Amanda Scott (23 page)

Feeling the prickling sense of Lestalric’s disapproval again, she smiled brilliantly at the chevalier and took his arm.

Lady Clendenen beamed, but the supper that followed was tedious. De Gredin talked of nothing but Sinclairs and Lestalric. Her ladyship’s replies were glib enough to tell Adela that someone, probably the countess, had warned her to guard her tongue, but recalling that de Gredin was her ladyship’s cousin, Adela knew it must be hard for the gregarious woman not to tell him everything she knew. By the time the meal ended, her ladyship looked as mentally drained as Adela felt.

As Lady Clendenen arose from her chair at last, she said, “This has been a pleasure, Etienne, but you must leave us now if we are to look our finest at his grace’s court tonight. I, for one, want a bath.” When he had gone, she confided to Adela, “Such unnatural discretion is difficult for me. Most unfair, too, I think, for Isabella to insist we not tell dearest Etienne what really occurred. He would not tell another soul if we asked him to keep it to himself.”

“Can you be sure of that, madam? You said we must all be wary of Fife, did you not? The chevalier seemed quite friendly with him.”

“Faith, he can scarcely appear otherwise! Fife is no one to annoy, my dear.” But she seemed much struck and said no more then in defense of de Gredin.

Adela could not congratulate herself, however, because she suspected that her ladyship’s own words had had more to do with that look than anything Adela had said. In any event, her ladyship proved correct in predicting that they would need all the time they had at their disposal to prepare for the night ahead.

When Lady Clendenen’s coach drew up at Sinclair House two hours later, they found that Henry and Lestalric would also travel to the Castle in a wheeled vehicle. Henry’s was an elegant two-wheeled, one-horse tilt-cart with a seat at the front for its driver. Henry said he was showing it off for Lestalric’s benefit.

“I just got it,” he confided as he helped the countess enter the coach. “But it won’t take more than two in any comfort, so Mother will ride with you.”

“How is he?” Lady Clendenen asked Isabella, nodding toward Lestalric.

“He’ll do,” the countess said confidently. “It struck hard but slid along the shoulder bone and out his upper arm. Painful, to be sure, but not crippling.”

“Excellent,” her ladyship said. “Then he need only rest it and let it heal.”

But no sooner did the lord chamberlain announce Lestalric’s name than a beautiful, dark-haired young woman flew out of the crowd toward him.

He stopped, staring at her, and thus made no effort to protect himself from the onslaught as she flung her arms around him and hugged him hard.

Rob gasped at the wave of pain that threatened to over-whelm him but collected his wits quickly, putting his right hand on the young woman’s shoulder and pulling away as if to get a better look at her features. Not that he needed one. Even after nearly a decade, he recognized her easily.

“Lady Ellen?” he said, blinking as if he could not believe it.

“Aye, Robbie, ’tis I, indeed!” she replied gaily.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came with my parents,” she said, gesturing vaguely toward the high table.

Catching a whiff of spirits, he suspected she had had more wine or whisky to drink than was good for her and hoped it had dulled her senses enough that she had failed to realize she’d hurt him.

Reassuming his witless demeanor, he said languidly, “I vow, madam, you do not look a day older than when I last saw you. But forgive me. In my astonishment, I forgot my manners. Allow me to present you to the Countess of Strathearn and Caithness. Madame, this is Lady Ellen, my brother’s widow.”

Lady Ellen turned to Isabella and, with the slight curtsy of one earl’s daughter to another, said, “We have met before, but I am honored, madam.”

“I, too, my dear,” Isabella said. “I know you are like-wise acquainted with Ealga Clendenen, but I must present our dearest Lady Ardelve. She has also suffered the recent, tragic loss of her husband.”

“Och, aye, I’ve heard much of you, Lady Ardelve,” Ellen said, nodding. “I must add, though, that I don’t believe
any
of the horrid things people are saying about what your dreadful abductor did to you. As for poisoning your husband, well, I promise you, I don’t believe a word of that, either!”

Chapter 12

A
lthough her lips had already parted to respond to Lady Ellen Logan’s greeting, Adela froze at the airy disclaimer, unable to believe what she had heard. Her first inclination was to ask her ladyship to repeat her words, but she did not.

Instead, taking an extra breath to let her emotions settle, she said, “How pleasant to meet you, madam. Pray accept my sympathy for your great loss.”

“I hope you are mistaken about those rumors, Ellen,” Isabella said sternly.

“But I’m not, madam,” Lady Ellen said, surprised. “In troth, they say the horrid man who stole her ladyship from her wedding also stole her maidenhood. They say, too, that when Ardelve discovered the theft, he threatened to return her to her father in disgrace. To avoid that fate and to keep her marriage settlements, they say, she poisoned the poor man at their wedding feast.”

“At Roslin?” Isabella’s tone had turned icy.

Feeling dizzy, Adela swayed, but a firm hand at her elbow steadied her.

“Who are these insolent rumormongers?” Lestalric demanded.

“I vow, I do not know,” Ellen said. “Sithee, it is just what one hears.”

Collecting herself as his steadying hand left her elbow, Adela said with careful dignity, “You are kind to have warned me, madam. I thank you.”

“You need not,” Lady Ellen said, turning as she did to Lestalric and saying in her artless way, “But come and talk with me now, Robbie. You may escort me back to my lady mother, on the dais. I yearn to hear about all that you have done since you went away. You can imagine my astonishment at learning you were here. I am truly sorry to have missed your grand entrance. They say you created a great stir. Until that moment, everyone had thought you must be dead.”

“You give me too much credit, madam,” he said. “I doubt that ‘everyone’ had held any thought of me whatsoever all these years since I left home.”

“Faith, Robbie, art angry with me for marrying Will? You must know that even had I not wanted him, my father would have forbidden me to marry you.”

“Ah, but you see, you did want him—or all that he could provide for you.”

“I’d have had to be mad to marry a man with naught,” she said, smiling winsomely. “You’d not have wanted to marry a madwoman, would you, Robbie? In any event, now we can put everything right in a trice, as we are both free to do as we will. So come and walk with me. The countess will excuse us.”

Adela’s palm had begun to itch midway through her ladyship’s discourse, but she said nothing, merely shifting her gaze to Lestalric.

He was looking at Lady Ellen, and Adela saw a muscle twitch in his jaw. But his tone was the languid one he had used before as he said, “Sakes, madam, you cannot want everyone here to see you parading about with some-one of such low estate as myself. I will spare you my company and provide you with a Norse prince instead. If you will be so kind, Orkney,” he added, turning toward Henry.

“Aye, sure, and with pleasure,” Henry said, extending his arm to her. Then he rather blunted any delight she might feel at having the wealthiest man in the room escort her by adding, “I want to talk with your father, in any event, lass.”

“What a thing to say!” Adela exclaimed when the two had walked away.

“That he wants to talk with Douglas?” Isabella said with a smile.

“She means those awful rumors,” Lady Clendenen said fretfully. “Etienne did say some unfortunate murmuring had begun. But he did not suggest anything as horrid as this.”

“I don’t mean what Henry said or what Lady Ellen said to me,” Adela said angrily, unable to believe for a moment that anyone could imagine she had poisoned Ardelve in front of a hall full of noble wedding guests. “I meant the heartless way she spoke to Robert. I wanted to slap her. How dare she!”

The words were out before she knew she would say them, and when she saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes, she wished she could take them back.

He said, “Countess, with your permission I would like to walk with her ladyship and explain that she has no need to defend me from Lady Ellen or her ilk.”

Lady Clendenen said, “My lord, you must not be so particular in your attentions to her—not now, at all events. If such rumors as Ellen repeated are flying about the court, we must all be circumspect.”

Isabella returned his smile, saying, “You, sir, should make your inten—” She stopped, her gaze shifting to a point beyond him.

Lady Clendenen, following her gaze, immediately swept a deep curtsy, thus giving Adela small warning before she turned.

“Good evening, Countess, ladies,” the Earl of Fife said mildly. “I’m relieved to see that you have all recovered from your terrifying ordeal.”

“Thank you for your concern, my lord,” Lady Clendenen said, rising as Adela made her curtsy. “Thank you again for your timely arrival today.”

He nodded, then said to Adela, “We of the court have heard troublesome rumors, madam, that his grace would like me to look into further.”

“Indeed, sir?” Adela stiffened, lifting her chin.

Lestalric said, “If you want to converse with her ladyship, Fife, you must await your turn. I promised his grace I would bring her to converse with him this evening, and would do so in good time. Where, pray, shall we find you afterward?”

“Never fear, Lestalric, I’ll find you,” Fife said. Turning back to Adela, he said, “You will learn, madam, that being a lawful nation, we punish women who poison their husbands, and most severely. Moreover, if you have come to court in the hope of persuading some other poor devil to marry you, you will find that no man here has the slightest interest in taking Ardelve’s place.”

Adela’s fingers curled into her palms, and a hot retort sprang to her lips, forcing her to press them tightly together as Lestalric said in his most languid manner, “You are wrong, Fife. I wager most men here tonight would count themselves honored to win her ladyship’s hand. I would, certainly.”

Fife sneered. “Then you are a greater fool than I thought. No man of sense or intelligence wants a wife who is likely to poison him.”

“Aye, sure, some prefer women who bring them earldoms,” Lestalric said. “But come, my lady. We must not keep his grace waiting.”

He extended his arm, but Adela waited until the earl turned on his heel and strode away. Then, she said, “How did you dare say that to him? Did he not get his first earldom by marrying Margaret, Countess of Menteith in her own right, and his second by arranging to inherit it from his brother’s widow, the Countess of Fife?”

He smiled. “How is it you ken so much about such things, lass?”

“My father talks of news he hears from the mendicant friars,” she said. “And before my aunt Euphemia went to live with my sister Cristina, she often explained how noble families were related to each other. But you do not answer my question.”

“Fife was haughty, pretending a certainty he cannot feel,” Lestalric said. “I thought it wise to push him off his pace by stirring his anger. Madam,” he added, turning to Isabella, “I shall take Lady Adela to speak briefly with his grace. They appear to be clearing space for a ring dance, so mayhap you will find that the noise of this place has stirred another headache. Also, if you see Henry, pray tell him I want him. I mean to get her ladyship away before Fife tries to stop us.”

“Do you think he would dare arrest her here?” Isabella asked. “We Sinclairs wield considerable power ourselves, after all.”

“Aye, but in Midlothian more than in Edinburgh,” he said, abandoning his languid manner. “Edinburgh has become his ground, madam. If we must do battle, ’twould be best to fight on our own ground, where we have greater resources.”

“What of Lestalric Castle?” Adela asked. “Should you not protect it?”

“Henry’s man of affairs has already gone there with a force of men-at-arms to take command,” he told her. “Moreover, the estate’s great size and value does much to protect it. Don’t forget that the King of Scots has no royal army for Fife to muster. Fife has only his own people and those of other nobles he can persuade to support him. Presently, he is playing the concerned son and brother, fretting at his father’s weakness and his brother’s inability to lead. But many powerful lords have discerned his true nature. They’ll not oppose him as long as he continues in this role, but if it begins to appear that he means to take noble estates by force, that will quickly change. He is too astute not to know that, but he could create a great deal of trouble for you, lass, merely by pretending to believe these foul rumors.”

“Go with him, Adela,” Isabella said. “Ealga, you and I will find Henry.”

Adela put her hand obediently on Lestalric’s out-stretched arm, but she was by no means persuaded that Fife truly threatened her. “Surely, no one can believe I poisoned Ardelve,” she said to him as they wended their way to the royal dais. “How could I have done any such thing?”

“It does not matter what anyone else believes,” he murmured, bending his head close so she could hear him without others doing so. “All that matters is such weak-ness as Fife imagines he can exploit to his benefit. Your father left with Donald of the Isles. Everyone here knows Henry means likewise to depart for the north, and Isabella for Roslin. However, if Fife believed your sole protector would then be Lady Clendenen, he may have got a step or two ahead of himself.”

“But why would the Earl of Fife have any interest in me?”

“In troth, I thought I was his target,” he said. “More accurately, that Lestalric is. He seeks to acquire land, but I also suspect he’s heard rumors of a secret some believe my family keeps. Indeed, now I wonder if more than that may be at stake.”

A merrymaker jostled them, and she heard Lestalric gasp. When she looked at him, he still wore the vacuous expression he had affected, but his face was pale.