Bernard laughed, and they walked on for a while and finally sat down among a thicket of spruce trees, leaning their backs against their solid trunks.
“I must speak to my father,” William said at last. “If all these other lairds are on her side, it will be a problem for us, even if she is only working behind the scenes. When Janice comes back from the village, can you keep her occupied for a while?”
“Of course,” Bernard replied, nodding.
He yawned and wandered back to the castle a long way behind his friend, thinking, and suddenly, at the thought of the curves of Janice’s waistline, hips, and breasts, the animal in him surged with a rampant desire. He knew he could never have her, but that still did not stop him from wanting her quite desperately.
When he reached the castle, he climbed up onto the topmost turrets to avoid the masses of people downstairs and stood looking out over the rolling countryside on which Howdenbrae Castle stood, thinking about what their ultimate mission was. Their plan was to weaken the Stewart clan and make it dependent on the Ballantines, and although he had always felt uneasy about it, he now felt downright ashamed. However, he worked for Laird Ballantine—no, he depended on him—and his friendship with William was priceless to him. He owed them his loyalty. In fact, he owed them everything.
At that moment he saw a woman on a horse cantering toward the castle, her dark hair flying behind her like a banner. He waited until she had passed over the drawbridge and then leaped down the spiral staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
9
After she dropped her horse at the blacksmith to be fitted with new shoes, Janice went to sit and talk to Queenie McBride, telling her about the antics of her brothers and some of the guests who had come to the castle.
She sighed as she spoke. “They are my brothers, Queenie, and it is my duty to love them,” she said sadly, sipping a cup of ale as she spoke. “But I do not like them very much. In fact, sometimes I wish—no, I cannot say it.” She had been about to sayI wish they would drop dead,but refrained, afraid of what Queenie would think of her.
Queenie studied the young woman in front of her, then put her hand over Janice’s on the bar. “We cannae choose our family, hen. Sometimes I am glad I am only a workin’ class woman, though,” she said thankfully. “We dinnae have tae worry about castles an’ estates, an’ we can marry whoever we like. In some ways, I have a better life than ye.” She smiled sadly.
Janice smiled at her. “You are right, Queenie, but you have different problems.”
“Aye, that is true.” Queenie picked up a cloth and began to clean the bar, then she gazed at the woman she had come to know as her friend. “We a’ have problems, hen, but ye know if ye ever need tae talk about anythin’, I am here. Nothin’ ye say will ever go farther than the two o’ us.”
“I know, Queenie, and thank you,” Janice replied. She picked up the other woman’s hand and kissed it, then smiled at her. There were tears in her eyes. “Thank you for being my friend.”
“Pfft!” Queenie flapped a hand at her in dismissal. “Ye saved us a’ fae starvin’ two years ago, hen. The villagers would dae anythin’ for ye.”
Janice shook her head. “That was my father,” she countered. “He was the cause of that triumph.”
“As ye say, hen.” Queenie smiled. Let Janice believe what she liked.
Both women looked up as a muscular middle-aged man came in. He was sweating and filthy, but when he smiled, his teeth, white against the black of his skin, looked like a sunbeam.
“Yer horse is ready, mistress,” he announced. “Four new shoes.”
“Thank you, Cameron.” Janice smiled at him and dropped the payment into his hand.
The blacksmith looked at it and handed her back a shilling. “Too much, mistress,” he said, laughing. Janice always added a generous tip.
Now, she gave the coin back to him and closed his fingers over it. “Buy your wife a new dress or your daughter a new doll,” she told him firmly, before she ordered him a cup of ale. “Now, tell me all your news.”
She sat talking to Cameron Brown and Queenie until more customers came in and the tavern began to fill up; she knew it was time to go home.
“I wish I could stay a little bit longer, but they will be looking for me,” she said regretfully.
She looked so downcast that Cameron put an arm around her shoulders, marking her cream-colored shawl with a large black smear of soot.
He jumped back immediately, horrified. “I am so sorry, mistress!” he cried. He looked in his pockets for something to wipe the mark away, but every rag he found was filthy.
“Cameron, don’t worry,” she said soothingly. “It was an accident, and the mark will wash out. Goodbye, both of you. Cameron, I will have more work for you soon. We are buying three new plow horses at the horse fair.”
She gave a little wave and tried to leave, but she had to stop for another conversation before she reached the door.
* * *
As soon as she emerged from the stables, revived by the fresh air and in high spirits, Janice headed for her bedchamber to bathe and rest for a while before dinner. What she really wanted to do was curl up in bed and daydream for a while before drifting off to sleep, but as the laird’s daughter, she had no such option. She had to be with the guests.
As she was crossing the atrium, a young maidservant stopped her. “Mistress Janice, the laird would like tae see ye. He says it is important.”