Amanda Scott (25 page)

“It is not for you to understand my actions, sirrah,” Fife retorted coldly.

“I had no objection to your ordering Lestalric shot,” de Gredin said. “Faith, I’d not have cared if you’d killed him. But what can you hope to gain by accusing the lady Adela of poisoning Ardelve? I thought we had agreed that our best course was for me to win her confidence. I shall do so, I assure you, for even Cousin Ealga seems inclined to support such an endeavor.”

“Your cousin Ealga is so distant a kinswoman that you cannot hope to influence her more than the Countess Isabella can, and I’ve seen no indication that Isabella favors you,” Fife snapped. “My methods will gain the information we seek far more swiftly.”

“But we both know perfectly well that her ladyship did not poison Ardelve,” de Gredin protested.

“Others will have suspected as much straightaway, however,” Fife assured him. “I merely took advantage of human nature by whispering the possibility into an ear or two. As to evidence, you can supply that with your testimony.”

“I suppose you have reason to believe I’d testify if it became necessary.”

Fife sneered. “We both seek the same goal, do we not,
mon ami
?”

Chapter 13

L
estalric explained as he handed Adela from Henry’s tilt-cart that they had passed the points marking the beginning of the portion of the abbey kirkyard lawfully designated as sanctuary.

“So even if Fife comes after us, we’re safe enough for now,” he added.

“Will I wait here for ye, m’lord?” the driver asked.

“Drive round to the east side of the abbey, out of sight of the Canongate,” he said. “We’ll send for you when we want you.”

Nodding, the man urged the horse forward, and as the cart rattled away over the cobblestones, Adela accepted Lestalric’s right arm and they turned toward the abbey. Before they had taken more than a few steps, one of the monks came hurrying toward them, his long black, hooded gown and white cassock flapping around his legs as he walked.

“Who art thou, sir?” he asked in a quiet but carrying voice.

“Sir Robert of Lestalric,” he said. “Prithee, send for the abbot at once. I would have speech with him.”

Without argument, the monk turned to precede them inside.

“Mercy,” Adela said as they followed him, “I did not think they would welcome us so easily.”

“My family is held in high regard here,” Lestalric said. “Holyrood Abbey stands today only because, when Ed-ward of England took Edinburgh Castle in 1296, and all lands south of the Firth including those of the abbey, a Lestalric priest who had become abbot here swore a solemn oath of fealty to him. He thus secured the safety of the abbey and its lands.”

“The English destroyed Scone Abbey during their occupation then, did they not?” Adela asked as they approached the imposing entrance to the abbey kirk.

“Aye, and threatened or destroyed other abbeys, as well,” he said, nodding to the monk, who held the door for them to enter the candlelit vestibule.

“Wait here, my lord,” the monk said quietly. “I will fetch my lord abbot.”

“I warrant some would think your Lestalric abbot ought to have been more loyal to Scotland,” Adela said as the man passed her and walked toward the transept, where another monk was just rising from his devotions. “Many men died defying the English then to win our freedom.”

“Aye, but an abbot’s first duty is to his abbey, lass. Many of those who stood against the English, including the original de Lestalric family, forfeited everything. Edward I seized their lands and castles for his own use. Don’t forget, the English stayed here for many years. Abbot Adam did his duty when he saved Holyrood.”

“Aye, he did, and for that we must all be grateful,” declared a booming voice from the front of the kirk. A large, plump, elderly man in the same black-and-white Augustinian habit as the monk’s strode forward, and Adela realized he was the one she had seen at his prayers. “I am abbot here, my son. My baillie, Brother Joseph, tells me you are Sir Robert of Lestalric. Indeed, I can see as much for myself, as you are the image of Sir Walter. But Brother Joseph says you have need of me.”

“Aye, my lord, but I should warn you that aiding us may anger the Earl of Fife. I do not want harm to come to you or others of the abbey.”

“I believe I can manage the lofty earl,” the abbot said with a look of distaste. “His lordship declares himself a religious man… . but I must not be uncharitable. Tell me instead how I may serve you.”

“We want to marry, my lord abbot, at once and with-out banns. I am prepared to make a generous gift to the abbey if such a gift would be suitable and if you will not object to waiting until I learn more about my newly inherited holdings.”

“We never reject alms, my son, but no Lestalric need offer gelt in exchange for favor here. I expect you are both free to wed and have need for haste, also that you prefer not to resort to such ancient customs as marriage by declaration.”

“We are both free, and in this instance, I believe having the seal of the Kirk and your blessing, if possible, would be preferable,” Lestalric said.

“Then I will do as you ask,” the abbot said. “Brother Joseph, fetch one of the other brothers, so the pair of you can bear witness. Stay, though, as it is close upon the hour of Nocturnes, ask the others to lend us their presence, as well.”

The monks arrived swiftly, and as they took their places on the left side of the transept, the abbot led Adela and Lestalric up the arcaded right-hand side aisle to the small transept chapel at the end of it. He began the service in front of the altar there with a brief benediction, asking God’s blessing on all present, then adding, “Does any man here object to this union?”

Adela held her breath.

Then, as he started to speak the first words of the rite, just as she dared to breathe again, she heard Lestalric, beside her, say, “Hold one moment yet, sir.”

Surprised, the abbot broke off to look at him. “What is it, my son?”

Lestalric turned to face her. “Art sure, lass?”

She smiled, thinking how much his coming into her life had improved it already, how he had made her feel things again, had made life itself appealing again. “Aye,” she said softly but nonetheless firmly. “I’m sure.”

Without further delay, Sir Robert promised to take her as his wife for all time forward, “to have and to hold, for fairer, for fouler, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us depart, if Holy Kirk it will ordain.”

“Have you a ring, my son?” the abbot asked then.

“Aye,” he said, pulling the plain gold band from the little finger of his left hand. “’Twas my grandmother’s,” he said as he slipped it on Adela’s finger.

She recited her vows then, which were the same as his except that, as his wife, she also promised to be meek and obedient in bed and at board. As she repeated those words, she remembered wondering at Roslin what Sorcha had thought of such a vow and if Hugo expected her temperamental sister to abide by it.

As she knelt beside Lestalric to receive the abbot’s blessing, she believed she would have no trouble abiding by her vows. Lestalric seemed even-tempered, even mild by comparison with men such as Sir Hugo or Hector the Ferocious. It felt right and good to be marrying a man less likely to provoke her to any extreme behavior.

“You may rise and face the witnesses,” the abbot said, smiling at them and declaring as they obeyed, “It gives me pleasure to present to you Sir Robert and Lady Logan of Lestalric, now man and wife. You may kiss your bride, my son.”

As Lestalric bestowed a gentle kiss on Adela’s lips, a familiar voice echoed from the rear of the nave.

“I vow, Rob, I did not expect this,” Henry said as he strode toward them. “May one with some small responsibility for Lady Adela’s welfare ask how you persuaded her to this mad course?”

Adela smiled. “Are you displeased with us, sir?”

“Not when I see you smile like that, lass,” he said. “I had begun to fear we’d not see that smile again. But are you truly content with this?”

“Aye, sir, although I don’t doubt that Sir Hugo and Sorcha will also think ’tis madness that drives me.”

“My mother may wonder about your sanity, as well.”

“Mercy, do you think so?” She had not considered what the countess’s reaction might be. “Will she be vexed?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Henry said.

“Don’t torment her,” Lestalric said. “I’ve a strong notion your mother will approve. Did you think to bring horses, Henry?”

“Nay, for despite what you see I am not really here at all,” Henry said.

“You are but a shadow representing yourself; is that it?”

“Just so,” Henry said. “When we saw the men waiting at Sinclair House, my mother insisted that we stop to discover what reason they might give for such insolence. When their captain said Fife desired to question Lady Clendenen’s guest further about certain matters, Mother declared with great haughtiness that Adela had suffered a severe indisposition. Being in my mother’s charge and mine, as much as Lady Clendenen’s, she told him, Adela had retired with his grace’s consent to my rooms at the Castle and is not to be disturbed until at least midday tomorrow.”

“Excellent,” Lestalric said. “But will it serve, do you think?”

“We must hope it does until at least midday tomorrow.”

“Mercy,” Adela exclaimed, trying to ignore a shiver of fear. “What will happen when they cannot find me?”

“Doubtless, my mother will demand an explanation and accuse Fife of spiriting you away,” Henry said, glancing at the fascinated abbot. “You won’t repeat any of this, I hope, my lord abbot.”

“I shall treat all you say as if said under the seal of the confessional.”

“Just so you don’t whisper a word of it to Fife,” Henry said.

“Nay then, I would not!”

“But we’ll need at least two horses,” Lestalric said.

“Aye,” Henry said. “But I’m thinking you’d better borrow them from the abbot here. Not only do I prefer not to show myself again tonight but I mean to send my mother home to Roslin tomorrow with a large mounted escort. With luck, Fife and his minions will not have any notion of what became of you two.”

“You’ll be traveling with the countess, of course.”

“I want to discuss that with you,” Henry said. “I slipped over here by crossing the back gardens until I reached the abbey grounds, from which only a hedgerow separates those on the Clendenen House side of the Canongate. No one saw me, but you should know that Fife’s men tried to gain entry to Sinclair House.”

“Doubtless they failed.”

“Aye, but they did try.”

“What of Clendenen House? Did they try that as well?”

“Apparently not. I doubt they’d expect to find anything there,” Henry said. “You have been staying with me, after all, and if they are seeking the same thing they searched for at Lestalric, I doubt they’d expect you to trust Adela or Ealga with any secret you’d refused to entrust to your father or Will.”

He smiled at Adela, then chuckled when she rolled her eyes.

“Anything that important, I’d keep on my person,” Lestalric said. “But we are missing something, Henry. Fife did not try to arrest me. He wants Adela.”

“Mayhap he seeks to use her to get to you.”

“But why? To his knowledge, we’ve barely met. Even seeing us all together at Lestalric is hardly reason enough to suspect any closer relationship than that. But think of what he knows about Adela.”

“Still,” Henry said, “they searched Lestalric and tried to search my house.”

The abbot said apologetically, “It is nearly time to ring the bell for Nocturnes, my sons. If you do not mean to linger for the service …”

Lestalric shook his head. “We ken fine that it is not your practice to include outsiders, my lord. But if you could lend me a pair of horses and allow us to depart southward through your grounds, we’d be grateful.”

“South? Then you do not go to Lestalric Castle.”

“Nay, Lestalric is not yet prepared for my bride. I will take her where I know I can keep her safe.”

“You are welcome to the steeds,” the abbot said. “Mayhap you would likewise accept a guide to see you safely through the abbey woods until you are south of Arthur’s Seat. The area from here to where the ground begins to rise is marshy, because our drainage is poor. But you’ll want to avoid the main roads for the first few miles. I collect that you also mean to make for Roslin.”

“We would be most grateful for a guide, my lord,” Lestalric said, without denying the suggested destination.

There were documents to sign, with Henry and Brother Joseph signing as witnesses to the wedding. When they’d finished, Lestalric thanked the abbot again.

“Brother Joseph will take you to the stables and provide you with a knowledgeable guide,” the abbot said, extending a hand to him. “Go with God then, the pair of you. We hope to see you again when all is safe.”

Outside, gathering mist formed a gauzy veil through which the full moon overhead glowed dimly. As they followed Brother Joseph to the stables, the abbey bell began loudly to toll the midnight hour of Nocturnes, startling Adela nearly out of her skin. Beside her, Lestalric put a calming hand on her shoulder.

“’Tis to be hoped this mist does not thicken,” Henry said when the bell’s tolling ceased. “Mayhap you should take torches as well as a guide.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lestalric said. But when Brother Joseph left them to roust out a gillie, he said in an undertone, “What is your plan, Henry? I know you must be chafing to leave for the north, but—”

“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. But first, the countess sent this.” Henry handed him a flask and a small jar. “Decoction of willow bark in the flask,” he said. “The jar contains more of that salve she smeared on your wound.”

Lestalric opened the flask and drank before saying, “Are you not leaving?”

“I’ve sent orders to my captain to take my ship to St. Andrews for a few days. I told him the countess requires my escort back to Roslin, so I’m hoping to save time afterward by having him attend to a matter for me in St. Andrews now. But I likewise told him that if anyone should inquire into my whereabouts, he is to say I am aboard ship. So, if Fife looks into my activities, he will believe me safely on my way to Orkney or Caithness.”