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“I am afraid I cannot come with you today,” Janice said regretfully. “I have business in the village to see to. Enjoy it, though, but stay well clear of the target. I have a feeling that my brothers will not hit the target too often.”
She turned away, but she could feel Bernard’s eyes on her back until she was out of sight, then she saddled up her mare and rode into the village. The ride there would give her time to think, and she had a lot to think about.
As a woman, and especially as one who had two older brothers, she had no legal power at all. The law did not recognize a woman’s rights. In fact, for all intents and purposes, she had none. The only way she could gain power was to marry it, but that would mean being under the thumb of a man unless she could make a gentle, biddable man fall in love with her. If she were fortunate enough to meet such a man, she would be able to control him to a certain extent without his knowledge and even make him enjoy it. There were some men who were very happy with an arrangement like that.
Her thoughts turned back to Bernard. She could not stop thinking about him, and she realized that she did not even want to. Would he be suitable for a union such as the one she envisioned?
She imagined their wedding day. She would be wearing pink because it was her favorite color. She would invite only a few guests and only people she liked. She would have her father, mother-in-law, William, and a few of her favorite staff there, but not her brothers. She doubted that they would be particularly hurt anyway. When the vows had been taken and the wedding was done, she imagined Bernard sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. He would lay her on the bed and kiss her, and…what then?
Janice only had the vaguest idea of what happened after that. She did not have a single female friend whom she could ask, and she was too embarrassed to ask her maid, Kitty. However, that was a minor problem. She was resourceful by nature and could find out. Her biggest difficulty would be in persuading her would-be husband to see things her way and act on them. Given what she knew of him, could she make Bernard do that? She thought she could. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea became, and she had heard that men were simple creatures mainly motivated by lust. She thought she could control him if she used her feminine wiles cleverly enough.
Little did he know it, but Bernard Taggart had just become a marked man.
8
William groaned in embarrassment. He was not embarrassed for himself but for the twins, whose marksmanship was every bit as bad as, if not worse than, he had imagined it would be. Shot after shot had gone wide of the target, and there was a little heap at the bottom of it that consisted of all the arrows that had bounced off.
“I am not sure I can watch this much longer,” he muttered to Bernard, who was trying to stop himself from exploding into laughter. “I knew that these two were inexperienced, but they are hopelessly incompetent. I have never seen such terrible marksmanship. God help them if they ever go into battle.”
“Battle? These two?” Bernard threw back his head and laughed uproariously. “They would not make it to the field of battle. I never saw two such craven cowards in my life, and I know little girls who have better aim.”
A second later, another arrow found its way onto the pile on the ground. The crowd groaned, and some walked away, joining the others who had not been able to bear the embarrassing spectacle any longer.
“Last arrow!” called the judge, looking relieved. He was an ex-military man to whom the whole affair was an absolute affront.
Andrew aimed his bow, sighting the arrow as he had been instructed to. There was a moment of tense, silent suspense, when a floating feather hitting the ground would have sounded like a cannon shot. Up until this point, their scores had been even at three each.
The arrow was loosed from the bow with a loudtwang!then flew through the air and hit the board with a resounding thud. Andrew stood looking at it in amazement and disbelief for a second before throwing his hands up in triumph. A storm of applause went up from what was left of the crowd, and there was much back-slapping and hugging before everyone dispersed to pour out wine and ale. Alasdair, the loser, was standing at the fringe of the crowd, looking very sorry for himself, until Andrew came up to commiserate with him.
Bernard watched the little scene, thinking that even though they were a complete pair of idiots with no sense and no social skills at all, they were still brothers who were devoted to each other. In fact, he had heard that twins were even closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, having shared a womb together.
He felt a stab of jealousy pierce him as he reflected that he had never known such a relationship. William was as close to a brother as he would ever know, but there had always been a social gulf between them because William’s father had not wanted to treat Bernard as a son. Nevertheless, he told himself to be satisfied with his lot in life. He was luckier than many others, he thought, but sometimes it was not enough.
Presently, he felt his shoulder being shaken, and he was jerked out of his reverie. William was standing beside him, looking exasperated.
“Are you listening to me?” he asked irritably.
“Sorry, Will, I was miles away,” Bernard confessed, laughing.
“I said, do you want to stay and watch any more of this?” he asked. “There are real archers to watch now. The laird has hired a few bowmen for a proper show of archery this afternoon.”
Bernard grinned. “I have really had enough, thank you.” He gave a grim laugh as they walked away from the contest.
They strolled along the edge of the mass of guests with no particular aim in mind but were held up for a moment by the attentions of a very large furry dog who walked in front of Bernard and put his paws on his shoulders. He then began to lick his face thoroughly so that no part of it remained unwashed.
Bernard endured the slobbery kisses for a few minutes while laughing at the big animal until he was pulled away by a man who was about the same age as William’s father, although much shorter.
“I beg your pardon,” the man apologized, looking down at the big, white, fluffy animal. “Bertie is very affectionate—too much, I think!”
Bernard, who loved dogs, smiled and shook his head. “I have never met a dog I did not like, sir,” he said, as the big animal sat at his feet and gazed up at him adoringly.
The owner of the dog laughed. “I have always found them to be wonderful judges of character,” he remarked. “So I take it you are a man of worth.”
Bernard blinked at the unexpected compliment. “Thank you, sir,” he said, surprised as he bowed to the other man, whom he could see was a man of means by the expensive clothes he wore.
“Laird Callum Masterson,” the man told him. He was small and elderly, with grey eyes, a shock of thick, snow-white hair, and a friendly manner. “My dog growled at the twin Stewart brothers, so I know he does not like them. Having met them myself, I have to say I share his feelings. I suppose I should not be telling you these things, but I trust Bertie’s judgment.”
“I am Bernard Taggart, M’Laird,” Bernard announced. “And I have to say that I share your feelings. But don’t worry, our conversation will remain between us.”
