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noble fathers. So why was this Adam treated as an exception? But more important, what claim was this devil trying to establish by raiding his lands?
    There was a great deal that his
mother had left to explain. Using her frail health as an excuse, the dowager
had refused to say any more, simply closing her eyes. But Athol had drawn his
own conclusions. As little as it was that she had told him, at least he now had
a trail to follow.
    The sound of his warrior’s footsteps
at the doorway of the hall drew Athol’s attention. Thomas, the captain of his
warriors, wasn’t trying to hide the pleased expression as he crossed to the
fireplace.
    “Aye, Tosh.” Athol growled. “Did
you swallow the yellow bird whole, or did you chew it a few times?”
    “Well, m’lord, to be truthful, I
think we’ve only just got a glimpse of the bird, but the men are ready to move
anytime you are. Davie’s just come back from that wee spit of a village they
call Knockandhu.”
    “And what word does he bring?”
    “He says he found a few of the old
folk there whose memories might be jogged...if you yourself were to put the
questions to them.”
    Athol nodded his approval, but then
stared at the blackened ceiling--where he knew, in a chamber above, a terrified
woman sat waiting. Tosh stood and watched him, patiently awaiting his
instructions.
    “First,” the earl said finally, “send
one of the men to Balvenie with news of my marriage. My mother should know.”
    “D’ye want him to spread the news
as he goes, m’lord?”
    “Nay! I want to make sure the
Englishwoman is a wee bit more settled to her newly acquired station before we
give her a chance to insult her people. Oh, and have someone speak to the
priest. I want the marriage recorded properly, but he is to keep mum about the
whole affair until I decide to make things known.”
    Despite his hasty action, Athol
wasn’t about to announce his marriage. Until his new wife was safely and snugly
ensconced behind the walls of Balvenie Castle, he wasn’t going to risk her life
unnecessarily. Nay, he decided, his mother’s inference that the outlaw would
end his mayhem as soon as Athol had a wife and an heir to succeed him made no
sense.
    But it didn’t really matter. The
truth was, Athol didn’t want the man to back off. He wanted him out there,
roaming the fields where he could be caught.
    A bastard brother he might be, but
as far as John Stewart was concerned, Adam of the Glen could grace a gallows as
prettily as any lowborn thief.
     
    ****
     
    Balvenie Castle, grim and
forbidding, was a formidable-looking prison.
    Catherine stared through the mist
and the rain at the ominous, gray structure. Suddenly, her mount reared its
head, jerking the reins in her hands, and the young woman felt a swift, hot
bolt of anger shoot through her.
    A forced marriage! A madman for a
husband! Welcome to the far side of civilization. No wonder her mother had left
these lands so long ago and never looked back!
    Well! The earl of Athol was in for
an unpleasant surprise. Catherine Percy had no intention of ever becoming a
willing bride. She felt her spirits lighten a bit as they neared the arched
opening into the castle’s courtyard. The man didn’t have a clue about her
strength--about her perseverance. It would actually be pleasurable to dream of
ways to torment the earl of Athol. She would get him for what he’d done and
more. And she would get free of him. But first, she needed to focus on and
assess the nature of her prison.
    Near the front of the line of
warriors Athol had assigned to escort her to the castle, a horse slipped on the
muddy, narrow track. Knocking the legs from under the next horse, the beast
started an avalanche of man and horseflesh down the slick incline. Catherine
peered through the sheets of rain at the angry men and the terrified horses
struggling to their feet at the base of the hill. It was the third time since
leaving the hunting lodge this morning that such an incident had