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‘I suggest you wash that down with a glass of ale. It will help you sleep soundly,’ Lainie said, filling a glass and handing it to Marion.
Marion shook her head. ‘No. I do not think I will need that, now that I have eaten the broth,’ she said. ‘Where will everyone sleep?’ she asked, rising from her chair.
‘I have asked Lainie and Wallace to stay here for a while so they have a room at the back. And you have your room,’ Brice said.
‘What about you?’ Marion asked, examining her fingertips so that she did not have to look into his face.
Brice laughed and Marion looked up. ‘There is another room, Marion. Go to bed now. Wallace and I will take it in turns to stay up and keep watch, just in case Robert pursues the search tonight, though thanks to the rain, our tracks will have been washed away by now.’
‘How long do we stay here - until we are discovered?’ Marion asked.
‘Long enough for Robert to be forced to agree to an annulment,’ Brice replied. He leaned forward and stirred new life into the fire. ‘If they find us before that – well, then we will see.’
‘I can, and will have to, let everyone know that nothing happened on the night of my wedding.’ Marion crinkled her nose prettily. ‘It seems so strange to think that it was only two nights ago.’
Brice moved closer and stroked Marion’s cheek. ‘Things will be better soon…I promise.’
Marion turned her attention to her fingertips again. ‘How will this work, Brice, if you are to lose your home and be treated as an outcast for stealing your brother’s wife?’
‘You need to know something Marion.’ Brice sounded grave. ‘There are things that my father, as laird of Bothwell, is doing, that I want no part of.’
‘What do you mean?’ Marion asked.
‘He is exploiting our tenants for higher rents than they can pay and…’ Brice’s voice trailed away as he fought for composure.
‘What is it? Tell me,’ Marion said, placing a hand on his arm.
‘He is not respectful to the clansmen or their wives – imposing his attentions and will on other women and sometimes…sometimes…taking them by force.’
Marion drew in a sharp breath. ‘Oh!’ she said. She wound a strand of her hair around an agitated finger and stared at the fire, her thoughts in turmoil.
‘Brice,’ she said at length, ‘Why is my father indebted to yours? What is it that my father has done that deserves such high payment as his daughter’s life?’
‘It was a gambling debt, or so I think,’ Brice said, ‘and one that was too large for your father to pay in any manner other than by promising your hand in marriage to Robert. You see, everyone here knew about Robert’s…lifestyle. You were a good choice because you would be seeing him through different eyes.’
‘I understand that I was promised to Robert, and not to you, specifically because of his…preferences – that you now inform me were known to everyone here,’ Marion said hotly. ‘Did my father know…about Robert?’
Brice took her hand from his arm and held it in both of his. ‘I don’t know dear Marion, but I have not finished what I wanted to tell you.’
‘Pray continue,’ Marion said, giving him her attention.
‘I am mustering an army to ride against my father…to take over Bothwell Castle and the Murray lands.’
‘What!’ Marion exclaimed, ‘Go against your own father? How could you do that?’
‘Do not be dismayed by this revelation. It is to free the peasants from the harsh terms that bind them to their life of poverty. I want a happier life for them. And I am to be laird one day, despite being the youngest of my father’s three sons.’
‘Yes, I heard,’ Marion replied, ‘Because William wishes to live in England and Robert of course is bound for France. The problem is, Brice, that now Robert no longer has a wife, will he be permitted to go to France? I hear that he can only go if your father affords him the means to do so.’
‘That is the reason why I have had to hasten the uprising against my father – so that both he and Robert are put to flight, one way or the other. They both have far too many people here amongst our clansmen and other clans who are against them.’
