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Egan’s reply, but moved toward the stairs, her head held high. Her chamber was on the third floor, and that was her destination. She had just cleared the landing when there came the sound of footsteps behind her. Her own hastened, for the corridor was dark and shadowed, lit only by several meager candles. Their light wavered eerily against the stone walls.
    “Glenda. Glenda, wait!”
    Glenda halted. A hand at her throat, her heart pumping madly, she turned just as Robin of Chadwick emerged from the stairwell.
    “Robin, thank heaven ’tis only you! Why, you very nearly scared the life out of me!”
    “No need to be afeared, lady.” He gave an exaggerated bow. “Indeed,” he said upon straightening, “before long you may well think of me as your rescuer.”
    A prickle went down Glenda’s spine. “I do not take your meaning, sir.”
    “Oh, I’ve no doubt you’ll take me quite well.”
    The gleam in his eyes served as a warning. Oh, but she’d been right to be wary! Somehow she stopped her gaze from veering to the stairs and giving her away; she prayed it was not too late and that the wine he’d imbibed would slow his reactions.
    Alas, before she could move, he snared her arm in an iron grip.
    Glenda gasped and struggled to free herself. “Release me!”
    His laugh sent another chill through her. “Nay, sweetings, not just yet.” He dragged her into a darkened chamber. His fingers digging like claws into her forearm, he slammed the door shut with his heel. Glenda sought to wrench away but he was too strong.
    He seized her wrist and dragged her up against him. “Ah, but I knew it as soon as I saw you. A widow, eh? How long has it been, I wonder?” He gave an ugly laugh. “Too long, I vow. No doubt you are in need of a man. Well, I shall oblige, lady. I shall oblige.”
    “Let me go!” She twisted anew, but she couldn’t avoid his moist, wet lips. An insistent tongue jammed between her lips. Glenda gagged and jerked her head back.
    With a twist and a turn, he slammed her body hard against the wall, pinning her against it with his own. Hot breath struck her full in the face. “We can do this my way, or we can do it yours. Either way, I warn you I will have what I want.”
    As he spoke, he seized her gown and dragged it toward her waist. Glenda filled her lungs with air. “Egan!” she screamed. “ Egan !”
    Black eyes glittered down at her. “Your Highlander will not help you now,” he sneered. “If I know the lady Elfrida—and I know her quite intimately, I might add—your hearty Highlander is even now seated to the hilt inside her.”
    He thrust a leg between hers, seeking to pry hers apart. Glenda sought desperately to keep them together, but his bulk was more than she could handle. Damn, she thought. Damn! The drink had not dulled his senses after all—
    All at once Robin’s body went bone-stiff.
    “The next time you wish to be alone with a lady, you really should bolt the door.”
    It was Egan, his tone ever so pleasant. Glenda’s heart rejoiced.
    “Raise your hands and step slowly away from the lady.”
    Robin’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl, but he did as he was told.
    Moonlight streamed through the window. It was then Glenda saw what had made Robin go still. Egan held the point of a dagger poised against the back of his neck.
    “Excellent. You see the chair in the corner? Fetch it for me, if you please.”
    “And if it does not please me?” Robin’s expression was as black as his tone.
    Egan shrugged. “As you so recently pointed out, it matters little. I will have what I want…one way or another.”
    His voice was still pleasant, but in the deadliest kind of way. Robin must have sensed it as well, for again he complied, though not without comment.
    “You are a bastard.”
    “The subject of my birth is not in question.” For an instant, Egan smiled tightly. Then, for the first time since he’d entered, Egan spoke to Glenda. “Glenda?”
    “Aye?” To her