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Saidh nodded. "Then we have to prepare Jetta."
Aulay scowled at the claim. "She does no' need preparing. She is fine."
"She is far from fine," Murine countered with dismay.
"Aye," Edith agreed. "Her caul is missing, her hair a mess and her dress wrinkled. She can no' be married and presented to the people o' Buchanan as their new lady like that."
When Aulay frowned and hesitated, Jo said soothingly, "With four of us working on her, we can have her ready in a matter of minutes. And you could do with a change of plaid as well, m'laird. You are a bit wrinkled too."
"And ye've wine or something on yer sleeve," Saidh added. "Jo's right. Ye should change."
Aulay glanced down at his sleeve, cursed, and then nodded and said with resignation, "Fine. I'll need to fetch a fresh plaid from me room first though."
"Ye can change in there," Murine said at once. "We can use the room Dougall and I are in. The dresses are in chests in the hall anyway, so we need no' go in the master bedchamber at all."
Nodding again, he paused long enough to squeeze Jetta's hand and offer her a smile before turning to head back the way they'd come.
"I think she should wear the pale green dress," Murine announced the minute the door closed behind Aulay.
"I think ye're right," Edith announced, moving away toward one of the half-dozen chests in the hall. The one she stopped by and opened was on the opposite side of the door to the master bedroom.
Jetta glanced from Edith to Murine and said, "But it is still in the chest. It will be wrinkled."
"Nay, it will no'," Murine said with a grin. "I took it out the minute the men brought up the chests. I suspected something like this would happen."
"Well, that explains why it's no' here," Edith said dryly and then frowned at the contents of the chest she'd just opened.
"What is it?" Saidh asked, moving toward Edith to peer down into the chest herself.
"The gowns are all crushed," Edith pointed out as Jetta, Murine and Jo joined them. "It looks like something heavy was lying on them."
"Aye," Saidh murmured and bent to pick up something poking out from under some of the material. Straightening, she held up a finely crafted knife with an ebony handle that had ornate carvings on it. "Something heavy like the person who dropped this, mayhap?"
"Hmm," Jo said, eyes narrowing. "Aye, mayhap even a certain archer who likes to push ladies down stairs?"
"'Tis a ballock dagger," Jetta said softly, staring at the two oval swellings on the guard and noting the figures carved into them. "I think I've seen that knife before."
"Can ye remember where?" Saidh asked, but when Jetta began to concentrate on trying to remember, she concealed the blade up her sleeve and squawked, "Nay, do no' try. 'Tis yer wedding night. The last thing ye need is a headache."
"But--" Jetta began in protest.
"Nay, Saidh is right," Jo interrupted, grasping Jetta's shoulders and turning her toward the room where Dougall and Murine were staying. "Tomorrow is soon enough to try to remember. For now, we need to--What the devil are you doing, Saidh?"
Jetta turned with a start at that comment to see that Jo was gaping at the other woman, who had stepped into the chest and was now dropping to crouch inside it.
"Seeing how big 'tis," Saidh said dryly and then crouched down and made herself as small as she could inside. Her voice was slightly muffled when she asked, "Is there a lot o' room left over? Could a man fit?"
"Aye," Edith said solemnly. "'Tis a big chest. There is at least a foot o' space above ye, no' counting the lid."
"And several inches in front, behind and on either side o' ye too," Murine added with a nod. "Even a man as big as one o' our husbands would fit."
"That's what I thought," Saidh said with satisfaction, straightening again. Stepping out, she muttered, "I suspected the men were wrong about the attacker using the passages. Only family members ken about them."
"'Tis hard to believe they did not check the chests though," Jo said with a frown.
"They probably did," Saidh said with a shrug, and then pointed out, "The dagger was under one o' the dresses. No doubt the attacker pulled out one o' the gowns, climbed in and pulled the gown o'er himself. Then when the men opened it--"
"They saw only gowns," Murine finished with a nod.
"They would no' ha'e thought to drag the gowns out to be sure that was all that was in the chests. They knew we'd packed them full."
"Aye," Edith muttered and then asked grimly, "But where are all the gowns from that chest?"
"Well, the pale green one is in me room," Murine pointed out. "And Jetta is wearin
g the dark green--" Pausing abruptly, she grimaced and said, "I am sorry. Would ye prefer Sorcha or Jetta?"
"In truth, I am more used to Jetta too now and prefer it."
"Good, then there will be less confusion when ye're visiting and our Sorcha is there," Saidh said with a smile.
"True," Jetta agreed with a grin.
They all smiled and then Edith cleared her throat and said, "Back to the dresses. I ken Jetta is wearing one, and the pale green one is in yer room, Murine, but that still leaves a number o' dresses missing from this chest."
"Aye," Jo agreed. "And when we sorted the gowns at the lodge, we put all the ones we thought looked best with Jetta's coloring in it."
"There are only two left in here now," Saidh said as she lifted out the top dress.
"The attacker must have planned ahead and removed most o' the dresses to prepare it as a quick hiding spot," Edith said thoughtfully.
"Aye, but where would he put the dresses when he removed them?" Jo asked with irritation.
They were all silent for a minute, and then Saidh dropped the gown she'd been holding and slammed the chest lid closed. "They must be here somewhere. He could hardly cart half a dozen dresses out o' the keep without someone noticing. We'll take a look around fer them tomorrow. Tonight we ha'e other things to tend."
"Aye," Jo agreed, turning to smile at Jetta.
"But what about the chest?" Edith asked as they ushered Jetta toward Murine's room. "Should we no' tell the men about it?"
"We can tell the men about it after the ceremony," Saidh decided. "But no' Aulay. He does no' need to worry about such and the like until tomorrow. We do no' want to ruin Jetta's big night."
"Aye." Murine nudged Jetta with an elbow and gave her a teasing grin. "Tonight he should only be concerned with pleasure."
"Ooooooh ayyyyye," Edith crooned on a laugh.
"Stop," Jetta said, half laughing at their teasing, but wholly blushing, and more than a little nervous about the night ahead.
Apparently noting her worry, Jo smiled sympathetically, and put a soothing arm around her. "'Twill be fine. It may hurt a little at first, but Aulay seems a kind man, and he definitely has tender feelings for you. He will be gentle with you."
