Free The Border Trilogy by Amanda Scott Page A

thought you had gone.”
    He did not pretend to misunderstand her. “I did, but only to collect my gear and Lucas Trotter, my manservant. Duncan invited me to stay here until the wedding.”
    “Oh.” More silence. “Adam?”
    “Aye, lassie.”
    “You have not said yet about speaking to Father.”
    “I have no wish to stir coals.” He grinned at her sigh of relief, and they entered the house to discover Duncan impatiently awaiting his supper. Conversation over the light meal soon turned to politics and the king, and Duncan asked whether it was true that there had been disturbances throughout the country since the execution of Mary of Scotland.
    “True enough,” Douglas told him, “though I am told you’ve seen little of that kind of activity here in the highlands.”
    “None tae speak about. ’Twas a muckle hard winter, and men have had aught else tae fill their time. In troth, though highlanders fight amongst themselves as oft as not, political strife is niver sae troublesome here as it be in the borders.”
    Douglas glanced at Mary Kate, but when she merely returned his gaze without comment, he said, “’Tis true enough to say the borders are rarely peaceful and fair to say they are in a worse state now than usual. The king ordered peace, but so far his edict has had little effect, for Queen Elizabeth has most unfortunately failed to issue a similar edict. One cannot expect our lads to refuse to defend themselves against English raiders. People are angry, and not just with the English but with Jamie. They don’t seem to understand how little power he actually had to stop the English from executing his mother.”
    “And was it sae little then?” Duncan asked.
    Mary Kate held her breath.
    “If you would believe Elizabeth,” Douglas said slowly, “the execution was carried out without her approval. If she could not stop it, what could Jamie possibly have done?”
    “Aye,” Duncan muttered, “but what fool believes Elizabeth? They say the warrant carried both her signature and her seal.”
    Douglas smiled. Fortunately neither man was looking at Mary Kate, who could scarcely believe what she was hearing. How, she wondered, could Douglas pretend that the king had had no knowledge of Mary’s danger when he must have carried the news to the royal ear himself? She had her mouth open to demand an answer to that question before she realized that she could not do so without betraying herself. Admitting that she had overheard the conversation at Critchfield would do no more than to arouse both Douglas and her father to anger, for she could prove nothing if the borderer denied his part in the business. Having arrived at this depressing conclusion, she could only be grateful when they changed the subject and Douglas began to relate amusing anecdotes of life at court.
    The following afternoon a group of his friends arrived unexpectedly and, adhering to highland tradition, carried Douglas and Duncan off to Parish Hill, near the clachan , to celebrate the betrothal over mugs of whiskey. When they all returned a little the worse for drink, Mary Kate wisely decided to let them enjoy their supper without her.
    Other than that one afternoon and evening, Douglas devoted his time to pleasing her. They rode together often and held long conversations on a wide variety of subjects. She discovered that besides being gifted in the art of telling an amusing tale, he could also be an attentive listener, and the interest he displayed in her thoughts and opinions surprised her, although she suspected that he was only attempting to charm her out of her so-called highland prejudices. No doubt, she told herself, once he had her safely under his thumb in the borders, he would expect her to put her mind to nothing more stimulating than obeying his wishes and running his household. It pleased her immeasurably, therefore, when his discovery of her prowess as a chess player clearly astonished him.
    Chess was nearly the only indoor pastime