The Libertine (23 page)

She wrapped her hands around her upper arms and her companion
moved instinctively, drawing her in against him with his arm around her
shoulder. She rested her head against his chest and Lennox watched, touched by
this strange sight. After all these years, while he thought of his siblings as
young girls who were in need of his protection, he saw that she’d grown and
thrived, too. She was a strong, passionate woman, and she was determined to
survive. And now she had a lover, a protector of her own.

Jessie lifted her head and in her eyes he saw the weary,
age-old wisdom that her life had brought her. “I will not be parted from you
again, brother. Besides, there is strength in numbers. We will go to Edinburgh
together and aid you during your quest. It makes sense, for we will then be
together and united in order to travel north to where we had our beginning.” She
held his gaze. “I cannot risk losing you again.”

How was it that she was the one saying things that he should be
saying, binding them together as kin once more? Lennox observed his sister’s
companion as he considered the dilemma. The man would not be easily swayed, and
Lennox could not fault him for that. Perhaps he could warm to the man. He had
rescued his sister from the tolbooth, after all, and the bond between the two
was clear to see. Time would tell whether Jessie’s affection toward him was
truly warranted, and Lennox saw that keeping both of them close at hand would
allow him to be sure that his sister’s affection was warranted. “Are you in
agreement, Mister Ramsay?”

Gregor Ramsay had a shrewd look in his eye. “I will agree, but
only because they’re searching for a woman with one man. If we travel as three,
Jessie gains more protection and is better hidden.”

“I respect your argument,” Lennox replied.

Gregor Ramsay shot him a look. It was a subtle, guarded
warning, perhaps.

Lennox gave a wry smile. “You are as wary of me as I of
you.”

“At least.” Gregor inclined his head.

“Gregor!” Jessie looked affronted.

Ramsay did not respond to that, although he still kept her
close, holding her tightly to him. “We will help you in your task, but as soon
as I have the slightest suspicion that the town bailiff has word of Jessie’s
whereabouts she will be gone, with me.”

Lennox respected that, too, but he wasn’t about to say so. He
nodded. “That is fair.” He was warming to this Gregor Ramsay after all. “We’ll
need to purchase two more horses.”

Ramsay shook his head. “No, we go by foot or by enclosed
carriage.”

Lennox frowned. “A carriage will be harder to find.”

“I’m sorry, Lennox.” Jessie looked sheepish. “’Tis my fault. I
cannot abide to look down from a height, not since they stood me on that pillar
and made me watch...”

Something inside him jolted and he was back there in his mind,
kicking and cursing, and he could see them, his twin sisters forced up on the
pillars at the Kirk gates, forced to watch their mother being stoned.

“I have coin enough for a carriage,” Ramsay said, which pulled
Lennox back to the present moment.

“I, too, have money. We will go by foot until a carriage can be
hired or bought.”

“Thank you, both.” Jessie mustered a small smile, but Lennox
sensed she was ashamed of her burden—a burden no woman should have to carry.

“Well, now that we are all agreed,” Jessie said, mustering
herself, “we must make a plan to loose your Mistress Chloris from her current
whereabouts.”

Lennox stared at his sister in amazement.
A plan
. He was so busy reacting to what went on he hadn’t even
considered what he would do once he got to Edinburgh. A plan would be good, he
realized, suddenly resigned to the fact that he was not invincible and he needed
the guidance of his people, just as much as they needed him to validate what
they were doing.

“Tell us more,” she encouraged. “Tell us all that you know of
her circumstances, so that we might form our plan.”

“I fear her situation is little better than what you
experienced in the tolbooth in Dundee, sister. The difference is that she lives
in a life of comfort, but she is unhappy for she is beaten and abused by a
husband who does not care for her and seeks to be rid of her.”

“Oh, Lennox,” Jessie whispered, and took his hand in hers.

He stared down at the ground in front of him, the tender
gesture threatening to undo him. The need to know that Chloris was safe and not
affected at her husband’s hands once again was overwhelming. It also made him
wonder if she would ever forgive him. Then came the shame and the regret, for he
had dallied with her to undermine his enemy. His emotions were awry, and he
could scarcely think straight. “She went back to him in order to protect my
coven from discovery, but her sacrifice was useless.”

Gregor’s head lifted, the look in his eyes sharpening.

Lennox nodded his way. “Aye, the soldiers will be swarming
after my people as well as the two of you, by now.”

“In that case,” Gregor said, rising to his feet, “we will form
the plan as we go. We had better be on our way, and be quick about it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Mary, I will be out making calls later this afternoon.
Would you please lay out my cloak and walking boots?”

“Yes, mistress.” Mary hurried off, leaving Chloris to her
embroidery.

It would be her second day of seeking word of a position that
she might be suitable for. The previous day had resulted in sympathy from the
two good friends she had called upon. The details of her failing marriage were
greeted with curiosity, but not with surprise. It seemed she was the only one
who was blind to the inevitable turn of events.

It also resulted in one hopeful offer of assistance, a possible
post as a companion to an elderly widow whose hearing was failing. Someone else
had been recommended, but it was not clear whether the post had yet been filled.
If it had, she would keep searching. She would call upon all the women she knew
in order to find employment.

She had many skills. Her sewing was good. She could also teach,
and she would find a way to forge her own path in this world. Above all it gave
her hope and something to occupy her mind, when her aching heart threatened to
fill her thoughts with despair. Chloris thought she’d known low spirits before,
but she had not. The sense of loss she experienced was like none other.

Moreover, it was only a matter of time until Gavin forced
himself upon her, or punished her for her contrary behavior. There was nowhere
else for her to go, not immediately, but she feared she could not abide Gavin’s
ways now, not since she had tasted something of freedom and respect. She could
not return to Saint Andrews for fear of endangering Lennox and those he
protected. Previously, she thought her few weeks of happiness would carry her
through difficult times ahead. Now she knew it would only make it more difficult
to endure.

So she prepared herself for a new life, one that was as yet
unknown to her.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

Mary entered the drawing room and drew her attention. “You have
a visitor, mistress.”

“I am not expecting anyone to call.” Chloris frowned, then
wondered if it was news of the post mentioned the day before. She rose to her
feet. “Is it someone carrying a letter?”

“No. It is a woman.”

Chloris immediately thought of the woman she had discovered
with Gavin on her return. “My husband’s night visitor?”

Mary shook her head. “It is a tradeswoman at the door,
mistress. She wishes to show you her wares.”

Chloris frowned. Gavin had a strict policy on such things and
she was surprised that Mary had not followed his instructions without drawing it
to her attention. “The master allows no tradespeople into the house.”

“The woman is most insistent, and she...well, she somehow made
me believe you would want to receive her.” Mary frowned. “That is why I thought
I ought to mention it.” Mary looked every bit as confused as Chloris felt. “The
woman said to tell you she has lace for you, the lace that you purchased from
her in the market at Saint Andrews.”

Chloris felt light-headed.

Lace, from the market in Saint Andrews? She cast her mind back.
Yes, she had looked at lace with Jean, but her thoughts had been entirely
elsewhere, for that was when she had seen Lennox. Then he had stood behind her
and whispered to her. She could not even recall the face of the lace maker, and
although she had feigned interest in Jean’s purchases, she’d bought none of her
own. As she tried to order her thoughts on the matter, one image stayed solid in
her mind—the sight of Lennox across Market Street, watching them, smiling her
way and making that secret connection with her.

Her heart beat hard and fast. She put her sewing aside and
nodded at Mary. “In that case you’d best show her in.”

When Mary disappeared, Chloris stood perfectly still and
watched the doorway with great curiosity. A few moments later, Mary showed a
young woman in. In her arms the woman carried a basket that was covered over by
a lace cloth.

When she entered the room she stared at Chloris with great
curiosity. “Thank you for admitting me.” The woman dropped a quick curtsy. “I
have brought your lace, and I have some other items that may be of interest to
you.”

Chloris felt irresistibly drawn to the young woman, as if a
secret would be revealed within the woman’s basket. The young woman’s eyes
burned bright blue, as if sunshine was captured there. Chloris pressed her hand
to her breastbone in an attempt to remain steady. She felt quite light-headed
but suffused with warmth, as she often had when Lennox performed his rituals
with her. The significance of the encounter dawned on her. The young woman was
one of his kind, a witch.

The visitor seemed to sense her growing awareness and she gave
a slight nod.

Chloris could not look away from the young woman, for her vivid
blue eyes held Chloris’s attention. Gathering herself, Chloris spoke to the
serving girl. “Thank you, Mary, that will be all.”

She could hear the tremble in her own voice. While she waited
for the curious girl to leave them alone, she struggled to maintain her
composure.

The young woman with the basket observed the servant leave.
Then she set her basket down on the floor and walked over to Chloris. Taking
Chloris’s hands in hers, she peered at her closely and then broke into a broad
smile. “You are just as pretty as my brother told me you were.”

Lennox had told her. Lennox had sent
her
. Chloris found herself awash with confusion, with hope and with
disbelief. But there was such warmth, such welcome in the young woman’s face,
and the heat from her hands seemed to reach into Chloris and soothe her troubled
soul. “You are Lennox’s sister?”

The woman nodded. “One of them. I am Jessie.”

Chloris struggled to make sense of it. The letter he’d sent
confided that he’d had word of his kin. Was this the matter of great urgency
that he was called away upon, on that fateful day that he had sent a letter? “He
was searching for you.”

“Lennox and I have recently been reunited. He was on his way
here, to find you, when our paths crossed.”

“Being reunited with you again will be a huge comfort to him,
for he has searched for you all these years.”

Jessie nodded. “Aye, but if he had not been on his way to find
you, our paths would not have crossed. There is great significance in that for a
man such as Lennox.”

Destiny, he had mentioned it often. Chloris longed to believe
in it, too.

“But it is you that he needs now for his comfort,” Jessie
continued, “you most of all.”

Chloris withdrew her hands from Jessie’s, difficult though it
was to turn away from the succor she offered. “It cannot be. My cousin will have
his coven ousted if I dare to see Lennox again.” She picked her words carefully,
aware of the pain the young woman had suffered because of her mother’s
persecution.

“I do not know the full circumstances of the situation, but
Lennox has already sent his people north.”

Chloris was startled. “They have gone from Saint Andrews?”

“They had to leave, your cousin was determined to oust them
all, every last one of them.”

Horrified that her worst fears had almost been realized,
Chloris struggled to put the pieces into place.

“We must speak quickly in case your servant returns.” Jessie
retrieved her basket and withdrew a folded page. “Lennox is here in Edinburgh
and he has taken rooms for us just a few streets away. He has written the
address for you, and he will remain there until you are able to meet him.”

Chloris stared down at the page, saw that it was written by the
same hand, and her heart beat wildly. Lennox was here, in Edinburgh. “He has
come here?”

“He’s in love with you, Mistress Chloris.” Jessie laughed
softly. “He is in a terrible, sorry state. I must say it is quite endearing to
witness.”

Chloris could scarcely breathe.

“Can I tell him you will come?” Jessie asked.

“Yes, I will be there within the hour.”

* * *

Chloris was ready to leave the house immediately, but
she forced herself to wait a little longer, lest someone spied her following in
Jessie’s footsteps. Her heart was all aflutter, her thoughts dashing this way
and that. Lennox had come after her, he had hunted her down. Why hadn’t he gone
with his people? How had he found her? The questions spilled through her
thoughts as she attempted to bide her time.

Mary entered the drawing room. “I’ve left out your cloak and
boots, mistress.”

“Thank you, I will be going out immediately.”

“Shall I order the carriage to be brought round?”

“No. I want to take the air, so I will walk.” She followed Mary
out of the room, then hurried to her bedchamber where a cloak hung over the
dressing screen next to the armoire. Changing into her boots, she grabbed the
cloak and raced downstairs.

Once out in the street she glanced about to check that she
wasn’t being observed, and then hurried on her way. It was not far, but every
step felt as if she had to make haste, lest she awaken from the dream and
discover she had imagined this situation.

As she approached the building where Lennox had taken lodgings,
she saw Jessie watching from a window, waiting for her. Before she even knocked
at the door, Jessie opened it and directed her up the stairs.

“The first door at the top of the stairs, he’s waiting for you.
Hurry, before the landlady sees you.”

“Thank you.” Chloris squeezed Jessie’s hand, then lifted her
skirts and darted up the stairs. She almost tripped in her haste, but when she
got to the landing and saw the door ajar, she felt suddenly nervous. It was as
if it were a dream and if she stepped through the door she would awaken and find
herself alone.

A moment later the door opened wide and Lennox was standing
there, one hand against the door frame, looking out at her.

Chloris stared at him, almost too nervous to speak and break
the spell, for it had to be a spell, this vision of her handsome lover standing
here in Edinburgh. He was barely five paces away, and yet she could not believe
it was really true.
Lennox
. His posture was poised
and the atmosphere around him filled with his presence—with a sense of
anticipation and tension that was palpable. He looked so handsome, so wild and
passionate, and the light burning in his eyes was intense.

The frown he wore vanished when he saw it was her who had
clattered up the stairs. Chloris could not hold back her joy. She fled across
the landing and into his arms, her hands locking around his head as she welcomed
his hungry, possessive kiss.

When they drew apart she stared up at him in wonder. “Lennox,
oh, Lennox. Why did you risk your safety to follow me when you should be with
your people?”

He smiled down at her. “Because I love you, and I promised you
I would love you forever. That meant there was only one thing for me to do, to
find you and keep you safe.”

Her hand went to his chest, her emotions spinning. All the
doubts she had harbored about his intentions—all the fears that it was fanciful
nonsense and he felt no lasting affection for her and that she was nothing more
than another conquest for a wild libertine—disappeared because she could see it
in his eyes. Possessive, proud and filled with desire, he had come to her.

“Oh, Lennox,” she whispered.

“Are you well and safe?” He smoothed back her hair from her
forehead as he studied her intently.

She nodded, unable to do more. She knew the real meaning in his
question. He wanted to know if Gavin had harmed her.

His finger beneath the chin forced her to look up and meet his
gaze. “You look tired.”

“I’ve been worried.” She prayed that he would not press her to
say more.

He took her hand and led her into the room beyond, a furnished
parlor of some comfort. Closing the door, he shut the world out. Again she found
herself held in his arms, held tight and thoroughly kissed.

“I missed you more than I thought possible,” he whispered to
her, and his voice was husky with emotion.

“As did I. The thought that I might never see you again made me
wish to die.”

“Don’t say that.” He shook his head, as if he could not bear
her words.

How deeply he felt, as did she.

Desire shot between them.

She arched in his arms, her body kindling. Memories of their
lovemaking flooded her with need to be coupled with him again, to prove this
reunion was real.

His hands enclosed the curve of her bosom, cupping her breasts
from beneath.

Breathlessly, she responded. Standing on her tiptoes, she
pressed her hips to his. His hands roved quickly up and down her back and around
her waist, as if he wanted to touch all of her at once.

“Come, sit.” He led her to a long couch. She glanced about and
saw a bedchamber through the doorway beyond.

Perching on the seat, she sighed with relief and undid her
cloak where it was tied at her neck, letting it fall away. She could not take
her gaze from her lover’s face. Here in this furnished parlor he looked like a
laird. The gentle ticktock of the clock that stood behind him seemed almost
incongruous. It was so calm, when between them their passion for one another was
as wild and powerful as it had been out in the bluebell glen.

But he was here, and that very real fact made her afraid for
his safety.

Chloris felt the dangers closing in.

If Tamhas knew about Lennox’s action, he might send word to the
Edinburgh witch finders. They might already be armed with information that could
quickly arrange for her lover to be put to death. Her belly turned over and she
felt light-headed, her emotions tangling. “You shouldn’t have taken the risk.
Tamhas will be angered you got away, he might—”

Lennox silenced her with one finger on her lips. “My people are
safely gone, headed for the Highlands.”