AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shook her head. “No, but…”
“Charles is seeing tae matters at Roxburghe, an’ I have no other pressing business on the king’s behalf right now. Since ye come tae mention it, I quite fancy seein’ Cyprus, too.”
“I know.” She clasped her hands before her, as excited as he at the prospect. But it was not quite so simple.
Robbie returned to her side and tipped up her chin with his fingers. “What is it, my love?
“We should go home,” she whispered. “It is safe now, since James banished Lady Mary to Iona.”
The missive had reached them a few weeks earlier, informing Robbie that the king had heeded his advice and decided to exile Mary Douglas, not to her family seat at Tantallon Castle as she might have expected, but to the convent on the remote island of Iona. It was a solution that Robbie had employed before when he needed to make his displeasure felt. Robbie considered a lifetime spent in the windswept isolation of the Hebrides well-suited to atone for the crimes of a proud and fiercely ambitious woman, a life of contemplation, humility, and poverty.
“Ye would have been safe anyway. I will make sure o’ that. Have I not said so?” He cocked his head to one side, eying her with interest and concern.
“I know, and I believe you, but…”
“But?” He raised one dark-auburn eyebrow.
She drew in a breath. It was time to tell him her news. “But should your heir not be born on Scottish soil?”
“My heir?” His brow furrowed for a moment before realisation dawned. She saw the shift in his handsome features, then his face split in a brilliant smile. “Ye mean…?”
She nodded. “’Tis early yet, but…yes. I am sure.”
He swept her up in his arms and swung her around, much to the startled chagrin of several passersby. Then, he set her back on her feet and kissed her. “’Tis of no consequence where my heir is born, as long asyouare where you wish to be, and I am beside ye.”
She smiled back and linked her arm though his. “In that case, we should book a passage to Cyprus. Perhaps we should consider an extended stay. I am sure there must be far worse places to give birth.”
“I expect there are. I shall write to Charles telling him no’ tae expect us back anytime soon.”
They descended the steps together.
