Adela, most thoroughly, about several subjects. Ardelve is the least of them. And to that end, by the King’s royal command, I declare that you are under arrest.”

Another chill flew up her spine, and she knew she dared not let herself guess what his methods of thoroughly questioning a woman might entail. Straightening her shoulders and taking a measure of reassurance from the dirk under her skirts, but more from her own unusual lack of budding panic, she said, “If you act at the King’s command, sir, I shall naturally obey. Doubtless, before we depart, you will let me fetch my cloak … and visit the…the…”

Satisfied to feel heat in her cheeks and know she was blushing, she paused.

Fife frowned, but when de Gredin said with a touch of impatience, “
Mon Dieu
, my lord, if you desire me to accompany her …”

Fife shook his head. “I have a hundred men at the gate, lass, so there is no way for you to escape. You would be unwise, nonetheless, to keep me waiting.”

“Thank you, my lord. One appreciates your chivalry,” she said with the same wide-eyed look she had assumed before.

He nodded regally and stood aside to let her pass him and go up the stairs.

As soon as she rounded the first corner, she picked up her skirts and ran lightly to the next floor, then across it as fast as she could go, to the narrow service stairs in the northwest corner. From there, she hurried down to the lowest level.

Racing to the sally port, she unbarred it and heaved it open. Ignoring the wave of dizziness that struck when she looked out, she struggled to lift the heavy coil of rope from its place on the wall and, moving carefully but listening for any sound on the stairs, she put it on the floor and shoved it out the door.

Standing again, she held onto the door frame and looked out to see that the rope easily reached the river. But the water was flowing swiftly, its strong current pulling the rope end with it. If she lost her grip and fell, she would be swept along in that current. At the thought, the dizziness struck again in a wave that made her grip the door frame harder. Shutting her eyes to the view, she drew a long, deep breath and stepped back to recover her equilibrium.

Easing her way back without looking down, she gripped the rope in her right hand, trying to imagine stepping out and climbing—or, more likely, sliding—down to the river. Doubtless, its water was still nearly as icy cold as in winter.

If by a miracle she succeeded, she would be no more than a fish on the end of a line for Fife to pull up when he looked out and saw her. The notion of letting go and trying to swim out of that roiling current terrified her.

No matter how firmly she reminded herself that she could swim, or told herself that she could do it, the rope was rough and uncomfortable to hold. She had never swum with her clothes on, and she was as certain as she could be that she was not strong enough to reach either shore. She would drown, but she had to try.

Henry having proved skeptical to the notion that Rob had found any handle, the two men labored to clear the three tall rock slabs of accumulated earth and plant life. At last, Rob dug in his shovel into the dirt in front of the central one to see how far they would have to dig to clear away all the dirt in front of the slab. Less than four inches down, its base came into sight, surprisingly straight across.

He looked at Henry and silently raised his eyebrows.

“Sakes,” Henry said, stepping closer and bending with his hands on his knees to peer more closely at it. “That looks like masonry underneath it.”

Rob nodded. “I think we’ve found what we were seeking.”

“Before we shout our triumph, let’s see if we can move that thing.”

“I told Adela I’d fetch her if we found an entrance near the waterfall.”

“Aye, sure, but we’d best keep working until we know we’ve found that entrance,” Henry said. “Recall that I must meet my ship tomorrow. I’m damned if I’ll go without knowing what lies here, so at least, let’s find out if we can move that rock before we fetch your lass.”

“Aye, sure,” Rob agreed. “In any event, with the water running so high and so fast, we’ll have to go back to the bridge to cross. A pity, too, since we’re nobbut minutes away if we could just swim the horses across.”

Henry picked up his shovel and the two cleared the rest of the dirt from the base of the slab. Then, they examined Rob’s hand grip on the right side again.

He pulled on it hard with both hands, noting that the exercise had stirred the pain in his left shoulder to life again.

“Mayhap it has a hidden latch like the ones in the cavern,” Henry said.

Rob was already searching with his fingertips down that side. At the bottom, where they had cleared the dirt from the base, some still concealed the lowest couple of inches on the side. Feeling his way, using his fingers to dig away the dirt, he said, “I can feel a stone wedge here, I think, like the wooden one at Lestalric.”

Taking his dirk from its sheath, he scraped still clinging dirt from the edge of the slab until he had cleared the wedge and was able to remove it.

Rising, he grabbed the edge of the stone again and pulled.

Henry moved next to him to help. “It’s moving,” he said.

“Wait,” Rob said. “Someone’s coming!”

Hastily, they pushed the slab back and began kicking dirt in front of it, only to stop when they heard Michael’s voice, calling Rob’s name.

“Here,” Rob shouted over the noise of the river, adding anxiously when Michael came into view, “What’s amiss?”

“Fife,” Michael said curtly. “My lads tell me he’s at Hawthornden by now, with a fighting tail of at least a hundred men.”

“I told them to send him to Roslin if he came,” Rob said.

“Aye, well, he’s had plenty of time to ride there if he was going to, but I’d have heard from others if he had been headed our way. Henry, your people in Edinburgh must have missed his departure. A pair of my own lads saw him a mile east of Polton village, making for Hawthornden, and rode to warn me.”

“Sakes, my men should have ridden hard to tell us if he rode anywhere south of Edinburgh,” Henry said angrily.

“Don’t blame them until we learn that he did not head elsewhere first,” Michael said. “He’s a sly one, is Fife. He would soon realize it if your lads were trying to follow him everywhere he went.”

Henry still frowned, but Rob said urgently, “We must go. Adela is at Hawthornden, and if Fife did not ride on to Roslin, she’s in great danger.”

“Aye,” Michael agreed as the three gathered up the tools and hurried to the horses. “I ordered our lads to assemble at Roslin. They’ll be ready when I return.”

“How many?” Henry demanded tersely.

“Nearly four score at the castle,” Michael said. “I sent men out to collect more and told them to meet us on the way or to follow as soon as they can.”

Rob had a sudden, chilling thought. “We showed Adela the sally port.”

“No lass would try to escape that way,” Henry said bluntly. “Sakes, she would never escape Fife’s clutches if he’s managed to get inside the castle.”

“A Macleod lass might do both,” Michael said with the voice of experience.

Rob nodded. “Adela may try, but I doubt she can hold onto that rope. It’s thick and rough. Her hands are small and, I think, too delicate to grip it hard enough. Moreover, I don’t even know if she can swim. But if she can—”

“Aye,” Michael said. “She might think she has no choice.”

“Henry, you come with me,” Rob said when they reached the horses. “Michael, collect your men and ride to Hawthornden as fast as you can. Do all you can to suggest a greater force than you have, because you’ve got to divert Fife’s attention in case she’s still inside with him when you get there.”

“What will you and Henry do?”

“We’re going to find my lass if she’s fallen in the river,” Rob said, his gut clenching as he said the words. “If we see no sign that she made it to the sally port, we’ll get to the top of the cliff any way we can. Don’t forget to bring those ropes, Henry,” he added when he saw him pushing their shovels, torches, and the canvas wrappings under a bush. “We may need them.”

The two had not gone far before Henry said, “How the devil are we going to cross this river and get to the top in time to help Michael or anything else?”

“Sakes, Henry, I don’t know. But if Adela uses that rope, she won’t be able to hang onto it in that swift current. And she can’t make landfall on the east side of the river because of those sheer cliffs. Our only hope is if the water sweeps her right onto the west bank. If it does that, she’ll be well-nigh drowned and freezing. So, hurry!”

Adela stepped to the open sally port again, hoping her resolve would stiffen more when she grew more accustomed to how far below her the river was.

As she fought another wave of dizziness at just the thought of looking down, she heard running footsteps on the stairs. Knowing it would be suicidal to leap out or try to hold onto the thick rope and climb down it with any speed, she left the door open and ran along the dark passage to the concealed entrance into the caves below.

The notion of being alone in that dank blackness was terrifying, too, but much less so than facing Fife.

But the door would not open. Despite Rob’s insistence that he wanted her to know Hawthornden for her own safety, he had not revealed its secret to her. With a sob more of fury than of fear, she crouched in the darkest corner and waited.

Minutes later, she heard de Gredin’s voice.

“
Sacrebleu
!” he exclaimed. “She has escaped!”

Adela shut her eyes tight and prayed.

Fife said coldly, “Don’t be an ass. No lass as slight as that one climbed down that rope, certainly not in the clothes she was wearing. In any event, you’d better hope she did not, because if she did, the river has claimed her and you’ll have to tell your masters that you’ve failed. Think what they’ll say when you tell them that although you found the woman your cousin abducted and doubtless shared his secrets with, you are unable to produce her or any information extracted from her.”

Adela opened her eyes and listened intently, scarcely daring to breathe. Aware of the dirk’s sheath against her thigh, she put her hand on it over her skirt, wondering if she dared take the weapon out or could use it if she did.

“It was not I who grew impatient, my lord,” de Gredin protested. “Had you not interfered by challenging Lestalric as you did—”

“Be silent,” Fife growled. “The one thing we know from this open door is that the lass was here. Before we set my men to searching the whole castle for her, let us first be sure she is not still here. Don’t touch that door,” he added a moment later. “I want to know where the treasure lies even more than you do. And I’ll wager that open door can provide just the incentive the lass will need to tell us all she knows.”

Having not the least difficulty deducing what he meant by that, Adela fought another wave of dizziness and pressed hard against the wall, hoping to make herself invisible. The effort was useless, though. She heard them coming, heard them pause near the pit, and then heard Fife’s silky voice saying, “Ahhh.”

Gathering the dignity she still possessed, she stood and shook out her skirts.

De Gredin, behind Fife, said, “Ah,
merci au bon Dieu.
One feared you had drowned, madame.”