Love Wild and Fair

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

T HE messenger sent by the king of Scotland to the younger dowager Countess of Glenkirk returned quickly to Edinburgh.

“What do ye mean she wasna there?” demanded the king in a tight little voice.

“She’s gone to France, the auld dowager said, and proper upset she was too. Seems the young one just took off early one morning wi’out a word to anyone.”

James sent for the Earl of Glenkirk, and his sister, Lady Elizabeth Gordon. “Do ye know where yer mother is?” he asked them.

“At Glenkirk, sire,” said the earl without hesitation. “She is nae at Glenkirk!” answered the king fiercely. “She is in France!”

For a moment both young faces registered surprise, then Bess said to Jemmie, “She went after all! Oh, I do hope ‘twill cheer her!”

“What do ye mean, Lady Gordon?” Bess smiled sweetly at the king and then said in the same warm, confidential tone she’d used with her brother, “Why, sire, she spoke of visiting our Leslie cousins in France. Ye see, ‘tis been a terrible year for her. First our father dying. Then Jemmie marrying and coming wi Bella to court, and then my marrying and coming to court. Colin is away at the university and Robbie a page wi Rothes. Why sire—there’s scarcely anyone home but the bairns! She’s been so lonely. She said she might go to France for a bit, but then she said nay.” Bess smiled again, and shrugged elegant little shoulders. “I suppose she changed her mind again. We women are so unpredictable.”

Amused, the king suppressed a smile, and then his mouth tightened in anger. “She was to come to court this spring.”

“Oh, yes,” said Bess brightly. “ ‘Twas the last thing she said to us when we left Glenkirk after my wedding—that she would see us at court in the spring, and to gie her loving regards to the king.” She turned and stared accusingly at her brother. “Jemmie! I’ll wager ye forgot, dolthead! How could ye?”

A small smile played at the corners of the king’s mouth at the embarrassed look on the young earl’s handsome face. They were such a charming family! “Thank ye, Lady Gordon. Ye may leave us. Jemmie, stay. I would speak further wi ye.”

Bess curtsied prettily and left the room. James looked sharply at James Leslie. He saw nothing but open honesty and admiration. The king pursed his lips and said slowly, “Yer mother has displeased me, Glenkirk. In a sense she has deliberately disobeyed me.” The young face looked genuinely distressed. “I commanded yer mother’s presence at court this spring. In fact—” he paused a moment for effect—"I planned to make her my mistress, and she was well aware of it.”

Surprise and incredulity registered on the young face. “Sire! This is a great honor ye do Glenkirk! Christ, sir! What can I say!” Then, “Damn me! Her behavior is intolerable! I always felt my father spoiled her. But I am sure she will return soon. She is simply willful, but I dinna believe disobedient.”

The king looked pleased. There was no nonsense here. The lad was with him. She’d have no place to hide now. This was one Glenkirk he’d have no trouble with at all! The earl considered it an honor that James had singled out his mother—and rightly so! “I will send word to my good friend, King Henri, that yer mother is to be sent home.”

Jemmie looked earnestly at the king. “I will write her also, sire. I am now the Lord of Glenkirk, and I honor my mother as much as she merits it, but she must understand that ‘tis my word that is law at Glenkirk, not hers. She is, after all, but a woman, and therefore must be guided. Yer majesty has offered her yer protection. I will nae allow her to fling such graciousness away.”

The king was pleased, but alone he brooded. Did she really intend returning? Or, as the little nagging doubt in the back of his mind suggested, had she fled him again? He had warned her once what he would do to her family if she refused him, but that was when her husband was alive. It would have been possible to trump up charges against Patrick. But the young earl was a different matter. Punishing him would be far too transparent, and would reap terrible consequences for the king.

The Leslies of Glenkirk were no longer a defenseless clan without powerful ties. The king’s own cousin, George Gordon, the Earl of Huntley, was as troublesome in his way as Bothwell had been. He was not going to stand idly by and allow his daughter Isabelle’s happiness to be destroyed, and James wanted no open clan rivalries left behind when he mounted the English throne. Then, too, there was the young Earl of Glenkirk himself. In the short time he had been at court he had made himself very popular, and he was openly admiring and supportive of the king. One could hardly accuse such a charming and loyal young man of perfidy. Besides, James genuinely liked the new Earl of Glenkirk.

The king slouched low in his chair, fingering the diamond-and-black-pearl necklace he had sent to Cat with the messenger. He thought anxiously that she must come back. She must! He could not—nay, would not—spend a lifetime yearning for her. But what if she did not return? He groaned aloud. She must!