This chapter
opens with Heather telling Tim that it's time for her to leave.
Finally. Oh, also, she waited a good long time to go downstairs so
Tim would already be in the cloakroom with a candle lit. It's hard
for her to control herself when he's grabbing her in the dark. Oh
baby. Anyway, Tim reveals what he learned about Fletcher and
Cobbins' two thousand pounds bonus and she freaks out as well. Also,
this will make it much harder for her to escape partially because the
highlander is very well funded, and partially because Fletcher and
Cobbins are very well motivated to hand Heather over.
They talk about
where they can run and have her be safe, but their options are
limited. With no real way to prove who he is, Tim could easily end
up in jail while the highlander makes off with Heather. Even if they
were able to prove who they were, Heather's reputation would be
ruined by this adventure. Also, Tim had wanted to swing by his
estate, where his father is, so Tim could tell the man about his
imminent engagement, but that's out the window now. Then Heather
remembers her relatives, Richard and Catriona, have a place about a
day's ride from where they are, and the two of them are likely to be
there. Problem solved. Then Heather asks when she'll escape. Tim
tells her that it won't be tomorrow. They'll need something that
will keep Cobbins and Fletcher busy for a full day, if possible and
it'll take some time to come up with that. Heather remembers that
she should be able to go for a walk the next day and Tim reminds her
not to shatter the illusion that she's some helpless girl from the
upper crust.
With all of this
sorted, Tim grabs the doorknob to leave the room, but he takes a
really long time to decide to turn it. It's not an awkward moment,
though, it's a sexually charged one. You know, I had forgotten the
outline of most romance novels. They're going to fall into all kinds
of situations where they decide not to kiss or bang or whatever until
the very end of the book when they finally get married and can admit
they love each other. And then, finally, make out. So, of course,
Tim does leave the room without kissing her and the story continues.
Le sigh.
Then we jump to
the next afternoon when Heather finally gets her walk. She and
Martha go to a hillside not far from the inn and Martha lays down a
rug for them to sit on. After a bit, Martha tells Heather that she's
going to take a nap, but Heather had better not run off because
Martha is a light sleeper. Heather thinks back to how she's snuck
out of her room just about every night on this adventure but, of
course, doesn't tell Martha that. This makes me wonder, though, if
Martha is actually awake when Heather leaves, listens in on their
conversation, and heads back up to the room before Heather to pretend
to be asleep again. It would keep Heather busy and because she kept
insisting that it wasn't time to leave, Martha wouldn't have to worry
about anything. That would be devious.
Anyway, while
Martha is snoring, Tim walks up with a map and while he and Heather
pretend to talk about how to get to Glasgow, she traces out the route
to Catriona and Richard's place, which should actually be about a
day's ride away. Perfect. So, with that settled, Tim makes Heather
sad by telling her they won't meet that night; he needs the time for
the distraction he's setting up. Then he tells Heather to be ready
at some point tomorrow. How specific. When they're done, he wanders
off back to the inn as if they'd said nothing of consequence to each
other.
That night,
Heather has trouble sleeping. The only reason Tim wouldn't want to
meet that night is because he's not in the inn, so where the hell is
he? Heather, and the reader, get no answers until the next day. Tim
is noticeably absent. Heather doesn't want to ask about him, but
Martha does, so we learn that he told Cobbins and Fletcher that he's
getting himself ready to go to Glasgow. You know, not the way he's
actually going. Nice. After lunch, Heather and Martha are banished
to the parlor again. However, they haven't been there long when the
fuzz arrive. Heather cracks open the parlor door to see what's going
on, while reminding herself that she can't ask the police for help.
It seems that two candlesticks were in one of the rooms, which just
so happens to be the room where Fletcher and Cobbins where staying.
The candlesticks belong to the magistrate, so they're totes in
trouble.
After the po-po
leave with their suspects, Martha rushes upstairs and Heather follows
her. Martha throws everything in a bag, except Heather's stuff which
she gives back, telling Heather that the two of them are likely to be
named as accomplices so Fletcher and Cobbins can keep Heather there
for the laird. Martha wants no part in this, so she tells Heather
her planned route of escape, and leaves the inn. Not sure why she
told Heather where she was going so specifically, but whatever.
Heather packs her things as well. The kidnappers gave her a little
bag with a few things as well. How thoughtful. Then Tim comes in
the room. Heather almost bashes his head with a poker, but she
recognized him first. When she explains the situation to him, he
also freaks out and they head to his room to pack. They can't take
his trap or pony because he had told the innkeeper he'd be there for
a few more days and if he takes them now, he'll be considered a
suspect too and they'll be able to track him. Good thing he has
enough money to get another carriage somewhere.
Heather watches
Tim throw his clothes, pistols, and more clothes into his two bags,
and then they sneak down the servants' stairs and out the back door.
They're walking to Annan off-road because the Man will be searching
the roads for them. As they're walking across fields and such, Tim
thinks about how Heather isn't complaining, which is what pretty much
any other lady of her class would be doing right now. How wonderful
Heather is. And how pretty and... Yeah. Then Tim strikes up a
conversation, by asking if Heather rides horses. They chat about
that for a few sentences before Heather says something about how she
loves “the exhilaration when one gets pounding along...” and Tim
decides to change topics. Because, you see, he's sexually repressed
and this is reminding him of that fact. So, he talks about dancing
instead. Heather lists a few dances she likes, even some that are
less fashionable now because “there's a certain...reined power in
them...” Oh baby. No, Tim, no topic will be safe for you.
Then they have
to duck behind some bushes to avoid the riders on the road seeing
them. Heather takes this moment to tell Tim that she'll need some
new shoes at some point. Her evening slippers aren't actually built
for walking across fields. This is her first complaint, and it's not
whiny at all. Nicely done, Heather. Anyway, they walk a little
further when Heather says how she would have liked to have seen this
mysterious highlander. Tim replies that he looked for a good place
to see this guy without being seen, but there wasn't one. Heather is
glad that he at least tried. Eventually, they make it to Dornock,
but they realize that because it's such a small town, they can't just
ask for somewhere to stay. They're fugitives and that's a sure way
to get turned in. So they find a nice hayloft in a barn to sleep in.
After they're up
in the loft and discuss how they can't have a fire and don't have
food, Tim admits that he had expected hysterics from Heather. She
replies by saying they wouldn't do any good. Wait. Is this a
practical heroine in a romance novel? What?! Although, that does
just make her more attractive to Tim, so maybe it's serving a higher
purpose for the writer. Anyway, Tim tells Heather that he's going to
have a look around the building and that he'll be back soon. This
gives Heather a moment to think about how he's protective, but not in
a smothering way. And how dreamy he is and... Yeah.
When Tim gets
back, Heather tells him that she's going outside for a bit, using his
same words. He doesn't like it but, she's got to pee sometime and
apparently she hasn't since lunch time. Poor thing. So she heads
outside to relieve herself and he's waiting for her at the door when
she comes back. Inside the barn, he wasn't watching her. Then the
two of them get back in the loft and he pulls up the ladder. Heather
admires his muscles moving as he's working.
They put their
cloaks down on the hay and settle in for the night. Except there's
mice in the loft and Heather hates/fears mice. So, she picks up her
cloak and the dresses she's using as blankets and gets closer to Tim.
The mass of two of them should make the mice avoid them and this way
it's half as likely she'll get nibbled on. Well, by the mice,
anyway. She also mentions how she's cold. Well, there's only one
thing for a gentleman to do in this situation. Tim waits about a
minute before he pulls her to him and they snuggle together. He
tells her it doesn't mean anything, but it totally does. He stays
awake until, by the full release of her tension, he can tell she's
asleep. Aw. I know, guys, I thought they were going to do something
too, but they have to follow the Code of the Romance novel. I mean,
The Devil Earl didn't follow that because they started banging
pretty early on, but I suppose in this period romance novel, they
take the consequences of sex a little more seriously. Or the author
is just like that.
So, for the next
chapter, I predict that they'll make it to the next town, have a
couple of close calls with the lawman out searching for them, and at
the end of the chapter, they'll run into the highlander and all of
their plans will be ruined.
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