Laura had not come to him again, however. Bruce asked the captain of the guard to shift his duties around. Perhaps she had changed the times she liked to go out riding, but still, she did not come down to the stables. Had he scared her off by scolding her for coming to wake him that morning? There had been no sign of the lady since her brother had met them at the gate.
Whenever Bruce thought about never seeing Laura again, his mind refused to comprehend it.
I should have insisted I leave that time I went to speak to the captain! Why have I been so blind as to think I could remain impartial to the lass! She has me wrapped around her wee finger… I’m dying for a glimpse of her shining brown curls and mossy gray eyes keeking at me from out of one of the castle windows. Curse my lowly status and humble origins. If I was a laird like me grandfaither, I might approach her brither right now and ask for his blessing to marry her.
And so Bruce stewed in the lack of information enforced by his isolation.
There was no other way to communicate with her. He waited to be on night watch duty, waited for the right chance, and then crept into Laura’s bedchamber. Now it was her turn to wake in the wee hours of the night with someone shaking her awake.
“Bruce…” Laura seemed to say the name with a sad sigh. “What is it? Is Alice alright?”
He loved her for thinking about his sister’s well-being first. “I have nae seen ye this past se’ennight, lass. Is all bonny with ye?”
“Oh Bruce, I… I am well enough, but me brither—”
“Forget yer brither.” He had to tell her about the wager. One deep kiss was all he needed to win enough gold to keep Alice in comfort for the next ten years. Once the gold was in his pocket, they could…
“What’s going on here!” Bruce did not think Mary’s quavering old voice could ever be enough to scare the life out of him, but sitting on the edge of Laura’s bed at two bells past midnight gave the elderly maid’s voice the power of guilt and surprise.
“Och nay, Mary!” Bruce stood up, knowing he was blethering. “I-It’s no’ what ye think! I came here to—”
“Out! Out, I say,” Mary hissed at him like an angry goose. “Ye should be ashamed of yerself, loitering in a maiden’s bedchamber! An’ yer laird’s betrothed too, no less!”
She hurried him out in front of her, and Bruce had no choice but to leave.
12
“Iam pleased to see yer sister has obeyed ye, Henry.” Laird Roy Halkerston lifted his chin in Laura’s direction and then turned back to where Arabella and her husband sat side by side on the dining hall dais. Arabella gave Henry’s hand a squeeze; she knew he felt his sister’s pain at having to marry away from her heart.
“I like a woman who understands her place in the world.” Laird Halkerston continued to pontificate, a haughty expression on his face. “She must curtsy and show obedience, always keep her eyes cast downward, say aye an’ amen to all her husband’s requests, keep the castle clean, the food plentiful, and her belly full o’ bairns. That’s what a woman is designed for, just as this goblet here was designed to hold wine.”
Now it was Henry’s turn to gently pinch Arabella’s hand; he could feel her body react to the laird’s words. “Hoots, Roy! Ye are mighty traditional in yer views!” Henry said, hoping Laura isolating herself at the end of the head table would be far enough away for her not to hear this. “I take it ye have never cleaved yerself to a woman who is wealthy in her own right? Because nay lass with her own gold would bend the knee in such a fashion.”
The supercilious look did not leave Roy’s face. “I insist on all of Laura’s gold being made over to me afore the wedding, or else there will be no contract signed.”
Laird Anderson looked concerned. “I dinnae ken if I deem that wise, speaking on behalf o’ me daughter. She must have a small portion set aside for her own use. We only have yer word for it that ye will bestow pretty trinkets on her; those are the kind of fallals that Laura dotes upon. D’ye no’ think it makes for a happier home when a wife can spoil herself if the husband forgets to?”
Laird Halkerston stood up from the table, not bothering to blot his lips with a napkin. When he spoke, Arabella could see flecks of food flying out of his mouth. Laura kept her head down, pushing her food around her dish at the furthest end of the dais.
“I want to take me men an’ go back to Huna to show Lady Laura me castle and lodge. Me retinue stays in the lodge—it’s nice an’ cozy—and the soldiers live in the castle. It’s auld, and the stones let in every stormy gale blowing across the sea. And we must visit the wee village o’ St. John’s. I believe one of me soldiers, Bruce Duncan, has clan living there.”
“Is St. John’s under yer purview?” Arabella asked. “Does it not fall under the king’s domain?”
The laird ignored her question under the guise of not hearing it. He walked out of the hall, calling two of his soldiers to accompany him as if he expected shadowy assassins hiding behind every corner in Fisher Castle.
Laird Roy could not be dissuaded from his quest. Laird Anderson said he would accompany Laura and act as a chaperone while Arabella and Henry stayed at the castle.
When they heard the news they were to ride back to Huna, the McKay brothers jostled Bruce’s elbow as he was taking a pull of his ale. “Och, Bruce, ye better tighten yer kilt belt if ye plan on winning that bet o’ yers. Time’s running out!”
They received a frown in return for their joking, and exchanged glances. It seemed as if Bruce’s usual stern demeanor had deepened into an impenetrable wall of dour stoniness.
The captain of the guards approached the men to give them their orders.
“Ye McKays are to ride ahead as scouts. Duncan, ye’re to ride with the main party as guard.”
“I came here as a scout, an’ I’ll be leaving here as a scout if it’s all the same to ye,” Bruce growled before the captain turned to go back to the barracks. Some of the soldiers murmured; Bruce Duncan never disobeyed a direct order.
The captain shrugged. “Then go tell that to the laird an’ see how he takes it. It’s his order.”
