In Bed With A Stranger(46)

"I'd have been dead years ago if my wit wasnae sharp. There's plenty o'  men that dinnae want me succeeding the throne of England." The king  waited until the servant returned with another drinking vessel. This one  was a tankard far better suited to small beer. Druce looked ready to  weep until he noticed the second servant with two more tankards.

"I really do need ye, man. We've delegations from every royal house on  the continent. This is a summer when Scotland needs her earls at court."  James pegged him with a firm look. "I need ye here, and I'll keep  McQuade on a leash so you'll nae have to worry about him harassing yer  people."

"What about the man's sons?" Druce asked.

The king nodded. "I'll summon them to wait with their father. A few  months cooling their heels in my outer hall should teach them to carry  tales. But I'll nae promise that it will keep them from raiding ye in  the fall."

"I need no help with running him back to his own land." Brodick looked  at Druce and Cullen. Both smiled unpleasantly. The king grunted.

"But I need ye, man."

To serve his king was an honor.         

     



 

But that meant not returning to Sterling …

Brodick hid his disgruntlement behind the tankard. He'd judged older men  harshly because they wanted nothing more than to return home. Look at  himself now. Young lads didn't know what they were missing. He hadn't  until he was forced to leave it behind. Still he was blessed and needed  to remember that.

The only thing that vexed him still was the fact that his wife hadn't  told him about their child. Her letter was sweetly written, more than  he'd expected salving the wound that was left when he rode away from  Sterling.

But it didn't contain the news that she was carrying. That had come in a  second letter written by Helen. He didn't feel any remorse over  commanding the maid to write him in secret. There would be no surprises  when he returned home this time. He needed to know that his wife was  cared for. Needed to know that she was not wasting away to a sack o'  bones.

Something felt wrong but he couldn't place it. Just that inkling of a  feeling that tingled down a man's neck when he knew he was being  watched.

But for the time being, he would serve his king. It was the McJames' duty.

England, four months later

"Mother, I'm bored! I will go insane if I am forced to endure much more of this confinement."

Mary Spencer snorted while she paced in a wide circle. She wrinkled her nose and picked at her sleeve.

"And I detest this wool. It stinks like a sheep. I want my velvet dress  back. It has been forever since that Scot took Anne away."

"It has been only seven months." Philipa sounded tired. She cast a strained look at her child.

"Seven and a half months. The summer is waning."

"Still not enough time has passed."

Mary groaned long and loudly. Philipa rubbed her forehead. She was sick  unto death of the demands of men, no longer caring if the church  preached that it was her place to shoulder such. Mary huffed and sat in a  puddle of wool skirts, her expression unhappy.

"Don't fret, my lamb. We've almost bested this marriage your father negotiated. A few weeks more is all."

"What if Anne isn't with child?"

Philipa frowned. "She had better be."

She had better be.

Philipa felt her temper heat. Oh, she would enjoy letting her wrath fall  on Ivy Copper and her litter of bastards. She'd wanted to drown them  all the day they were birthed. Anne had better be with child. A son. She  didn't dare risk leaving the girl with the Scots household too long.  Servants talked. Even when you whipped them.

Philipa sighed. It was certainly difficult to make it through life's  hurdles. She would just have to endure like her daughter for a few weeks  more. She frowned, considering how long Anne had been treated as the  mistress of a house. It was possible the bastard might forget her place.  Even the threat against her family might lose its sharp edge when she  was safe and pampered so far from Warwickshire.

Something would have to be done about that. Something to drive it deep into her heart. Philipa paced, considering her methods.

Yes … something very frightening to a girl.

Sterling, one month later

Surcoats were evil.

Anne snarled as she tripped on the edge of her loose gown. Grabbing two  handfuls of the fabric, she lifted it out of the way of her feet. Now  that her belly was swelling large, she could not wear her skirts.  Without a waistband, the fabric puddled on the ground every time she  bent over, even a little bit. It was frustrating because she felt  wonderful and didn't want to be slowed down by the loose garments needed  for her ripening figure.

"Get on the other side of the flock, Ginny. Hurry."

Anne ran the opposite way, flapping her surcoat in the wind to get the  geese into the pens. It was time to wash them and remove the thick down  that had grown over the winter. Now that it was full summer, the  feathers could be thinned. There would be enough time for it to grow  back before winter returned.

Anne ran and headed off a large gander. The animal honked at her, flapping his wings.

"Get on with you. I want a down comforter to keep me warm. You will  never miss the feathers, I promise." Raising her hands, she sent the  bird back toward the pens on the riverbank. Water made it much easier to  remove part of the down.         

     



 

Her baby kicked. Anne lowered her arms to softly stroke her rounded  tummy. She was as ripe as a fall pumpkin, her child pushing her womb  out. The bells began to ring. Her heart accelerated as she looked toward  Sterling. A cloud of dust was rising on the road and she peered at it,  willing her husband to ride out of it.

"Mistress, ye need to get within the castle walls."

One of the captains was always with her when she left Sterling. Anne  looked up to see the man frowning at the approaching riders.

"Forgive me, ma'am, but we needs to go now."

There was a solid ring of duty in his voice that didn't hint at any  argument from her. He reached for her hand and helped her into the cart  the man insisted she ride in. Her mare having been denied her the second  Helen told all at Sterling that she was with child. Ginny and the  others were left to deal with the geese. But for her, she was returned  to Sterling in haste. Brodick had kept his promise to have her  accompanied anytime she left the imposing walls. They rode through the  gate well before the riders reached them. Helen stood on the steps  waiting for her.

"There ye be, ma'am."

"Is it the earl returning?" Her voice was full of anticipation.

Helen shook her head. "The lord doesnae have the bells rung on his return. He claims 'tis an honor he has yet to earn."

A shiver went down her spine. Her babe kicked hard as she lifted her  chin and watched the gate. The riders drew in close enough to see and  the banner of Warwickshire flapped boldly in the afternoon sun. Horror  flooded her, stealing her breath as they filled the inner yard. But the  worst was yet to come. The man leading them yanked his helmet free and  shook out his long hair.

It was a face that she wished she might forget.

Cameron Yeoman was an evil man. One of a handful of men Philipa employed  to keep the staff in hand at Warwickshire, the man often gained  compliance with his brute strength. He flashed a sneer at her, his gaze  settling on her distended belly. The tip of his tongue appeared on his  lower lip, swiping back and forth across it a few times.

"Good day to you, ma'am. Your Mother, Philipa, sends her greetings."

Anne paled. She felt the blood draining from her face. Cameron waved a  horse forward and she heard a faint tinkling of laughter. Her sister  Bonnie rode confidently up beside Philipa's strong man. Her cheeks were  red, a haunted look in her eyes.

"I brought you a letter. The mistress commanded me to bring it to you."

Anne moved down the steps as fast as possible with her belly so large,  unable to see her sweet sister so close to such a monster. More than one  maid at Warwickshire had suffered his rape. The man was a monster,  often beating a girl even after she bent to his will. Bonnie reached  into a leather pouch and pulled a folded parchment out. She shuddered  but hid it almost in the same moment that it shook her slight frame.

Anne took the letter, but was more intent on getting her sister away  from her escort. Cameron stared at her belly, a twisted smile on his  lips.

"Dismount, Bonnie."

"Hold." Cameron held up a hand. Bonnie flinched but froze with her hands tight around the saddle horn.

Captain Murry, charged with her protection outside the gates, had  shifted away, leaving her at the mercy of her visitors. Work was  resuming around them. Even Helen had joined several women working on  washing wool. Everyone seemed to be granting her privacy to talk to her  guests, thinking it a kindness.

Cameron swung a leg over the head of his horse. He moved close enough to keep his words between them.

"Your sister stays on that mare." He reached into his leather doublet to  pull another letter from it. His smile grew. "This is a proxy marriage,  giving me full rights to your sweet sister. You can say anything you  wish but no man in this castle will deny me the rights to my wife."