Chapter 19 #2
“We’d heard that England’s king were a-coming north, too, wi’ more men,” Ada said. “But when he heard Northumberland had gone, he followed him to Wales, instead, and we heard later that his men killed Northumberland’s son.”
Greenlaw nodded. “Hotspur and his uncle, the late earl’s brother, were both killed and some Douglases aided them in that battle, too, and were taken prisoner.”
“We want to know more about the siege itself,” Dev said. “You had men on the wall, watching the enemy, aye?”
“Aye, sure, sir. We didna make a song about it, though. The English had longbows and a cannon, but my lads popped their heads up oft enough to see what was what.”
Mistress Greenlaw said, “They’ll be serving the midday meal soon, Sir David. Is there aught in particular that you want to know?”
Dev looked at Robina and gave a slight nod.
She understood it to mean that she should decide what to tell them, so she said, “Aye, there is.” To Greenlaw, she said, “I found a jar buried on that rise southeast of the wall when I dug the hole for Benjy’s sapling—a crockery jar with silver coins in it.
They are tarnished but one can see that they are a mix of English and Scottish coins, more being English. So, we wondered if, during the siege…”
Greenlaw frowned thoughtfully when she paused, and Ada returned to her knitting.
Robina knew then that Ada had naught that she could tell them about the coins but was listening to all that they said.
Turning her attention to Greenlaw, Robina waited patiently to hear what he would say. He looked from her to Dev and then back at her.
Dev wondered if Greenlaw felt uneasy discussing such a find with him there. After all, the old man knew only that he’d been Rab’s friend and was now Warden of Coklaw by order of the Douglas. If the steward did not trust Douglas…
Greenlaw cleared his throat and addressed a point midway between Dev and Robby, saying, “I ken nowt o’ such a jar.
I can tell ye it didna come from Coklaw or anyone here.
The late master—Master James, bless his soul—kept nowt from me, knowing that I couldna care for the place without knowing all he knew about it.
Master Rab and the lady Robina grew up believing as their da did, and our people all be loyal.
How much silver be we talking about, if ye’ll tell me? ”
“Much,” Robby said, holding her cupped hands apart, one slightly above the other, indicating the approximate height and circumference of the jar.
“Then, I’d wager it belonged to them wicked Percys. Small coins and silver only?”
Dev saw Robby nod when he did. He said, “Silver shillings and pennies.”
Greenlaw said, “That be more than I’d expect anyone hereabouts, other than the Douglas or Buccleuch, to have. But even a jarful that size wouldna be enough for Northumberland or Hotspur to pay the army they’d gathered to take to Wales.”
“Was it so big?” Robby asked him.
“Aye, m’lady. See you, dunamany Scots joined them, ’cause the Percys were a-taking up against Henry o’ England, joining wi’ the Welsh rebellion.”
Robby looked at Dev, and he nodded. He’d heard as much, himself.
Greenlaw said, “The current Douglas’s father and the Duke o’ Albany, who was Governor of the Realm then, did both think it were better to occupy Henry in Wales than to ha’ him on our doorstep.
We did hear afterward that Hotspur’s army carried a treasure chest to pay their warriors and to aid the Welsh rebels. ”
Dev said, “Then you suspect that someone might have helped himself to it?”
“Men who got close enough to ha’ a look at their encampment said the Percys’ tent had guards round it, day and night, guarding against their own men. From me own experience of such, I’d say the treasure chest were inside.”
“Aye,” Dev said. “ ’Tis gey unusual for a man to steal from his liege, though.”
“Would someone like that have been able to bury it on the rise, John?”
Greenlaw shrugged. “They left gey quick, after midnight, m’lady. Had someone taken such a sum, he might ha’ found it easier to hide it here in dark of night than near their camp. Mayhap he were unable to fetch it afore leaving.”
Dev nodded. Noting that Robby had turned and was watching him, he smiled at her. “That makes more sense than any other thought we’ve had, lass.”
“Aye, perhaps, but does it get us any further?”
“Well, to my mind, the likeliest thief was someone guarding the Percys’ tent. If that whole army went straight from here to the battle at Shrewsbury…”
“They did,” Greenlaw said. “And many of them, including Hotspur, died there.”
Dev grimaced. “So, if such a theft occurred, the thief risked his life to steal the gelt and then fought a battle with terrible losses. ’Tis likely he was one of those who died.”
Robby shook her head. “If he died, then who pulled Benjy’s tree out of its hole and dug the hole deeper?” she asked him. “Someone else knows about that jar, sir.”
Dev agreed, but they had learned all they could from the Greenlaws. Suspecting that Mistress Greenlaw was thinking of the midday meal again, Dev said, “I expect we should let these good people get on with their duties, lass.”
Thanking them for their help, they left the housekeeper’s room and went upstairs. When Robby turned to go into the hall, Dev stopped her and urged her on up the stairs.
“We’re supposed to be taking time to ourselves,” he reminded her. “They won’t be serving food yet for a half-hour or more.”
“I don’t need to change my dress,” she said.
“You may not change it,” he said with a meaningful grin. “But you’ll likely want to put it back on after I take it off.”
“It’s the middle of the day!”
“Aye, and a fine time it is for me to learn more about my wife.”
Robina was shocked. It had never occurred to her that her husband might want to couple at any time other than when they went to bed at night. However, just the thought that he wanted to couple sent sensations through her body that easily matched much of what she’d felt the previous night.
Her nipples swelled and pressed against the fabric of her shift, as desire coursed through her. By the time they reached their bedchamber, she wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her again as thoroughly as he had the night before.
Closing and bolting both doors as he had then, he returned to her and reached for the front lacing of her new pink kirtle.
The shutters were open, but the hillsides were distant and no one below could see them. Nevertheless, she felt vulnerable and nearly protested.
Then, she saw the hunger in his eyes, and the fire in her body burned hotter. When his hands, untying her laces, brushed against her tender nipples, she gasped.
He kissed her then as thoroughly as she had hoped, while his fingers and hands remained busy. In a trice, her kirtle and shift slipped down to puddle at her feet. She put her arms up to hug him, but he held her a little away.
“I want to look at you,” he murmured.
Her wayward thoughts sprang instantly to Rab. Was he watching them?
It occurred to her that if he was, she could do naught to stop him, and that whether he watched or not, God did.
All priests said that He saw all and knew all.
Since she could do naught to stop God, either, she’d just have to get used to them both watching.
The possible presence of anyone troubled her no further after that, because Dev seized every fiber of her being and thought by tweaking a nipple.
“You should pay heed to your husband, my love,” he said. “I hope you were not thinking about another man, because I would dislike that.”
“Is God a man, then?” she asked, looking up to see how he’d react to that.
His eyebrows rose. “Aye, sure, God is a man. Has anyone suggested otherwise.”
“Then I was thinking of another man. I wondered if He was watching us.”
Instead of chuckling or laughing outright, as she expected, he looked at her more searchingly. “Is that all? You looked… I don’t know how to describe it, but you looked as if you were keeping secrets again.”
“I warned you not to lie to him, Beany. You don’t want to make Dev angry.”
She swallowed. Rab was watching, and listening. And she knew that Dev had seen her reaction.
Hoping to divert him, she said, “Do you mean to stand there in your clothes, sir, gawking at me? I’m unaccustomed to standing still whilst someone looks at me as if he would see through my skin to my bones.”
“Turn away from me,” he muttered, holding her gaze.
To avoid his discerning eyes and because the command sent heat roaring through her, she obeyed. Facing the wall with her sampler hanging on it but conscious only of him watching her, she trembled.
He kept her standing so until she looked over her shoulder at him.
“Have you seen enough?” she demanded. “You are making my skin prickle.”
He grinned. “I have not seen nearly enough, lassie-mine, but ’tis a husband’s right to look his fill. You may come and undress me now.”
“May I? I’d liefer watch you undress yourself.”
“Nay, you must learn to do it. Only think if I should be injured and you did not yet know how to undo all my laces and buckles.”
She laughed. “Good sakes, I know all about buckles and laces,” she said. “I had to help Rab fasten and tie his when we were small. He was all thumbs.”
“Then you should excel at the task now. Show me.”
He was still smiling, and she was beginning to enjoy herself.
Dev showed her other ways that they could enjoy themselves, and in the days that followed, he taught her more ways that he could pleasure her.
They argued occasionally about small things, but he did listen to her.
And, if she said something to change his mind, he admitted it far more willingly than Rab ever had.
Dev also showed her how much she could enjoy their coupling. He could stir her passion with a look or a wink, sometimes just by walking into the room.
Wednesday afternoon, while they lingered together at the high table after their midday meal and discussed whether they would ride to the Hall to celebrate Beltane with everyone there or stay home, Coll entered to tell them that two messengers had arrived under a Percy banner and a white flag of truce.
Their blissful interlude thus ended abruptly.
Dev said, “Bring them to me in the inner chamber, Coll. Make sure first that they carry no weapons.”
“They don’t, sir. We searched them when they arrived. I’ll fetch them in.”
“You stay here,” Dev said to Robina as Coll strode back across the hall.
“I will not,” she said, standing when he did. “I have as much right to know what is going on as you do. Moreover, if our men have searched them—”
“You will do as I bid,” he replied, fighting to speak calmly instead of reacting as he usually did to defiance. “This is not the time or place to test my temper, Robby. Having two Percys here is bad enough, white flag or none. I don’t want you exposed to such men.”
“I disagree, Dev. They’re more apt to remain civil if I’m with you.”
“Coll and I will keep them civil,” he said, no longer bothering to conceal his rising temper. “You will do as I say, or by my troth, I’ll carry you upstairs and let them wait whilst I persuade you to stay there.”
Having already experienced one of his harsher methods of persuasion, Robina grimaced but nodded submissively. “I’ll go up, then.”
Dev’s brow furrowed. “You are submitting mighty quick, lass.”
She rolled her eyes. “Faith, you scold me when I speak my mind and you scold when I submit to you. How am I to know the more acceptable course?”
“Obedience is always best,” he said sternly.
“Certes, I can understand why you think so,” she retorted. “Nay, cool your ire, sir,” she added hastily when he stiffened. “I won’t stay here, but I will go upstairs if you insist.”
“I do.”
Gathering her skirts in one hand, she raised her chin, gave him a withering look, and left the dais.
Crossing the hall to the archway, she maintained her dignity until she was on the stairs.
Then, however, she snatched her skirts up with both hands and went lightly but quickly up the one flight to the master chamber.
Bolting the door, she took her sampler from the wall and put her eyes to the laird’s squint that it had concealed. Peering down into the inner chamber, she saw Dev take his place in the two-elbow chair behind her father’s heavy oak table.
The scraping sound of the chair across the floor came easily to her ears.
“Ah, Beany, ’tis a wicked, disobedient wife you are.”
“Hush,” she murmured. “Coll is bringing those Percys in. I want to hear.”