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“Forgive me,” she said breathlessly. “This is the second time I have collided with you.”
“I am not injured,” he assured her, his lips twitching into a smile. “But I am so glad I bumped into you.” They both smiled at his pun. “I would like to explore the countryside around here a little more, and I need someone to guide me. Could you spare one of your guards to ride with me?”
Janice shook her head regretfully. “I am afraid not. All our men are working extra time as it is. As you can imagine, there is much to be done while the castle is as full as it is at the moment. I am afraid I cannot spare anyone. I can tell you which places you should stay well clear of, though.”
“Bandits?” he asked anxiously.
“Oh, no,” Janice shook her head vehemently. “My father took care of that problem a long time ago. We used to have a gang of the worst kind of thug who preyed on the poor people around here, but my father infiltrated their gang and destroyed it from the inside. His reputation has spread, and we have had no trouble for years.
“No, the places I was speaking of are the marshlands that are close to the Bonnie Loch. They are treacherous, and there are patches of quicksand there.” She thought for a moment. “Perhaps I should be your guide. I would welcome the chance to escape from this place for a while.”
Bernard looked at the weary expression on her face. “Are you not enjoying the gathering?”
“Not one whit!” she answered angrily, then, realizing her rudeness, she sighed and said, “I am sorry, but this whole week has been such a strain. It will be good to be in the open air and sunshine.”
“Then I look forward to it, mistress,” he replied, bowing. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have to meet your brothers for boxing practice.”
Janice rolled her eyes heavenward. “I will make sure there is a full bottle of whisky in your room for your return,” she said, laughing. “You will have great need of it. Good luck!”
10
The mists were just beginning to lift as Janice and Bernard mounted their horses and set off toward the loch in the middle of the estate.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“It is called the Bonnie Loch,” she told him, smiling.
He watched as the dimples on her cheeks appeared, and he had the most absurd idea of putting his thumbs in them just to see how it felt. He resisted, however, and said instead, “Why is it called that?”
“Because it is such a lovely place,” she answered, her eyes dreamy. “And it is said that a young man proposed to his sweetheart there, and she accepted. But before they were married he had to go to war, and he was killed in battle, but it is said that on moonlit nights you can still see them standing looking into the water together.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” he remarked, then he turned in the saddle, looking around at the breathtaking scenery. He caught a glimpse of the loch in the distance, marked by a dark ring of trees as the daylight became clearer.
They still had half a mile or so of open country to cover before they reached it, and Bernard had a chance to observe the landscape around it. The new spring grass was bright emerald green, the terrain gently undulating and crisscrossed here and there by the lemon yellow blossom of gorse, which looked beautiful but whose thorns were lethally sharp. Bernard grinned as he remembered how often he had been caught by its sharp thorns as a boy while playing!
“What are you thinking about?” Janice asked him, a strange half-smile on her face as though she was scared of the answer.
“Gorse bushes,” he replied, laughing. “And how much I hate them.”
Janice giggled. “We all do! I don’t think there is a single one of us who has not severely injured themselves on a gorse bush—or a thistle, or a nettle!” she winced. “Especially nettles!”
They laughed together and ambled on in contented silence for a little while.
“When Andrew or Alasdair becomes laird,” he ventured at last, “what will you do?”
Janice looked around for a moment, thinking. In truth, she was trying to distract herself from the tempting presence of the man beside her. Every particle of her body was aware of him, and for once she was glad of the distance between them.
“I am going to do what I do now,” she answered. “My brothers have no inkling of how to run things and no interest in doing it. I want to be the power behind the throne and, to start, I want to build more barns. We lose so many lambs every winter because they are born in the snow. They can freeze to death before we manage to take them to shelter. Not only is it distressing, but it is unproductive, and we all lose income because of it.”
“And after that?” he asked, fascinated.
Suddenly, Janice’s cheeks flushed, and she looked embarrassed. “You will think I am foolish,” she answered, suddenly fascinated by the saddle pommel.
Bernard frowned, wondering what had made her so shy and self-conscious all of a sudden.
“Mistress Stewart, you are the least foolish person I have ever met,” he told her. “I have never heard you saying anything without first thinking about it and weighing the consequences. Tell me your idea.”
Janice raised her head and turned to him, meeting the steady gaze of his golden-brown eyes with her own grey ones. She took a deep breath and blurted out: “I want to build a school.”
