Agnes began to weep. “We’ll never see our Annabella after today,” she sobbed.
“Ye’re not promised, nor will Da permit ye to wed until ye are at least sixteen,” Annabella said quietly to her youngest sister. “Ye shall come and visit me next summer, Aggie.” She put a comforting arm about the girl. “I’m sure the earl will permit it, and send a fine escort for ye too,” she promised.
Agnes sniffled, but then, looking up through her wet lashes at Myrna and Sorcha, both of whom were always lording marriage over her, she said, “Ye two will probably be wed by next summer, so ye’ll not get to visit our sister in her fine new home, but I will!” There was an air of triumph in her voice. Then she added, “Maybe Annabella will even find a rich husband for me.”
Myrna and Sorcha looked distinctly put out by Agnes’s words, but then Myrna said meanly, “If I were our plain-faced sister, I would certainly not invite my beautiful little sister to visit. What if the earl fell in love wi’ ye, and magicked our sister away so he could have ye?”
“Oh, Annabella, I wouldn’t steal yer man!” Agnes burst out. “I swear it!”
“I’m sure ye wouldn’t, Aggie,” her elder sister said, “and if my husband turned out to be that fickle, I wouldn’t want him. As for ye two, eventually ye’ll come to Duin to see me. Ye’ll always be welcome, sisters.”
Their brother, Rob, entered the chamber. “Da wants you downstairs in the hall immediately, Annabella,” he said. “Ye should be there to greet yer bridegroom’s kinfolk.” He was a handsome young man of twenty-two, with their mother’s blue eyes and their father’s dark hair. “Ye three are to remain here until ye’re invited into the hall,” he told his younger sisters. No need for the Fergusons to be blinded by their beauty until they had grown used to Annabella, Rob considered.
“Do I look all right, Rob?” Annabella asked anxiously. She was wearing the gown in which she would shortly be wed. It was lovely, but not quite the right color for the pale girl. The bodice was a light gray velvet embroidered with silver threads and black jet beads. The heavy silk skirt was a blue-gray. On a lass with golden hair it would have been stunning, even if it was a bit old-fashioned. But it did not really suit Annabella’s coloring at all. Her dark hair was left loose to proclaim her innocence.
“Ye look fine,” he said dismissively.
Brother and sister descended down the narrow staircase that led into the hall.
Once there, the laird waved to them to come quickly forward, indicating they should stand with him. The lady Anne reached out to take her eldest daughter’s hand in hers, giving it a little squeeze of encouragement as the Fergusons entered the hall.
“Welcome to Rath,” Robert Baird said, smiling.
“Thank ye, my lord. We have not met, but I am Matthew Ferguson, the laird’s half brother, and steward of Duin. This is James Ferguson, the laird’s brother, a priest come to inspect the contracts and perform the ceremony.” Matthew bowed politely.
The laird greeted both men cordially, noting that the priest did not wear the robes denoting his office. A wise move, he thought, considering the recent law of the land outlawing the old Church. Then Robert Baird introduced his wife, his son, and, finally, Annabella.
Matthew and James acknowledged each introduction pleasantly. Then Matthew turned, nodding to his sister to step forward. “This is the earl’s half sister and my sister, Jean, my lord. She has been raised to serve my brother’s wife. Angus thought that since the journey back to Duin is one of several days, his bride would feel more comfortable in the company of another woman.”
“How kind!” Annabella exclaimed before anyone else might speak. She would indeed enjoy having another woman with her. Her family could not send a female servant with her, for she and her sisters had always been taken care of by their old nurse, who was too ancient now to leave Rath. “I must thank the earl as soon as we arrive,” the bride said. “To send me a companion was a most thoughtful gesture.”
“I commend your good manners, Annabella Baird,” James Ferguson responded. “My brother is a man who values the courtesies.” He already liked this young woman. There appeared to be no deceit about her. As a priest, he had learned to quickly assess those about him. Despite Matthew’s concern over her lack of beauty, his eldest brother’s bride seemed a sensible lass, which would serve Angus far better than some flighty beauty. He turned to the laird. “I have brought the marriage contracts with me, my lord. May we sit and go over them? Then, with Matthew standing proxy for the earl, I will perform the ceremony making your daughter Angus Ferguson’s wife.”
The four men moved off to sit at the high board, where the marriage contract was now spread out upon the long rectangular table. The lady Anne and her daughter moved away to seat themselves by the hearth.
“Who are the mothers of these men?” Annabella asked her mother. “Did the earl’s father have a second wife?”
“Nay,” the mother told her daughter. “The earl’s mother was a Frenchwoman. The story told is that when she was enceinte with her first child, she begged her young serving woman, a lass who had been raised with her and come with her from France, to fulfill her husband’s manly needs, for he was a lusty man. She swore to raise any bairn born of such a union with her own bairns. She gave her husband three, and her serving woman gave him two. That is the tale your da told me, for the earl told him when they met at Hermitage several weeks ago. The five were raised together.”
Annabella was shocked. “How could the old laird’s wife bear to keep such a servant? Did ye not tell me that if my husband takes a mistress I am not to acknowledge such a woman?”
“ ’Twas the earl’s mother who suggested the arrangement, for she trusted her servant. She did not want her husband in the clutches of another woman. The laird was always respectful of his wife, and she loyal to him. There was no conflict between mistress and servant over this matter. I am told the old laird had several other bastards whom he acknowledged over the years of his life. Those bairns, however, remained wi’ their mams. Men will be men, Annabella, but unless your husband’s behavior threatens you or your bairns, ye would be wise to look the other way. The wives of the Stewart kings certainly have, and those bairns who are born on the other side of the blanket are useful and loyal to their sire’s family. It is the custom among the high nobility to raise their bastards as trusted servants and confidants. Queen Mary is advised by her half brother, Lord James Stewart, whose mam was once King James’s mistress. And the Earl of Duin’s half brother serves him well, as you see. His half sister will serve ye, and will prove a valuable ally for ye, my daughter.”
“I am not certain I am comfortable with my husband’s half sister serving me,” Annabella admitted to her mother.
“Do not worry yourself,” the lady Anne advised. “Jean Ferguson has been raised to fulfill this position. She will take pride in it.” She turned to look about the hall and see where Jean was now, and, finding her standing quietly across the hall, the lady Anne beckoned to her to come and join them.
Jean came immediately. “How may I serve ye, my lady?” she asked politely.
“By reassuring my daughter that although you are the earl’s half sister, you are glad to serve her,” the older woman said.
Jean Ferguson smiled a sweet smile. “Do not be uncomfortable, my lady Annabella,” she said, looking the girl directly in the eye. “My own mam was the lady Adrienne’s serving woman. I was raised to one day serve my brother’s bride. I am honored to do so,” she told her new mistress, curtsying.
“Having a personal servant is new for me, and I am used to a simple life,” Annabella replied.
“Life is not overly complicated at Duin,” Jean reassured her new mistress.
The lady Anne arose from her seat, indicating that Jean should take it. “Why do not you two become better acquainted,” she said, “while I go and fetch your sisters? As soon as your father has approved the contracts, you will be formally wed.” She hurried off.
