“Go to hell!” Matthew said. “I will help to restore Scotland to the glory it lost when our beautiful queen was driven from this land.” Then he turned on his heel and left the hall, Agnes hurrying after him.
“Aggie!” Annabella cried.
Agnes turned to see her eldest sister with her arms outstretched. Unable to resist, she flew into Annabella’s embrace. “There is time for farewells, sister,” she said, and she kissed her sibling several times upon the cheeks. “Take good care of my wee Robbie.” Then she pressed her lips together to attempt to stave off the tears she felt near.
“Dinna go!” Annabella said. “It is too dangerous.” Her eyes were welling up.
“I am his wife,” Agnes said simply. “I go where he goes, no matter the danger.”
“Dinna stay wi’ the Hamiltons. They are at war, and their living will be rough. Their own women will be housed in hidden places to keep them and the bairns safe. The women in the encampment are whores and camp followers. They are nae fit company for ye. Go to our parents at Rath for shelter. Ye will be safe from the King’s Men there, Aggie.” She hugged her sister a final time, then released her.
“I’ll remember yer advice,” Agnes said, and then she was gone from the hall.
Annabella burst into tears when she had gone. The earl took his wife into his arms. He said nothing, allowing her to weep against his shirt. His eyes met those of his sister Jean, whose own eyes were filled with tears that now silently slipped down her pretty face.
“How hae this happened?” he asked her.
“His jealousy got the better of him, I fear,” Jean said, wiping her face with her apron. “It started when ye wed.”
Annabella, hearing this, stopped crying and said, “But I did nothing to make him dislike me so verra much.”
“Ye didn’t hae to do anything,” Jean explained. “When Angus took a wife everything began to change, and it would hae changed even if ye were the most beautiful woman on earth. That is what Matthew never realized. But he expected that since ye were plain of face there would be nothing between yer husband and ye but enough coupling to produce bairns for Duin. Instead ye and Angus fell in love. Ye forged a strong bond. Matthew felt cut out. The incident of his birth, being bastard-born, suddenly began to affect him. And then he wed Agnes.
“His position rankled him even more, especially after she bore him a son. Matthew wanted more for his son than just the stone house he built on the bit of land our father deeded to him. The Hamiltons were clever. They knew just how to turn him, and especially after he hae seen Mary Stuart as she fled Moray. I doubt the woman said more than a word or two to Matthew, and yet he was enchanted wi’ her, as so many men before him have been. None of us hae done anything to Matthew. He hae done it himself.”
“Ye must tell yer mam,” the earl said.
“In the morning,” Jean told him. “’Tis night, and I’ll nae bring her bad news now that will keep her awake till dawn.”
“Go to yer man, then,” Annabella said. “I can undress myself.”
“Thank ye,” Jean replied, and, turning, departed the hall.
Annabella sighed, putting her head against her husband’s shoulder. “How will ye get the message from Dumbarton to the Hamiltons?” she asked him.
“The courier will find a way. I suspect he knows more than he is willing to admit. We’ll send him on his way on the morrow. Actually, he can follow along after Matthew. I’ll warn him to be careful of being caught by my brother.”
“Angus, I am so sorry,” Annabella said.
“As am I, my love,” he responded. “But Duin will be safe, and I must find a way to warn Moray that he is being stalked and marked for murder. I may go to Stirling myself before the weather gets too wintry.”
“I’ll ride wi’ ye!” she answered enthusiastically.
“Nay,” he said. “I need ye to remain at Duin. Wi’ no steward now, ye must manage it all for me while I am gone. The beasties need to come from one pasturage to another nearer the castle before being brought into the shelter of the courtyard should a storm come. There should be one more boat from the New World due before winter sets in, my love. I need ye here. Promise ye will not attempt to follow after me this time. I should nae be gone long.”
Annabella sighed again, but this time from the knowledge that he was right. With no Matthew to shepherd everything, she must become the shepherd. Callum wasn’t old enough yet, although he would come into his new position sooner than he ever anticipated. “Verra well,” she said. “I promise I will remain at Duin, my lord.”
Chapter 17
Angus went off to speak again with the messenger. He would, she knew, bribe the man heavily so he would be true. Annabella went to find her younger sister, who she knew would now be packing her possessions, having made her peace with Matthew and her plans to go with him. She found Agnes, as she expected, in her own apartment.
Agnes looked up as she entered. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying. “He agrees that the Hamiltons’ lair is nae the place for me. He will take me to Rath.”
“Stay here!” Annabella said. “Ye are more comfortable here, and yer son is here.”
Agnes shook her head in the negative. “Nay, Annabella, I would be as close to him as I can. I will never forgie myself for quarreling wi’ him, leaving him. I should hae understood him better, but I behaved like a spoiled bairn.”
“Ye behaved like a sensible woman,” Annabella said sharply. “Matthew is wrong, Aggie. He endangered everyone here wi’ his foolish actions. Ye need hae no regrets.”
