The lady Anne sighed. Then she said, “I suppose there is no harm in yer knowing. It was nothing more than a wee bit of good fortune that put ye in the earl’s path. I will not pretend that it has been easy to find a good husband for ye, Annabella. Yer da was actually despairing over it, for a lass wi’ a plain face and a small dower has a difficult time of it. But then Lord Bothwell came to yer da and suggested that he offer the Earl of Duin that bit of property in the west yer da inherited, as a dower portion for ye. The earl has been attempting to purchase that land from yer da for several years, but Robert would nae sell, for the kinsman who left it to him feuded with the Fergusons of Duin. The land borders his own and is particularly good grazing land. The earl raises cattle.
“Angus Ferguson is ready to take a wife. He doesn’t need a rich wife, for riches he has aplenty. He doesn’t object to having a wife whose features are modest in appearance. But most important, he wants that acreage that yer father holds, and so ye have gained him for yer husband in exchange for that land. Land has always been an acceptable dower, Annabella. Yer da has rented that land to Duin since he inherited it. The coin he earned for the rental has been put aside for yer dowers.
“Last month when yer da and the earl met, Robert was assured that Angus Ferguson wanted only the land in exchange for making ye his wife. He declined any purse, saying the land was more than enough value for a wife. Yer da and I will take the coin we saved for ye and now divide it among yer sisters.”
“Nay,” said Annabella. “If the earl declines my purse, then it should be mine, Mama. What if he dies, and I have need of another husband? Ye cannot take back the land ye have given the Fergusons, which leaves me in poverty wi’out my gold. I will not be left helpless to the Fergusons, and married off to some retainer for their benefit. If the earl does not want my gold, I do.”
Her mother was surprised by her daughter’s clever reasoning. She saw the wisdom in Annabella’s words. “Say nothing to anyone, my daughter,” she told the girl. “I will speak wi’ yer da. Ye will have what is yers; I promise ye. Ye will be far from the Bairds of Rath at Duin. You do need to be able to protect yerself.”
“My sisters have inherited yer beauty, Mama, but I seem to have inherited yer wisdom,” Annabella remarked to her mother.
The lady Anne smiled. “Thank ye, daughter,” she said. “Now learn this from me as well. Men, husbands in particular, dinna like discovering that their wives are intelligent. Keep this knowledge from yer bridegroom, and always keep yer own counsel. Ye will have a happier marriage if ye do, Annabella.”
“How will ye get Da to let me keep my gold?” the girl asked, curious.
“By letting him believe ’twas all his own idea,” her mother said mischievously.
Annabella laughed. “Oh, Mama, ye’re really quite wicked,” she teased her parent.
“Being a wee bit wicked,” the lady told her daughter, “can also intrigue a husband, as long as he does not feel threatened by yer behavior. Now, there are other things we must discuss if ye’re to be properly prepared for yer marriage bed.”
“I know a man’s form is different,” Annabella said. “I recall that ye bathed Rob and me together when we were little ones. Yet girls dinna have breasts as children. They grow them as they grow older. Do men grow anything extra?”
“Nay,” her mother said, “but their man parts do grow in keeping wi’ the rest of them. Some sprout hair on their chests, while others do not. We are all furred in many of the same places.”
“Myrna says the earl has many mistresses,” Annabella told her mother.
“Aye, a man will have his extras,” the lady Anne said calmly.
“Does Da have a mistress?” Annabella asked her mother. “How do you bear it?”
“Your father has not the means to keep a mistress.” Her mother laughed. “But I know he tumbles the village lasses now and again. It means nothing. He is my husband, and my lord. He gives me his love and his respect. I want nothing more.”
“The earl is rich enough to keep a mistress,” Annabella said thoughtfully.
“Aye, ’tis said he is rich,” her mother responded. “But if he keeps a mistress you will never acknowledge her, my daughter, should you learn of her existence. Give yer husband the bairns he wants and must have. Give him yer loyalty. He will respond in kind, no matter his wandering eye. You may even fall in love wi’ him.”
“Will he love me?” Annabella wondered aloud.
“If ye’re fortunate, perhaps he will,” her mother said, “but his respect is more important. A woman respected by her man is secure in her place.”
“Do ye love Da?” the girl boldly inquired.
“Aye, I suppose that I do, and I’ve always enjoyed our bed sport,” the lady Anne said. Then she smiled. “But we have strayed from the knowledge ye must have for yer wedding night.”
“I think I know what I must,” Annabella said, suddenly a bit shy. “I’ve seen the creatures making the beast with two backs, Mama.”
The good lady laughed softly. “’Tis a bit different when a man mounts his woman,” she said. “Ye’ll be on yer back, not yer belly. There is an opening between yer legs where his manhood will be fitted. Some think of it as another form of riding. The first time he enters yer body will hurt, but only briefly. That is because his cock will pierce yer maidenhead. When he has pleasured himself, and hopefully ye as well, he will water yer womb with his seed. The seed will not always be implanted, but once it is, a bairn will grow within yer belly, and after several months, usually eight to ten, the bairn will be born. Being my eldest daughter and second child, ye’ve seen the process of birth, so I need not tell ye of it. Do ye have any questions, Annabella?”
“Nay, Mama, thank ye,” the girl said politely. Actually she had several questions, but she was too embarrassed to ask her mother.
“’Tis better ye not be too knowledgeable,” the lady Anne said. “Yer husband will want to lead the way, and ye should let him.”
And finally her possessions were packed and ready. Her wedding gown was sewn. And on a fine morning toward the end of September, Matthew and James Ferguson, in the company of their sister, Jean, arrived at the tower house of the laird of Rath. They came with a large troop of men-at-arms wearing the blue-and-green plaid of the Fergusons of Duin, with its thin red and white stripes. Two pipers accompanied them, and Jean Ferguson, riding astride like the men she rode with, led a pristine white mare. From the moment they had entered onto Baird lands, they had been accompanied by the bride’s clansmen. There would be no delay. The marriage would be celebrated this very day, and on the morrow the bride would depart with her husband’s kin for Duin.
“Ohh,” Myrna squealed, gazing from a window on the arriving visitors. “What a fine mare! Who is the woman leading it, do ye think?”
“The Fergusons are well garbed and well mounted,” Sorcha noted.
