He didn’t care for her tone and replied, “They’llserve, now I’m here. But you didna have lo wait for me, lass.”
“They’ll no’ serve this table until you’re seated,” she reminded him tartly, regretting it when she heard his reply.
“There’s ample room at the lower table, and plenty of food.”
It was a privilege to eat at the laird’s table, and Jessie knew she was being reminded of that. Jamie could be very hard. But she wanted James MacKinnion. She wanted him badly. She had never known such a handsome man. Handsome and rich, a laird, he was everything she desired. She had realized that when she first saw him at her cousin’s wedding, and from that time she had nagged and begged and cajoled Dobbin to bring her with him to Castle Kinnion. It had taken three years for him to agree, and now that she was finally here, she had no intention of ever leaving.
“Och, Jamie, dinna mind me.” She smiled sweetly. “’Tis a sour nature I have when I’m hungry. But I’ll no’ take it out on you again.”
Jamie was not fooled. “I hope I can count on that, Jessie, for I’ll tell you now, I’ve no liking for a bitchy woman, nor one who argues and nags. I dinna have to put up with that sort of nonsense, nor will I. You’re a bonny lass to be sure, and I’ll take care of you as long as you share my bed. But you’ve no other hold on me, Jessie.”
“I know. And I didna mean to anger you,” shequickly assured him, desperate to drop the subject. “Look. The girl comes with our…”
Jessie didn’t finish, for the girl who came in from the kitchen with a platter of food walked toward the end of the hall and the bedchambers. The laird’s table was not her destination. When the girl, Doris, went through the archway at the end of the hall, Jamie’s curiosity was aroused.
“And where are you off to now?” Jessie demanded, already forgetting her apology.
Jamie didn’t answer. As he left the table, another servant came from the kitchen tower with his food.
“Gertie.” He stopped her with a grin. “Go on and serve Mistress Martin, even though I’m not there. She’s nigh to fainting from what I’ve been hearing.”
The old servant looked up at him and said solemnly, her eyes twinkling, “Aye, Sir Jamie, we wouldna be wanting that.”
“And where is young Doris off to?”
“Doris? I dinna know. She said your brother set her to some task if he wasna back ’afore dark.”
“Did he now?”
Jamie followed Doris up the stone steps to the second floor. His own bedchamber ran along one side of the building, and there were two smaller guest chambers opposite. But Doris had not stopped there. He caught sight of her at the end of the corridor, turning up the stairs leading to the top floor, where Colen had one of the four rooms.
“Doris!”
She poked her head back around the corner andthen came into full view under a torch set by the entrance to the third floor.
“Where are you off to with that?” he asked when he reached her. “We’ve no one ill up there that I’ve no’ been told about, have we?”
“Nay, I dinna think she’s ill.”
“She?”
“The lass young Colen’s keeping in his room,” Doris explained. She was wary, but she couldn’t keep anything from the laird.
“He’s keeping a lass there? Who?”
“I dinna know, Sir Jamie, I’ve no’ seen her. But ’tis strange. He told me to be sure and lock the lock after I left the food in there. Now why would he be locking the poor lass up? It dinna seem right.”
“Why indeed?” Jamie laughed. “Here, give me that. I’ll see she gets fed, and I’ll find out what I can.”
Jamie chuckled as he carried the tray up to the third floor. So his brother had found himself a mistress! One he wanted all for himself. No wonder he had been acting so strangely. The lad was probably having his first love. Jamie had gone through the same infatuation at Colen’s age and could remember it well. But it had passed, and he’d never felt that way again. He could almost envy Colen the heart-throbbing experience. Time enough for the boy to learn it wasn’t true love. Time enough for disillusionment later.
The door to Colen’s bedchamber was indeedlocked, and Jamie grinned as he pulled the wooden peg from the latch and pushed the door open. It was dark. Torch light from the corridor fell only a few feet into the room.
Jamie squinted. “Where are you, lass?”
“Here.” There was spirit in her voice.
He followed the voice, but he still couldn’t see her. “We’ve candles aplenty in this castle.” Jamie scowled. “Are you so ugly Colen must keep you in the dark?”
