and chuckled. 'Lord! It must be two years since I last rode. Come along, Cat!' And she gently kicked the fat sides of her old brown mare.
Cat followed, wondering what had possessed Meg to come riding with her. They rode in silence for at least fifteen minutes, then Meg slowed her horse to a walk and moved up next to her companion. Cat turned to face her. 'Well, Meg? What gets ye onto old Brownie? And dinna rhapsodize to me over Michaelmas daisies!'
Meg Leslie laughed. 'I thought that was a rather nice touch, my dear, but ye are right of course. Michaelmas daisies dinna interest me. Now tell me, Cat, when do ye leave us?'
Cat was not startled, and answered quietly, 'After Bess and Henry's wedding.'
'Ye go to Francis?'
'Aye.'
'Is it safe for the family?'
'I believe so with all my heart, Meg. Since the king doesna know that Jemmie knows the situation between us, I dinna believe he will hold our young earl responsible for my defection. He will be angry, but Jemmie will be angrier, and will vehemently castigate me for the wretched manner in which I refused the wonderful honor offered me.'
Meg laughed again. 'Then Jemmie knows yer going.'
'Knows? Why, bless me, Meg! He arranged it! I was all ready to gie up, and yield myself to James. But Jemmie feels his very innocence in the matter will save us. He feels that this is the only chance I will have to escape, and he is right. What reason could James possibly give for an undue display of vengeance on our family now? We are at peace, and the Leslies of Glenkirk hae always been loyal to the crown. This is the one time I may flee wi'out endangering our clan.'
'And if Francis has found a new love, my dear? He was always a man for the lasses, and never particularly constant.'
'He was to me, Meg,' replied Cat quietly.
'Aye,' said the older woman. 'He was… but he is gone from ye almost three years, Cat.'
'He loves me yet, Meg, as I love him. I feel it.'
'But,' persisted Meg, 'if he doesna, will ye return home?'
'Not as long as James pursues me, Meg. I simply cannot be the royal whore. I will settle in France if Bothwell doesna want me.'
'He will, Cat,' said Meg gently. 'I simply wanted to be sure ye knew what ye were doing. There are many women in yer position who could be happy enough being the king's mistress.'
'If I loved Jamie,' said Cat, 'I would be content But I hae never been a woman who could lie wi a man she disliked, and I dinna care for the king. I will nae forgie him for what he did to poor Patrick. It was the act of a cruel man, and I detest deliberate cruelty!'
Then Meg said something that brought tears to Cat's lovely eyes. 'Ye go wi my blessing, my dear. Strange as it may seem I know that Patrick would approve yer course. He never forgave himself, ye know.'
'But I forgave him, Meg. I could no longer love him as I once did, but I did forgie him.' She smiled. 'Jemmie knows nothing more than that I go before spring.’Tis better that way. Conall is coming wi me. Susan also, though I've said nought to her yet.'
'What provision hae ye made for the children, Cat?'
'Colin and Robbie will remain wi the Earl of Rothes' household until they are each fourteen. Then they are to go to the University in Aberdeen as Jemmie did. Afterwards, their European tour, and then marriage. Jemmie and I hae just finished negotiating a marriage agreement wi my brother. Wi his only son dead, he is without an heir, and has four daughters to marry off. Colin will wed the eldest when he is twenty. As my brother's heir, he will be the next Master of Greyhaven. Robbie will wed wi the next daughter in the following year. I hae settled a good sum on Robbie, and bought him a fine house wi good lands near Greyhaven so he may always be quite independent of his older brother.
'Amanda I hae betrothed to Charles' heir. My daughter will be the next Countess of Sithean.'
Meg raised her eyebrows. 'I thought my daughter Janet aimed higher for her son.'
Cat laughed. 'Janet is not simply wed to a Leslie, she was born one. Her son may hae a title, but my daughter has an enormous dowry! And, by strange coincidence, Amanda is in possession of several hundred acres of pastureland needed by Sithean for their sheep.
'Little Morag will become Malcolm Gordon's wife. She's to hae a very large dowry, and a manor house of her own. Even younger Gordon sons come high!'
Meg's eyes sparkled. 'Dear lord,' she said breathlessly, 'ye grow more like Mam as ye get older!' Then she became serious again. 'The bairns? What of them? Ye canna leave yer little ones.'
'Jemmie will send them to me when I am settled, Meg. Twould be dangerous for them to travel wi me, and they would slow me down. If the king sends his people after me, the bairns will make me vulnerable. Twill be only for a few months.'
Meg nodded 'I suppose 'tis best' They rode in silence for a while longer. Then Meg spoke again. 'Cat, I know I hae no right to ask, but Ian and Jane-'
'Are Bothwell's also. Aye, Meg. Even he did not know until just before he went into exile. When we first parted I thought I should never see him again, and I wanted his child. Patrick, however, no sooner had me back then he was bedding me, and he kept on bedding me until 'twas quite obvious I was wi child. He assumed the twins were his, and for all our sakes I said nought.'
'Ye were right, my dear. But, poor Francis, having to leave Scotland knowing that he was leaving not only ye, but his bairns also. Ah, my Cat, ye both deserve yer happiness.'
'Thank ye, Meg. Ye hae always been a good friend to me.'
The older woman leaned from her saddle and, reaching out gripped Cat's hand. 'Yer more daughter to me than my own two. Be happy, Cat! Please be happy!'
Chapter 40
JAMES Stewart smiled sweetly at his wife. 'No, no, Annie! 'Tis unthinkable. Ye canna possibly go to Glenkirk for young James Leslie's wedding.' He patted her distended belly fondly. 'Nay. We must nae endanger the bairn.'
'But it is so close to Christmas!' wailed the ^queen, 'I do not want to be without ye then.'
'I will be back to spend Christmas wi ye, Annie.'
'Ye cannot unless ye leave immediately after the wedding, and that would be most rude!'
'Then I will nae be back,' said the king irritably. 'What difference does it make? I will be here for New Year's and Twelfth Night.'
'But in Denmark we always celebrate Christmas
James was becoming annoyed. 'Ye are nae in Denmark, Annie! Yer Queen of Scotland!' he roared, and the queen began to cry.
Dear heaven, thought the king, I canna hae her guessing why I dinna want her wi me.
'There, there, m'dear,' he said convincingly. 'I canna offend the Leslies of Glenkirk. I must go to the young earl's wedding, especially since 'tis my cousin of Huntley's wench he weds. The Gordons gie me trouble enough, and I will nae gie them an excuse to start more trouble by not going to their daughter's wedding. 'Tis winter, and the roads are bad. Be reasonable, sweetheart. Ye canna go junketing all over Scotland in yer present condition.'
'The child,' sniffed the queen. 'That's all the good I am to ye, Jamie. A royal brood mare!'
'We can hae many bairns, Annie,' said James, 'but where would I get another like ye?'
The queen's lovely sky blue eyes filled to overflowing. 'Oh, Jamie,' she said in a choked little voice.
The king put an arm about his wife. 'Now let us hear no more of this foolishness.'
'Yes, Jamie,' said the queen, sighing happily. But he barely heard her, so intent was he on thoughts of the lovely Cat Leslie, who would soon be his.
It was over four years since he had seen Cat, and their last meeting had not been everything a man hopes for from the woman he desires. But now, alone and unprotected, the widowed Countess of Glenkirk should prove more
