'Tomorrow,' Maggie said, moving away from him. 'I will have the information ye need tomorrow, cousin.' She was not surprised in the least when the young Douglas came to her shortly afterward saying the king wished to speak with her, and she was to follow him. Maggie smoothed the dark green velvet of her gown and proceeded to the king's privy chamber, where James Stewart awaited her.
'Ye were deep in conversation with yer cousin,' the king said by way of greeting her. 'What news have ye for me?'
'He will, I believe, waylay her on the road to Loch Brae,' Maggie replied. “I am to obtain the route and the size of her escort for him by tomorrow. If he takes his leave of ye on the morrow, then ye can be certain he means to kidnap her, for he will want to reconnoiter the road to find the best spot for his ambush. It canna be too close to the Gordon lands, and it must be in a place where he may quickly make his escape to the northwest.'
'Ye have done well, Lady Grey,' the king said. Then he dismissed her: 'Ye can find yer way back to the hall, I am certain. I have a small mission for young Douglas, so he canna escort ye.'
Maggie curtsied and departed the king's presence. She knew what his page was about. He would find Fiona Hay-whose nightmare would then begin. Maggie blanched and the child stirred in her womb. She rushed to find her husband.
'I want to go home, Ben Duff,' she said vehemently. 'Court is no place for a woman with a belly.'
Andrew Grey put a comforting arm about his wife. He knew that something was disturbing her, for she had recently gained a haunted look, and she was not sleeping well at night. Whatever it was, Maggie chose not to confide in him, which hurt him on the one hand, but on the other he knew that she would eventually entrust him with her thoughts. One had to be patient with Maggie. She was a highlander, and they were a moodier, different people than the Scots living in the south.
'When do ye want to leave, my dear?' he asked her.
'By week's end,' she responded. 'We can be packed by then, if I tell the servants now. Send a messenger to Ben Duff to say we're coming home to stay. I canna abide the hubbub of Perth any longer.'
'Aye,' Fiona said when she saw her friend in the hall later on and learned their news. ' 'Tis better ye go home now, Maggie. First bairns are tricky, I'm told. They don't always come when ye think they will. Ye want to give yer man his heir in yer own home. I'll be glad to get back to Loch Brae with my Black Angus. I'll tell ye a secret. I may already be with a bairn, Maggie. Before my Black Angus left, he was more passionate than I have ever known him to be. Somehow I think I may have conceived, but of course, it may just be wishful thinking on my part. Still, we will have a lovely long winter ahead of us to make a bairn if my hopes are dashed this time.' Then Fiona's face filled with concern. 'Maggie, are ye all right? Ye look pale. Shall I get ye some wine? Shall I get Andrew?'
'No, no! I will be all right,' Maggie managed to gasp, swallowing back the bile that had risen in her throat. She had to change the subject, and then she saw her cousin of Nairn. 'Look, Fiona, my cousin is staring at ye again. He is so taken with ye. I have never seen him behave this way with a lass. Admit it. Do ye not think him handsome?'
'His features are pretty enough,' Fiona said, glancing briefly at Colin MacDonald, 'but he has a hard look about those blue eyes of his. Yer eyes are the same color, Maggie, and yet yer eyes are filled with warmth and compassion. I see little kindness in The MacDonald of Nairn's eyes. And look at his mouth. It is much too sensual. I would not want to be his woman. 'Twould be a hard life with a hard man.'
'Yet the lasses all adore him,' Maggie said. 'I know that I did when we were younger. He has quite a reputation with the lassies.'
'So you've told me, and I have no doubt that he wields his weapon well,' Fiona said, 'or he would not have gained such a reputation, but ye know there is more to a man than just the bedsport, Maggie. Ye didn't wed with Ben Duff for only that. Not at his age.'
'I only remember Colly from when we were younger,' Maggie said finally.
'I'm certain he was utterly fascinating to a lass with no experience,' Fiona said, not wanting to insult her friend, but she didn't think she would have ever been enamored of The MacDonald of Nairn. There was a wildness about him that did not appeal to her.
Colin MacDonald watched Fiona Hay furtively. The mere sight of her set his heart racing. He had never seen a more beautiful woman, nor one who carried herself so proudly despite the shame inflicted upon her by the laird of Loch Brae. Black Angus Gordon would not have her for a wife, Colin thought, pleased. No. He had had his chance, and had she been his lawful wife, Colin never would have resorted to stealing her, but Fiona was not the laird's wife, nor even his betrothed. There was no legal or moral impediment to Colin MacDonald's kidnapping Fiona Hay and making her his wife, for his wife was what he intended that she be. He had never wanted a wife before he had seen Fiona, but now he knew she was what had been missing in his life.
It would be difficult at first, he knew. She would hate him for taking her from the man she believed she loved. She would hate him for possessing her body. He would woo her despite it all-and he would teach Fiona Hay to love him as she had never loved Angus Gordon. No. It would not be easy, but once the children came, he was certain she would come to the realization that her life with him was the fate she was meant to have.
Chapter 7
Fiona Hay looked about the bedchamber she had shared with her laird for the past few months. The fireplace had been cleaned. The bed hangings, feather bed, coverlet, and linens were gone, and all the trunks packed. It had been an exciting time, but she was relieved and happy to be going home, as was Nelly.
'We must make our good-byes now,' Fiona said as they departed the apartment. 'I'll not be long, for 'tis early and we have the whole day before us. The earlier the start, the sooner we're there.'
She had already bid Maggie and the queen farewell the previous evening, but the king had said she was to come to him just before she left. It was to his privy chamber she now made her way. James Stewart was an early riser, a man who slept little. Bidding Nelly wait for her outside of the royal chamber, she entered.
'Good morrow, Mistress Hay,' the king said, taking her hand and leading her to one of the two chairs by the fire. To her surprise he pressed a goblet of fragrant wine into her hand and seated himself opposite her. 'I will come immediately to the point, Mistress Hay,' he began. 'Do ye love Scotland and want peace throughout the land?'
'Aye, my liege,' she said fervently.
'There will be no peace in Scotland until the northern clansmen honestly offer me their fealty, forswear their damned independent thoughts, stop warring among themselves, and cease their general mayhem. Would ye agree with me, Mistress Hay?' The king's amber eyes pierced her.
'Aye, my liege, I would certainly agree with ye,' Fiona said, wondering what this could possibly be about.
'I have agents in the north watching and sending me word as to the activities of the Lord of the Isles and his allies,' the king said, 'but I need someone to observe them from a closer range. I need ye, Mistress Hay.'
“The MacDonald of Nairn is verra taken with ye, Mistress Hay. He is, as ye know, Alexander MacDonald's bastard half-brother. Nairn is devoted to him, and the Lord of the Isles to his brother as well. If ye were with Nairn, ye would be privy to what was happening, and could share yer information with me. Yer verra fair, Mistress Hay. Were I not a happily married man meself, I should be tempted by ye.'
Fiona was dumbfounded by the king's words, but she was also suddenly afraid. 'I hope to wed with my Black Angus one day,' she tried to explain calmly to the king. 'What ye are asking me is impossible. Surely ye see that?' Her heart was hammering, for James Stewart didn't look at all as if he was sympathetic to her view.
'Do ye know why I sent the laird to England?' the king asked her.
'Why, to fetch the queen's cousin,' Fiona replied. Everyone knew that.
The king nodded. 'The queen is verra fond of her cousin, Elizabeth. She would like her to remain in Scotland,
