The Renegade(203)
“Not always, my liege.”
“That’s because you are a man. Earl you may be, but a mere male in the scheme of things and therefore useless in every woman’s eyes during a pregnancy. They have no need of us once the beginning is achieved. But we have need of you, my lord of Carrick, as your liege lord. You have responsibility here, too, as a dutiful vassal.” He did not wait for Bruce to respond. “The lady Isabella will do well enough without you for a while. You can do my bidding and return in plenty of time to pace the floor and fret about the coming of your child.
“Now. I need men I can trust today in Scotland, and you are one I can trust further than most. Your earldom of Carrick is restored to you, as of this moment, and your father’s lands of Annandale to him. But he cannot yet go home. He still has work to do in Carlisle. And so I require you to go at once into your home lands and repossess them formally as forfeited by the House of Comyn. You will assure the loyalty of your own people there—both to yourself and to us. And when you have done there in Carrick, you will do the same in Annandale, on your father’s behalf. You can be back in Writtle within six weeks of leaving, so be you waste no time.”
“Thank you, sire.” He hesitated. “Am I permitted to ask what you intend to do with the Comyns, my liege?”
“You are, my lord of Carrick.” Edward spoke quietly, scanning the crowd as he did so but acknowledging none of the looks directed back at him. “I intend to forgive them their transgressions, on condition that they supply their full support to my endeavours in France. We hold four earls in London and several more elsewhere, and their manpower and contributions will be most useful. Once they have all agreed to my terms, I will issue a general amnesty and release all prisoners. The King of Scotland himself will remain in custody for the time being, until I decide how best to deal with him for the good of all. I cannot simply turn him loose to be used as a rallying symbol, though I doubt that would be likely to occur. In the meantime, I have a campaign in France to prepare and I will need strong men to back my administrative officers here in Scotland. There are taxes to be levied and collected and such things are seldom popular, and the men who would normally see to such things are all in England now.” He stopped again, head tilted. “You brought men with you, did you not?”
“I did, my liege. The same fifty I took with me when you sent me to tour the heartland. They did well on that occasion and the experience was good for them, so I thought to repeat it.”
“Good. You’ll be able to strengthen them with men from your own lands in Carrick. Dine with us tonight, my lord. Tomorrow you can meet with Cressingham, sign those articles, and then spend the remainder of the day preparing what you’ll need to take with you. No need for you to stay here for the duration of the parliament. It will be dull, hammering out the rules of government. You’ll leave the following day … ”
He turned casually, sweeping his eye over the crowded floor.
“You are aware, I suppose,” he said from the corner of his mouth, “that every man in this chamber now hates you for keeping me occupied with you for so long and not with them. Were I you at this moment I would bow and take my leave and walk out of here in the glow of the King’s evident affection. We will speak again at dinner tonight.”
Bruce bowed and did as he had been bidden, but as he left, looking straight ahead and avoiding all eyes, he had difficulty swallowing his resentment at having been so abruptly deprived of weeks spent in the company of his wife as her time approached. But that, he thought, was manipulation, and Edward of England was the master of it.
The Earl of Carrick’s return to his earldom was hardly triumphal, but it was satisfying none the less, and along the route, his first sight of the grim old fortress of Lochmaben brought a lump into his throat with a startlingly vivid recollection of his grandfather. Bruce and his party had seen very few local inhabitants along the road, but that was hardly surprising. Fifty armoured marching men in the aftermath of a lost war offered little hope of goodwill towards locals, and wise men took care to stay well out of sight.
There was an English garrison at Lochmaben, commanded by a Yorkshire knight called Humphreys, and Bruce made himself known to the man but made no effort to assert his own or his father’s restored ownership of the place. He was merely passing through on his way to his own earldom of Carrick, he informed Humphreys, and showed him the King’s writ of repossession. He would return after his visit to Carrick, once order was re-established there, at which time he would wish to meet with his father’s vassals here, the knights of Annandale. Humphreys raised no objection. The lord of Annandale’s loyalty to King Edward was well known and respected, and the Earl of Carrick’s activities on his father’s behalf were accepted as normal filial duty.