Chapter Eighteen
Days passed and the missives flowed back and forth between Agnes and her uncle with no new intelligence any of them could glean.
Finally, the king crafted the last missive to indicate John would be moved to Edinburgh dungeon for his own protection as, falsely of course, other prisoners had caught wind of him and had made threats.
The king admitting he could not vouch for the safety of a prisoner under his own roof was a bit ridiculous, but they were desperate.
The only way to ferret out the nest was to allow for his escape and track him.
The whole plot didn’t sit well with Agnes, and she’d voiced her concerns.
Now sitting atop his horse with her husband and approaching Mugdock Castle, she could not shake the eerie sensation that they had missed something quite significant.
As they passed through the gates and the doors were closed and secured behind them, Agnes’s senses went into high alert. Something was very off. William must have sensed it too for when he dismounted, he hesitated before reaching for her.
“William, what is it?”
“I’m not certain,” he said almost to himself.
He took her hand once she was on the ground and walked slightly ahead of her toward the great hall.
Inside he stopped, his body rigid for a moment, then relaxed.
He reached for her hand and tucked it inside his arm in a formal manner, then led her forward.
Once Agnes was alongside William, she could see fully inside the hall.
A woman and man whom she’d never met sat at the long table with the dowager countess seated at the head and the boys on the other side.
“Brother,” the female said as she pushed back her chair and made her way toward them. The man beside her did the same. “They told me you’d nearly met your death and now I see you, I can believe it.”
The woman’s features were delicate, and her eyes were the same honey color as her brother.
She did not wear the same kind and gentle way about her as her mother.
Rather, Agnes sensed there was something under the surface she could not quite decipher.
The woman cast her gaze slowly down Agnes’s body and then up again to meet her eyes.
Her lips were pursed in a straight line as if mirth never rested there.
“And so you came all this way to see that I was well with your own eyes. Truly, sister, I didn’t know you cared for my wellbeing so keenly.”
Keeping her eyes on Agnes, she said, “You are my eldest brother, are you not? If something were to happen to you, who would see to mother and the boys?”
“You’ve gone maternal too now, have you?” To the man, he said, “Seems like you have mellowed my sister, Connor. How on earth did you do that?”
Agnes had a sense that there had been some tension between them.
This exchange certainly supported that notion.
William had gone to great measures to ensure the security of the castle and everyone in it.
And considering the threat, why would his sister take the risk of putting herself and her husband into the thick of it?
“My wife has a mind of her own, my lord, as you very well know.”
From the corner of her eye, Agnes could see the man’s fist clench and unclench. Hair raised like gooseflesh on her arms.
“Very well, then. Sister, Connor, may I introduce my wife, Lady Graham, Countess of Montrose. Agnes, this is my sister Elspeth and her husband Connor Munroe.”
Never breaking her gaze, Elspeth curtseyed to Agnes and held out her hand. She touched cold fingers for a moment then let go. There was something unsettling about the woman far surpassing the stories told to her by the maids upon her first arrival at Mugdock.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet the woman who was able to tempt my brother to the altar. So many have tried before you, Lady Graham. Tell me, how was it you were able to make that happen?”
“Now, now, sister. There is no need to play tactics with your new sister. She will think you do not like her.”
“Oh, on the contrary, brother. I believe she is the picture of perfection.”
By this time his mother approached and urged them all to sit and feast. Agnes picked at the food but had somehow lost interest in her trencher. Each time she glanced their way, Elspeth’s attention was focused in her direction.
When the meal was finished, Agnes made an excuse of a headache and made to return to her chamber. William kissed her forehead and as she turned to leave the hall, Elspeth called to her.
“I do hope you feel better, sister. I hope we can sit together this afternoon to get to know one another better.”
Agnes nodded and left the hall. She swiftly made her way to her chamber and once inside with the door closed, expelled a deep breath. She was not a seer, and not the most astute judge of character, but something was not right.
She lay on the bed and pulled the coverlet over her.
The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of activity between her marriage, blossoming love for William, and the dangerous encounter with her uncle and his journey to Edinburgh Castle so that he could escape.
Surely, she was exhausted and that was why she felt unsettled by the unexpected company.
That was all. Elspeth was William’s sister after all, and she deserved the respect that required.
Agnes would take some time to rest and then she would seek out her new sister and give the woman a chance rather than make false assumptions with no evidence. She was better than that.
Long shadows crossed the floor when she woke sometime later that afternoon.
A basin had been set out and some fresh cloths.
Agnes dipped the cloth into the water and pressed it to her neck and forehead.
Her slumber had aided her in energy, but she still had an overall odd sensation about her head, as though she were in a fog that wouldn’t lift.
The evening meal would be soon, so she rummaged through her wardrobe to find a gown fitting for the occasion.
The overly decorative ones from the queen were a bit much and hers from home were not quite appropriate in this heat.
She thought about the other gowns that had been commissioned for her by her uncle and for the first time examined them.
Knowing what she did now, it was clear he was sending a message, for each gown somehow represented an aspect of the clans she could see were part of the rebel brethren.
Och, aye, they were all there! Ross, Munroe, Sutherland, and MacKay, all represented by clan color and crest stitched into the sash on each gown.
Had he intended to parade her around representing all those clans each night as a warning to the king?
The whole business was wrought with twists and turns.
For the first time she believed her uncle when he implied the web they’d weaved was cast wide with many connections.
Perhaps too many for any of them to ever untangle.
She had to settle on a gown and so in a measure of good faith, she chose the one that had previously belonged to Elspeth.
The gown was lovely and fit her well and she hoped her new sister would take it as a compliment.
Agnes was not interested in there being any form of illustration of rank when the family was the only company and so this was the best choice. She was sure of it.
A knock sounded at the door and the maids entered. They glanced at one another with their brows raised when they spied the gown Agnes had chosen.
“M’lady, are you sure that is the gown you wish to wear for the evening meal?”
“Is there any reason I should not wear it?” she asked.
They both paused. Agnes would not condone their continued gossip about William’s sister.
When they didn’t respond, she said, “Good. Then that is the gown I shall wear this evening and as a reward for your good sense, I will let you do whatever you wish to my hair.”
That appeared to be enough for them to recover from their earlier hesitation.
The maids set about to fuss over whether Agnes’s hair should be up or down; covered or not.
In the end they pinned her dark curls around her face and swept the rest back into a thick roll they covered with a mesh cap lined with gold stitching and dozens of pearls.
They chose pearl earrings and a pearl necklace for her as well.
Agnes was pleased with the final look. She carried the air of a countess but was not so lofty as to hit anyone over the head with the knowledge.
She hadn’t seen William all afternoon and so assumed he’d been busy with estate business and catching up with his sister.
Agnes left the chamber in search of them.
She hoped the evening would prove pleasing for them all.
*
William sat by the hearth lost in thought.
While he loved his sister, having her here now with such turmoil about was not ideal.
She had fallen hard for Connor. As a Munroe, he came from a strong family, though William did not know them well.
As nephew to the chieftain, and with a good reputation, it was an easy match to make.
He owned his own lands and kept company in good circles and so William erred on the side of Elspeth’s preference.
Lord knows she’d have put up the place had he refused.
She’d kicked up enough noise each time he tried to find a suitable match for her.
He hadn’t seen her since the wedding some months back and truth be told, had not even received a letter from her. But to show up unannounced because he’d been injured? Well, that was more emotion than he’d expect from her.
He shrugged it off and smiled when he spied his wife entering the hall for the evening meal. He was pleased she spent the afternoon resting after the days and weeks they’d endured. Her strength seemed to multiply by the day and he couldn’t be prouder.