1
“Come now,” Margaret whispered as she pressed her shoulder against the heavy wooden door in the manor’s kitchen. “I know you can open. Please work with me.”
The door,unforgiving under her ministrations, groaned in protest. A thrill ran through her at the sound. Freedom was right on the other side of the solid mahogany. She just needed to push a little harder, just a little?—
“Did you check the lock?”
Eva,Margaret’s cousin and best friend, stood with her hands on her hips. A tiny smile played on her lips, likely reveling in the way she frightened her. Though Margaret could sense an undercurrent of concern in the tight set of her shoulders and the pinch between her brows.
“Of course, I checked the lock,”Margaret replied, her cheeks growing hot as she stepped away from the threshold. “The door just… well, it doesn’t want to cooperate with me.”
Humming,Eva stepped forward, slipping the key out from the sleeve of her nightgown. Without looking at Margaret, she inserted it into the lock and turned it. She took it out and then turned the knob.
The door openedwithout any resistance. It might as well have been mocking Margaret.
“Seemsyou didn’t check the lock very well,” Eva observed, amused.
“Perhaps I knockedit back into place,” Margaret suggested. She straightened her dress, trying her best to look more confident than she felt. “I’ve already told you that door was not cooperating with me.”
“Naturally,”Eva said, her eyes sweeping over Margaret’s form.
It was well past midnight,yet she was still in her day dress. A pair of sturdy boots adorned her feet, and slung over her shoulders was a cloak to protect her against the chill of the evening.
“It’s quite late for a walk,”Eva said after a moment of silence. “And one would assume that a lady would simply use the frontdoor rather than sneak out through the cooks’ quarters. They might think she’s trying to run away, mightn’t they?”
Margaret stayed quiet,glancing into the night. Escape was so close. She had nearly gotten out before she was caught. Granted, the door wouldn’t be open if it weren’t for her cousin’s arrival, but she would have figured it out. Eventually.
“Well,”Eva said as she ducked forward to catch Margaret’s gaze. She tucked a stray strand of Margaret’s blonde hair that had fallen from its braid behind her ear. “Are you going to tell me why you’re stealing away in the middle of the night?”
“I’m doingwhat I have to,” Margaret replied, raising her chin with conviction.
Eva frowned.“I’m not sure I understand.”
Margaret sighed,shaking her head. Had she anticipated being stopped, she’d have had a more compelling argument. Instead, she grasped at the explanations bouncing in her head.
“I must leave,”she urged as she grabbed onto Eva’s wrist. “I have…” She swallowed hard, cursing herself for tripping over her words at such a vital moment. “Duke Cunningham. He’s trying to blackmail your parents into marrying me off to him.”
Her heart poundedin her chest at the mere mention of his name. The man was known for his cruelty, and she was sure thatwould extend to the woman who eventually married him. A life with that man would mean a life of fear for Margaret.
“My parents would never do sucha thing,” Eva said, her voice rising in volume with her outrage. “You must know that, Margaret. They love you as if you’re their own. They want a good life for you.”
“I know,”Margaret whispered. She shot her cousin a warning look, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone else in the manor. “I do not worry about their actions. It’s Duke Cunningham I worry about.”
I haveno idea how he’ll act. If he doesn’t get what he wants… I’ve heard stories of people being forcibly taken and battered when he finally got his hands on them. Oh, I don’t want to think about what he’d do to me.
“Margaret,”Eva said softly, speaking as if she were trying to comfort a spooked horse, “you don’t have to worry.”
“I do,”Margaret argued as she pulled her hands back to her sides. “If they refuse him, none of us is safe. Staying here would put all of us in danger. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. But… but if I run away, I’ll be able to keep everyone here safe.”
Eva stared at Margaret.There were surely words on the tip of her tongue, pleas for Margaret to stay, but they didn’t come.
She knows I’m right.She doesn’t want me to leave, but she knows there isn’t another way.
“Where do you plan to go?”Eva asked, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s not safe for a woman to travel alone.”
“It’s safer than staying here,”Margaret reminded her, the joke falling flat. Grimacing, she continued, “I’ll be crossing the border. The Highlands is the only place where Cunningham doesn’t have influence.”
She didn’t bother mentioningher fear. Eva had been raised with the same stories that she had. Scotsmen were savages. By crossing the border, Margaret would be trading one danger for another.