“Ahh,” Sir William said softly. “That is Lady Cicely Bowen, daughter of an English earl. She is the queen’s close friend, as they grew up in the same household. The queen invited her to Scotland.You aim high, Glengorm, but my advice would be to forget the lady. The rumor is that Huntley’s kinsman plans to offer for her soon.”
“He can’t have her,” Ian Douglas said. “I mean to make her my wife. Introduce me to her, Sir William, I beg you.”
“Ah, laddie, do not break your heart. The lass is a lady from the top of her head to the tips of her dainty toes. The truth is that Gordon of Fairlea has more in common with her than you ever could. She was raised in a queen’s household, and has lived in the English court. You’re a border lord, Ian.”
“Does this Gordon have the lands that I do? And the livestock? And a house in which to shelter a wife?” Ian Douglas said. “Or does he live off his lord?”
“He has lands, and cattle, and a house,” Sir William said. “And he has traveled abroad, can speak French, and I am told writes poetry, which has put him in good stead with King James. His kinsman is the Lord Huntley, and Fairlea is in his favor. He has much to offer Lady Cicely. Look at the elegance and style of his garb, Ian. The lady appreciates it, and the delicacy of his manners. You cannot compete with such a man, so do not embarrass yourself trying. Accept what you are: a simple border lord. If you are finally ready to settle down and take a wife, I will help you find a good lass with a good dower for Glengorm.”
“Introduce me to her, Sir William,” Ian Douglas said. “I can do my own courting.”
“Very well.” His clan chief sighed. “I suppose if you are determined nothing will do until you have tried to gain the lady’s favor and failed. But do not say you were not warned, Glengorm.”
“I have everything the Gordon has, and maybe more,” Ian Douglas replied stubbornly. “And I will wager I am more man than he.”
“Do not go looking for a quarrel,” Sir William warned.
“There will be no quarrel as long as the Gordon realizes that the lass is mine,” came the assured reply.
“You’ve said not a word to the lass. You don’t know if you will even like each other,” Sir William said.
“I’ll like her,” Ian Douglas said softly.
“There’s more to a woman than a pretty face and soft breasts,” Sir William replied. “Why this lass, Glengorm?”
“That day upon the road when I pledged my fealty to King James was when I first saw her. She sat upon her horse laughing with the queen. Briefly she looked my way, and in that moment, Sir William, she stole my heart away.”
“She wasn’t looking at you,” Fergus broke in. “She was surveying everything about her. I’ll vow she never looked at you, Ian.”
“She looked,” Ian Douglas said softly.
“God’s blood!” Sir William swore low. “The lad is lovesick and heartsore. Come, and let us get this over with, Glengorm. I’ll present you.” He began to move across the hall, the two younger men in his wake. When he reached the area where the queen was seated he waited politely to be recognized.
Joan Beaufort saw him there with two other men. She thought one of the men looked familiar but she could not place him. “Sir William,” she greeted him.
“Madam, I should like to present my kinsmen, Ian Douglas, the laird of Glengorm, and his younger brother, Fergus.”
“You are welcome to Perth, my lords,” the queen said as the pair bowed low to her. And then she recalled the big, tall border lord who had pledged his fealty to her husband as they traveled. “We have, I believe, met before, my lord of Glengorm,” the queen said to him.
“Not formally, madam,” Ian Douglas responded.
“You stepped from the crowds along the road to pledge yourself to us, did you not, my lord?”Gracious,Joan Beaufort thought,he is certainly a big, handsome fellow.
“I did, madam, and I am flattered that you would remember this humble border lord,” Ian said, smiling.
“You are not, I suspect, ordinarily very humble, my lord.” The queen laughed. “But I could not forget you, for you are surely one of the tallest men I have ever seen. So you came to see us crowned, did you?”
“And to meet, with your permission, a certain lady of your household, madam,” the laird said candidly.
“I think I know the lady with whom you wish to become acquainted, my lord, for you stared quite boldly at her that day,” the queen replied, laughing again. She turned her head. “Ce-ce, you have another admirer. Come and meet the laird of Glengorm.”
Cicely left the small group of young people with whom she had been chatting. She curtsied to the queen, and her eyes grew wide at the sight of Ian Douglas.
“Ce-ce, may I present to you Ian Douglas, the laird of Glengorm,” the queen said. “My lord, this is my dearest friend and companion, Lady Cicely Bowen.”
Ian Douglas bowed, and then, taking the girl’s hand in his big paw, kissed it. “My lady,” he said. And then briefly he felt himself tongue-tied, for she was certainly the loveliest girl he had ever seen in all his twenty-seven years.
“You are the big man on the road,” Cicely said.
