'I also know that he is not a warrior and has no taste for the lance and sword; he is slow of action and prefers horses to women: except for one woman.'His gaze did not stray from my face.
'I am that woman,' I said softly.
'You are not that woman,' Hugh said.'That woman is Kate Hunnam of the Kirkton.She is blonde of hair, supple of body, and weak of morals.She will make an uncomfortable wife for any man.'
I felt the pain like a knife, twisting inside my heart.'I know of their friendship,' I said.'It is not what I wanted to happen.'
'What we want and what we think we want are often two different things,' Hugh told me.'In my case, I know what I think I want, and I know what I want.They are one and the same and they are sitting opposite me at this table even as we talk.'
I closed my eyes.I knew then, that I wanted the same as him, yet I knew it was impossible.My future lay with Robert, not with Hugh.It was not the future I wished, yet it was destined and there was nothing I could do about it.
'Hugh.'I held his hand urgently as I strove to change the subject to one that I did have the power to control.'You must get away from here.'
'And why is that?'Hugh's tone altered from sincerity to amusement.
'The Tweedies are coming,' I said.
'I know that,' Hugh said calmly.'Kate Hunnam has also been romping with Maisie's Hobbie Veitch.She tells him everything and he passes it on to me.My men are waiting for the Tweedies.'
'Oh.'I had not realised the depths of Kate's treachery.I wished I had landed my lash on her.I still wish that, so many years later.
Hugh continued.'We have plenty of time together, Jeannie.My lads are positioned all along the hill crests at each pass and each opening to my lands.We will meet them with fire and sword.'
'My father… my brother, and Robert are with them,' I said.
'I have given word not to hurt your father,' Hugh said.'I did not know you had a brother.My intelligence is usually reliable.'
I explained about the Yorling.
'We still have time,' Hugh said.He did not comment on my half-brother.Such relationships were not uncommon.It was a fact of life.
'Time?'I asked, and when I looked into his eyes, I knew exactly what he meant.'No, Hugh, I can't…' And then I remembered Robert, and how I had treated him.'No,' I put steel into my voice.'I won't.'
Yet when Hugh stretched his hand out to me, I took it and followed him up the turnpike stairs to his chamber.I knew it was wrong, I knew I would hate myself later, I knew that I should not, yet I felt that deep thrill of excitement within me, that mingled tingling of pleasure and apprehension and sheer lust.
Hugh's chamber was not like I had expected.I thought it would be a jumble of male things, over-run with dogs, scattered with weapons, and discarded clothing.Instead, it was clean, austere, and cool, with a sturdy bed in one corner and a carved wooden chair beside a small table on which stood a candlestick and three books.I did not know any other men who read books, except the church minister, and the Reverend Romanes was a very infrequent visitor to the Lethan Valley.
The candle pooled its yellow light from the corner of the room, highlighting the firm line of Hugh's jaw and cheekbones.
'You are one of the few men I know who is clean-shaven,' I said, as he led me in by the hand and closed the door behind him.
'You are one of the few women I know who would ride across the hills at night-time to warn an enemy that he may be attacked.'
'You are the only enemy I would ever warn,' I said, watching as he slipped off his jack.His trousers were next, slipping around his hips, yet even now Hugh did not allow them to fall in a shapeless bundle but lifted them neatly and placed them on the back of his chair.
He stood in his shirt, smiling across to me in that neat room, and I knew that there was nowhere else in the world that I desired to be.
'Take your shirt off.'I heard the catch in my throat as I spoke.His breathing was ragged as he did as I asked and stood naked before me.On the last occasion I had seen him like this, we had been inside the Nine Stane Rig high above Liddesdale.Now we were in Hugh's own chamber in his own tower, yet I felt the same tension as my eyes devoured him.He was all man.
I felt that same surge of passion that chased away reason.I knew that my father could lead the men of the Lethan Valley to attack the Veitches at any time; I knew that Robert could be in danger, yet at that moment I did not care.Only one emotion possessed me, and it centred on the man who stood opposite, watching as I slowly undressed.
I was not afraid and nor was I shy.I wanted him to see me, as I wished to see him.I wanted him to savour my body as I savoured his.
'You are beautiful,' he said when I discarded the last vestige of my clothing and stood before him, proud in my femininity.
After that, we did not talk.We were there, the bed was there, and time was limited.War could take second place to love; nature knows which is more important.There is no need to go into many details about what happened next; you all know what goes where when man meets maid, and Hugh had an urgency that nearly matched my own as we put hands on each other and slid onto the bed.
Our coupling at Nine Stane Rig had been under the gentle rain of autumn; this time we were in the cool shelter of Hugh's chamber with the candle pooling its yellow light over his austere room and our urgent bodies.I pushed him to the bed and mounted him without the need for words, glorying in our healthy, natural desire as he thrust to meet me.
