Tamed by a Laird (26 page)

“Good sakes, sir, you should give thanks that a lightning bolt did not strike!”

She would have liked to say more, but the priest
was
still with them.

As they followed others in the company who were leaving the square with the audience, Hugh said, “You kept gey quiet back
there, Father.”

Eyeing him shrewdly, the priest said, “I don’t mind saying, sir, that although I saw you do it several times tonight, during
the play and the song you sang with your lady, it astonishes me how much you can alter your features and voice with apparently
no effort. You change from one man to another before one’s very eyes. I’m wondering who the real person inside your skin may
be.”

“We can discuss that later if you like,” Hugh said. “But first I mean to find out who played this witless prank on us, and
why.”

Jenny had been looking around to see who was paying heed to them. Most folks were clearly going home. Aside from the first
shout, she doubted that anyone other than the priest had heard what the sheriff and his man had said to Hugh.

She saw the Joculator watching them from the north side of the square, where he stood with a few of the company still packing
away gear from the performance.

“Hugo,” she said quietly, “I should think the man who arranged for the play would most likely be the one responsible for the
whole.”

“I agree,” he said. “Wait here, if you will, Father. I believe we should speak to him privately first.”

“Of course, my lord.”

Hugh turned back. “We’ll have no ‘my lords’ if you please. And no ‘my ladies’ either. We remain just Hugo and Jenny whilst
we are with these minstrels.”

“As you will, my son,” the priest said. “I do recommend, however, that you arrange, both of you, to make proper confessions
soon. I will hear them if you like.”

Hugh did not reply to that, touching Jenny’s shoulder instead to urge her toward the Joculator.

The tall man was still watching them, and although those with him were beginning to depart, he waited for Jenny and Hugh.
By the time they reached him, he stood alone.

Jenny saw Lucas Horne with the others heading along the High Street toward the woods and their encampment just as he paused
and looked back. She did not see Hugh make any gesture or sign, but Lucas gave a slight nod and walked on.

“I must offer you my congratulations,” the Joculator said with a smile to Hugh. “You have wed yourself to a bonnie, charming
bride.”

“Then you know that the priest and his ceremony were real,” Hugh said grimly. “Father Donal tells me he performed the marriage
under a special license for which I apparently applied. Mayhap you will explain how you managed that. By sleight of hand?
Was it something you put in my ale the other night?”

“I confess that
is
how we got your signature on the letter, the application, and a prepared copy of the marriage lines, but I assure you, we
meant well.”

“What on earth inspired you to such an outrageous act?” Huge demanded.

“Fellow feeling, I expect,” the Joculator said. “The lass here told me how ye’d pursued her—even offered marriage—and that
she had rejected ye. One could only admire your persistence, lad. And, withal, one soon noted that she needed a strong protector
and did not reject ye as sternly as she told me she did, if she rejected ye at all. As she is apparently without proper kin
to look after her, and ye seemed determined to protect her, I thought it only right to aid ye in your purpose.”

Listening to him, Jenny felt as if some powerful force had pinned her in place from the moment he said, “The lass here told
me…” When he paused, leaving her awash with guilt, she could not move or think of a word to say.

She did not have to look at Hugh to know he was furious. His anger radiated toward her, engulfing her so that her usual courage
deserted her.

“Perhaps you would care to explain your part in this to me,” he said.

It was the last thing she wanted to do.

Hugh watched Jenny even more narrowly than he had watched the Joculator. He believed the man but could not imagine what would
induce a frank lass like Jenny to tell such falsehoods.

When she hesitated, Hugh said sternly, “What exactly did you tell him?”

Visibly swallowing, she faced him then and said, “I told him we had met at Annan House, that you had expressed interest in
me and had followed me, but that I had no interest in marrying any man, and had tried to make that plain to you.”

“Marrying! What demon possessed you to say such a thing?”

“Mayhap it was just the first thing I could think of to
disarm
you.”

Recognizing the echo of his words to her, regarding what he had said about his mother, he gave her a look calculated to make
his lack of amusement plain.

Men were dousing torches in the square, but her deep flush was visible even in the diminishing light. She looked from him
to the Joculator and back before she said, “Please, Hugo, can we not discuss this privately? I ken fine that you are angry
with me, but I’d liefer explain it all only to you.”

He hesitated and instantly recalled a few likely details of her tale that he, too, would rather not reveal to others. So he
did not press her.

Turning to the Joculator instead, he said, “I’d also like to know what demon possessed
you
to believe her. I have seen her try merely to equivocate and fail. One can easily read her thoughts in every expression.”

“Aye, sure,” the Joculator agreed. “I knew she was lying. But I’m seeing now that I mistook which bit was the lie. Sithee,
I thought ’twas what she said about her feelings for you. Anyone seeing the pair o’ ye together of late would ha’ made the
same mistake, especially seeing ye kiss, as I did.”

“So you did see that,” Hugh said with a sigh.

“Aye, but even had I not, ye keep your eyes fixed on her from dawn to dusk, lad, and fidget yourself to flinders when she
disappears for longer nor ye think she should. And, whilst she’s singing to ye, she looks at ye as if she’d climb right into
your arms. What else was any sensible man to think?”

Hugh looked again at Jenny, who was eyeing the Joculator with guilt clearly lacerating her conscience. “I… I never meant to
make such trouble,” she said. “I hope you can forgive me, sir.”

The Joculator shook his head. “Sakes, lassie, ’tis m’self ought to be asking ye. I thought from what I’d seen that ye’d both
be thanking me. But I’m thinking now I’ve put me foot right in it. Still and all, if ye want to undo this marriage, it should
be no great thing to apply to the Kirk for an annulment. ’Tis no quite the thing, sithee, for a priest to lend himself to
a minstrels’ play.”

“You seem to know much about many things,” Hugh said dryly. “Have you created such ticklish alliances before?”

“Nay, then. I have not. But a man in my position does learn much. Be there aught else ye’d want to discuss wi’ me, lad, or
shall I bid ye both goodnight?”

“I’ve nowt more to say to you,” Hugh told him. “But I have much more to say to
you
,” he added, looking at Jenny.

“Please, sir, Peg will be expecting me. And… and the priest is still waiting, and Lucas will be looking for you. We must get
back to the encampment.”

“There is one thing,” the Joculator said to Hugh. “The others know only that ye sought to wed her and that summat had kept
ye apart. They think we were all doing ye both a favor. Sithee, we none of us had any intent to do ye a mischief.”

Hugh nodded, then watched as the Joculator strode away toward the High Street. Letting him get well ahead, he slipped an arm
around Jenny’s shoulders, urging her to follow. “Now, lass,” he said. “You have some explaining to do.”

When she gestured toward the priest, still waiting patiently in the shadows a short distance away, Hugh paused beside him
to say, “I expect we will have to sort this out by ourselves, Father, unless you have managed to think of a simple way to
undo what was done tonight.”

“There
is
nothing simple, my son. Of that I am sure. Until you can arrange an annulment, you are legally married to each other. May
I say that you seem to suit each other as a couple much better than many I have united.”

“You may say what you like, but we are going to bid you goodnight. I have a few things yet to say to my bride, whether she
wants to hear them or not. And she is going to say a few things more to me, as well. Are you not, sweetheart?”

Jenny grimaced.

“Just so,” Hugh said. “Goodnight, Father.”

As they left the square and walked along the High Street, Jenny braced herself. She knew Hugh was still angry and that he
had every right to be.

Remembering the threats Reid had made to her, and the way he had flung himself off when he could not deal with her as he believed
he should, she hoped Hugh’s temper would not express itself in similar ways.

“We’re private enough now,” he said. “Tell me.”

She could see torches ahead, nearing the path into the woods. But most of the townsfolk had vanished into their own dwellings,
so she and Hugh were practically alone on the High Street. The moon was just showing itself in the west. Waxing toward full,
it cast its silvery light along the street.

“Well?” he said with a trace of impatience. “Telling me you seized the first thought that came to mind, as I did with the
sheriff, won’t serve now, lass.”

“I know,” she said. “I used your words only because I could not tell the truth without revealing more to the Joculator than
either of us wants to reveal.”

“Nevertheless, you must be honest with me.”

“You are going to be angry.”

“Sakes, I’m already angry!”

She drew a breath, let it out, and then said, “I told him you were an unwelcome suitor because I wanted to make it harder
for you to take me back. I never thought he’d decide for himself that I
ought
to marry you. Well, who
would
think such a thing? It was an outrageous thing to do.”

“It does argue, though, that he still does not recognize us,” Hugh said. “I doubt that he would risk such a stunt except in
the belief that he was uniting an unprotected maiden to a man who would protect her. I find it troubling, however, that he
did not ask why Sheriff Maxwell accosted me. He must have seen that.”

“Do you think he heard him call you Sir Hugh?”

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “Even if he didn’t, there were others about when Maxwell called to me. I think our luck may be running
out.”

Hastily, she said, “We still do not know what, if anything, threatens Archie the Grim or Threave. Nor have we learned aught
of the missing jewels other than that the sheriff apparently did not find them in this camp. We must at least go on with the
minstrels to Threave, sir, to warn Archie Douglas.”

“There is plenty of time before the anniversary of the King’s coronation for me to take you to Annan House and still ride
to Threave in time to warn Archie.”

“Well, I don’t want to fratch with you, especially when you are vexed with me already, but you did ask if I was tired of my
adventure. I would not like to live like this forever, but I’m not tired of the minstrels. I’d liefer go on with them than
return and wait in disgrace to marry Reid. In troth, I hope waiting for the Pope to annul
our
marriage means I can put off mine to
him
indefinitely.”

“There must be other ways to annul this marriage,” he said.

“Even so, it will take time,” she said. “So there can be no great hurry for us to be going back. By the bye, sir, what
did
you do to your teeth?”