“Everyoneelse at Gartmhor is, so ye may as weel forget that I gave ye that order.”
“‘Tisforgotten.” She tore off a piece of bread from a thick loaf and carefullyspread some honey on it.
“Ah,so it is the ghost. Why would my Uncle Ivor be interested in a maid calledMary?” He heard a soft cry and looked in the far corner of the room to see amaid almost hiding. “What do ye want, Mary?”
“Iwant nothing, m’lord. I was sent to clean and I am just waiting for ye tofinish.”
“Mayhapye could wait somewhere else, please?”
Sorchawatched the maid hurry out of the room and began to think that fate hadrevealed the Mary she had been searching for. The woman matched Ivor’sdescription, although he had been talking of a much younger Mary, but the fearlurking in the woman’s eyes made Sorcha suspicious.
“Yeare staring at that poor maid verra hard, lass,” Ruari said. “Aye, she is namedMary, but if ye are acting upon something ye think Ivor told you, I cannabelieve she would be involved. A verra timid lass who couldna have had anythingto do with Ivor, she is almost dotingly faithful to her husband David.”
Aye,now, Sorcha mused. She suspected that there was no stronger bond that couldexist between two people than the knowledge that they had shared in the deathof a man, even if they had not truly meant to kill him. The Mary Ivor spokeabout had also had a husband named David. There were too many coincidences, andshe decided that at the very first opportunity she had she would corner theskittish Mary.
“Ofcourse she couldnae have. Your uncle is a most lively and outspoken sort ofmon, not the kind of mon a woman like that would ever deal with,” she finallyagreed.
“Idinnae feel as if ye mean that wholeheartedly, lass. Now dinnae go troublingMary. She is a good hard worker.”
“Ofcourse. Have ye heard from my kinsmen yet?”
“Nay,but I expect to verra shortly.” He stared at her when she just nodded. “Weel,arenae ye going to tell me that I waste my time and yours? That the Hays dinnaehave the coin I am asking for and probably cannae get it?”
“Ihave told ye that a hundred times. Telling ye another hundred times is but awaste of precious breath. I am not in favor of beating a dead horse. And yewill soon see the truth of all I have said for yourself.”
“Ifye are saying that I willnae be paid—“
“Aye,that is exactly what I am saying. Ye cannae get coins out of an empty purse.”
“Butyour brother’s purse wasnae empty last summer. It was heavily weighted with mycoin. I only ask for what is mine.”
“Yeare an unpleasantly obstinate mon, Sir Ruari Kerr.”
“Thatis an insult I have heard so often it but rolls off my back.”
Sorchawas struggling to think of one he could not shrug aside so easily when Rosseentered the hall and said, “Someone from Dunweare is approaching.”
“Oh,how nice,” Sorcha cried and started to get to her feet only to have Ruariquickly yank her back down onto her seat. “Ye arenae even going to let me seemy family?”
“Ibelieve it would be verra unwise to let ye get within yards of another memberof the Hay clan. Whene’er more than one of ye get together there is trouble.”He waved his old friend closer. “Would ye please escort our guest to herchambers?”
Sorchaspared one final glare for Ruari before Rosse led her out of the great hall.She did not know what plots she could possibly devise in one brief meeting withher kinsman while inside the thick walls of Gartmhor, but it annoyed her thathe was not going to allow her the slim opportunity to try. Now she would haveto use the unreliable Ivor as a spy to find out what transpired between Ruariand her kinsman. The first thing she was anxious to discover was which one ofher clan had been sent as a mediator. She smiled sweetly at Rosse as he nudgedher into her bedchamber, wondered idly why that expression seemed to make themen of Gartmhor so nervous as she shut the door and then called out for Ivor.It was going to be rather enjoyable to use a ghost Ruari refused to believe into ferret out all the little secrets he tried to keep from her.
Ruarihid his surprise when Neil strode into the great hall. He had not reallyexpected to deal with a woman. It would temper his enjoyment, for a deeplyrooted sense of the courtesy due a woman meant he could not gloat as much as hehad anticipated.
AsNeil was seated and served a tankard of mead, Malcolm slipped into the room,his long, bony hands clutching his papers. It amused Ruari to watch thelovesick look on the little man’s face as he stared at Neil so intently hestumbled several times on his way to his seat at Ruari’s side. Ruari did notthink Malcolm could have picked a woman more completely different from him ifhe had tried. He began to feel badly for his cousin, for he did not really likethe idea that the man would suffer for his infatuation.
“LadyNeil Hay, this is my cleric and cousin, Malcolm Kerr,” Ruari introduced,watching as Malcolm thrust out his unsteady hand and had it firmly shaken byNeil. “He is here because he takes care of all of Gartmhor’s business andmonies.”
“Weel,this is a waste of his time,” Neil said. “There is no chance that ye can getany money out of the Hays. Aye, mayhap my witless nephew can buy ye an ale ortwo at a tavern, but he cannae raise much more than that.”
“Thatis verra poor negotiating, m’lady,” Ruari said. “I hold your nieces. Ye shouldat least ask what I want ere ye tell me ye cannae give it to me.”
“Iken exactly what ye want. Ye want your own ransom returned in full. Weel, theonly way ye are going to get that is to go and take it back from the English.”
Malcolmcleared his throat, but nervousness still made his voice higher than usual. “Areye saying that the Hays are destitute?”
“Aye,‘tis exactly what I am saying, little mon,” Neil replied then looked at Ruari. “Andthis oaf kens it as weel as any mon.”
