“He knows ye’re here?” the prisoner inquired.
“Aye, he does,” she replied.
“He must trust ye a great deal, madam.”
“I hope he does,” Annabella answered him. Then she turned and hurried away.
The courier felt a sudden loss at her departure. She was nae a pretty woman, but by God she had such great charm a man could forget that her face was plain. He wondered just what the Earl of Duin would do with that small scrap of information he had given the countess. And what had been in the message that the earl needed to know from where he had ridden, and whether he had ever been to Dumbarton before. Turning from the cell door, he lay down on his cot. It wasn’t likely he would ever get the answer to his questions, but he had enjoyed his brief conversation with the Countess of Duin.
Annabella had returned to the hall to find Angus waiting. “The Hamiltons move their encampment every few days,” she told him. “And our courier is for hire. He had never been to Dumbarton before. It’s perfect, my lord! I can dress as the young man I was in France and carry this message to Lord Fleming. The castle will afford me its hospitality until they need me to carry a message for them. I will be able to overhear all sorts of gossip, for no one pays particular attention to servants or men who carry messages. And then I will return to ye wi’ the answers we seek!” Her voice was excited, and her eyes alight with her enthusiasm.
“Nay,” he said. “’Tis too dangerous for ye. Listen to me, Annabella. When ye followed me to France ye had little contact wi’ others. Aboard ship ye were careful to avoid the company of the other passengers or the crew. Ye kept well to yerself. It was easy for ye to pass yerself off as a young serving man under those circumstances. But Dumbarton is a large fortress, and ’tis filled wi’ many soldiers. Fleming’s family will be there, but they are few. Mostly ’tis a male population. It will be difficult to keep yer identity hidden, and if ye are found out, God help ye. If ye can even reach Lord Fleming to beg his mercy, he is nae apt to give it. Instead he’ll gie ye to his soldiers. Ye’ll nae survive in their tender care.”
Annabella gasped as the implication of her husband’s words struck her. Then she said, “But we need to know when these assassinations are to take place so we may gie Moray warning. We canna just let them happen, Angus.”
“We may hae no choice in the matter, sweetheart,” he told her.
“I’ll go,” a young voice piped up.
They turned to see Annabella’s protégé, Callum Ferguson, who was now fifteen, standing there. “I overheard,” he said apologetically, blushing slightly. In the years since Callum had come to live in the castle, he had grown tall, and become very clever with his mathematical skills, helping out in the household steward’s office now.
Chapter 16
Nay, ’tis too dangerous for ye!” Annabella cried. “Ye’re still a lad!”
“I can do it,” Callum insisted. “Ye need a pair of sharp ears inside of Lord Fleming’s fortress. There are couriers as young as I am, my lady. I can do it!”
“He could,” the earl said; then he looked at the boy, who was now almost six feet in height. “But it is indeed dangerous, lad. Ye dinna hae to do it.”
“Lady Annabella hae educated me. I can beg a place of the castle steward, and when he learns I can read and write and do numbers, he’ll consider himself lucky. He’ll gie me a place in the household, and I’ll learn much.”
“Aye!” Angus said enthusiastically. “He could do it, sweetheart!”
“But what if they discover he is a spy?” Annabella fretted.
“I think if Callum is careful, and takes nae chances, there will be nae reason to suspect him of anything,” the earl said.
“But should he overhear something that will be of value to us, how will he be able to leave Dumbarton wi’out causing suspicion so he may tell us?” Annabella wanted to know. She was not about to send this intelligent young lad into needless danger. She had not educated him to face death, but rather life.
“I will place someone in the town below the castle,” the earl said. “Callum will determine an excuse to go into the town, meet up with our agent, and pass the information on to him. Then he will return to the castle to tell the steward that while he was in the town he met up with someone sent from his village, come to tell him his mother was dying. He will ask permission to return home. They will gie it to him and he will be back at Duin before we know it, safe and sound.”
“Ye make it sound simpler than I suspect it really is,” Annabella said.
“I can do this, my lady,” Callum repeated. “I can!”
The Countess of Duin looked to her husband. “Angus?”
“He’s a braw lad wi’ a good head on his shoulders, sweetheart. All he needs do is listen, remember anything of import should he hear it, and return home to Duin wi’ whatever small knowledge he hae gained,” the earl said.
“How long must he remain at Dumbarton?” Annabella wanted to know.
“No more than two months, laddie,” Angus Ferguson said, “and ye’re to come home earlier if ye learn what we need to know sooner. The Queen’s Men plan to assassinate several important lords. I need to know when this wickedness begins. The three men who are likely to be targeted are James Stewart, the Earl of Moray, the regent; Matthew Stewart, the Earl of Lennox, the wee king’s grandsire; and John Erskine, His Majesty’s royal governor. The targets I am certain of, but I know not when these murders are planned. If I am to warn Moray, I must learn that if I can.
“Do ye understand, Callum? Ye are nae to put yerself in any danger. Ye’ll tell them at Dumbarton the messenger took ill upon arrival at Matthew Ferguson’s house. That because he believed the message to be urgent he asked Matthew to send one of his serving people to Dumbarton with the packet he carried. When ye hae delivered the message, linger about for a day or two before ye ask the household steward for a place. Remember to tell the steward ye read, write, and can do numbers.”
“Aye, my lord!” Callum Ferguson was very enthusiastic and excited to be entrusted with this mission.
“And when ye return,” Angus Ferguson told him, “I’ll want ye to help me wi’ my correspondence, if it would please ye to remain at Duin. I find I am in need of a secretary, Callum Ferguson. If ye’re old enough now to take on such a mission as ye’re about to take on, then ye’re old enough to serve me.”
