“How was your visit to Rome?” Sean asked.
John dabbed the corners of his lips with his fingers—ever so proper of him. “The channel crossing was smooth, thank the good Lord. As usual, however, there was no time to venture outside the Vatican.”
“And what news have you from His Holiness?” Gyllis asked.
“A great concern consumed most of our time.” John glanced between them. “Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain commissioned a rather mysterious character, Christopher Columbus, to undertake a seafaring venture to discover worlds not following our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
“New worlds?” Sean’s eyes lit up. “I thought we’d discovered all the land our world has to offer.”
“As did all of Christendom, but the captain returned with the most disturbing information.”
“Truly?” Sean broke his bread and spread cream over one half. “Tell us.”
“The peoples he discovered were reported as going unclothed and the Christian religion is completely unknown to them.”
Gyllis reached for the remaining half of bread. “But is it not our duty to deliver the word of God to those who have not yet been saved?”
“Yes, and that is exactly what the Pope Alexander communicated to Spain in a rather pointed letter.”
Both Gyllis and Sean looked at the bishop expectantly.
Pursing his lips, John assumed the stern countenance one would associate with his position. “Under penalty of excommunication, all persons in Christendom are forbidden to trade with these uncharted worlds, lest they be struck down by the wrath of God. Only missionaries of the faith will be allowed entry with the sole purpose of bringing the Catholic religion to their inhabitants.”
Gyllis studied her brother and covered her smile with the tips of her fingers. “And clothing, I’d surmise.”
John gave her a sober nod. “Most definitely.”
Goodness, when did my brother become so inordinately serious?
Sean reached for the pitcher of ale. “What else can you tell us about these new lands? Run by naked savages? How will they know how to use their God-given resources?”
John held up a finger. “Let there be no question. His Holiness has decreed that any trade—including resource exploitation with heathen nations will be dealt with severely.”
“But why?” Sean asked. “Wouldn’t it be a way for good men, perhaps second sons like yourself, to gain lands and riches?”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you utter such blasphemy. The souls of the savages you referred to are of paramount importance.” John turned to Gyllis and cleared his throat. “Now, we’ve more important things to discuss. You haven’t said a word about Helen. How is our sister faring?”
Gyllis placed her hand atop her husband’s and gave him a clench-toothed grin. “Sean hasn’t been home long enough for me to tell him. Lady Helen has obtained an annulment from His Holiness.”
Sean looked surprised, though not cross. “Interesting. And Aleck MacIain went along with this news? He doesn’t seem like the type…”
John brushed his hands over the front of his chasuble. “He didn’t have a choice in the matter, once I discovered dear Helen had been battered, I agreed to represent her plea to the Pope.”
Sean clenched his fist around the handle of his tankard. “That bastard raised a hand against my sister-in-law? My God, the very thing knights fight against was happening in our own family?”
“Mind your vulgar tongue, my dear.” Gyllis rested a reassuring palm atop her husband’s arm. “Besides, we’ve spirited her away for now, until we’re certain ’tis safe.”
Sean pulled his arm away. “You’ve done all this without me?”
Gyllis planted her fists on her hips. “Forgive me if the world doesn’t come to a halt whilst you’re away enforcing the king’s orders.”
“I—”
“M’laird.” Angus hastened into the great hall. “Lord Duncan and the Chieftain of Ardnamurchan intercepted us on the trail from Glen Orchy. His lordship asked me to have you meet him at the hunting cottage at once.”
Behind Angus, two guards helped a battered Mr. Keith to a bench.
“Goodness gracious.” Gyllis gasped. “What did my brother do to Lady Helen’s guard?”
“It wasn’t Lord Duncan. His lordship tried to step in, but Sir Aleck grew enraged.”
Rising to his feet, Sean snatched his sword belt from the back of the chair. “Angus, summon the guard. We ride at once.”
The henchman pointed. “They’re already mounted and waiting, m’laird.”
Sean bounded toward the door with long strides. “Then we must make haste.”
Gyllis dashed to Mr. Keith. His face was bloodied with one eye swollen shut. “What on earth happened?”
“Sir Aleck saw me riding patrol with the men.” The elderly man coughed. “He knocked me off my horse, then pummeled my face. I swear I didn’t tell him where Lady Helen is—but he figured it out all the same.”
“My word.” Gyllis wrung her hands. “I fear that man is evil beyond saving.”
Mr. Keith grasped Gyllis’s wrist. “He’s the worst sort.”
“I must go to her.”
He struggled to stand. “Not without a guard, m’lady.”
Helen and Eoin sat on the rug before the hearth with Maggie. Eoin had made a ball out of a piece of leather and swung it from a thong while the wee one tried to catch it. Every time she stopped the ball between her palms, she let out a squeal.
Helen threw her head back and laughed. The bairn seemed much happier in the cabin with Eoin there as well. It was so incredibly warm and homey—even happier than her childhood had been. Though she knew he would have to return to Glen Strae on the morrow, Eoin would be back as soon as his spies reported Aleck’s whereabouts—and if the man had made threats against her life. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Now away from that horrid situation, her time at Mingary seemed like a passing nightmare.
All of a sudden, Eoin stopped laughing and froze. His eyes darted to the door.
“What—?”
He sliced his hand through the air and listened. Springing to his feet, he pointed to the door. “Take Maggie to the bedchamber.”
Helen gasped.
Eoin reached for his sword belt and swung it around his hips. “Now.”
Helen pulled the bairn into her arms. Before she reached the chamber, she heard the horse hooves thumping the ground outside the cottage. How on earth did Eoin hear them so much sooner than I?
Trembling from her head to her toes, she dashed inside, wrapped Maggie in a blanket and hid her under the bed. But the babe launched into an earsplitting wail. Helen knelt down and smoothed a hand over Maggie’s crown. “Wheesht, darling.”
The door burst open and with it blew a gale that sapped the heat straight out of the bedchamber.
“MacGregor,” Aleck’s gravelly voice rumbled. “I should have known you’d be here, living in sin with my wife.”
“Lady Helen is no longer your concern or your wife,” Eoin growled.
“MacGregor?” Duncan’s voice rose in astonishment. “What in God’s name are you doing here?”