Page 44 of Wild Hearts

"How in the name of Christ did it come about that she married this moneylender, Maxwell Abrahams? And be warned, you young swine, I won't be fobbed off with your damned excuses!" he thundered as if everything from beginning to end was Paris's fault.

Paris raised his voice, fighting fire with fire. "You should be on your knees, thanking me for rescuing her. Abrahams bought her out of that orphanage as some sort of cure for his syphilis— he is rank with it."

Magnus blanched white and rubbed the sudden spasm of pain that shot through his chest.

Paris said, "Don't worry, I spirited her away in time."

"No, you did not! In time would have been before the marriage took place. You young bastard, the timing was to your advantage so you could extort gold from him. And why did he wed her legal in the first place?" roared Magnus. "I'll tell. you! So he could suck me dry like a bloodsucker."

"You can get the marriage annulled, Magnus," Paris pointed out reasonably, still trying to hold on to his temper.

Magnus's jaw set. "Not, annulled. She will be a widow before she is a wife!"

"Softly, Magnus, softly. I know you've more guts than a slaughterhouse, but walls have ears, and if you don't stop your thundering match, you're going to drop from apoplexy."

"That would suit your purpose also, you conniving son of a bitch," bellowed Magnus. "Well, everything that was to go to you will go to her now."

Alexandria came into the solarium hesitantly. She had heard the shouting and knew there was more to come. "I cannot find her, Paris. No one has seen her."

"Damn you! Tell the girls to get up here at once. Well, don't hang about, girl, get to it," he snapped.

Silently, the girls filed into the solarium and stood in a semicircle around the room. Paris looked from Shannon to Venetia to Damascus, and lastly his eyes fell on Alexandria. He sensed something. "What witches' brew are you cooking, Alexandria? What damned female tricks are you up to now?"

"I know nothing!" insisted Alexandria.

His eyes passed over them again, and he noted they were decked out in their finest. "Beautiful you are to anyone but a brother! Y'er a right bunch of bitches! Where's Tabrizia?" he shouted.

Shannon said flatly, "She's gone."

"Gone? How?" he demanded.

"Johnny Raven," she said low.

He withdrew his whip, and each girl fell back instinctively. He had been betrayed! Not by Shannon but by Tabrizia! He couldn't believe she had done this thing. They had exchanged promises, vows, and to a Border lord, your word was your bond, never to be broken. She was the second woman to betray him. Would he never learn?

Alexandria asked Shannon, "When did Tabrizia leave?"

"Out!" Paris thundered. "Never utter that name in my presence again." He turned to Magnus, his eyes like black burning coals. "Your precious daughter has run back to her husband. If you succeed in rescuing her, keep her from me at all costs, or I shall kill her," he swore.

Magnus, outraged, stormed from the castle into the courtyard. He ordered his men to follow him to Edinburgh. He looked Margaret up and down and said, "You, madam, can return to Tantallon. Now!"

"I should first like to visit with my mother, milord," she ventured, but he didn't even hear her as he wheeled the great destrier around and, striking sparks off the cobbles, quit the castle.

Robert Kerr, Earl of Cessford, upon hearing of Lord Lennox's good fortune in securing Venetia, approached Paris confidently. "I would like to settle matters about Damascus, milord."

Paris gave him a look so black and threatening, he stepped back in alarm. "I forbid it!" snarled Cockburn, and sent a stool crashing across the room. He went to the stables and saddled his horse. He had to be alone. He felt so murderous, he knew he could easily shed innocent blood: The veneer of civilization had been stripped away to reveal the wild savage beneath.

He rode upward, away from the sea where the Lammermuirs towered above each other, ridge after ridge. In these hills the air was always heavy, but the light was pure and turned everything to a shimmering greenness. He rode upward through slopes dotted with feeding sheep. He passed up through gray, stony crags and straight drops of volcanic rock. He rode to the high, bleak ground filled with outcrops of stone until he felt as one with his universe. Up this high, the strong winds carried a light rain, but he was unaware of it. He rode for hours, the steady drizzle damping down the rage within. Suddenly, he rode through a natural pass cut into the rocks and stopped short at the sight that assaulted his senses. A lush valley opened up before him, and a waterfall spilled down from ridge to ridge, cascading clouds of mist that shone with fragments of rainbow. The beauty pierced his heart, and he cursed himself for letting a woman penetrate the iron carapace he had built around himself since Anne He cursed God and man and woman. He made sure he stayed away from the revelry at Cockburnspath until well past dark. When he returned, he took whisky into the gun room and drank until he was stinking.

The day, beginning shortly after midnight as it had for Maxwell Abraham; had started badly and there was worse to come. The fire that had been started in his bed had quickly devoured the whole chamber on the second floor and had raced up to the third and almost destroyed it, too. The ensuing damage to the magnificent structure, and furnishings was horrendous.

Abrahams was prostrate, in a state of collapse, and when he discovered the culprit had vanished, he was beside himself with wrath. He ordered a search of the whole area, which took several hours before he discovered it was fruitless. The household had just reassembled to receive further instructions when a dozen moss-troopers burst into the house, while another dozen surrounded it.

The Earl of Ormistan dwarfed the small, dark man. Magnus waited impatiently while his men searched the house and herded the servants together in one room. It was the first-floor library, lined from floor to ceiling with rare books. The center of the room contained, a massive polished desk.

His lieutenant reported, "There has been a bad fire that has gutted the second and third floors, but no young woman, yer Grace."

Abrahams's eyes narrowed. "Whom do ye seek?"

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