“Aye, my lord, I am,” Orva said.
“Since we are all here let us be on our way,” Sir William said as he and Lord Grey mounted their horses, following the cart as it rumbled over the cobbles of the courtyard.
They were escorted by a large party of both Grey and Douglas clansmen. It was unlikely under these circumstances that anyone would attack them. The trip, which might have taken two to three days riding, was made in seven days. It was at dusk on that seventh day that they approached the entry to the Glen of Gorm.
“ ’Tis a lonely land,” Orva noted. It had been a gray day, and now rain clouds were gathering overhead. She leaned forward to tuck a lap robe about Lady Grey.
“Aye, but it has its own wild beauty, even as my Highlands,” Maggie MacLeod said. “I don’t know what I would have done without you, Orva, these past few days. It has been a difficult trip, but you have made it so much easier for me. I thank you.”
“Why did we not go straight to Ben Duff?” Orva asked her.
Maggie smiled. “Because the king would have me speak with your mistress,” she answered. “He thinks I can influence her to his will.”
“Do you think you can?” Orva asked quietly.
Lady Grey shook her head in the negative. “Your mistress is strong-willed. She will make her own decisions in this matter. She will listen politely, and then do precisely what she meant to do in thefirst place. But my conscience will be clear, for I will have done my best. The king will not be able to fault me. And if your mistress does what the king wants her to do he will credit me for her behavior.” She laughed.
Orva chuckled. “You understand my child,” she said. “Aye, she will do as she pleases.”
“Does she like Fairlea enough to wed him?” Maggie asked, curious.
“She likes him well enough, but finds him a bit overbearing. Still, she knows she must marry, and he is a most suitable candidate,” Orva replied.
“The king hopes she will wed him, and then spy among the Gordons for him,” Lady Grey said quietly.
“Then Jamie Stewart is doomed to disappointment,” Orva told her companion. “My mistress will be totally loyal to her husband. She would never tell tales. It is not in her nature. Now tell me, my lady, for we have spoken on everything else over the course of our journey, what is this wicked laddie who stole my mistress really like?”
Maggie MacLeod smiled warmly. “Ian Douglas is a good man. His clanfolk love and respect him. He is brave in war, honest and generous of heart. He is known here in the borders as‘the canny Douglas,’for he is quite clever. And he will defend the woman he loves against all comers. Your mistress would not be unhappy with him.”
“My mistress is probably still very angry at him,” Orva said. “She does like getting her own way, and being dragged off into the wilds of this land will not be pleasing to her, I can promise you. The man will need the patience of a saint to win her over.”
“My husband tells me that as a lad Ian tamed a fox kit. He would sit for hours in the heather observing the wee creature. He let it come to him rather than forcing himself on the little fox. I think he has patience enough, Orva.”
They entered the glen, the little wagon rumbling down the narrow path. Sir William now rode ahead so that his kinsman could bemade aware he was about to have company. He wondered what Ian was going to say to him. He wondered what Lady Cicely would say about her situation. Ian would not be able to refuse them hospitality, and poor Lady Grey needed a warm fire and a soft bed. Had the king not ordered them to Glengorm first, Sir William would have taken the Greys home to Ben Duff. He wasn’t certain that Maggie MacLeod would be able to birth her husband’s heir in her own bed. Seeing the house ahead he spurred his horse to hurry. The rain was beginning to fall.
Chapter 7
The house that Sir William’s party would shortly enter was hardly the house that Ian Douglas had brought Cicely to nine days prior. As she sat by the fire in the hall that night digesting everything he had said to her, Cicely found his gentle words had done nothing to soften her anger. And then Bethia came stumbling down the stone stairs into the hall covered with soot and coughing heavily.
“The chimney in the lady’s chamber will not draw, my lord,” she told the laird. “It looks as if some bird or beastie has made its nest there.”
“I am not surprised, given the condition of this hall,” Cicely said dryly. “I suspect your stables are cleaner. It is obvious you have no control over your household.”
Ian Douglas gritted his teeth. She was right, of course, but there hadn’t been a woman managing his house since his grandmother had died when he was ten years old. Mab was really too old now, and Bethia lazy, but who would replace them? “You can sleep in my chamber, ladyfaire,” he said.
“I will not!” she replied angrily. “How dare you even suggest such a thing? Will you destroy my reputation entirely, my lord?”
“I’ll sleep in the hall,” he told her. “You’re my guest.”
“Nay, I will sleep in the hall,” Cicely said. “And I will remain in this hall until I am rescued from your clutches, my lord!”
“It should be a few days before anyone figures out what has happened to you, and we’ve already traveled several days,” the laird said to her. “There’ll be no fighting over you, ladyfaire. They will come to parley with me. And until we have come to know each other better I will not be of any mind to negotiate. I want nothing of you but your time, Cicely Bowen. If after we have come to know each other you decide I am not the man for you, I will reluctantly release you. I have never had to force a woman to my will, ladyfaire. I do not intend starting now. And to show you I am a man of my word who will accept your decisions, you may sleep in the hall tonight, if that is your preference.”
“You are used to getting your way with women, aren’t you, my lord?” Cicely said.
He gave her a slow, wicked smile. “Aye,” he drawled. “I am.”
“You will not get your way with me,” she told him. Mother of God, he was the most irritating man she had ever met! But in a few days they would come for her, and she would tell him that if he were the last man on the face of the earth, she would sooner die a maiden than marry him. But in the meantime she would occupy her time in seeing that his hall was cleaned properly. She could not bear idle time on her hands.
