so, me brother would ne’er take advantage of an ailing lass in her sickbed . Would ye, brother?” Dougall said dryly, reminding him of a certain fistfight that had started between them over Murine.
Much to Conran’s relief, Rory saved him from replying by reappearing then, hurrying from his room with a fresh plaid.
“Ye can take that back, Lord Rory,” Tildy said at once on seeing him. “I brought Lord Conran a plaid and shirt yester morn and left them on his bed. I’ll just fetch them now.”
“Isn’t his bedchamber our bedchamber now?” Dougall asked with a frown and the maid stopped and glanced back with realization.
“Oh, aye. I forgot we put ye and yer wife in there,” she said with surprise, and then added, “I’m sure ye moved the shirt and plaid. If ye’ll tell me where to, ‘twill save my searching.”
“There was no plaid or shirt on the bed,” Dougall said with a shake of the head.
“Oh.” Tildy blinked, and then smiled faintly and said, “Well, no doubt yer lady wife saw it when she got there and moved it ere ye reached the room. I’ll just—”
“Me wife and I went to the room together when we were shown to it,” Dougall interrupted as she started to turn away again. “There was no plaid or shirt to move.”
“Are ye sure?” she asked, looking flummoxed.
“Quite sure,” Dougall assured the maid.
Tildy stood still for a moment, confusion and frustration flittering across her face until Rory said gently, “A lot happened yesterday, Tildy. Mayhap ye meant to take it up and put it on the bed, but ne’er got around to it.”
Tildy hesitated, but then sighed and murmured, “Aye, mayhap. But I was sure I did.” She shook her head and then turned to the stairs. “I’ll find him another shirt and plaid.”
“Ye look worried, Conny,” Rory said solemnly once the woman had disappeared down the stairs.
Conran turned from watching the maid go and met his brother’s expression briefly, but then shrugged. “Tildy hasn’t appeared to be forgetful ere this. I mean, when she forgot to bring me a clean shirt and plaid as promised the first time, I assumed ’twas a deliberate forgetting because she was angry at me for compromising her lady. And that time she claimed she’d forgotten to fetch the items. This time she seems quite sure she did bring the items to me room though.”
“There was no shirt or plaid there,” Dougall assured him firmly. “No’ on the bed or even on the floor around the bed.”
“I believe ye,” Conran assured him.
“But?” Rory prompted.
Conran shrugged. “Evina’s attacker had to have hidden in one of the rooms to get behind us in the passages. What if ’twas me room?”
“And what if he took the plaid and shirt?” Rory finished when he left that unsaid.
Conran nodded grimly.
They were all silent for a moment, and then Dougall said, “Even if that is what happened to the plaid and shirt, it won’t help him slip past the men at the gate and get into the keep. No’ if he has the matted hair Tildy mentioned.”
“Probably no’,” Conran muttered, and then added, “But I think I’ll just mention to the Maclean and Donnan the possibility that he might now have clean clothes so they can warn the men at the gate.”
“A good idea,” Dougall approved, but caught his arm to stop him when Conran headed for the stairs. When he turned his head to scowl at him for holding him up, Dougall added dryly, “After ye finish dressing.”
Chapter 14
Smiling sleepily, Evina rolled onto her back and stretched, wincing when her back made a small complaint at the action. It was just a little twinge, nothing much. She’d barely noticed those twinges last night as Conran had infused her body with pleasure. Unfortunately, he wasn’t infusing her with pleasure now, and the reminder of her wound’s presence stole her smile and made her stop her stretch.
Grimacing, she turned on her side and peered at the space beside her, sighing when she saw it was empty. Every other time she’d woken during the night, Conran had been there, either sound asleep, in which case Evina had woken him with sweet kisses and caresses, or he had woken first and was already caressing and kissing her. But now it was morning, and sunshine was pouring through the open window shutters.
Time to get up, she supposed, and tossed the linen and furs aside to climb from her bed.