“Here is your chamber, M’Laird,” she said to Laird Ballantine. “I hope it is to your liking. We have so many people staying with us this weekend that almost all our rooms are full, which is why I was hesitant about giving you another chamber. We expected a few cancelations or refusals, but there were neither.”
She looked flustered, and the laird immediately felt sorry for her.
“That is likely because this is a much-anticipated event,” he answered pleasantly. “It is also very novel. I have never heard of two brothers competing for a lairdship before.”
“Neither have I,” Janice agreed, with a grim laugh. “My father suggested it, not expecting anyone to take it seriously, but the twins leaped at the idea. It was their suggestion that we should make it into a spectacle and invite half of Scotland to see it. My father is very ill, and he agreed because he wanted to see his sons enjoying their lives to the fullest while he still could. I am not sure this whole circus is good for him.” Suddenly she put her hand to her mouth and blushed. “Forgive me, I did not mean to burden you with my tedious family matters.”
“Family matters are never tedious,” the laird said kindly, then he looked around the room, which was enormous. It was beautifully decorated with a huge oak bed whose yellow satin coverlets glowed in the daylight, and the tables and chairs were polished to a mirror-like finish. It boasted an elaborately plastered ceiling, and its oak floor was scattered with handwoven jewel-colored rugs.
When he looked out of the window at the magnificent view of the rolling hills and distant loch, he smiled, and his blue eyes sparkled with appreciation. “You have done us proud, Mistress Stewart,” he said happily.
Janice bowed her head in thanks and returned the smile, then she led Bernard and William along the corridor to another room. “I am sorry, but this room is little used and much smaller, so it is one of the only ones we have left,” she told them, opening the door.
They walked in and saw that the room was a fair size, although not nearly as big as the laird’s, and much less elaborately decorated. The bed was smaller too, and Bernard frowned as he looked at it. Two big men could never squeeze into that.
“Don’t worry, I will have another bed brought in,” Janice assured them, having seen the desperate look on Bernard’s face. “Now, I will leave you to settle in. I will have wine sent up. I apologize for my rudeness, but today has been rather stressful, as you can imagine.”
With that, she marched out of the room as if she could not wait to be away.
The two men looked at each other and sighed. “I will never understand women,” William said, shaking his head.
Bernard laughed and agreed. “But would we love them as much if we could?” he asked.
* * *
By the time she went downstairs again, the flow of guests was still streaming in, and Janice felt obliged to stand in line to meet them, even though she was exhausted and still wearing the shabby brown dress she always wore for riding.
Most of the men greeted her courteously enough, although very briefly. The women gave her a disgusted once-over as if she was something to be avoided at all costs. Given her attire, Janice thought, she could not blame them. She looked over at her brothers, then looked away again, completely embarrassed.
“You really should not be allowed out without a guard,” said Andrew to a simpering young miss who was called Alana MacLean. “You are far too beautiful. All the other young ladies will be so jealous they might want to harm you—and then my heart would be broken beyond repair!”
The young woman, all five feet of her, giggled. Janice could see that she was not much more than a girl who was still under the protective eye of her mother. She was glad when she tugged her daughter away from her idiot of a brother.
Alasdair was no better. He had dragged one of the guards into the throng of guests and was pretending to fight with him. The man could have flattened him with one arm tied behind his back, but he could not be seen to win or he would have been without employment within an hour.
At last, after having suffered through an embarrassing five minutes of torture, he obeyed Janice’s silent signal to fall down and pretend to be dead. Alasdair pranced triumphantly around for a while, soaking up the applause from the crowd, but Janice turned away, hoping she could make her escape soon.
When they had finally welcomed the last guest, Janice had the chance to slip away upstairs to be alone. She collapsed onto her bed and lay thinking for a while, trying to force her mind onto the important matters that still had to be dealt with during the rest of the day, but all she could think about was Bernard.
She ordered a bath and lay in it for a long while since she had ordered the housekeeper to take care of the guests while she readied herself for dinner and the many meetings and greetings she would have to endure. The night was going to be endless.
4
Bernard was intrigued by the young mistress of the castle. She seemed to be somewhat arrogant and definitely unafraid to stand up for herself, but he sensed a gentler side to her that she kept hidden. He could tell by the way the servants spoke and acted around her that they admired and even loved her.
This was borne out when he went to the stables to collect his horse for a ride into the village of Howdenbrae. William was bathing and dressing for the feast, which he was not relishing in the slightest.
“Are you sure you would not like to change places?” he asked desperately, as a manservant poured warm water into his bath. “There will be dozens of desirable young ladies there.”
Bernard shook his head and laughed. “They will still be there whether I go or not,” he pointed out. He would not admit to his friend that there was only one woman who interested him, and that was Janice. “None of those ladies would be interested in being wooed by a guard.”
William sank into the water and gave his friend a cynical look. “That is not true,” he said enviously. “You know that they would be falling at your feet.”
“My feet will not be there,” Bernard laughed as he opened the door. “Enjoy yourself, my friend.”
William growled and threw his sponge at the door.
* * *