There wasn’t much land in front of the cabin, as the mountainside fell away sharply, but outside was a breathtaking view. The grass was ankle deep and was interspersed with three colors of daisies and clumps of wild roses.
The floor of the forest was soft with hundreds of years’ worth of decayed vegetation and so their passage had been silent.
Lee didn’t say a word as he motioned for Blair to watch Françoise while he checked the cabin to make sure it was empty. And when he was sure that it was safe, he motioned for the women to enter.
It was an ordinary little cabin: two rooms and a little loft over the door, filthy from years of being invaded by animals and negligent men, but it was obviously a private place, and that was what they wanted.
Blair watched without much interest as Lee tied Françoise to a post in the cabin, giving her freedom to move somewhat and not gagging her.
He had a bandanna in his hand, ready to cover her mouth, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to use it. “I don’t think your men will find us here. I’ll be outside listening, and if I hear anything, I’ll put this on you.”
“Chérie, you aren’t going to keep up this cha
rade, are you? She knows about us. She told me everything.”
“I’ll bet she did,” Lee said, tightening the ropes. “She told you enough that you can continue this lie. What’s in it for you?”
Françoise just looked at him.
When Blair looked up at the two of them, they were staring deeply into one another’s eyes.
Lee turned back as if to say something to Blair, but he seemed to change his mind when he saw her expression. He picked up his rifle. “I’ll be outside if you need me. There’s food in the saddlebags.”
With that, he left the women alone.
Slowly, Blair began to remove what food there was in the saddlebags that Lee’d thrown on the old table near the post where Françoise was tied. There was a fireplace in the cabin, but heaven only knew when the chimney had been cleaned last and, besides, they didn’t need smoke to advertise their whereabouts.
While Blair put cheese and ham on bread and ate, Françoise talked, never letting up in her declarations of what she and Leander had meant to each other.
“He’ll come back to me, you know,” Françoise said. “He always does. No matter how hard he’s tried to leave me, he couldn’t. He’ll forgive me for whatever I’ve done, and this time he’ll join me. We’ll ride together, love together. We’ll—.”
Blair grabbed a sandwich and a canteen and left the cabin.
Chapter 22
Lee was some distance from the cabin and so well concealed that Blair didn’t see him until he called to her.
“What’s happened?” Lee asked, as he took the sandwich from her and managed to caress her wrist at the same time.
“Don’t touch me,” she said, jerking her arm away as if he’d tried to hurt her.
Lee’s expression changed to anger. “I’ve had about all of this I can take. Why don’t you believe me when I say that I’ve never met her before? Why do you believe her over me, your husband?”
“Because your father told me about her. Why shouldn’t I believe him?”
“My father lied to you because I told him to!” Lee snapped.
She took a step backward. “Lied? So you admit it? What would take you away on our wedding night? There was no medical emergency. I somehow doubt that your mysterious Mr. Smith actually exists, so where were you?”
Leander didn’t answer for a moment, as he turned to look back at the distant forest and eat his sandwich. He wasn’t going to compound his problems with another lie. “I can’t tell you,” he said quietly.
“You won’t tell me.” She turned away, heading for the cabin.
He caught her arm. “No, I can’t tell you.” His face showed his rising anger. “Damn it, Blair! I’ve not done anything to deserve your mistrust. I was not out with another woman. Lord, but I can barely handle one woman, much less two. Don’t you realize that it had to be something important, something dire, to take me away on my wedding night? Why the hell can’t you trust me? Why do you believe my father, who was lying on my behalf, and that bitch in there who makes her living by stealing?”
He dropped her arm. “Go on, then. Go ahead and believe her. That’s just what she wants. I’m sure she’d like nothing better than to see us at each other’s throats. It’d be much easier for her to escape one captor than two. If she keeps on, and you continue believing her, another couple of hours and you’ll help her escape just to get the two of us apart.”
Feeling quite weak, Blair sat down on the grass. “I don’t know what to believe. She seems to know so much about you, but then I have no right to expect you to be faithful. You didn’t want to marry me in the first place. It was only a competition.”