Murray cursed under his breath. He was supposed to find his daughter in this bedchamber with Rebbinglen in a very compromising position. If the minister and the constable had seen the two in bed together, they’d have no choice but to marry. But Seona was nowhere to be found. Never had he wanted so badly to strangle her.
“Did no one guard this room?” he asked his men.
The two dolts looked at him with blank, wide-eyed stares.
“Did you see my daughter in this room with Rebbinglen?”
They both nodded. “Aye, she was here.”
But they hadn’t made sure she stayed there until he and the witnesses arrived.
“Idiots!” He backhanded the one closest to him. “Find my daughter! Now!”
“Aye, m’laird.” They hastened from the room.
“Pray pardon, Reverend Lang, Constable Winfred,” Murray said. “My men said they found the two of them together here, but my daughter has slunk away, leaving her lover to fend for himself.”
“What’s happening?” Rebbinglen asked in a slurred voice, his dark eyes open a crack. “Did you hit me on the head, Murray?”
“Nay, my laird. ’Twas not me. Likely some outlaw did it.” Murray turned to the other two men. “I’m sorry I wasted your time, gentlemen. I will handle things from here.”
“Well, Chief, clearly the earl has been attacked and robbed,” the constable said. “We need to find the culprit.”
“Indeed. And I will. I’ll not be keeping you. I’m certain you’d rather be at home breaking your fast.” He ushered them out the door, then turned back to Rebbinglen.
Lowering his black brows into a menacing scowl, Rebbie squinted, glancing around the room. “Where am I?”
“A room over the tavern.”
“Saints!” Scrunching his face into a horrible expression, he sat up. “I’m going to kill whoever hit me.”
Murray backed up a few more inches. “Aye, and I’ll help you find him. But in the meantime… is it not true that you slipped my daughter out here for a tryst.”
Rebbie rubbed his scalp, glaring the entire time. “I assure you that I wasnothaving a tryst with your daughter,” he said through clenched teeth. “Clearly, someone hit me over the head and brought me here.” He glanced down. “Where the devil are the rest of my clothes?” His suspicious eyes turned to Murray.
He held up his hands and remained by the door. “You were like that when I entered the room, my laird. I would never touch your clothing.”
“Of course, they took my weapons, too.” Growling and holding his head, Rebbie stood. He staggered and braced against the wall. His eyes searched the floor. “Find them, Murray!”
“Aye.” Murray hastened to the other side of the bed. “Naughtover here.”
“Look underneath the bed.”
Murray wanted to knock the earl on the other side of the head, but he couldn’t get away with it. And now that the man was awake and alert, for the most part, and Seona was not here, Murray couldn’t trap him into marrying his daughter. He would throttle the daft men he’d assigned to do this job.
Rebbie turned. “Are they under there?”
Taking the candle, Murray knelt and peered beneath the bed. “Naught but a thick layer of dust and a few mouse droppings.”
“You ken who brought me here, do you not?”
“Nay, m’laird.”
Rebbie grunted. “Regardless, I am not marrying your daughter.”
Rage boiled inside Murray. Where was his daughter? He knew she’d been here with that MacKay bastard. When he found her, he was going to whip some sense into her. Both his daughters were disobedient, daft whores. They were determined to embarrass him and throw their lives away.
“Give me your sword,” Rebbie said in no uncertain terms.
