Page 25 of The Scottish Bride
Chapter Eight
“He gave metime to think,” Tamsin told Lady Edith, “so I think I will leave now.”
“This is madness,” Lady Edith answered.
Grabbing a linen shift from inside a wooden chest, Tamsin tossed it to the growing pile of things she intended to take with her. “It is best.”
Picking up the shift, Edith folded it. “You are making a mess and talking nonsense.”
“I am perfectly calm.” Tamsin balled up a pair of long, cream-colored woolen hose to add them to the rest. “I know what I need to do.”
“Walk out the gate bold as brass with a satchel on your shoulder?” Edith pointed to the leather bag on the floor. “You would be stopped as soon as you are seen.”
“Then I must not be seen.” She threw a pair of leather slippers after the hose. “Not the gate. The window. With that.” She pointed to the pile of bed linens coiled on the floor. In the middle of the night, while Lady Edith snored on a little cot in the corner, Tamsin had knotted together every bedsheet and linen towel she could find.
“Where would you go, even if you could get away? Lady Kirsty is at Thornhill now, but they say it may be taken by English soon. Her father would take you in.”
“Sir Malise would send men there, knowing they are my cousins.” She sat back on her heels. “Edith, please, you must not tell anyone what I am doing.”
Lady Edith sputtered. “I promised you I would not, even if it is lunacy.”
“I am grateful. But I do not want you to be in trouble, so you must know very little.” Last evening, she had told Lady Edith some of what had happened in the hall, enough to vent her anger and fear. It had been good to talk to the older woman about it.
“Shall I say I woke up to find the bed linens hanging out the window?”
“If you must. Sir Davey will make sure you are free of blame. I shall go to Kincraig to find my sisters,” she continued. “I am determined.”
“You are mad, is what you are.” Lady Edith picked up the shoes and other things and shoved them into the satchel.
“I wish I had found my brother,” Tamsin said, rummaging in the chest. “But they may have news of him at Kincraig. He intended to go there, at least by year’s end.”
“Stay here and we can send word to Kincraig once more. You have not heard back from them, last you sent word.”
That was true. She only hoped her sisters were still there and that the place had not been affected by English takeover. “But if I stay here, I will be dragged to the church steps and married tomorrow. There is no time.”
Edith sighed. “Aye then. What about the monastery at Holyoak? You have friends there. They would give you sanctuary until you come to your senses. The abbot is a kindly man. And that nice young monk let you use their library when we visited.”
Tempted by the idea, she shook her head. “Sir Malise knows I have visited Holyoak. He might look for me there.”
“Then go to Thornhill, to Kirsty and her father. It is closer than Kincraig. That is, if you can get even out of the castle withall these soldiers here. And do not ask my brother for help. Davey Campbell should not suffer for your foolishness.” Even trying to be supportive, Edith had an edge.
A little thread of fear grew. Ignoring its pull, Tamsin glanced toward the window shuttered against the night air. A gap in the wooden panels showed darkness lifting toward dawn. She had only slept a little, restless all night thinking about the demands and the threats made by Malise and the king as well.
Leaving Dalrinnie seemed the only way to escape imminent marriage. Striving to be calm, Tamsin lifted a gown of dark gray wool from the wooden chest. The hem was embroidered with laurel sprigs, traditionally regarded as lucky by the Keiths, who displayed laurel on shields, garments, doorways, and in brooches for good fortune. The gown was comfortable and warm, and she needed some luck and fortitude.
“I will wear this.” Stripping off her plain gown, she dropped the soft gray wool over her shift, belting it.
“Stay here. We will send a message to Baron Thornhill,” Edith tried again. “Someone will come.”
“I would be married by the time word reaches him.” Closing the chest, Tamsin went to a small table, where she had collected some things to bring with her. She sorted through the items—a few small books, a leather pouch containing quills and lampblack for ink. Lastly, the beautifully polished wooden box that Thomas had given her, along with a packet of folded parchments wrapped in leather. “I must find my family. But first I must see the bookman in Selkirk before Comyn goes there. Malise wants what I gave the bookseller, you see.”
“The one who came to Holyoak when you brought your pages there? What does Sir Malise want with those old scraps of writing you copied? Such a lot of work you did, and for what?” Edith shook her head. “It makes no sense to me.”
“I did the work for my family. And I love doing it.” She slid the books into a woolen sack.
“You could go to a convent. Lincluden is not far from Thornhill. That is, if you survive this mad scheme to leave here.”
“I will. Edith—I want you to do something for me.”
