“It was nothing, my lord,” Thom said.
“Well, Lady Marjorie doesn’t think so. I wish I’d seen it. Did you really climb all the way up there?” The earl pointed to the spine of the pitched roof of the tower house.
Rutherford Castle was of the simple stone peel tower construction that was common in the area. It had served as a base for the earl and his men as they raided England and harried the garrison at Jedburgh to prevent any provisions from getting through.
“It’s easier than it looks, my lord.”
Edward Bruce glanced at him as if he were crazed. “How the hell did the cat get up there anyway?”
Thom shrugged. “Lady Marjorie said one of the children was chasing him around the ramparts and the cat was trying to escape. He was probably too scared to try to come down.”
“I wonder why,” Carrick said dryly. “I sure as hell wouldn’t risk my neck for a cat, but Lady Marjorie is grateful.Verygrateful. The lovely widow has requested that you be among the men to provide her escort to her lands in Yorkshire.” When Thom didn’t immediately respond, he added, “She specifically asked me what your position was in the army, and whether you were wed. I told her you were one of my most promising soldiers, and that you were as yet unmarried. The lady is definitely interested. Move your pieces right, and you’ll capture your ‘queen,’ and be lord of this castle in a few months.”
With the amount of attention Lady Marjorie had been showing him the past few days—and the suggestive touches and brushes—Thom wasn’t completely surprised by the earl’s news. “Thank you, my lord. I will do my best. When do I leave?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
“You do not need me here for the raids?”
Carrick shook his head. “We’ll be leaving for Stirling by the end of the week. You can meet us there.” The earl paused, eyeing him thoughtfully. “You surprise me, MacGowan. I thought you would be more excited by the prospect of a rich wife. You’ve made no secret of your ambition. The alliance will elevate your standing among the men and make your path to knighthood much easier. ’Tis a good match. Better than most in your position could hope for—although I suspect your countenance helps. I’ve noticed how popular you are with the lasses.” Thom withheld comment, as there wasn’t much to say about that. Carrick frowned. “Is there another match you hoped to make?”
Thom shook his head. “Nay, my lord. I am pleased—verypleased,” he added, furious at himself for his reaction. Carrick was right: he should be cheering from the rooftops at his good fortune. Lady Marjorie Rutherford was the widow of a respected knight with significant dower lands on both sides of the border, including this castle near Peebles. For a man in his position, it was a good match—aspectacularmatch—indeed.
If the lady herself was a little bold in her advances and reminded him of the feline to which she was so attached (more than her children, he couldn’t help noticing), she was reasonably young, attractive, and, from what he could tell, an excellent chatelaine. Lady Marjorie was more than he could have hoped for.
He wasn’t a lovesick fool anymore. A broken heart had proved to be a powerful eye-opener, curing him of all his illusions. He knew exactly where he stood, and what he needed to do to move up the ranks. A good marriage—a goodalliance—was part of that.
Elizabeth had taught him well. Thom didn’t think much about the past. He’d moved on. But when he did think of her, it was no longer with anger and hurt. It was no longer a raw, festering wound upon which the slightest touch would make his insides scream in agony. Nay, now it was more of a dull sense of loss and disappointment. A hole in his heart that would never be filled.
Not that he blamed her. He must have been half-crazed to ever think she would look at him as a potential suitor—even if she had returned his feelings. Elizabeth wasn’t the widow of a minor baron. She was aDouglas. With everything that meant.
His mouth fell in a tight line. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to put all of his past or all Douglases behind him. It seemed like every time he turned around, he was running into his former friend-now-nemesis or being forced to listen to some tale of whatever amazing feat the Black Douglas had managed on the battlefield. He was damned tired of it.
Joanna might have forgiven “Sir” James, but Thom wasn’t as forgiving.
Perhaps the journey to Yorkshire would prove a boon in more ways than one. In England the Black Douglas was feared, not revered, playing more the role of bogeyman than great hero.
“I will be ready, my lord, and I look forward to escorting Lady Marjorie,” Thom said with much more enthusiasm this time. “You can be assured, I won’t waste this opportunity.”
Carrick nodded. “Good. Resume your training.”
A squire ran up and handed a missive to Carrick as Thom started to walk away. He took only a few steps before Carrick called him back. “MacGowan, wait.” He finished reading the piece of parchment and lowered it. “I’m afraid your pretty widow is going to have to wait.”
“My lord?”
“It seems Douglas has performed another miracle.” If there was anyone who enjoyed hearing about Douglas’s feats less than Thom, it was Edward Bruce—and perhaps Thomas Randolph. “He’s taken Roxburgh Castle, and we’ve been ordered to help him destroy it.”
4
ARCHIE CERTAINLY WASgoing to have some explaining to do. Elizabeth was exhausted by the time she and Joanna’s brother, Richard, rode through the gate of Roxburgh Castle late the following morning. She dropped off the horse before someone could help her down and winced, putting her hand on the small of her back. The sixteen-year-old scamp had much to atone for, indeed. Not just for her exhaustion, but also for the crick in her back after one of the most horrid nights of sleep in recent memory. The ground had been about as warm and comfortable as a block of ice. Had she known what she was in for, she might not have been as eager to follow her runaway brother to Roxburgh.
Her mouth twisted. Who was she trying to fool? The long ride, ache in her back, and lack of sleep were well worth the prospect of a little excitement. She wanted to retrieve her miscreant of a brother, of course, but if therehappenedto be a feast or two to celebrate Jamie’s taking of the important castle while she was here, she wouldn’t betoodisappointed.
Upon learning that Archie had ridden out shortly before the messenger had arrived, Elizabeth had called immediately for her horse and gone after him. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to hunt down one of her half brothers and drag them back by the ear (fifteen-year-old Hugh was proving just as stubborn and muleheaded as other Douglas males). The difference this time was that she knew where Archie was going.
She did not consider it dangerous. What was left of English authority in Scotland had been whittled down to a few castles: Bothwell, Berwick, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Stirling, and Edinburgh. Bruce’s and Randolph’s siege blockades around the latter two castles, preventing the garrisons from leaving, made it the safest time around them in years. At least until June, when Edward II had threatened to march on Scotland again.
Nonetheless, she’d taken an escort, which was a good thing, as they’d seen a party of English knights on patrol east of Selkirk. Joanna’s eldest brother (another Thomas) was fighting with Jamie, but twenty-year-old Richard was one of the handful of warriors Jamie had left behind to defend the castle.
