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But, as they entered the church, Nash realized he had been wrong.

Brushing snow from his greatcoat, he happened to look over his shoulder and glimpsed Kinloch sitting in the last pew flanked by his guards. He wore the same commoner’s garb, however, the hat was gone. Apparently, when the men in the church removed their hats, Kinloch did as well. The baldpate Nash had always assumed was covered by the too large hat was now on full display. Kinloch’s gesture of respect had to make his guards nervous. Their furtive glances around them suggested as much.

With their two older brothers and Hugh, who was also dark-haired, Nash and Robbie would not go unnoticed. William, too, was tall. So it was not surprising the five tall men and their ladies drew many interested glances as they moved toward the vacant front pews.

When he was halfway down the aisle, Nash removed his hat. As he waited for their group to file into the pews, he spoke into Robbie’s ear. “Kinloch is here. Last row on the right.”

Robbie nodded but didn’t turn.

All through the service, Nash tried to focus on the hymns they were singing and the Christmas message, but the feeling he was being watched, that eyes bored into the back of his head, made that impossible. A glance across Ailie to Robbie told him his twin was experiencing the same unease.

Ailie sat close so that Nash could feel the heat of her through her cloak. A sudden desire to protect her seized him. He didn’t want her mixed up in this; he didn’t want Kinloch’s rough guards aware of the Stephens or their shipyard, yet they had only to ask to learn the shipyard’s location. At least tomorrow Kinloch would be gone. Nash prayed the man from Dundee would slip out of Arbroath’s harbor with nary a word said, but a niggling doubt suggested it would not be that simple.

Once the service ended, they rose to leave. A quick look toward the rear of the sanctuary told him that Kinloch and the men with him had departed, doubtless in haste.

Outside the church, the snow had stopped falling, leaving the air damp and chill. Kinloch was nowhere to be seen.

For a few minutes, their group lingered with the other parishioners. The minister, glad to have drawn so large a company of visitors, welcomed them in a hearty manner, wishing them a blessed Christmas.

Emily introduced her female guests to the ladies of the church, using the proper forms of address. Suddenly they were Lady Ormond, Lady Claremont, Lady Katherine Powell, Mrs. Nicholas Powell and Miss Stephen. Nash and Robbie drew aside as the women of St Mary’s expressed their delight at having so many illustrious visitors from London.

Nash cast his gaze over the crowded churchyard. “Kinloch and his guards might have gone, but I daresay they noticed us.”

Robbie scowled. “I am certain of it. Worse, they have observed our friends.”

“It would take very little effort for them to learn where we are staying. I am concerned our friends are now in danger.” He did not mention Ailie by name, but his stomach tied in knots fearing she could be threatened by one of the rough men guarding Kinloch.

Robbie nodded. “It troubles me as well.”

On the walk back to the Stephens’ estate, William said the words Nash had been expecting. “By the bye, one of the men attending the service told me George Kinloch has been proclaimed an outlaw for failing to appear at his trial.”

With that, Nash despaired of being able to persuade Robbie to let Kinloch go free, for he was now officially a fugitive.