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Now she could tell from the hubbub of voices surrounding her that the great hall was its usual busy place, the heart of Duncleit. Servants and men-at-arms scurried about their business, visitors to the castle always waited in this chamber, and villagers seeking their laird’s help or advice would wander in in search of him. The McGregor guarded his borders well, but closer to home he kept an open house. Roselyn tried to pick out a familiar voice from Etal but could not.
“Meggie, are any of the folk who arrived yesterday here in the hall?” The previous day others had spoken on her behalf. She owed them her thanks.
“Nay, milady. I canna see either. Is there aught I can do for ye?”
“I was hoping to speak with them. I wonder…”
“I shall go look, milady. Ye have the dog wi’ ye if ye’ need tae move from here.”
At least Meggie trusted Freya. Blair would soon come around, Roselyn decided. “Thank you, but I am perfectly comfortable for now.” An overstatement, perhaps, but she would do.
The maidservant’s hurrying footsteps receded into the general din of the hectic great hall. Roselyn relaxed back in to her seat and absorbed the sounds of ordered domesticity. She could be happy here, she mused. She really could, so long as she and The McGregor could arrive at an understanding.
He had not said so, or even hinted it, but she could not help wondering if he would welcome her into his household with quite such relish were she not to agree to share his bed. And she could never agree to that, could she? The very notion was outrageous. How dare he even suggest it?
She flattened her lips wryly. The McGregor would dare just about anything, especially under his own roof. And she was no better. She had cavorted naked in his bed and as if that was not quite disgraceful enough she had actually taken his engorged cock into her mouth. She had performed that act quite unbidden, and in truth she had thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.
Blair had pointed out that her prospects for marriage, already slender, were rendered non-existent by her brother’s crimes and his own actions in taking her prisoner. What did she have to lose? She did not blame Blair for her fate; he had treated her well, all told. His remarks had not been made in an unkind manner, he was simply being realistic and perhaps she needed to behave likewise. He had offered to provide for her, which he need not have. He had offered her choices, and really, would a life as The McGregor’s mistress be such a poor route to take?
“Milady, I found her. Your old maid is here.”
Meggie’s return disturbed her from her musings. “Betsy?” Roselyn extended her hand.
“Aye, my lady, ‘tis me. And right glad I am to see you. Are you well, my lady? Have they treated you kindly?”
“Yes. Yes, they have so please do not concern yourself with me. How many of you made the journey from Etal?”
“Well, there’s me and my sister, with her man, John Cooper. But you know about John as he was in the hall yesterday. Martha came too, and her brood, though she has near driven me mad as we made our way here. I could have preferred we had left her in Mortain, but she was bent on a new life, so here we all are.”
“What happened? Please, be seated and tell me all of it, from when I last saw you at Etal.” She gestured to the empty lord’s chair to her right.
“I’m not sure, my lady. This is the grand table, and the lord here, well, he’s a powerful man and—”
“Blair will not punish you for sitting in his chair. Please, I wish to hear your story…”
“Aye, well, if you’re quite certain…”
Roselyn waited impatiently as the other woman settled herself. “Would you like some mead? Or ale perhaps?”
“No, but thank you. Now, what is it you want to know?”
“Everything. When I was taken away you were in the courtyard with the others. I thought… I feared that the Highlanders would hurt you.”
“Aye, as did we all, just like at Mortain. But that laird of yours, he came over and he asked us again if everyone was present. This time though he told us he needed to know because if there was anyone left within the buildings he would ensure they were found and brought forth before the torches were lit. He told us he was no murderer and we need have no fear of him provided we obeyed and caused no trouble to his men.”
“Oh. So, were there more people still hiding?”
“Aye, plenty. We didn’t know if we could trust him or not, but what did we have to lose, my lady? We told him that there were people who had fled to the storerooms and perhaps some in the loft above the stables. He sent John Cooper with his men to search those places and to tell anyone still there to come out at once before the fires started. Everyone was safe, in the end, but the castle is beyond repairing. Just a shell now, my lady. It was terrible to behold but some decided to stay anyway and rebuild their cottages. There is much good stone to be had, you see…” She paused. “Well, you don’t see, but you take my meaning.”
“I do. And some went to Mortain?”
“Yes. Lord McGregor offered us the chance to go there to help restore that keep and the estate. Many took that option, because ‘tis not so far distant and none of us had any wish to serve the earl any longer. That devil will lie low for a while but sooner or later he’ll be back and demanding obeisance from the serfs still on the land. We were better away from there. He’s a wicked man, my lady, your brother is. Wicked and cruel.”
“I know that.”
“Aye, that you do, better than most.”
“Butyouare here, not at Mortain.”
