'Where is she?'
'She wanted to wait in her cottage for word of Angus.' Alec nodded. He remembered his wife when Marcus turned his gaze to her. 'This is my wife,' he announced with a shrug in his voice.
'Her name is Jamie.' Alec turned to his wife and said, 'This is Marcus. And this is Edith,' he added with a nod toward the woman standing beside the brooding warrior. 'Marcus and Edith are brother and sister and first cousins of Helena.'
She could have guessed they were sister and brother. Their scowls were quite alike. She was too busy trying to follow Alec's explanation to bother about their rudeness, though. Where was Helena? And who was this Elizabeth that Marcus had just mentioned?
Alec interrupted her puzzling by motioning to the last of the threesome. 'Last but certainly not least is my Annie,' he announced. His tone was filled with affection. 'Come closer, child,' he called out. 'You must meet your new mistress.'
When Annie hurried across the room, Jamie realized she was actually a grown woman. Annie appeared to be just a year or two younger than Jamie. Yet there was a childlike expression on her lovely face. She radiated wide- eyed innocence, too.
Annie made an awkward curtsy to Jamie, then smiled sweetly. Her voice was that of a very little girl when she said, 'Do I have to like her, Alec?'
'You do,' Alec answered.
'Why?'
'Because it will please me.'
'Then I shall like her,' Annie answered. 'Even though she's English.' Her smile widened when she added, 'I've missed you, milord.'
Before Alec had a chance to respond to that remark, Annie hurried down to the far end of the table and took her place between Marcus and Edith.
Jamie continued to watch Annie a long moment. She understood what was wrong with the girl. She was one of those special people who stayed childlike all their lives. Jamie's heart went out to Annie and to Alec as well, for he'd shown such kindness.
'Is Annie Marcus's sister, too?' Jamie asked.
'No, she's Helena's sister.'
'Who is Helena?'
'She was my wife.'
Alec turned his attention back to Gavin before Jamie could ask another question.
A group of servants came bustling into the hall, drawing her attention. Jamie's stomach immediately started grumbling when she spotted the platters of food the stout women carried.
Trenchers made of hollowed out stale bread covered the table. A large platter of mutton was placed directly in front of Jamie. She tried not to gag, but the sight and smell made her stomach turn. Jamie detested mutton with a passion, ever since she'd taken ill after eating a portion of tainted mutton when she was just a little girl. She hadn't touched it since.
Wedges of cheese, some yellow, others orange with red streaks, fat tarts overflowing with dark purple berries, and crusty rounds of brown freckled bread were added to the fare. Jugs of ale and pitchers of water completed the supper.
Alec ignored all the commotion until the servants had left the hall. When a group of soldiers walked inside, he acknowledged each man with a curt nod, then went back to questioning Gavin.
He was beginning to get irritated with his second-in-command. While Gavin gave quick, efficient answers to all his questions, he certainly wasn't giving his laird his full attention; he kept staring across the table at Jamie.
Alec's voice turned hard in reaction to the unintentional insult. Jamie looked at her husband. 'This news displeases you?' she asked when she caught his attention.
'Angus is missing.'
'Angus?'
'A soldier under my command,' Alec explained. 'He's equal in rank to Gavin, though his duties are of a different nature.'
'He is your friend as well?'
Alec tore a piece of bread in half and offered Jamie one portion before he answered her. 'Yes, he has been a good friend as well.'
'Who is Elizabeth?' Jamie asked. 'I heard you ask Marcus if he'd-'
'She's Angus's wife.'
'Oh, the poor woman,' Jamie responded, her voice filled with sympathy. 'She must be terribly worried. Couldn't Angus just be late in returning home?'
Alec shook his head. He couldn't understand why Jamie was so concerned. She didn't even know the man. Still, her sympathy pleased him. 'He isn't late,' he announced. 'Tardiness would be an insult to me, wife. No, something has happened to him.'
'He's dead or he'd be here,' Gavin interjected with a shrug.
'Yes,' Alec agreed.
The other soldiers had been intently listening to their conversation. Jamie noticed that, along with the fact that they must all know her language as well as Alec did. They all agreed with Gavin's comment, too.
'You cannot know if this man is dead,' she announced. Their cold attitude was most barbaric. ' 'Tis unkind of you to speak this way about your friend.'
'Why?' Gavin asked, frowning.
Jamie ignored his question and asked one of her own. 'Why aren't you out looking for him?'
'There are soldiers searching the hills now,' Alec answered.
'We'll probably find his body come morning,' Gavin predicted.
'Gavin, surely you don't mean to sound so uncaring, now, do you?' Jamie asked.
'You should believe your friend is safe.'
'I should?'
'You all should,' Jamie announced, looking down the length of the table to include everyone in her statement. 'One must always have hope.'
Alec hid his smile. His wife hadn't been inside his home for more than an hour and she was already giving orders. 'It would be a false hope,' he answered. 'And you needn't sound so outraged, wife.'
He directed the soldiers to join in the conversation. Everyone began talking at once, each giving his own opinion as to what had happened to Angus. While their speculations as to how he was waylaid differed, their conclusion was unanimous:
Angus was dead.
Jamie kept silent throughout the remainder of the meal while she listened to each give his own guess. It was soon apparent the missing man was important to them. Still, they harbored no hope.
Neither Edith nor Annie had a comment to make. They kept their gazes directed on their dinner.
Alec touched Jamie's arm. When she looked up at him, he offered her a portion of mutton.
'No, thank you.'
'You'll eat this.'
'I'll not.'
He raised one eyebrow in disbelief. She'd actually argued with him in front of his men. It was unthinkable.
Jamie thought he looked quite astonished. She assumed he didn't like being contradicted. 'I don't want any mutton, but thank you so much for offering.'
'You will eat this,' Alec ordered. 'You're weak. You need to build up your strength.'
'I'm strong enough now,' Jamie whispered. 'Alec, I can't eat mutton. It won't stay in my stomach. Even the smell makes me sick. The rest of this meal is very nice, though. I couldn't eat another bite.'
'Then go and have your bath,' he instructed. He frowned, noticing again the fatigue in her eyes. 'Darkness will be here soon, and with it a chill that will settle in your bones if you're not in bed.'
