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Wharton looked around at the woods that pressed close. “Are ye saying those scoundrels are out there squattin’ over a log?”

“Can’t you hear them groaning?”

Incredulous, Wharton asked, “Why didn’t ye come back t’ us?”

“I thought you would come to recover me, and if you hadn’t, I would have returned at first light. I didn’t trust myself to find my way back in the dark.” She turned to Hugh and rebuked him. “So you see, it’s not necessary to fight at every opportunity. Sometimes guile will suffice.”

Hugh couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it. He’d charged a tumble of boulders to rescue his woman—and she’d already saved herself. He’d been in a lather of fear, and she’d been waiting for him to arrive! Alone, she’d routed her attackers.

He looked around at his men; their gazes were glued to Edlyn in blatant disbelief. He looked at Wharton, who stood scratching his head with one hand while holding Hugh’s sword in the other. And in a low, controlled tone, Hugh said, “Men, round up the knaves as they come in from the woods and take them to the constable. He’ll know what to do with them.”

“But they’re hungry,” Edlyn said as if that should excuse their villainy.

“Would you leave them free to capture some other poor woman and have them use her as they didn’t get to use you?” Hugh demanded.

She faltered.

“I wouldn’t worry about the fate of those men if I were you.” He jerked her close against him. “I’d worry about your fate—and my revenge.”

At the edge of the clearing, the noble knight sat on his horse and observed.

He was furious. Nothing, nothing had gone as planned. He’d patiently waited for her for a year. He’d had her watched from a distance. He’d been prepared to take her when the time was right—and instead he’d received a message from his men saying she had been wed.

And to his enemy! To Hugh de Florisoun! To the man who dared think he could take the place of his better.

He’d abandoned everything, all his schemes, and ridden as quickly as he could to the abbey, only to find rumors flying that the bride had been kidnapped.

By his own men. He’d laughed then, sure the devil himself was on his side.

But nay. Edlyn had defeated him, as she had defeated him so many times before. She knew how he felt. This was a betrayal, nothing less.

He would have his revenge, and then he would have her—and Hugh de Florisoun would be driven to hell on the point of Edmund Pembridge’s sword.

9

Edlyn didn’t know a lot about Hugh de Florisoun, but she knew that right now he was angry. He tromped her through the woods in the dark, in the rain, keeping her close and holding the branches away from her face as if he could heal the mark on her cheek with his care.

Yet he was so unyielding she thought a good wind would topple him. Could she lighten the atmosphere? Would a few words, spoken in a normal tone, lessen his displeasure? She could try. “Are we walking back to the abbey?” she asked.

“You’re not going back to the abbey tonight.”

He hadn’t answered her question, which was how they would be traveling, but he’d raised a lot of new ones. Yet his repressive tone made her hesitate, and while she did, he stopped and raised a hand to his mouth. An owl hooted, and if she hadn’t felt the vibration of his chest against her shoulder, she would never have realized the sound had originated from him.

Guiding her once more, he moved toward a clearing. She heard the stomp of horses’ hooves and their rumble as they blew a greeting, and a youth spoke right beside them. “My lord, I heard your call. Did you recover her?”

“Aye, I have her.” Hugh’s arm tightened. “The men are rounding up the mercenaries, and I’m taking her back to camp.”

To camp. They were going to his camp. Edlyn tried to cheer herself. If she waited long enough, mayhap Hugh would answer every question in this roundabout manner.

The youth brought a palfrey forward, and Hugh released her long enough to vault into the saddle.

“Shall I give your lady my horse, my lord?” the youth asked.

“She’ll ride with me.” Hugh sounded gruff.

Well aware of the shape of the saddles, Edlyn tried to back up, but Hugh bent far down, picked her up with his hands under her armpits, and swung her in front of him.

She couldn’t help exclaiming, “You’ll hurt your back.”