“How did you know such a detail?” the Hawk demanded, even as Ahearn cleared his throat. He flicked a glance at his wife, only to find her biting back a smile. He had lost this battle, well and truly, and the Hawk could not find it in himself to mind.
Evangeline stepped forward, doubtless sensing his capitulation. Aye, these women knew him through and through—and he adored them both.
“I would like your blessing, Papa,” she said, clearly certain she would have it.
The Hawk scowled then at the pair, doing his best to appear forbidding. Evangeline smiled, undeterred. “So, the deed is done, in every possible way.” He sighed as if discontent and surveyed Ramsay. “I suppose you have neither holding nor fortune? I suppose you intend to live in the woods with my daughter, preying upon passing companies for a morsel or a gem to ensure your survival?”
The younger man bristled in a most welcome way. “You assume incorrectly, sir. I rode to Scotland with the express purpose of defending my lady against her betrothed, as soon as I heard of the match. I could not stand by while she was surrendered to Rufus Percival, not when his true nature was known to me.”
“A laudable scheme, but a reply that does not answer my question.”
“I have earned a considerable sum at tournament, sir. I await only a bride to take my hand and choose our abode. My aunt undoubtedly will know of a holding in need of a lord in Normandy…”
“I think you will not have to ride so far as that.” The Hawk conjured the seal from his purse and held it before the younger man.
Ramsay frowned at it, not recognizing the insignia.
Evangeline’s eyes lit. “Abernye!” she breathed and the Hawk felt his wife’s smile.
“Abernye,” Aileen said, reaching to brush her fingertips across the seal. “My home,” she told Ramsay. “It is near Inverness, once a fine holding with a bountiful estate. When the seal came to us, I hoped one of our children would assume command of it.”
“Maman!” Evangeline cried and reached to kiss her mother’s cheeks with evident joy. She turned to Ramsay. “We shall be close but not so very close: my family will not be riding to visit all the time, but we will be able to see them as we desire. I think it is perfect.”
“There is a good port at Inverness,” Aileen added. “If this aunt of yours or comrades from Normandy should see fit to visit you.”
The Hawk lifted the seal, holding Ramsay’s gaze. “I once told you that you had no right to address me as your lord,” he said, watching the other man’s smile dawn. “We might change that circumstance.”
Ramsay bowed, his voice husky. He appeared to be overwhelmed. “I would be honored, sir.”
“As, I assure you, am I,” the Hawk said. The two smiled at each other, then the Hawk offered his hand.
Ramsay seized it and shook it hard, his relief more than clear.
“Papa,” Evangeline said. “We agreed with cousin Alexander to wed again at Kinfairlie since all are gathered there. May Ramsay swear to you there?”
“He may, indeed,” the Hawk said with hearty approval. “For a pledge of fealty needs mortal witnesses as well as the divine. Let us ride north on the morrow.” And he could not help but chuckle when Evangeline hugged him tightly, her joy so evident that it could not be denied. He kissed his daughter’s cheeks, well satisfied with her choice. Aye, he might soon have a grandchild or two to spoil.
“You must be famished beyond all after your day’s hard ride,” Lady Haynesdale declared, then rose to her feet to fuss over the arrivals.
Benches were conjured from the shadows, and cups of wine, a trencher of hot stew soon served before the Hawk and his lady wife, and all gathered in the meadow were content.
It was, to the Hawk’s reckoning, a most admirable situation.
* * *
Kinfairlie was a marvel to Ramsay,but less of one than Evangeline’s vast family. He could not recall the names of so many cousins and their children, though he was utterly seduced by the potent love that held them all together. They teased each other and provoked each other, accepting of each other’s foibles and admiring of each other’s strengths. That so many of them had journeyed so far to celebrate his match with Evangeline was wondrous indeed—that not all of them were present was astonishing to him.
For a man who had always yearned for family, Ramsay found himself awash in relations and he could not have been happier.
The Hawk, it proved, was a man possessed of an affection for maps and a skill in drawing them. When Ramsay asked on their first night after leaving Dunhaven, the older man drew in the dirt to show him the layout of Abernye. Later, he took ink to parchment to illustrate the location of the holding Ramsay would govern in relation to its neighbors, both foes and allies. His memory was precise and thorough, his knowledge and wisdom readily shared.
Ramsay discovered that they shared an interest in strategic opportunity and alliance. By the time the party reached Kinfairlie, their nightly consultations were established as a habit and one that others did not interrupt. The Hawk told him of crops and tithes, matters of utter mystery to Ramsay, the administration of justice on a holding, and explained his future obligations to both the Hawk and the crown. Ramsay was gratified that he had such a good tutor.
He himself was more than willing to share his own knowledge, correcting the grip of a cousin’s son upon the hilt of his dagger, or demonstrating technique with Talbot for those in training for their spurs. Otto was in his glory amongst so many young men in need of his instruction. When Ramsay invited his former mentor to accompany them to Abernye as his Captain of the Guard, Otto was quick to accept—so long as he could continue to mentor Evangeline’s young relations.
It would have taken a less observant man than Ramsay to fail to note Talbot’s interest in one Astrid Sinclair, daughter of Erik and Vivienne of Blackleith, or to miss Erik’s keen scrutiny of this foreign knight with amorous aspirations.
There was warmth and camaraderie in this company of relations, connections to be shared, and gifts offered to aid in the building of their future together. Alexander offered seed from Kinfairlie for Abernye’s fields, assumed to be less than well managed. Cousins committed their sons to training under Otto’s hand, pledging coin to Abernye’s empty coffers.
