She put a finger on his lips. “We will have our baby soon enough,” she said soothingly. “Let us eat, then talk.”
Lockie smiled at her. When she turned around for a moment his smile became a sneer.
She thinks she can fool me.
He would deal with her later. What he wanted most now was getting revenge on Alex.
When Donna and Bearnard arrived Robina went to greet them, and her mother took one look at her daughter’s belly and gasped in disbelief. The stomach which had been flat and trim the last time she had seen her on a visit only two months before was flat no longer, but had a distinct bulge.
“Robina, you look wonderful!” she exclaimed, hugging her daughter carefully.
Bearnard looked his daughter up and down, shaking his head in wonder. “Indeed,” he said proudly, “you have never looked so beautiful!” He kissed her and as he drew back, Robina could see tears in his eyes.
“I do not feel wonderful or beautiful!” Robina complained loudly as she led them inside. She described the symptoms she had been experiencing, but the sympathy she had been expecting from her mother did not materialize.
Donna flapped a hand at her. “Pfft!” she said dismissively. “You must bear up, sweetheart. We all go through it. It is God’s punishment for the sin of Eve.”
If I hear that silly argument one more time I will scream!Robina thought. She was a devout churchgoing Christian, but some things about her faith made her uncomfortable, especially now, when she was already uncomfortable enough in a different way.
When her parents had been shown their rooms, they adjourned to the parlor for ale and oatcakes and fell to discussing the problems posed by Lockie, the eternal thorn in Alex’s side.
“They fought a duel,” Robina said. “Lockie is a fairly good swordsman, but Alex has been hardened in battle, and works the land with our tenants, so his body is in very good shape. Since then Lockie has been ridiculed, and naturally he blames Alex. It is a very unpleasant situation.”
“Negotiation is the best tool,” Bearnard remarked.
“He hates us now and will not speak to us at all. But let us talk of more pleasant things.”
They chatted amiably about commonplace things till dinnertime. Robina heard all about the neighbors, their tenants, the price of livestock, births, marriages, and deaths, and all the local goings-on that she had missed. She felt a little homesick, but these feelings disappeared as soon as she saw Alex striding in, smiling from ear to ear.
The first thing he did was to pull Donna from her seat, kiss her hand, and hug her fiercely. She pretended to protest, but her cheeks were pink with pleasure as he let her go.
“How good to see you, Mother!” he exclaimed, taking her by the shoulders and holding her at arms’ length, “And looking so pretty!”
“Listen to him!” Donna laughed, embarrassed but pleased. “What a shameless flatterer!”
“Father!” Alex moved on to Bearnard, and the two men bowed and shook hands. “You are looking well.”
“You too, Alex,” Bearnard replied politely.
Alex laughed and went to sit down beside Robina. “Not as well as my lovely wife!” His voice was fond and appreciative, his eyes shining. “Some women blossom when they are with child. Robina is one of them.”
“And when they are in love,” Donna observed, eyes twinkling. She was privately thinking that there must be something wrong with any woman who couldnotfall in love with Alex Lindsay. He was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
“Yes.” Alex smiled then looked down at his linen shirt and hose, filthy with mud and grass stains. “Excuse me, all, I desperately need to rid myself of this mud. I will see you at dinner!” He bowed, turned around, and strode out, while Donna tried not to watch him.
When he came back half an hour later he was wearing a Lindsay tartan kilt with a broad leather belt over a white tunic. He had shaved and his face, which had been splattered with mud, was now clean.
“I am famished!” he announced, patting his flat stomach. “Come Mother, let me escort you to dinner.” He crooked his arm and Donna slipped hers through it. “I could eat a horse!”
When they sat down, Alex allowed Bearnard to sit at the head of the table, a polite gesture that surprised and pleased Robina’s parents.
Robina had told Alex that her parents often liked to eat plain food, so they had mutton stew with bannocks, then assorted fruit and cheese made in the castle buttery. They drank ale with the meal, but when they went into the parlor the men poured themselves whisky while the women drank mulled wine.
Something about the way Alex was looking into his glass made Bearnard ask, “What is on your mind, Son? You look very thoughtful.”
Alex laughed softly. “I was thinking about the watered-down stuff we used to get when I was in the army. It had more water than whisky in it.” He drained his glass then sat down and looked into the fire, thinking about the past. A little smile played around his lips. “Everyone thinks it must have been terrible, and it was, but I made friends, laughed a lot, and learned a lot too. I came back with much more respect for the common people than I had before.”
“Were you scared?” Donna asked.
