THE DAMNING SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED ISLA’S HORRIBLE accusation lasted only as long as it took for everyone in the commons to draw a deep, gasping breath. Then the crowd erupted into bursts of anger and outrage. Within minutes, sides were taken, those for and those against Gabrielle.

Gabrielle couldn’t move. How could she respond to such an absurdity? It was preposterous.

“Let’s hear what she has to say.” Percy waved his arms and demanded the crowd quiet down.

Coswold’s voice shook with fury. “Yes, everyone be silent now. I would hear what Isla has to say for herself.” His niece was ruining all of his carefully thought out plans, but all eyes were on her now, and he couldn’t ignore her. “Isla, why would you call the Lady Gabrielle such a foul name?”

Isla timidly glanced up and saw that everyone was closing in on her. “Because it’s true,” she answered in a meek voice.

“Speak up,” Percy said. “Tell us why you made this outrageous claim.”

Isla raised her voice slightly and repeated, “Because it’s true.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

“How do you know this?” Percy demanded.

“I saw her,” Isla said.

The murmurs grew louder.

“Go on,” Coswold ordered. “Tell us what you saw.”

It was easy for Isla to cry real tears now. Her uncle had such a tight grip on her arm, her skin was burning.

“It was the middle of the night three nights ago, and I was awakened by a noise in the hall. I opened my door to see what it was.” She pointed to Gabrielle. “She was sneaking around the corner. I knew I shouldn’t, but I was curious and decided to follow her. I stayed well behind her because I didn’t want her to see me.”

“How could you see where you were going in the dark? Did the lady carry a candle?”

She hesitated for the barest of seconds and then blurted, “The moon was bright. There was no need for a candle.”

She struggled to get away from her uncle, but he wouldn’t release her. In fact, he tightened his hold.

“Where did Lady Gabrielle lead you?” MacKenna asked the question.

“She stopped in front of a door and tapped lightly. I hid behind a pillar. The door opened, and after looking both ways, she went inside.”

“Did you see who opened the door?” Percy asked.

Isla dropped her gaze to the ground again. “It was a man.”

“And do you know this man?” her uncle asked.

“No,” Isla said, “but I had seen him at the banquet that night. I believe he was the envoy from France.”

Percy called to his followers. “Find him. Bring him to us.”

One of them answered immediately. “He’s no longer here. He and his companions left yesterday.”

MacKenna grew impatient. “If it was dark, how could you recognize the man?” he asked Isla. “Perhaps it was her father. Perhaps it wasn’t a man at all, but a maidservant.” He was grasping for an explanation. If Isla’s accusations were taken seriously, his entire scheme would be destroyed. He could feel Glen MacKenna slipping through his fingers.

Isla’s courage was gaining strength. “It was a man,” she stated emphatically. Pointing at Gabrielle again, she said, “And what she was doing makes her unclean.”

MacKenna scanned the crowd as everyone reacted to the shocking news. When he looked up, he saw MacHugh and Buchanan watching with scowls on their faces. His mind raced. How much had they heard? Once again, his reputation and his authority were at stake. If he was going to emerge from this situation with his dignity and his plan intact, he had to think fast.

He looked at Isla with mock compassion when he said, “I’m sure your intentions are noble, but perhaps you are mistaken, my dear. Is it possible that you could have confused what you saw for something innocent?”

“It was no mistake,” Isla said defiantly. “I saw her when she came out of the room. Her hair was down and her gown was unlaced. The man came to the door, and he wore no tunic or shirt.”

Gabrielle was so shocked by the woman’s absurd claims, she was speechless. At this last hideous allegation, however, she could remain silent no longer.

“That’s a lie!” she shouted. “I don’t know why this woman is saying these things, but nothing she’s told you is true.”

“It is true!” Isla shouted back. “I saw you, and you were giving yourself to a man.”

An uproar swelled among the onlookers. It took MacKenna several minutes to get them to calm down so that he could be heard.

“It appears,” he said to Isla, “that this is your word against Lady Gabrielle’s.”

Almost everyone in the crowd nodded agreement. Only a few people knew Baron Coswold’s niece, so her words held little credence with most.

Suddenly, a man standing behind Laird MacKenna spoke up. “The woman speaks the truth.”

Everyone turned toward the voice. A young monk with his head covered by his hood and his arms folded inside the sleeves of his robe slowly moved forward.

“What are you saying?” MacKenna questioned. “Who is telling the truth? What do you know of this?”

Unaccustomed to having so much attention paid to him, the monk hesitated a moment before answering, then said, “Lady Isla is being truthful. I know this because I, too, saw Lady Gabrielle.”

The circle at the stone cross expanded so that everyone could see and hear the monk. He took a tentative step forward then halted as though he suddenly realized the magnitude of his actions.

“I saw the lady…” he began.

“Go on,” Percy demanded impatiently.

“I had just come out of the chapel at midnight after my hour of adoration and I saw someone hurrying toward the sleeping quarters where a few of the guests were staying. At first I saw only a dark figure, but as she passed under the candlelight shining from the chapel window, I recognized Lady Gabrielle.” He looked over at the astonished Isla and said, “Lady Isla is not lying.”

“She’s a whore!” someone behind Percy shouted.

“Unfit to marry anyone!” a member of the Monroe clan yelled.

Before long, dozens of angry voices joined together in condemning her.

Gabrielle was numb. She felt as though she’d just been thrown over a cliff and the wolves were waiting at the bottom to tear her apart. She had been judged and damned.

She tried to make sense out of the insanity. How could this be happening? How could people be saying such vile things about her? Isla had to be demented to be making such ludicrous accusations. But what of the monk? Why did he agree with Isla? What could possibly make him confirm that Gabrielle had done these wicked deeds?

Liam. Dear God, it was Liam. Maybe the monk had seen her on her way to look in on the sick man. But she was never alone when she left her rooms. At least one guard accompanied her, but if he had stepped ahead and the monk happened to look up just as she was walking past, he might have assumed she was alone. That could be the only explanation.

If she tried to defend herself, tried to tell the truth, no one would believe she was simply visiting a sick man and nothing improper had happened.

Two people had accused her. And that was enough to prove her guilt.

“Have you nothing to say for yourself?” Coswold shouted at Gabrielle.

She refused to answer. The incensed crowd had already passed judgment.

She had given her word that she would tell no one about her part in saving Liam, and even if she hadn’t promised, what would the reaction of the mob be if they knew that she was responsible for killing a man at Finney’s Flat? Who would turn against her and her guards then? She could neither do nor say anything that would end this nightmare. Tears flooded her eyes, but she would not let them spill down her cheeks. She would not respond to the slurs these people were hurling at her.

Baron Coswold’s anger toward his niece subsided, and he released his grip on her arm. Isla’s motives for coming forward were now clear to him. She was only trying to save him from the humiliation that would surely come when the truth about Lady Gabrielle was revealed, for inevitably it would be known. Even if the monk stayed silent and never uttered a word about her sin, surely Baron MacKenna would be enraged when he discovered his new bride was not a virgin. No, Isla may not have chosen the most appropriate time to speak up, but she was only trying to protect him.

The turmoil over Gabrielle’s future had suddenly shifted. Just moments ago four men had been vying for her hand, but with this revelation everything had changed. For who among them would step forward to accept her now? Who would take a harlot as a wife?