“I possess nothing but Friar,” Baen responded. “Everything else I have is my father’s. My horse, the clothing I wear.”
“Yet you are respected and loved by that same father, who would, I suspect, give you anything you asked him for that he could give you without robbing your brothers. And your brothers accept and respect you too. You have said it,” Elizabeth said.
“I owe my father my duty,” Baen told her.
“I am pleased to hear it. I count loyalty among one of the greatest virtues in a man,” she told him bluntly. “Now please do not tell me ever again that you are not worthy of me, or of anyone else.”
“Your kissing has improved,” he said mischievously.
“Perhaps it is due in part to Flynn Stewart,” Elizabeth teased him back. “He was most assiduous in his instruction of me.”
“I think no one has ever spanked you, Elizabeth Meredith,” he growled.
“Fortunately for me, we are now back where all can see us, and so I shall be spared your further threats,” she mocked him with a grin.
“One day...” he said menacingly.
“I suspect I may look forward to it,” she told him wickedly. “Do you spank as well as you kiss and cuddle, Baen?”
He roared with his laughter. “You will be the judge, for eventually I suspect you will force me to violence.”
“Probably I will,” Elizabeth agreed sweetly.
Thomas Bolton had watched them return with interest. He had, of course, seen them slip from the fire, as had many other young couples. He had never known his niece to leave the fire, at least according to Maybel, who had seen them go too. How far had the flirtation gotten? There was a bit a straw in Elizabeth’s hair, but she did not have the look of a woman satisfied. The Scot was a gentleman then, despite the temptation placed before him. Interesting. He would speak with Elizabeth in the morning. He had to learn whether her feelings made it worth pursuing his solution to the family’s problem.
“You are plotting, Uncle,” Elizabeth said, coming to sit next to him on the bench.
“What makes you say such a thing, dear girl?” he wanted to know. He patted her soft hand with his.
“Your eyebrows are crinkled, as they always are when you are considering a problem,” she informed him. “Midsummer’s Eve is not a night for serious thoughts.”
It was certainly after midnight. The morning of a new day.Time enough,he thought. “Do you like the Scot?” he asked her bluntly.
Elizabeth smiled. “You saw us leave the fire,” she replied.
“You have not answered my question, dear girl. Do you like Baen MacColl?”
“Aye, I do, Uncle,” Elizabeth admitted honestly. “You know I have always had a weakness for Scots.” She chuckled.
“Would he make you a good husband?” Thomas Bolton asked her candidly.
Elizabeth colored, but then she said, “Aye, he would. But he is a Scot. Friarsgate must remain English, Uncle. I may play at kissing games with Baen, but even I understand this is just the same difficulty as with Flynn Stewart.”
“Nay,” Thomas Bolton said. “It is not. Flynn is a son of the late king. Half brother to the current king of the Scots. He owes all his loyalty to the royal Stewarts. But Baen is the bastard of a man with less land than you possess. He may be the eldest son of his father, but he cannot inherit, for he has two legitimate younger brothers who will.”
“His loyalty to his father is every bit as strong as is Flynn’s to his king,” Elizabeth said. “He told me he has nothing. That everything he possesses is his father’s.”
“His father loves him?” Lord Cambridge queried.
“Aye, he does,” Elizabeth said.
“Then he should jump at the chance to better Baen’s position in the world,” Thomas Bolton said quietly. “He did not know this son until he was twelve, and though he has loved, taught, and sheltered him these past twenty years, Elizabeth, he might be willing to let him go if his going meant becoming your husband.”
“What you mean is becoming the lord of Friarsgate,” she responded.
“You will always be the lady of Friarsgate, dear girl, and Baen does not strike me as a man who would force you from your place,” Lord Cambridge observed.
“Give me time to learn this for myself,” Elizabeth said. “He has just returned, and we have many months ahead of us to be together. I would be certain we are suited, Uncle. And I would want this knowledge you have gained between us alone. My mother and Logan should not know quite yet.”
