But he was wrong about the rest. She’d never thought of him as a servant who must jump to do her bidding, and she hated that he could think that of her. But as important as it was to her for him to know that, she also knew that the only way to prove it to him was to heed his request and leave him be.
She had her own plans for the future to think about, didn’t she?
She had to let him go.
But her chest squeezed as she glanced out the window. This time her eyes scanned the yard below. Had he gone to his widow yet?
She hadn’t seen him since the midday meal yesterday, but she hadn’t been able to find the courage to ask Edward Bruce about him at today’s. She feared the answer.
A soft rap on the door drew her gaze from the window. Expecting her maidservant, she was surprised by the woman who entered.
Immediately, her heart jumped. “Have you heard something?”
Lady Helen gave her a wry smile and shook her head. “Not yet.” Shifting the wiggly bundle in her arms, she added, “Willie and I thought you might be in need of some company.” Her gaze shifted meaningfully to the window Elizabeth stood before. “I’ve spent many hours staring out of windows.”
Elizabeth could only imagine. What must it be like to be married to one of Bruce’s Phantoms? To the men who were called upon for the most difficult, dangerous missions? She shuddered. “How do you manage?”
The pretty healer smiled while struggling to keep hold of the wee laddie who, in addition to wiggling, had started verbalizing his displeasure at being held. “This stubborn little ox for one. I also have my work, which keeps me busier than I’d like.”
Elizabeth understood. Helen tended to the men who were injured on the battlefield. Crossing the chamber, she held her arms out and smiled. “He’s adorable. May I?”
Helen looked relieved. “Do you mind? My arms feel like they are about to fall off. He’s already so heavy, and he doesn’t like much being held right now.”
“He wants to crawl?”
Lady Helen nodded. “Aye, and he doesn’t like being told no. I’m afraid he’s as muleheaded as his father.” She grinned, noticing how Elizabeth’s arms sagged with the weight. “And built as solid as his father as well. I must admit I’m looking forward to him walking.”
“But be careful what you wish for,” Elizabeth said with a laugh, bounding the adorable fair-haired child in her arms. “I remember how it was when Hugh started to walk. It seemed we were forever chasing him to prevent some sort of disaster.”
The little boy seemed to like her bouncing and gurgled with laughter, revealing a handful of pearly white teeth. He was a cute little devil with a cherubic round face, big green eyes, long lashes, feathery soft blond hair, and sturdy little limbs.
“He likes you,” Lady Helen said with a smile. “He seems to have a fondness for pretty lasses already.”
Elizabeth grinned and laughed as he started to play with one of her plaits. “How old is he? Ten months?”
Lady Helen’s brows lifted. “Yes, next week. I’m impressed. You’d think with all I know about healing I’d be better at this. But Willie has a knack for revealing just how ignorant I am. I never seem to know what to do with him. I can’t believe I actually thought this would be easy.”
Hearing the very motherly frustration in her voice, Elizabeth had to smile. She remembered Joanna’s similar travails during Uilleam’s first year. Her nephew would be two in June. “He is your first?”
Helen nodded. “I’ve heard from some of the other wives that it gets easier. Since a few of them have more than one child, I guess I’ll have to believe them.”
It must have for Jo, Elizabeth thought with a smile, if the recent greenish hue to her skin in the morning meant anything.
Elizabeth suspected she was referring to the other wives of Bruce’s secret Guard. “Your husband doesn’t mind you and the baby being here?”
Lady Helen’s mouth twisted. “I wouldn’t say that. I think he’d rather Willie and I were at Varrich Castle in the far north of his lands in Sutherland, but he knows I may be needed, so we try to find a balance. Willie and I stay far away from danger, but as soon as Magnus deems it safe we are with him. With the victories the king has been having of late, I hope it won’t be long until most of Scotland is safe.” She glanced down in horror at Elizabeth’s wrist. “Willie, no!”
The little boy had moved on from trying to poke his chubby fingers through Elizabeth’s plait to gnawing on her bracelet.
“It’s all right,” she said with a laugh. “He isn’t doing any harm.”
“Are you sure?” Lady Helen said, watching uncertainly. “It’s very beautiful.” She peered closer at the thin, etched piece of metal. “And unusual. I noticed you holding it when I walked into the room. It must be special to you.”
Elizabeth must have been twisting it again. Joanna had pointed out more than once—as if she should signify something by it—that she did so often when she was anxious or nervous about something.
“It is,” Elizabeth answered. Thommy had given it to her for her saint’s day right before she’d been forced to leave for France at the start of Bruce’s war. She rarely removed it.
The small cuff was simply designed, consisting of two half-circles of brass (likely remnants from making the quillons from a sword) hinged on one side and secured by two clasps on the other. The workmanship was exquisite. It was etched with ancient symbols, such as those that were on the old cross at St. Mary’s in Douglas said to have been from the time Christianity was first introduced by the Irish missionaries St. Finian and St. Columba. Thommy was so talented, which is why she’d never understood why he wanted to be a knight. Although perhaps she had a better idea now.
