“Good!” Lord Cambridge answered her.
“Can you tell me what it is you plan?” Philippa asked eagerly.
“It is far too soon, and there are certain things I must set in motion first,” he said.
Across the hall Rosamund watched her cousin as he engaged her daughter in earnest conversation. What was he planning? It had best be soon, for Logan was already importuning her to come home to Claven’s Cam. It was difficult to say no to him when he caught her gaze with those blue blue eyes of his that had always been her weakness. She had tried to explain how disappointed Philippa was over the FitzHugh boy, and how she had said she didn’t want Friarsgate.
“The lass is daft with her displeasure,” Logan said. “Let her go back to court. She’ll come to her senses soon enough.”
She hadn’t told him but now she had to. The tale of the Canted Tower was recounted, and Logan then said exactly what she had expected.
“I know several lusty young men, sons of friends, who would gladly take the next lady of Friarsgate to wife. Obviously the lass needs to be wed, and quickly.”
“Nay. It is more complicated than that, Logan. But Tom says he can solve the problem if we will but allow him. I would, for he has always been right in his judgments of difficult situations, my love.”
The laird of Claven’s Cam nodded. “I must be honest with you, lovey. Philippa has always frightened me a wee bit, though I am shamed to admit it. She is but a lass, yet that air of determination she wears would terrify a stronger man than me. If Thomas Bolton believes he has a suitable solution to the problem then let him offer it, I say. I am willing to listen to anything he has to say. And then we may go home.”
“Bide here with us a few days, my dear lord,” Rosamund said. “It is yet a few weeks to grouse season,” she teased gently. “Once I am home again I think I will be loath to travel abroad until I have birthed this son of yours that I carry. I am heavier and more tired with this bairn than with the others. I would name him Thomas, after my cousin, if you will. I think it is time I called a child for him who has been so good to me through all these years. Would you agree?”
He nodded. “Aye. Tom is a good man for all his odd ways.”
“Then you will be patient with me?”
“Till the end of September, madame, and then you will come home to stay,” he told her with a small smile.
Philippa’s conversation with Lord Cambridge had brought about a change in her attitude. She wasn’t certain what he was planning, but she knew whatever it was, it would be to her advantage. And so she tried her best to be kind to her sisters, but Bessie, it seemed, went out of her way to irritate Philippa and bait her into conflict. Banon, however, was a different personality, and the two sisters renewed their acquaintance while carefully avoiding Bessie and her wicked tricks.
Banon loved hearing about the court. “I suppose I should go for a brief time,” she said one day as the two sisters sat together in the early September gardens. Around them the Michaelmas daisies were coming into early bloom. Above the plants fat bumblebees droned lazily while collecting pollen from the delicate blooms.
“You would love it!” Philippa enthused.
“Perhaps I would, but I must keep in mind that Otterly, like Friarsgate, is a northern estate. I will marry a man of the north, but a brief stay in the queen’s service would but add luster to my reputation, would it not, sister?” Banon’s blue eyes looked at Philippa, thinking her deliciously sophisticated even in her simple country gown. Uncle Thomas had insisted Philippa have a country wardrobe made when he had first arrived. Banon always enjoyed being around Lord Cambridge when he was choosing fabric and discussing gowns with the seamstress. He had the most exquisite taste. “It is your hairstyle, I believe,” Banon suddenly said. “That is what gives you that air of glamour.”
“I wear it down as do others,” Philippa said, “but I like that French style Annie showed to Lucy so long ago. It is very elegant.”
“Uncle Thomas says I am too young yet for such a style,” Banon told her older sister. “Do you think he is right?”
“Wait,” Philippa counseled her sibling. “There is time to look older, for that is what you want to do, isn’t it?” She smiled at Banon.
Banon nodded. “How did you know?” she asked.
“Because I felt the same way when I went to court for the first time, but Lucy advised me to keep my hair down always so I might look younger, and none would trifle with me. She said I needed to learn the ways of the court first, and that would give me time. She was right, of course, but when you come to court you will have me to watch over you. And my friends too.”
“You are anxious to return, aren’t you?” Banon said.
“Aye!”
“When will it be?” Banon asked.
“I do not know. Uncle Thomas has said I must be patient, and he will solve the difficulty. I must trust that he will although I will admit to growing impatient of late,” Philippa admitted.
The end of September came, and Logan Hepburn announced on Michaelmas that he would take his family home on the first day of October. “You are welcome to come, Philippa,” he told the girl.
Stricken, she looked to Lord Cambridge.
It was time, Thomas Bolton thought, and then he began to speak. “I think I have the answer to the difficulties that the FitzHughs have unwittingly caused our own family,” he began.
“Tell us!” Rosamund said eagerly.
