Iain introduced her to the whore, and Agnes bowed low, as subservient and humble as ever she had pretended to be, even as her thoughts flew.
Duncan had been trusted with something of sufficient value for it to be placed in the treasury.
And the whore had the key.
Agnes was going to find out what was in that saddlebag, if it was the last thing she did.
Leila immediately disliked the girl.
The maid’s gaze was too quick, her manner too furtive, her smile too smug.There was a satisfaction about Agnes that reminded Leila of a cat, content with its situation, certain of its future.She was a pretty girl, to be sure, with a long braid as dark as ebony, eyes of clear blue, and skin as fair as milk.She was slender and had a tendency to open her eyes wide, as if innocent or awed, but Leila sensed that Agnes was cunning.
Hers was an instinctive and powerful reaction, which meant that Leila would trust it.It did not hurt that she had been unobserved when the girl arrived in the doorway.Fergus had taken Duncan’s saddlebag from Leila and she had turned slightly as she stepped back.She had noticed the girl after she had placed the saddlebag in the treasury, when she turned away as Fergus locked the treasury.Agnes’ sly expression was gone so quickly that it might never have been, but Leila had seen it and she took it as a warning.
Leila might have to be served by an untrustworthy person, but she did not have to let the girl guess at her suspicions.
She disliked that there was one alliance at Killairic that she would not be able to make, but there was naught for it.Leila recalled Radegunde’s custom of sleeping in the chamber with Lady Ysmaine, unless Gaston and Ysmaine intended to be intimate.Radegunde often joined them in the chamber once their coupling was complete, and she had herself joined Bartholomew and Anna in their chamber when they had posed as a married couple at Haynesdale.It was an advantage for a maid to sleep in the solar, which was often warmer and offered greater comfort than the kitchen or the hall.Leila did not wish to cause offense by challenging custom, but she was not going to sleep with this viper awake in the solar.
Which only meant that Agnes had to be so exhausted each night that she had no choice but to sleep, and to sleep deeply.
Leila doubted that the girl realized just how thoroughly they two were going to clean the solar—or how much of the labor she was going to be compelled to do.
Fergus satin the hall with his father, listening to a summary of events since his departure.He was thinking, to his own surprise, about Leila.
He had been thinking about Isobel first, but it seemed that every consideration of Isobel led him to Leila.He supposed that was natural, for he had been betrothed to one and would marry the other.
What did he truly know about Isobel?She was beautiful, she smiled at his jests, she was obedient to her father’s will.They both were, he supposed, for they had agreed to wed at the suggestion of their parents.They had spent time together, but mostly in the company of others, at celebrations and when riding to hunt.They had been intimate once, but that had been so furtive that he scarce recalled the details.
He could not suppress the conviction that he knew more about any of his companions on this journey than about his betrothed.
Maybe even more of Leila.
It was an interesting notion.He did not know if Isobel lingered abed in the morning or rose early.He did not know what her mood would have been after a long day riding in the rain, much less how she would have responded to a need to sleep in a stable.Or in a field.It was true that travel and its hardships unveiled all secrets.
Fergus knew far more about Leila than about Isobel, to be sure.He knew that Leila would keep her word at any price, and fulfill any promise she made.He and she held the merit of a vow in the same high esteem.He knew that she was courageous, for she had left her home over a question of principle.He knew that she was clever and resourceful, and that she accepted the challenges of travel with a tolerance that echoed his own.
And he knew that she kissed with a sweet heat that haunted him truly.
Aye, and the second one had been more scorching than the first.
Leila.Even thinking of her in his father’s hall, knowing she was setting the solar to rights, knowing that they would pledge a handfast within hours, heated him to his toes.Was it simply the price of chastity?
Or would his desire for Leila linger beyond one night?
Fergus could not imagine as much.It was chastity at root, and some admiration of Leila was only natural.He doubted that his heart could be surrendered again so soon, certainly not if his beloved had been compelled to wed Stewart.His affection was more steady than that!The handfast was a compromise, an arrangement of good sense, and he would use the time to find Leila the husband she could love forevermore.
The one who would give her a son with blue eyes.
Fergus watched as the maid Agnes appeared at the base of the stairs with a bundle of linens.She strode into the bailey and returned moments later, evidently having assigned their washing to a woman in the village.
The curtains from the bed were carried out to the bailey next.Fergus could see the dust on the dark cloth even from the other side of the hall.Again, Agnes seemed to have found an ally in the village—or one more willing to ensure that the new lady’s will was done.She disappeared into the kitchens once she was rid of the curtains, where laughter was heard.
Leila herself appeared, clearly seeking the girl, and went into the kitchen in pursuit of her.No words were necessary to explain her stern expression, or her finger pointing up the stairs.Agnes trudged back to the solar, and Fergus fought a smile.
It seemed that Leila’s plan to win alliances at Killairic had some limitations.
Agnes descended next with the down mattresses from the great bed and carried them into the bailey.She returned quickly once more, and Fergus assumed she had again found someone to do the labor assigned to her.She climbed to the solar, looking proud of herself, then quickly reappeared, burdened with straw pallets and wearing a frown.She carried them outside, muttering under her breath with displeasure.Agnes must have been less successful in finding assistance with this task, for she was gone longer and was flushed when she entered the hall again.The pallets would have been left in the sun after being beaten, Fergus knew.
The girl then fetched a broom from the kitchens and carried it up the stairs to the solar.Fergus heard furniture being moved.No doubt, every corner of the room was being swept clean.
