Chapter Eleven #2
He turned to her and attempted a smile. “Aye. Lady Marion, will you allow me to court you?”
Her brow knit for a moment. “Court me, my lord? Is that not a question for my father?”
“Aye, I do wish to speak with your father, but in the meantime, will you accept that the king has given his blessing?”
Marion opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as if she did not know what her response would be. This was not how Alexander hoped the conversation would go.
She drew in a deep breath and stood a little straighter. “And will you send word to my father?”
“Aye, I will send word immediately if you agree.” He waited for what felt like an eternity. “Do you agree, Lady Marion? Will you let me court you so that I may know you better?”
Thankfully his last comment brought a wee smile to her lips. “Aye, my lord, I will let you court me.”
“Excellent,” he said. “I assure you I offer you the highest level of respect, and from this moment on, you shall have a chaperone with you at all times to protect your reputation. The king has planned to remain here for some days, and I do hope that is your plan as well?”
“Aye, I understand I am to remain here during their stay and return to Linlithgow with them at the end of their tour.”
“Then it is all set. I will return you to the ladies and begin my planning. There is so much I wish to show you, Lady Marion,” he said genuinely, meaning that in the best possible way.
From now until she returned to Linlithgow, he would not lay a finger on her.
He would allow nothing to jeopardize her reputation.
As they returned to the castle, he noted she seemed a little quiet, but he didn’t have time to inquire for his mind was abuzz with ideas on how to entertain her.
He found the other ladies and then kissed Marion’s hand and headed off to see his steward.
All who witnessed the gesture would be left in no doubt of its meaning.
The thought of sharing all that he loved in his realm with her brought a sense of contentment he had not felt in a very long time.
He would cover every inch of the grounds with her and every part of their lands.
He was proud of his family and the effort they had put into making the castle and the grounds a haven.
It was clear to him that she had an interest in his manuscripts and particularly the ones containing the local legends and he knew exactly how to best present them to her.
After giving instructions to his steward and his sister, Alexander spent the remainder of the afternoon tracking down Gordon, who was one of the elder crofters who knew these woods and hills better than anyone.
“You’re a hard man to track down.”
The elder man whose beard had grown to almost his waist didn’t look up from his whittling and merely replied, “A clever man is only found when he wants to be.” Then with a grin, he added, “What can I do for you, wee lad?”
The endearment was always welcome to Alexander’s ears. For he’d known Gordon all his life and considered him with the highest respect. The first time the man called him my lord after his elevation in status, Alexander corrected him, and the topic was never broached again.
“I have made some new friends,” he said.
“Aye, aye, I have heard about the hustle and bustle at the castle. Och, sure you’ve the king himself down there these days.”
“Aye, I do, and they have an interest in the old monk’s tales.”
This perked Gordon’s attention fully then. He met Alexander’s gaze and grinned. “And that they should. Those are our stories, and they should be told properly.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing,” he said. “So ye will come by after dark and tell them proper, then?”
“Aye, aye,” he said and went back to his whittling. “Will there be ale?”
“There will be ale.”
“Then I’ll see ye after dark, wee lad.”
Alexander’s heart lifted as he left the man to his task.
Gordon was a well-loved fixture in the village near Inverary Castle and Alexander could not imagine a better person to paint a picture of what their lives were like in the west Highlands.
Surely Marion would find life here different than in the lowlands, but he was determined to share everything he loved about his home with her and hopefully she would feel the same way.
He took his time making his way back to the castle and thought about how close they had become in so short a time.
They seemed to possess a like-minded way of thinking and maybe that was why they had connected so quickly.
But the passion that arose in him was surprising coming from an innocent.
It was as though she’d had training or some such thing.
Though he knew that to be impossible, it was difficult for him to push those thoughts away entirely.
She’d ensnarled him completely and that had never happened to him before.
So, what was it about her that pulled him into her graces?
He would need a tremendous amount of willpower to keep her at arm’s length and his hands off her until such time as they were to become married.
As much as he wanted her—and oh, aye, he wanted her—he would do nothing to taint her reputation as he had already taken liberties he had no business taking.
As he approached the stable, his brother Thomas was waiting for him.
“All well there, brother?”
Thomas looked concerned, but then he always had something devastating on his mind.
“All is as well as it can be.”
“Och, what does that mean?”
“Everyone saw you kiss that lady’s hand. So, are ye betrothed now? Will ye toss her aside like ye did poor Eileen?”
Alexander was sick to his back teeth of Thomas’s judgment in the matter of Eileen and in any matter where he didn’t agree with decisions that had been made without his consult.
“Lady Marion and I are courting at this moment in time, Thomas, not that I need explain myself to you.”
“I was just asking, brother. The rest of us have to bear the brunt of your mistakes.”
“Really,” Alexander said as he stopped to square off with Thomas. He wasn’t in the mood for this juvenile behavior in one who should more than know how to behave like a man. “And exactly how have you been harmed by decisions that I have made?”
Alexander was a good four inches taller than Thomas and had rarely stood this closely to him so as to emphasize the fact, but today and while they had guests, he’d put him in his place.
“I just mean, brother,” Thomas said as he stepped back, “that after you discarded Eileen, some of the staff and villagers commented to me that they thought it was cruel of you.”
“And why did they or you withhold this information until now? Why would you bring up a circumstance you do not understand which occurred nearly two years ago, now when I am considering a decision that only affects my future happiness? Really, Thomas, you have always been a maker of trouble, and I am here to tell you to drop this.”
“Or what? What will you do if I reveal your true nature to your new lady? Does she know that after Eileen was forced to marry that man that she took her own life?”
Alexander grabbed Thomas by the scruff of his neck then and shook him. “Now you listen to me. If you cannot find it in your trouble making mind to stay out of my business, I will have you removed from this place permanently, and you know I can do it.”
“I would like to see you try,” he said and pulled out of Alexander’s grasp. “Jean would never let you send me away.”
Alexander leaned in close to Thomas and said in a low, menacing voice, “She will not know until it is done. You will cease this mischief and act like the gentleman you are supposed to be, or you will be banished.”
With that, Thomas stalked away. Alexander was at his wit’s end with the young man who acted more and more like a spoiled child every day.
The rustle of a skirt caught his attention, and he stepped forward a few paces to find his sister pretending to check the roses in the hedge.
“I am sorry you had to witness that, sister,” he said.
“I witnessed nothing, brother,” she said as she turned to him. “I was coming to find you to see if you had found Gordon and if he would join us this evening.”
Jean was ever the peacemaker in the family and had an uncanny ability to know when to make a point and when to move on from it.
By offering no comment, she was agreeing with Alexander and clearly had no intention of concurring with Thomas’s assessment, nor would she stir Alexander’s ire any further. A true politician.
“Aye, and in his own way, I believe he is excited at the prospect of telling our stories.”
“You mean you got a sideways half smile?” she asked, now wearing a broad one herself.
“I did. And I am certain I know which story he will embellish the most.”
“Aye, Glaistig is his favorite by far. How many times has she tried to drown him now?”
“At least nine or ten by now,” Alexander said as he put his arm around his sister and walked with her inside the castle and onward to the great hall.
“But truly, sister, you do trust me, do you not?”
“Aye, Alexander. I trust you. We all do. Now you have to go and find something nice to wear for dinner and a visit from our Gordon. And maybe a wash,” she said and took a large step away from him. “Ye smell like yer horse.”
As she made the last comment, she ducked out of the great hall with her laughter following her to whomever she was set off to torment next.
He took a moment to admire the work she’d put into arranging the hall so that after their evening meal, the tables could be easily pushed back to enjoy a country dance if they wished it, and then the highlight which would be the telling of tales.
Gordon would begin and would likely tell more than one, and after that it was custom for some of the staff to join in telling their own tall tales which sometimes included a jest or two at the laird’s expense, but he didn’t mind that as his staff were well cared for, and their respect was mutual.
Aye, it would be a grand evening, and he was very much looking forward to showing the king that a full and enjoyable time did not require lavishness and spectacle. Good food and good company were all that was required to achieve perfect contentment. He sincerely hoped that Marion shared his vision.