If her brothers or cousins found out, she would be tormented and teased by them. A Murray woman did not sit about like some helpless, spineless female without the wit to lace up her own chemise. Murrays were strong women, women who fought beside their men. They did not allow others to fight their battles for them while they huddled safe and hidden with the horses, she thought, leaping to her feet.
After taking three steps in the direction Brian had gone, Arianna cursed again and sat back down. Murray women also knew when to sit and wait even if they did not like it much. She had to just accept the fact that she did not have the skills that Brian did. Even more important, Amiel and the DeVeaux knew what she looked like and had undoubtedly described her very well to each one of their men. All they would need would be one glimpse of her and she would become no more than a sword at Brian’s throat.
So she would sit and wait. And pray, because each time Brian left her sight she feared he would be hurt. Arianna did not want to think too hard on how she would feel if that happened, but did not really have to. The way her heart clenched at the mere thought of it told her all she needed to know.
She was falling in love with the man, or already had. It was not something she wanted to look at too closely. Brian was kind to her, made love to her as she now knew a man should make love to a woman, but he spoke no words of love or even hinted at a future beyond that of getting her safely back to her kin.
For a moment she wondered if his kindness and the passion he made her feel were why she imagined herself in love with him. She had never experienced such things in her marriage and could be fooled. Then she shook her head. It was more, much more. What she was feeling for him went deep. Arianna feared that when he left her with her family and walked away he was going to be taking her heart with him.
Brian ignored the sultry invitation of the tavern maid as he made his deal with the young shepherd Tam. It had taken him longer than he liked to find someone he dared trust with a message to Arianna’s kin. He had almost decided to wait until he got to Dubheidland. If Lucette and his men were not so close or so certain of where he was taking her, he would have. He suspected his family may have already done so but he could not be certain of that.
“Dinnae worry, mon,” said Tam, who would be taking his wool to market soon and so made a perfect choice for a messenger. “I will be leaving here ere the sun rises and I will see that this gets into the hands of a Murray. I have dealt with them before, ye ken. They deal fair and always pay what be due me.”
And that, thought Brian, was why he could trust this man. Such things were important to someone with goods to sell. A bribe came only the once but a man who bought your goods every season and paid well was not worth risking for that one brief moment of having a heavy purse. He gave Tam the message and counted out the coin promised into his dirty, heavily calloused hand.
“Beware Frenchmen,” he warned again as the man gulped down the last of his ale.
“Wheesht, only a fool wouldnae do so.”
Brian was still chuckling when the man left and the tavern maid sidled up to him again. She was pretty enough, fairly clean, and buxom, but he had no interest in her. He made that clear as gently as possible but there was still the hard glint of anger in her eyes when she finally walked away. As he finished his ale, he prayed Lucette did not stop here. Brian was not very concerned about his ability to evade the man but the maid had watched his dealings with the shepherd. He could only hope she had some loyalty to those in her own village.
He was slipping out of the village as easily as he had slipped in when he saw the shepherd ambling toward a small, worn cottage. After one quick glance at the man, which Tam returned with the same subtlety, Brian drawled, “I am thinking the maid in that tavern doesnae like to hear the word nay from a mon.” He could tell by the way the man’s body tensed that Tam understood the warning.
“Nay,” replied Tam, never taking his gaze from the dirt path he walked. “My cousin is a vain bitch. Best someone reminds her what a sin that is.”
Brian was a little surprised when Tam turned around and headed right back to the inn. He felt a little guilty that the girl might suffer from a harsh hand just because he was a suspicious sort, but shook the guilt aside. Tam had not questioned what Brian had meant and the man knew his cousin better than Brian did. And, if the woman said too much to the wrong people, it could not only put Lucette hard on his trail but it could get Tam killed.