up on the tent. Then too, just seeing how well-guarded the tent is at first might scare him off before the men move forward,” Aulay pointed out. “It may no’ work.”
Conran merely nodded, but he was torn between hoping the plan did, and didn’t, work. He wanted to catch the bastard, but would prefer a trap that didn’t put Evina in peril. Unfortunately, he hadn’t come up with one yet, and as much as he hated to admit it, Evina’s plan was a good one. She really was a clever wench.
“Anyway,” Aulay said now, “I just wanted to be sure ye kenned the plan.”
“Aye, I ken it,” Conran muttered with a sigh.
“Good. Then let’s go see ye married, brother,” Aulay said, heading for the door.
Grunting, Conran followed him to the door, and led the way out when Aulay opened it for him. He paused in the hall though when he saw Geordie and Alick crouching in front of Evina’s door, alternately pressing their ears to it, and then apparently trying to see through the wooden slats.
Conran was just opening his mouth to ask what the devil they thought they were doing when Geordie turned his head and spotted him and Aulay. Putting a silencing finger to his mouth, the man stood abruptly and hurried to stop them before they moved too close to the door to risk speech.
“What are ye doing?” Conran asked in a quiet hiss.
“Gavin just went in a minute ago,” Geordie explained.
“So?” Conran asked. “He is her cousin. He is probably fetching her for Laird Maclean. He was hobbling pretty good earlier. His wound is most likely troubling him. Between that and Evina’s still being weak, I suspect the two o’ them will have to take horses to the chapel.”
“Aye,” Geordie agreed.
“Did ye tell them?” Alick asked anxiously, joining them then.
“I was just about to,” Geordie said with irritation.
“Tell us what?” Aulay asked.
“We think someone is in there with them,” Alick said, his expression a cross between worry and excitement.
“Who?” Conran asked at once.
“We do no’ ken,” Geordie admitted. “The women went in and came out, and then Tildy came out and Gavin went in. Gavin and Evina should be the only ones in there.”
“What makes ye think they’re no’ alone, then?” Conran asked with a frown.
“Because shortly after Gavin went in, Evina started to shout his name, and then it sounded like two men were talking. At least, we heard Gavin speak and then someone answered in a voice almost too quiet to hear.”
“Mayhap ’tis Evina,” Aulay suggested.
The two younger brothers shook their heads at once, and then Geordie said, “‘The voice sounds too deep and raspy. ’Tis a man, I’m sure.”
“And ye did no’ go in to see what is about?” Conran asked with disbelief.
“It just happened, and we were trying to listen to see what was being said and decide what to do. If there is a man in there, our entering unexpectedly could put Evina and her cousin in peril,” Geordie pointed out. “Besides, we checked the room ere we let Evina in, and no one went past us, and the passages are all locked from the inside. There should be no one in there.”
Conran frowned and then said, “Ye’ll have to knock at the door. We need to ken if something is amiss or no’.”
“What do I say when one o’ them opens the door?” Geordie asked with a frown.
“If ’tis Gavin and ye can see into the room, just say ye were checking that all was well. But if ye can no’ see into the room, or he looks like something may be amiss, say ye just thought to let Evina ken that Aulay and I just headed down to the church so they may want to wait a few minutes before heading down themselves.”
“Why?” Geordie asked with confusion.
“Because he shall see me standing beside ye and ken we suspect something is amiss,” he pointed out patiently. “He may be able to give us a hint o’ what is happening.”
When Geordie said, “Right,” and nodded with understanding, Conran urged him back to Evina’s door and then stepped to the side, saw that Aulay was out of sight on the other side of the door and nodded at Geordie to go ahead.
His younger brother took a deep breath and then knocked at the door.
They all stood waiting for it to be answered, and it definitely took longer to be answered than it should have, Conran decided as they waited. Geordie was just