Free Betrayed by Bertrice Small Page B

yet?”
    “Just now,” Nelly replied, her eyes twinkling. “Come on, and I'll show ye where ye may hear them.” She beckoned Fiona, and hurried from the chamber.
    Jeannie and Morag were still outside, and at a signal from their elder sister they followed wordlessly asNelly led them quickly down the stairs, through the corridor, and toward the hall. When they had almost reached the hall, Nelly turned down a narrow passageway, drawing them into a small room. Finger to her lips, she crossed the chamber and cracked open a small sliding panel.
    “’Tis how we know when to serve and what is needed without being told,” she said. “Come, lady, ye can hear everything.”
    Fiona peered into the hall. She could see Angus Gordon pouring a goblet of wine for a tall attractive woman.
    “There ye are, Janet,” he said, and Fiona heard him quite clearly. “What brings ye to Brae, sister? I hope Hamish and the children are well.”
    “I was at Glenkirk visiting our uncle, the laird,” she replied. “Did ye really think that the priest would not gossip, Angus?”
    “What priest?” he asked her, sipping from his goblet.
    “The one that came from the abbey to oversee the marriages of the two little Hay girls to the Innes and the Forbes lads. Ye've caused a fine scandal, Angus Gordon! Where are Mistress Fiona Hay and her sisters? Oh, how could ye? What an infamous arrangement ye made with that poor innocent lassie. Ye'll have to wed her now-and perhaps something good will come of yer conduct, for ’Tis certainly past time ye were married. Oh, Robert sends his regards to ye, and says he'll pray to the Blessed Virgin that ye'll turn from yer wicked ways.”
    “Who is Robert?” Fiona whispered to Nelly.
    “The second brother” Nelly replied. “He's four years younger than the laird. He went to the abbeywhen he was ten and became a priest three years ago. Isn't Lady Stewart lovely?”
    Fiona nodded. Angus Gordon's sister had shining black-brown hair in a braided arrangement. She was very fair, and her bright blue eyes snapped as she berated her elder brother for his outrageous behavior.
    “Marry the wench?” the,
laird said, surprised. “Why would I marry the wench? She stole my cattle, and we made an arrangement that she pay for them in the only way she could. I don't want to marry anyone, Jan. I'm quite happy as I am, and besides, I'm too young.”
    “Yer twenty-five, Angus Gordon,” his sister said sternly. “I'm but two years yer junior, and I've been wed nine years, and have five bairns.”
    “The wife should be younger,” the laird said with some good humor, and sliced himself a piece of cheese to nibble.
    “Fiona Hay can be no more than fifteen. She's almost past her prime. Another year, and she will be,” Janet Stewart said firmly. “Ye've taken her honor, Angus. No other will have her now.
Ye
must wed her. This lass isn't some cottar's daughter. Her family is respectable.”
    “She's a brazen little cattle thief, my dear sister,” the laird replied. “She has already stolen a dozen head of my cows, and had the gall to bargain for eight more for her younger sisters’ dowers. Don't waste yer outrage on Fiona Hay.”
    “Did ye breach her?” Janet Stewart demanded of him.
    The laird flushed. “What kind of a question is that for a respectable matron to ask a man?” he countered.
    “Ye
have!
Dammit, Angus! Ye were ever greedy with a new toy! Now ye have absolutely no choice but to wed the lass.”
    Fiona had heard enough. Pushing past the startledNelly and her two younger sisters, she found her way into the hall. “I'll not wed with him, madam,” she said loudly as she entered the room. “I'll not be shackled to a man I don't love, like my poor mam.” She glared defiantly at the pair of siblings.
    “Ye'll marry me if I say so!” Angus Gordon shouted.
    “Go to hell, ye pompous jackass!” Fiona shouted back.
    Janet Stewart burst into a peal of laughter. “Why, bless my soul, Angus, yer lassie has