“Understandable,” Mattie said. “She sounds like a caring woman.”
They were inside the keep now and Gar collected one of the torches on the wall to light their way up the spiral stairs.
“She is,” Gar said. “She is also Scots to the bone, as is my grandmother. There are many Scots in my family, so you are aware. I think my brothers and some of my cousins are truly men of two countries because of it. My mother’s father is a clan chief called Red Keith Kerr. He’s a terror.”
They were nearing the top of the steps at this point, moving in the light of the torch through the darkness. “My mother’s mother is also Scots,” she said. “She is related to Robert de Brus, Lord Annandale.”
“How is she related to him?”
“Through an aunt.”
“Annandale is the Scottish royal family.”
Mattie nodded as they headed down a small corridor. “Through her, I am descended from King David of Scotland,” she said. “But it is a female line, so it means little.”
“It is still royal blood,” Gar said. “I do not know if my father knew that. He never mentioned it.”
“Does it matter?”
They had reached a closed door and Mattie lifted the latch, pushing the door open to reveal a warm, fragrant, and comfortable chamber beyond. There was an enormous canopied bed in the center of it, with heavy woolen curtains all around. A fire burned brightly in the hearth, creating a warm atmosphere. Gar was rather pleased by it all and would have said so had something not launched itself at his hip.
Winchester was on the attack.
Mattie shrieked when the dog grabbed hold of the edge of Gar’s blue tunic, growling and yanking at it. He wasn’t actually biting Gar, but he was determined to tear the tunic to pieces. With a heavy sigh, Gar rolled his eyes and looked down at the dog as it tugged and tugged, snarling all the way.
Mattie raced over and grabbed the dog by the neck.
“Winnie,stop!” she commanded. “Let go this instant!”
Winchester failed to respond. He was going to rip the tunic right off Gar’s body because, clearly, the garment must have also offended him at some point in its life. Gar kept his hands up so the dog couldn’t bite them, but he didn’t move. He just stood there, looking at the dog as Mattie tried to pull him away.
“Mayhap if we ignore him, he will exhaust himself and move on,” Gar said.
Mattie was seriously tugging on the dog. “He has never done this before,” she said, grunting. “My apologies that he seems to have a dislike for you.”
Gar just stood there, being buffeted around slightly as Mattie tried to pull the dog away. She finally managed to do it, embracing the dog around his chest as she carried him to the door. Gar moved around her, and the dog, opening the panel so she could toss the dog out. She barely managed to make it back inside before Gar slammed the door, keeping the barking, snapping dog out on the landing. Slightly winded from the fight, Mattie pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.
“Naughty beast,” she said. “He really is very sweet, though I’m sure you cannot see that. He is very protective of me.”
“Good,” Gar said. “I’m glad. That means when I am away, you have a protector.”
Mattie smiled reluctantly. “I suppose,” she said. Then, it occurred to her that they were finally alone in her chamber and she began to feel a little nervous. “Now that the violence has been tossed outside the door, I suppose we should prepare for our… evening.”
Gar could hear the timidity in her voice. Truth be told, he was feeling a little himself. “It seems strange, doesn’t it?” he said. “We’ve only just met, yet we are expected to know each other as husband and wife. We’ve not even called one another by our Christian names.”
Mattie was still smiling as she moved to the dressing table to remove the jewels she wore. “True,” she said. “Everything has happened very quickly.”
“It has.”
“I give you permission to call me Mattie if you wish.”
“Your name is Matilda.”
She nodded as she moved to unfasten the necklace. “Matilda Eleanor Joan Julia Catherine Fernanda,” she said. “I was named for nearly every woman in my family.”
He chuckled. “I would say so,” he said. “I feel rather simple with only one name.”
“Gar?”
