Chapter 14
As Duncan was walking towards his stallion to start the journey back home, Eliza stepped out in front of him.
“My Laird,” she said with mock deference and a small curtsey. “May I ride with you?” Her eyes were mischievous, and her smile coquettish.
Duncan wished he could pick her up there and then, and carry her away to make love to her, but since that was impossible, he smiled widely and kissed her.
He simply could not help himself, since she looked so very enticing.
There was a small murmur of surprise and shock from the crowd around them, but neither of them cared. They only had eyes for each other.
“Of course you can,” Duncan said tenderly.
He knew it was not quite safe, but if danger threatened he would put himself in harm’s way to protect Eliza, as he had promised he would. He looked down at her with an expression that was a promise of even better things to come when they arrived back at the castle.
Eliza was lost in his amber eyes, and could only give Duncan a loving smile as he hoisted her onto his stallion and swung up behind her, wrapping his arm around her securely.
Eliza leaned on his shoulder, letting out a long sigh of contentment. They passed the carriage with Iona and Maisie in it, and Duncan said, “You will miss the trip home with Iona.” His tone was ironic, and Eliza laughed.
“Yes, thank heaven,” she said fervently. “I do not think I could bear any more complaints and snide references about England! Has Iona even been to my country? She certainly has a lot to say about it!”
Duncan shook his head. “Not as far as I know, but even if it was a veritable paradise, she would still find fault with it!”
“No doubt,” Eliza agreed. “It’s not paradise—nowhere is—but it has good honest people in it, just as Scotland does.
People work the land, tend the animals, build houses and do all the hundreds of other things people have to do to make a living.
Nobody is special. England is the land of my birth and I love it, of course I do, but Scotland is beginning to capture my heart too. ”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said warmly. “What do you think of the people in the village?” He was looking at her keenly.
Eliza smiled. “I expected them to be a little… nasty, to be honest,” she replied. “And I was pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong. Most people were very friendly. Oh, there were a few snide remarks, but I give as good as I get. I answered them all in the same spirit.”
“I’m sure you did!” Duncan laughed, wishing he had been there to hear the exchanges. “But on the whole, you liked it?”
“I did,” Eliza replied. Then she said sadly, “I could do so much good here if I stayed.”
Duncan felt a sudden surge of longing. If only Eliza could stay, if only he could truly marry her and make her his Lady—but no, that was impossible. Yet, he was intrigued.
“What would you do?” he asked.
“I would start a school,” Eliza replied.
“Train a few ladies to sew and knit so that they could make and mend clothes for the village, and perhaps start a village choir or something similar. Perhaps we could gather together for a meal once a month or so at the castle and talk over the villagers’ concerns.
I would have to think about it some more.
” Then she sighed. “But I would only be wasting my time. It will never happen.”
“I can make it happen,” Duncan assured her. “Eliza, I wish…” He broke off, shaking his head. He had been about to tell Eliza that he wished she could stay.
“What do you wish?” Eliza looked into Duncan’s amber eyes and saw the same longing that she was feeling. Could it be that he loved her?
“Nothing,” he replied. “I am thinking foolish thoughts. Tell me—”
He got no further, for at that moment several things happened at once.
He heard a whistling sound and felt a breath of air kiss his cheek as an arrow passed within inches of him.
A moment later, another thudded into the ground beside his horse’s leg, and the animal let out a panicked neigh of alarm before trying to break into a gallop.
Duncan managed to restrain him, but a second later several masked riders burst out of the trees, cutting off their escape.
Eliza screamed in fear. Her first instinct was to jump off the horse and run for her life, but later she realised how suicidal that would have been. The next few moments were a blur of noise and confusion, during which all reason and sense were chased away by sheer terror.
“Down!” Duncan yelled as he bent over Eliza, covering her body with his own to shield her from danger.
He was concentrating on keeping them both alive, but out of the corner of his eye he recognised the shape of an old broken down cart that someone had abandoned.
Without thinking twice, he leapt off his horse, dragging Eliza with him and pushing her behind the cart.
“Stay there!” he said grimly, before turning away.
Eliza tried to make herself as small as possible, screwing her eyes shut and clamping her hands over her ears so that she could neither hear nor see the sounds of steel clashing a few feet away from her.
She had not been able to count the number of men who attacked them, but she knew that they were seriously outnumbered, and she feared for Duncan’s safety.
Surely, he could not prevail against so many enemies?
As she heard blades clashing again, Eliza opened her eyes—she had to know if Duncan was managing to hold his own.
It took Duncan no more than a few moments to realise that the men against whom he was fighting were no match for him, and he dispatched one of them quickly with a swift stab to the heart with his sword. It was a quick and painless death—better than he deserved, Duncan thought.
The next attacker thought he could challenge Duncan from behind, but he whipped around and swiped his sword across his enemy’s neck, almost decapitating him. The man fell with a gurgling groan as blood spurted from his mouth, and Duncan finished him off with another thrust into his heart.
At that moment, however, another arrow flew and grazed his shoulder. Eliza screamed as it thudded into the wagon behind which she was sheltering. Although Duncan’s shoulder was bleeding, he reached for the dirks he kept tucked into his belt as another two attackers ran towards him.
He threw them both with unerring accuracy, hitting both men, one in the shoulder and one in the stomach. They did not look to have suffered serious wounds, but both collapsed, rendered completely helpless by their painful wounds, as Duncan disarmed them and retrieved his dirks.
He looked up just in time to see three other men disappearing into the trees, and for a moment, he contemplated following them, but decided not to. He was a skilled fighter and had been well-armed, but he had no idea how many others were waiting in the woods, and decided to take no more chances.
Duncan moved over to the space behind the cart where Eliza was still curled up, then he gently drew her to her feet and into his arms.
“Are you hurt?” he asked anxiously.
“No,” Eliza replied, shaking her head, “but you are. You’re bleeding.”
Duncan looked down at the wound. “I’ll live. It looks worse than it is,” he said grimly. “Come, time to get back to the castle.”
He grabbed Eliza’s hand, and despite the obvious pain from his wound, he hauled her onto his horse, and they began to ride back to Lennoxburn Castle.
Duncan kept his broadsword drawn the whole time, and looked around warily as they rode along, but they were both silent.
Afterwards, Eliza remembered nothing about the journey except an all-pervading fear.
All her senses were numb; she would not have been able to tell where she was, even though she had travelled the road before. It was all a blur.
Duncan gritted his teeth against the pain in his shoulder and tried to ignore the blood welling from the wound.
He was hurting, yes, but the real pain had been caused by his inability to protect Eliza.
Why had he not anticipated this? He should have brought some trusted guards with them instead of sending them alongside the carriage which was taking Iona home.
He was beginning to hate the pompous woman.
Why am I so stupid? he thought. I should have seen this coming. That was a prime spot for an ambush.
He felt wretched, especially when he sensed Eliza’s body trembling against him. He was a big man who would have been able to defend himself unarmed. He could not imagine the terror Eliza must have felt—especially since there was more than one way to assault a woman that would utterly break her.
The more he thought about it, the more filled with rage he became. Someone was going to pay for this, and when he found them, he was going to make such an example of them that no one would dare challenge him again.
They arrived at the castle, and Eliza breathed a long sigh of relief. However, when Duncan lifted her from the horse and set her down on the ground, Eliza could see how much blood he had lost. She was terrified at the sight.
“You should call for the healer,” she said urgently, reaching out to touch the wound. However, he jerked away from her, and Eliza’s eyes widened with shock.
“Duncan—” she said, but her words were cut short by the arrival of Iona.
She leapt out of the carriage, ignoring the groom who had been standing waiting to help her out, then marched across to them, her cheeks crimson and her eyes blazing with rage.
“Look what happens when you let a Sassenach ride beside you,” she cried, her voice shaking with fury. “Your people will never accept her. Send her back where she belongs! She is a curse on this clan!”
“No!” Eliza shouted, as her own fury rose to meet Iona’s. “There is a traitor in our midst—”
“Be quiet, Eliza,” Duncan said suddenly. He was very pale, but his eyes were dark and determined. “Go to yer room.”
He turned his back on her and began to walk to his own chamber.
“He is beginning to see sense,” Iona said smugly. “I would start packing my trunks if I were you, Sassenach.”
Eliza’s eyes filled with tears. She could have stood and argued with Iona, but she had simply been rendered too distraught by Duncan’s dismissal. She broke into a run and escaped into the solitude of her room, where she hoped she might find some peace.
As soon as she opened the door, she rushed to her bed and threw herself onto it, then burst into tears and wept until she could weep no more. She had thought that Duncan was beginning to care for her, but now she realised how wrong she had been.