'Give us space,' Hugh ordered, 'and bring wine.'
'Who are you?'I asked as the servants hurried to obey.
'I am Hugh Veitch,' Hugh told me.
'Are you the Lord of this tower?'I looked around at the groined ceiling and the carved fireplace, the mixture of tapestries and armaments on the wall, the long tables that ran the length of the room and the cross-table at the top, where Hugh sat as if by right.I could have been in Cardrona, rather than in the home of the fearsome Veitches.
'I am,' he said.
'You are very young to be the lord.'
Hugh screwed up his face.'I had no choice in it,' he said.'My father was killed in a raid by the Tweedies and my mother died in childbirth.I was sent away to be brought up by aunts so Faladale had an heir.'He shrugged.'Some of the rest you know.'
'Oh,' I said.'I am sorry.'It was the first time I had considered the feud from the other point of view.I had been brought up with the idea that the Veitches were the wicked family who attacked us; I had never really considered that we should be looked on as the aggressors.
'It is the way of the world.'Hugh seemed to accept it.'It was not your fault so no need for any apology.'
'It was my surname; my family,' I said.
We were silent as servants produced a flagon of French wine and a plate of cold chicken, with that morning's bread and some cuts of salmon and a bowl of apples.
'Eat, drink and tell me why you crossed the hills to see me at this time of night.'Hugh's eyes were as friendly as ever.'It is hard to know that you are so close, yet we are divided by a waste of hills and your love for another.'
That was undoubtedly the frankest admission I had ever heard from a man.
'I do not love another,' I said quickly, and once again cursed that I could not curtail my tongue.What power had Hugh that he made me speak the truth to him without forethought?I knew the answer of course, but I could not dare again put it into words.
'Yet you will marry your Robert,' Hugh said, 'despite the strictures of your mother.'His smile was a trifle rueful, I thought.'I remember, you see.'
'Many men do not listen to the cares of women,' I said.
'And some listen all too well, and are hurt by them,' Hugh said softly as if he spoke to himself.
'My mother now wishes me to marry Robert Ferguson,' I heard the sadness in my voice, 'and that quickly.'
'What has changed her mind?'When Hugh poured me wine, candlelight gleamed through the splendid glass.I had seldom seen anything so beautiful.
'Robert is now heir to Whitecleuch,' I said.'Our marriage will unite the properties and bring more security to the valley.'I looked up at him, reading the pain in his eyes.'We will be safer from Veitch attacks.'
'This Veitch does not plan any attacks on the lands of the Tweedies,' Hugh told me, 'Yet he would fain capture the brightest jewel in the Lethan Valley and remove one of the leading men.'His voice hardened as he made that last statement.
'Please don't,' I touched his wrist with my hand, feeling a thrill run through me.'It is hard enough.'
He nodded, 'it is all of that,' he said and, catching his meaning, I felt myself smile despite my thoughts.
'Is Robert Ferguson worthy of you?'Hugh sipped at his wine.A tiny drop spilt from his glass, to fall slow and soft to the table.I wiped the spot away with my fingers and licked them clean, watching him all the while.
'You have a pretty little tongue,' he said absently.
'I have had it for years,' I said.'And I will not answer your question about Robert.He is a good man in many ways.'
'I know of him,' Hugh said softly.
'What do you know?'I looked up suddenly.
'I know he is a fine horseman and good at fishing, that he is lazy with his arms and spoiled in his person, but kindly by nature and gentle to children and animals.'
I nodded.'These things are true,' I agreed.
