The Gathering Storm (The Jacobite Chronicles Book 3)(57)

She rounded on him so quickly that he took an involuntary step backwards.

"Yes, you did," she said. "And I tried. I had no idea he'd even come home until he was standing behind me. And before you say that I should have pointed out how cold it was, I did, and he put his coat round me and then led me out before I could stop him."                       
       
           



       

"Ye should have refused to go out wi' him, like I said, Beth," he fumed, pulling off his wig. "And what the hell were ye doing, letting him put flowers in your hair? I tellt ye … "

"I know what you told me!" she shouted, tearing the rose from her hair and throwing it at him. "You told me to scream and hit him, but if I'd done that I'd have looked ridiculous, and you'd never have been invited back to the palace again. You weren't there, so you don't know a damned thing about how it was!"

"I know you looked bloody guilty when ye came back," he roared. "What else did ye let him do so that I could be invited back to the palace?"

"Nothing!" she cried. "I wasn't guilty, I was angry! Clearly you think as little of me as Cumberland does, if you assume I'd let him seduce me in the bushes!"

He had the grace to look shamefaced at this.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldna have said that, but I canna stand the thought of ye letting him even touch you. I ken ye wouldna have let him go too far, even if it did mean risking our position at Court."

"No, you're wrong," she said, her eyes blazing. "I can't stand him. I wouldn't, I didn't, let him go anywhere at all. He put a flower in my hair and held my hand, briefly. That's all. The man thinks he's in love with me. What I did manage to do was to reject him in such a clever way, though I say so myself, that he's upset but not offended, and your position at Court is unaffected. It wasn't easy but I did it, and you should be congratulating me, not prancing about in a jealous rage!"

"I am not prancing about in a jealous rage!" he said indignantly.

"Yes you are," she replied. "You have no more right to be jealous of what I've done with Cumberland than I had to be jealous of you and Anne Maynard!"

"Anne Maynard?" he said incredulously. "That's a different matter entirely. I felt sorry for the lassie, that was all. There was never anything between us, as you well know!"

"Not on your side there wasn't," retorted Beth. "Any more than I have any feeling for Cumberland. But she was besotted with you, just as Cumberland is with me. The only difference was that she didn't have the courage to show it, and he did. And I wasn't stupid enough to be jealous, and you are!"

He looked at her for a moment, speechless.

"I've told you before, Alex," she said, in a normal voice this time. "I'm beautiful. Men are attracted to me. I can't help that. You're handsome. Even as Sir Anthony, women are attracted to you. You can't help that, either. But we can both help being jealous. It's ridiculous, when we're supposed to trust each other."

"Were you jealous of Anne, then?" he asked, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had flared. He moved closer, the corners of his mouth lifting in the beginnings of a smile.

"No," she said. "Of course not." She pushed firmly to the back of her mind the desire she had once had to punch Anne, before she had realised the woman deserved sympathy, not anger.

"Really?" he said, reaching out and pulling her to him. "Not even a wee bit?"

"No," she said. "Not even a wee bit."

"You're lying," he said confidently, bending to kiss her. "I can tell."



"How could you tell I was lying?" she asked some considerable time later, after they had both washed off the rouge and white paint they had become liberally smeared with, had raided the pantry, and repaired to bed for an extremely early night.

"If I tell ye that, ye'll be as wise as me," he said, straightening the bedclothes, which had become somewhat disarranged following the recent activity. "Congratulations, by the way."

"What for?"

"For appeasing Cumberland without giving anything in return. That was quite a feat. What would ye have done if he had proposed marriage?"

"Hung myself," she said. "I think it might be better if I don't go to the palace with you for a while, though. If we meet anywhere else and he comments on it, I can always say that I was too distressed to meet him, or something like that."

"And it saves you the tedium of listening to the Elector spout on about war for hours on end," Alex said.

"Yes it does, doesn't it?" said Beth with a grin. "I hadn't thought of that."

"You're lying again," he remarked.

"No, I'm not!" she protested. She wasn't, and he knew it, although she still didn't know how.                       
       
           



       

"Interesting what he let slip, though," mused Alex. "Are ye sure he didna mean you to know?"

"Yes," she said. "Because not a minute before he inadvertently revealed he was going to have command of the forces in Flanders, he told me that he was only hoping to play a part. Is it important?"

"Who gets command of the army? Of course it is."

"Do you think it'll be a good thing or not?"

"For us? I'm no' sure, but I can think of a lot of people I'd sooner have in command than Cumberland."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because what he tellt ye is right. The British Army is one of the best in the world. But it's often undisciplined, and badly trained. If Cumberland succeeds in bringing them into line, it'll make them harder to beat. Especially for the clans, who'll never be disciplined. But there are some points in our favour, too."

"Such as?"

"Cumberland's young and inexperienced. He showed bravery at Dettingen, and he's got the authority of royalty, but he'll have to tread carefully if he's no' to ruffle the feathers of the old men he'll be superior to. Hell, I dinna ken if he'll be a good commander or no'. I've got other things on my mind right now."

"Like what?" Beth said, leaning precariously out of bed to reach for the wine and inadvertently displaying her bare back and one firm white buttock.

"Like this," he said, making a lunge for the exposed part, causing her to shriek and miss her grab for the wine, almost tumbling out of bed altogether. He caught her neatly round the waist and gathered her back under the sheets.

"Don't you need to replenish your strength, after the last time?" she said, giggling.

"Christ, woman, d'ye take me for a man in his dotage?" he said indignantly, pinioning her to the mattress beneath him and demonstrating comprehensively that he was well and truly replenished. "That was a full half hour ago. I havena even warmed up yet."

Things had started to become extremely warm, to say the least, when there was a knock at the door, and before Alex or Beth could tell whoever it was to go away in no uncertain terms, the door opened and Iain walked in.

They both looked at him, stilled by his expression. He had barely noticed what they were doing and how comprehensively he was intruding, and his face was white and drawn.

"It's Maggie," he said, before they could ask. "She's started her pains."





CHAPTER TWELVE


"It's too soon," said Maggie despairingly when Beth appeared in the bedroom dressed only in her shift, closely followed by Iain. Maggie, to Beth's surprise, was pacing up and down the room, consciously making an effort to breathe slowly and steadily, small beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead. Beth had expected her to be lying down in bed, clutching the bedpost and screaming in agony.

I have no idea what to expect, really, she thought, panicking, realising that her expectations of what she would find in the room were based solely on Caroline's amusing retrospective account of Freddie's birth, which she said had mainly consisted of her screaming her head off, threatening to kill Edwin if he ever came within ten yards of her again, and uttering language that would have made a soldier blush. After which a small, slimy squirming creature had been placed carefully in her arms by the midwife, and her heart had immediately melted.

The midwife.

"Get the midwife," Beth said to Iain, who was hovering uncertainly in the doorway of his own bedroom, which had suddenly become alien territory to him. He nodded once, cast a worried glance at his wife and shot off, grateful to have a reason to leave. Beth, who wanted nothing more than to follow him, instead moved a few steps into the room, just as Maggie halted in her pacing and clutched her stomach, her face contorting as the spasm passed over her.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" said Beth.

"It's wet," explained Maggie when the pain had receded. "My waters broke. I thought I'd wet myself at first. And it's better if ye move about while ye can." She looked at the other woman, her green eyes dark with anguish, "It's too soon, Beth. I canna have it now, it's too soon. It's no' due for another ten weeks or so."