Arsenic and Old Armor (21 page)

“
I’ll entertain you later.
I promise. Now let me go. Someone might walk in.”

He lifted her and moved her higher on his
lap. She could feel the bulging evidence of his feelings. “How much
later?”

“
After our proper church
wedding.”

“
That’s far too late,” he
told her. “I am staying here at Fleet Tower, you know.”

“
In a different bedchamber
than the one I’ll be staying at.”

“
I don’t believe your aunts
would mind at all if I were to sleep with you.” He ran his lips
along the skin of her neck. “They like me.”

“
Iain, either we’re married
or we’re not. If your mother insists on keeping everything quiet,
then we must behave appropriately until the wedding
day.”

“
But we’re staying at Fleet
Tower, not at Blackthorn Hall.” His hand slid over her hip, her
stomach. His mouth continued to feast on her neck, his breath
caressing her skin. “We can do whatever we want, wherever we want.
This is the way things are at this house.”

Marion should have objected, but the words
never found their way to her lips. Iain could seduce her anytime,
anywhere, as far as Marion was concerned. She loved him. The
excitement of his touch and his words made her head swim. She
thought about how good it would be to take him upstairs and make
love in her bedchamber. It didn’t matter that the bed was probably
too short and too narrow. There would be plenty of room. They could
make love standing against the door, the way Iain had taught her.
Margaret and Judith could be in the kitchen for a long time. And it
had been two whole days since she’d had him.

“
Come with me,” she
whispered, taking his hand.

“
Where are you taking
me?”

“
To my bedchamber.” She
smiled over her shoulder.

He didn’t need any more persuasion.

The two of them were like excited children
as they hurried toward the stairwell. They were only a couple of
steps from the arched doorway, though, when a warrior, armed with a
long sword and dressed in chain mail and a helmet, suddenly emerged
and blocked their path. As he stopped, the visor dropped down over
his face.

Marion knew in an instant who it was, but it
still took her heart a moment to climb down from her throat.

“
Uncle William,” she cried
out excitedly.

He didn’t even look at her. It was as if she
were not standing there, as if she hadn’t spoken. He pushed the
visor up and turned to Iain, patting him on the shoulder.

“
How are you, my lad?”
William asked.

“
I am quite well, Sir
William.”

“
Did you just get
back?”

“
Yes, sir. This very hour,”
Iain said. “I’ve brought back your niece, Marion, as I
promised.”

Marion smiled, waiting for William’s
recognition. The older man didn’t look her way again. A sharp pain
began to gnaw at her. This was not what she’d imagined their first
meeting would be.

“
What news you bring me
from the men?” he asked Iain.

“
Well, the men are all
celebrating the arrival of your kinswoman. Your niece. Marion.”
Iain was holding tightly to her hand. “You remember Marion, don’t
you, Sir William?”

“
Yes, a wee sprite she
was.”

“
No longer, sir. She is
right here, standing before you.” Iain motioned toward her with his
other hand. “She has grown a great deal since you saw her last. But
she is the very same Marion.”

William finally turned to her and she had to
control her emotions. More than anything, she wanted to throw her
arms around him, but there was no sign of recognition in his
face.

“
Uncle William, you must
remember me.”

He looked her up and down.

Marion studied him, as well. Of the three
aging McCall siblings, William was the one who now looked the
oldest. The wisps of hair sticking out from the helmet and the
scraggly beard on his face were pure white. He had grown round in
the middle. He was also shorter than she recalled. But there was no
fooling herself; he obviously couldn’t remember her at all. She
tried again.

“
I was your main watchman,
standing guard on the parapet whenever you ordered,” she said,
hoping to prod his memory. “And you always said I was excellent at
helping you to paint your face on Mondays.”

“
That’s a difficult job,”
William said. “But it needs to be done. So who did you say you
were?”

“
I am Marion, your
brother’s daughter,” she said. “I lived here at Fleet Tower until
the age of six. After the battle at Flodden Field, I was sent away
to the Isle of Skye. Don’t you remember me?”

“
Marion,” he repeated,
looking up toward the blackened beams of the ceiling for a long
moment, tapping the side of his nose with one finger.

She was too afraid to say anything and have
him forget what was already said. Iain squeezed her hand, giving
her courage.

There was a twinkle in William’s eyes when
he focused on her again. “You claim to be my brother’s daughter.
You claim to be Marion McCall.”

“
I am Marion McCall,” she
said. “And twelve years have passed since I saw you last. I was a
child then. I am a woman now. I know I look different, but everyone
changes in that length of time, even the Wallace
himself.”

Sir William looked suddenly startled. “By
the devil, lass, you’re right! I haven’t lost at Falkirk yet, have
I?”

“
No, Sir William. Falkirk
is still a long way off.”

“
Very good,” he replied,
looking closely at her. “And you say you’re Marion.”

“
Yes, I am.”

“
I would know Marion
anywhere. And I say you are not Marion,” he said
emphatically.

“
And why is that?” she
asked, feeling tears of frustration beginning to well
up.

“
Marion smelled.” He leaned
toward her and sniffed. “You don’t smell at all. You are an
imposter.”

“
I never smelled,” she
said, suddenly outraged.

“
She farted. It’s well
known.”

“
I didn’t. It was you who
made wind. You just always blamed it on me.”

“
How dare you make such an
unfounded accusation?” he asked, glaring at her menacingly. “Do you
wish to step outside, sir, and fight this out
honorably?”

“
I am only trying to defend
my reputation,” she said, glaring right back at him. “When I was
six years old, I thought it was quite funny that you blamed me for
your own transgressions. However, I am now at an age where I find
it less amusing. So, Sir William, we shall put an end to it right
now. We shall go outside right now and fight this to the
finish.”

His eyes narrowed. He looked at her up and
down again. “You sound nearly as bad-tempered as Marion.”

“
Of course,” she answered.
“I sound just like you."

William turned to Iain. “Is she truly my
niece?”

He nodded. “There is no one else like her.
She is the one.”

There was no change in William's expression,
and Marion was surprised when her uncle put both hands on her
shoulders and gave her a kiss on each cheek.

“
Welcome back,
lassie.”

She’d hoped for a little more, but she told
herself to be happy that at least he was finally acknowledging
her.

“
You’ve been away too
long,” Sir William continued. “There are a dozen duties that I
expect you to take care of, now that you have
reenlisted.”

“
A dozen duties,” she
repeated.

“
Do you claim to be my
sister Judith now?” he asked suspiciously.

“
No! No, sir.” She put both
hands up in defense. “And what are my duties?”

He continued to glare at her warily for a
long moment before turning to Iain again. “Who did you say she
was?”

“
Your niece. Marion McCall.
I give you my word on that.”

William uttered a low harrumph before
turning to Marion again. “You’ll be taking shifts on the tower, of
course.”

She nodded, following his game.

“
And you’ll help with
polishing the armor.”

“
Naturally,” she answered,
happy that Iain was not objecting to anything.

“
And you shall again be in
charge of mixing the paints,” William ordered.

“
With pleasure, Sir
William.”

“
And bar and unbar the door
from the courtyard,” he ordered.

“
As you wish.”

“
And there is work to be
done in the dungeon.”

“
Tell me what needs to be
done, and I’ll get to it.” She smiled at her husband after. Iain
nodded.

Behind William, Judith appeared in the
doorway. She was carrying a tray containing a pitcher and dishes.
Marion went to take the tray from her aunt.

“
Please let me take that.”
Marion was relieved when Judith handed over the tray.

“
Sir William, did I hear
you giving our niece jobs to do?”

“
Yes, woman, I did,” the
armored man replied.

“
Did I hear you tell her to
bar the door from the courtyard?”

“
So?”

“
We told you we don’t want
it barred. It takes both Margaret and me together to lift the bar
from the door.”

“
Of course,” Sir William
said. “Well, from now on, she is to help carry food for the
army.”

“
No, she is not to do that,
either,” Judith scolded her brother. “You will stop wasting food by
taking it down there, in fact.”

“
An army needs to eat,
woman,” he argued. “Do you want them pillaging the
countryside?”

“
No more carrying food to
them, William,” she said more authoritatively.

“
Bloody hell,” he muttered.
He put a hand on Iain’s shoulder. “Well, I must be off. There are
reports of that vile dog Longshanks and his army in the valley. You
are in command, lad, until I return.”

Iain nodded.

William turned to the stairwell, drew his
sword, and charged up the steps, shouting, “FREEDOM!”

Marion stepped back, looking up the stairs
with a mixture of sorrow and amusement. With a quick glance at
Iain, she carried the tray to the table. Either William was far
worse than he had been twelve years ago, or the time Marion had
spent at the priory had allowed her to forget the worst of her
uncle’s oddities. She had to admit to herself that most of Iain’s
warnings were warranted.

“
You shouldn’t listen to
everything he says, dear,” Judith told Marion, joining her at the
table and helping to unload the tray.

“
What’s the new fascination
with the dungeons?” she asked. “I don’t recall him spending any
time there before.”

“
He is raising an army to
attack England,” Judith said, laying a hand on Marion’s
arm.

The younger woman smiled. “And he is housing
them in the dungeon?”

“
You know we haven’t too
many spare rooms at Fleet Tower, so Margaret and I let him do as he
wishes.” Her aunt shrugged. “So long as he stops taking food and
letting it go to waste down there.”

Marion looked over her shoulder at Iain. He
didn’t have to say anything. She agreed that William had obviously
become a challenge, even for his two kindly sisters. She promised
herself not to ignore the issue. Perhaps with Iain’s help, they
could come up with some solution other than sending William away to
some spital house. They clearly needed to do something other than
leaving him alone here with his sisters.

“
Food,” Judith said aloud,
turning to Iain. “I was supposed to ask you if
your
men would be hungry. Of all the
days this week, we have no fresh dishes prepared. We have a wee bit
of meat pie, of course, but we also have plenty of dried fish and
cheese. I think we may have a bit of bread pudding and an oatcake
or two about here somewhere.”

Iain shook his head. “Thank you, m’lady, but
I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ll be sending the men home
to their families in a short time. They’ve been on the road for too
long. If it’s acceptable with you, however, I was planning on
staying the night here at Fleet Tower. Tomorrow, I need to take
Marion to Blackthorn Hall to visit with my mother, Lady
Elizabeth.”

“
It would be lovely to have
you stay the night,” Judith said enthusiastically. She motioned
toward the doorway that led to the kitchen. “I am just going to run
off and tell Margaret. She’ll be thrilled, as well. And I’ll see if
I can get her to prepare something more for supper while she is in
there.”

“
That won’t be necessary,”
Iain said.

“
Honestly, Aunt Judith,”
Marion added. “What you already have will be perfect. Please, we
don’t want to be any trouble.”

Judith was already backing toward the door.
“It won’t be any trouble, dear. Your aunt Margaret is very adept at
these things.” She turned and disappeared through the door.

Marion looked helplessly after her.

“
They’ll do what they
want,” Iain said. “Taking care of people is what makes them happy.”
He walked to the table and poured himself the drink that he’d long
wanted.