Now, don't get
too excited. This book has 21 chapters, so it's not likely we'll
find out everything just yet. I mean, besides the obvious.
Chapter four
opens with Tim sitting at the White Horse Inn in Bramham, watching
the Red Lion Inn where Heather is. I've known bars with those names
and the association in kind of disorienting, but anyway, back to
England. Not much happens in the beginning of this chapter. We
learn that they're still heading North and that Tim is still stalking
them.
Heather
questions her captors some more. She wants to know what McKinnsey
looks like. He's got black hair, cold eyes of apparently no color,
in his thirties, ruggedly handsome, with a sharp nose, Scottish, and
large, with a devilish frown. I'm so very reminded of the Devil Earl
and that turned out just fine. Heather has nothing to worry about,
except getting locked in a castle tower with the man she has a thing
for. Also, that's all the helpful info they have, although it is
interesting that Fletcher and Cobbins don't know if McKinnsey is from
the highlands or lowlands.
By that evening, they've left the Great
North Road and Heather is very worried that they've left Tim behind
as well. Can I just take a moment and marvel at that name? The
Great North Road. Fitting. Anyway, Heather realizes again how much
she's relying on Tim to help her through this venture and feels an
overwhelming sense of relief when she sees him ride into the inn yard
behind them.
Heather sees him again when they go to
the dining room for dinner that night. Tim is chilling, reading a
news sheet at a table. Cobbins and Fletcher dismiss him immediately.
Heather thinks about how he'll always stand out to her and how he's
so special and such. When she and her captors sit down, she makes
sure she can see Tim. Then she tries to find out more about the man
who hired the kidnappers, with not much luck. They also won't tell
her when they're going to hand her over. The only other important
thing that happens is that Tim signals Heather with his eyes where
they're going to meet that night to talk about what she's discovered.
They can communicate without words. It must be love. Or something.
Heather sneaks out late that night
because her and Martha's room is next to that of Cobbins and Fletcher
and she wants to be sure Cobbins and Fletcher are asleep. Does Tim
just wait in these spots for hours, then? It's not like they give an
actual time to meet. Anyway, she slides into the little room Tim
told her to meet him in and she's somehow surprised when he grabs her
arm and pulls her against him. He really seems to like doing that.
Anyway, he whips a cloak over her to hide her smexy body and they
make their way into the meeting place. They go over what Heather has
learned, which isn't much, although they figure out that Cobbins and
Fletcher would be familiar enough with Glasgow to know what a
highland or lowland person would sound like.
But never mind the planning, we also
get a peek into Tim's mind about his unavoidable upcoming nuptials.
As far as Society is concerned, he and Heather have been on the road
for two days unchaperoned, so they'd damn well better get married at
the end of this to save her reputation. Because of course, men can
be sluts and be fine but as soon as women do something a little shady
they're ruined. Anyway. Tim thinks about how he and Heather might
not get along all that well all the time, but she'd be a decent wife
for him and it would be a “good-enough” ever after, if not
necessarily a “happily” ever after. Whatever. He loves her.
So, they talk about what road Heather
and co. might use and she mentions that her captors told her she'd
pass some ruins and castles and such on the way. Fortunately, they
can narrow the road just from that so Tim can continue his stalking,
although he'll be in front of them so he has time to get some weapons
and stuff; the latter part he keeps to himself. They also discuss
how it's probably not something Heather's family did that caused this
kidnapping. ...but I know that it is, so probably this crazy lady in
a castle somewhere, who we saw in the prologue, is crazier than I
imagined and is holding onto a slight from many years ago. I mean,
it sounds about right for this kind of book.
Chapter Five
Heather starts her day off right by
bothering Fletcher about Glasgow. She wants to know about it, but
really she wants to know if he knows about it. Which he does, so
there's that. Then she tries to ask directly where they're going to
meet this devilish Earl-ish fellow, but Fletcher and Martha won't
tell her. Oh, also Heather no longer sees Tim as a nemesis, but as a
man she can rely on who also embodies safety. They're going to bang.
Lots.
While the carriage rumbles onward,
Heather thinks about how much she doesn't know about Scotland.
Apparently, one of her married relatives lives there with his wife,
but she's only been to visit them, not for a general tour of the
country. Which makes lots of sense, but doesn't help her much now.
Eventually, they stop for lunch and Heather ponders over how nicely
her captors have treated her, yet also how well they've guarded her.
Except, you know, when she wanders off to meet with Tim. But, plot
point. Whaddya gonna do?
After lunch, the trio of kidnappers get
much more alert and start paying attention and stuff. They're about
to pass through the border town of Carlisle, so that might be why.
So, now we jump to Tim's perspective.
He's waiting in the shadows near the road at Carlisle, so he can see
everyone coming in. He's gotten a pair of pistols and changed his
outfit again. Now he looks like a shabby solicitor's clerk and he's
going to use this disguise to talk with Heather's captors himself.
There's a bit of description of how he's made himself look so far
below his station, but the important thing is that he did. And he
did it all for Heather. ...just pointing that out.
Also, he thinks over why he didn't send
a message to the rest of the Cynsters. Mostly it's to save Heather's
rep. Because even though she and the guys didn't sleep in the same
room ever, Society would still assume she was a “ruined woman”.
Have I mentioned how much I hate these rules? Oh, several times.
Right. Also Tim doesn't know which way Heather will answer if/when
he proposes to her. I can see it now.... “So, I know we don't
really get along well but, well, we've kind of been on the road at
the same time for several days now and, you'll be a ruined woman if
you don't marry me, so...let's get hitched! It'll be good enough,
probably.” How romantic. I can tell this is a romance novel
because one of the main outcomes is that they're going to get
married. This other stuff with the crazy woman in the castle might
be a big deal, or it might not be, but this part matters. I mean,
that's the way it reads. Oh, also, when Tim thinks about how she
might turn him down for marriage, he thinks about “that spark”
that ignites between them and how convincing her that he's right
might be fun. So, you'd convince her to marry you by messing around
with her, possibly screwing her? How romantic.... Then Tim sees
Heather's carriage pass by and take the road that goes North, so he
knows which way to follow them.
We jump back to Heather's point of view
for a bit more ruminating on how they're kind of going a way she
knows. They end up stopping in the town of Gretna Green, which is
infamous for all of the “runaway marriages” that happen over the
anvil of the blacksmith's forge. Those marriages are legally
binding, by the way. Now, if you're wondering why this is a widely
accepted tradition, you're not alone. I'm not sure either. I'm sure
it made sense to someone at some point. Also, it makes Heather super
nervous that they're stopping here. They wander inside and Fletcher
haggles with the landlord about rooms….which is when Heather finds
out that they'll be in this town for a few days and that this is
where they're handing her over. Well, looks like there's a wedding
coming up sooner than Tim thought there'd be.
Oh, also, based on when Cobbins had
sent a message of their employer, he's probably from further north
than Edinburgh or Glasgow since he's still a few days out. I'm glad
Heather knows her Scottish geography, because I have no idea about
any of this. Then we get this disturbing rumination from Heather,
wondering about the kind of consent a woman needs to make to be
married here: “Did she have to make any statement of agreement? Or
could she be drugged or coerced in some way to ensure the deed was
done?” So many things wrong with this even being a possibility.
So many.
After Heather and Martha troop upstairs
to their room, Heather debates about leaving now, or about trying to
time her exit so she and Tim can catch a glimpse of the man who
organized her kidnapping. Of course, being the strong-willed heroine
who keeps the plot going, she decides she still needs to know who's
behind this.
Now we jump back to Tim. He's chilling
in the bar underneath the inn where the trio of captors and their
prey are staying. Tim is drinking with some of the locals and
generally blending in. The bar and dining room are in the same room,
so Tim sees Heather sweep in and he can tell she's worried. So, he
starts putting the pieces together about the wedding smithy, even as
he jokes with the folks he's sitting with. Heather says nothing
during her meal, but on her way out, she and Tim agree on a meeting
place again. Also, all of the men watch her walk by. Kinda creepy.
Tim buys his newfound friends a round
and considers his options. He wants to chat with Heather's captors,
but he doesn't want to be the one to approach them. Fortunately for
him, not too much later, one of his drinking buddies invites the two
kidnappers to their table and they accept. Fletcher tells the tale
about returning Heather to her guardian and Tim is sad to see how
believable it is. Hmph. They drink the night away and Tim manages
to give a good excuse about why he might be there another day.
Fletcher and Cobbins don't suspect a thing.
This time, Tim doesn't grab Heather in
a dark room. The cloak room where they meet is lit, so she just
walks in and joins him. Oh, he wraps her up in his cloak again,
just in case you were wondering if he was any less distracted by her
body. He isn't. They go over what Heather learned and figure out
that this “laird” Heather is to be given to is one of the upper
crust because he's likely studied abroad or at an excellent school.
With more money comes more power... Anyway, Tim comes to conclusion
that this laird is a highlander. I'm guessing not the kind that
yells, “There can be only one!” before beheading someone.
Probably.
Anyway, Tim tries to convince her to go
back to London with him, but she is still set on seeing who this
highlander is. Tim doesn't want to give in right away, so he asks
her more questions before he agrees that she can stay a few more
days. Anyway, Tim is enjoying this for the mental exercise,
Heather's approval, and the adventure of it, but mostly Heather's
approval. ...then we get a look at Heather's approval from her mind.
She's always been attracted to him, apparently, but now she's
actually gotten to know him so that attraction has deepened.
Woo-hoo. She's also got the impulse to kiss him, which she does not
give in to. She will soon enough.
Heather tells Tim goodnight and hands
him back his cloak. They plan to meet in the same room the next
night. Then she wonders about if she actually did kiss him and he
kissed her back. She might not resist going further “And then
where would they be?” Relieving sexual tension?
So, I'm guessing that Heather and Tim
will get married at the anvil before the highlander can take her
there. Of course, this book has barely started, so there's got to be
more to it than that. It would be very easy for the highlander to
take Heather back home to his crazy momma if she were married to him.
I think this was still in the time of women as property, so if they
were married, nothing Heather could say would put any authority on
her side. I'm so very glad I don't live in that time. So very glad.
Also, next chapter, Martha will reveal
something about herself. I expect a heartfelt confession about her
one and only visit to the seaside.
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