Amanda Scott (19 page)

“It certainly was not by choice,” Barbara replied with a laugh, adding while she did her best to dry herself, “I met Tam Matheson
coming up the stairs with that bucket of water you poured over us. I took it from him and went into the chamber, meaning to
surprise Fin, because he did not know that my mother and I had arrived to help Mauri and the others prepare for the court.”

“Do you customarily just walk into his bedchamber?”

Barbara blushed. “I did when we were children, but I suppose I should not do it anymore. In any event, Fin was bent over in
the tub when I went in, soaping his hair. He assumed I was Tam and told me to pour water over his head. I was beside him by
then, and since he had his eyes shut, I put the bucket down far enough away so that he couldn’t reach it himself and told
him that I thought it would be better if I waited until he washed his mouth with soap for all the names he had called me when
we were children. He came the laird over me then and ordered me to give him the bucket and get out, but I’m afraid I taunted
him as I did years ago, saying I’d do it in my own good time. I forgot how long his arms are,” she added ruefully.

“He grabbed you and pulled you into the tub,” Molly said.

“Aye, just as you knocked at the door and dismayed us both. He said you were likely Patrick, since if Tam had given me that
bucket, he’d know better than to show his face again anytime soon. I was terrified then, because I knew that Patrick would
not like my being there at all, let alone with Fin in that tub.”

Molly flung the skirt over Barbara’s head. The young woman’s skin was still damp, but there was no time to do much more about
drying her.

“Could you also please lend me a fresh cap to cover my wet hair?” Barbara asked when Molly had hastily laced up the bodice
and shaken out the skirt.

Molly did so, and if the result was not what either of them might have hoped, at least Barbara was presentable.

She sighed as Molly opened the door. “Patrick is going to be most annoyed.”

“Well, I do think you should have realized that before you went into Kintail’s chamber,” Molly said with a smile. “Still,
perhaps he will not notice.”

“Patrick? You don’t know him yet if you think that, mistress. Patrick takes more careful note of clothing than anyone else
I know. Certainly more than Fin. I heard about Fin pushing him into the loch the day they brought you here. They say the only
thing about it that dismayed Patrick was that he was wearing a pair of brand-new boots. He gave them to Tam, saying they were
no longer fit to wear.”

“Did he, indeed?”

“Aye. Fin might not notice a woman’s gown, but I’d wager my finest silk bodice that Patrick will see in a twinkling that this
dress is not mine.”

Her guess proved right, but the result was not as bad as she had feared, for her brother only laughed when he saw her and
hurried to give her a hug.

“You should have told me that you had arrived, Bab,” he said, stepping back and cocking his head critically. “That dress doesn’t
suit you, and you’ve kept us waiting a devilish long time for our supper, but Fin told me what happened.”

Both Molly and Barbara turned as one to look at Kintail, who was lounging at the table as though he had been waiting some
time for them to arrive. The teasing look he sent Molly made her wish she had another pail of water.

“Aye,” he said, grinning at Barbara, “and I confessed that it was my fault for splashing so much water about before you brought
the rinse water in for me, and how you might have split your head on one of the stones when you slipped, had I not caught
you. Still, I’m sorry I tumbled you into the tub, lass.”

Had Molly not already heard Barbara’s explanation, she might have believed him, so glibly did he offer his version. As it
was, she regarded him speculatively, wondering if he always lied so easily.

He met her gaze with a bland look and suggested that they eat at once, so that his men could set up more benches for the next
day’s court. Afterward, however, when she and Barbara got up from the table, he got up, too, saying, “One moment, mistress,
if you please.”

Barbara paused beside her, and Molly was grateful, for she was certain she did not want to hear what Kintail had to say to
her.

However, he dismissed the girl with a gesture, and when she hesitated, he said, “Don’t tempt me, Bab. You have already compelled
me to lie to Patrick—”

“Compelled you!” she exclaimed indignantly, but as she did, she shot a wary glance at her brother, still seated at the table.

“Aye,” Kintail insisted, “and if you do not want me to tell him the truth straightaway, you had best run along. I want to
speak privately to Mistress Gordon.”

Grimacing expressively, Barbara stalked off, and Molly, still not wanting to hear what Kintail would say, said hastily, “You
won’t really betray her to her brother, will you, sir? It seems to me that you were far more at fault than she.”

“Aye, I was,” he admitted, “although if you hadn’t knocked when you did, I’d have soon sent her about her business. You startled
us both just as I’d grabbed her, though, and the result was that she slipped and I tumbled her into the tub. Had it been Patrick,
as I’d thought, I’d have told him at once what had happened and he would have seen the humor. He might have scolded her for
entering my chamber uninvited, but that would have been the end of it. I did not know how he would react to hearing the tale
secondhand, however, especially considering your part in it, and I did not want him to take her to task over supper.”

“So you lied to him,” Molly said with a challenging look.

“I did,” Kintail said, glancing ruefully toward Sir Patrick, “and I will have to own up to it soon, before we leave the hall.”

“So you will tell him what happened,” Molly said, feeling sorry for Barbara.

“I will, but I will also have the chance then to explain the whole business. Must I explain it to you, mistress? I ken well
how it looked.”

“You need explain nothing,” Molly said. “Barbara told me how it was. She ought not to have gone into your chamber, though,
any more than I should have.”

“You did not know that it was my bedchamber, however. How came you there? If one of my men was playing tricks…”

“No,” she said swiftly. “I believe his part in it was unintentional, and perhaps you will say that I ought to have known your
chamber, but I did not.”

“Why were you seeking me?”

“To ask if I might observe your court tomorrow,” she replied.

“Surely you will have too much to do, with so many chores to attend on such a busy day.”

“Mauri says I would be more hindrance than help to her,” Molly muttered unhappily. “I was not raised to cook or clean, you
see, so she has to show me.”

He was silent for a moment, but although she expected him to lecture her about a woman’s need to learn such skills, he said
instead, “You told me at Dunakin that you do know how to do sums and such.”

“Aye, I do.”

“Then, perhaps I can arrange for you to do something that you’ll enjoy more than cooking or cleaning. Patrick’s father attended
to the castle accounts, and since his death, Patrick and I have had to attend to them, but we have talked about training someone
else. Do you think you could do them if we showed you how?”

“Aye, I could. You would really let me?”

“I would,” he said. Then he rather spoiled her delight by adding, “We will have to check what you do, of course, but if you
learn quickly and do not make too many mistakes, you could save us both a great deal of time.”

“I’d like to do that,” she said, “but will I not do a better job if I come to understand more about castle affairs?”

His eyes twinkled responsively. “I can see that you are determined to observe my court, lass, and since I have taken sufficient
of your measure to know that you will find a way even if I forbid you—”

“I would,” she said. “Mauri tells me there are laird’s peeks aplenty, overlooking the hall. I have seen the one on the stairs,
myself, so I could—”

“Would you so willingly accept your punishment for disobeying me?”

She hesitated, then cocked her head to one side and said, “Is it so horrid, then, what you do to the people who seek justice
in your court?”

Grimacing, he glanced over his shoulder as though he suspected that even then someone might be watching. Then he said, “Justice
is not always pleasant to witness, lass, but you may watch if you want. I warrant Bab has watched more than once if it occurred
to her to, because I did and so did Patrick, before my father invited either of us to be present. She can sit with you if
Mauri has no need of her.”

He bade her good night then and turned away, but as she walked up the stairs to her bedchamber, she realized that once again,
he had astonished her, and the thought warmed her. Perhaps life as his ward would not be so bad after all.

“That went well, I think,” Catriona said as she nibbled Claud’s ear. The pair of them sat in a stone niche near the stairway
and had easily overheard the conversation between Kintail and Mistress Gordon.

“I dinna think they like each other much,” Claud said.

“She poured water over him, did she not, when she found him with that Bab person?” Catriona snuggled closer. “That was clever
of you, Claud, to think of sending your Maid in to find them together.”

“But I didna do any such thing,” Claud protested, trying to think—a process he found difficult even when Catriona was not
putting her tongue in his ear. “I—I be more concerned about what I’ll do when he chooses a husband for her.”

“He must not give her to another,” Catriona murmured, resting one slender hand on his thigh. “Her husband will get her treasure.”

“But we canna stop that,” Claud said reasonably. “In their world, a husband be entitled tae claim his wife’s fortune.”

“Then we must think, Claud dear.” She slid her hand between his legs.

He gasped. “Och, Catriona, I canna think when ye do that!”

“Then we will do this first and think later.”

Claud groaned, but he said nothing more about thinking.

M
en and women began to arrive for Kintail’s court early the next morning. They rowed across the water in small boats and larger
ones, and several even poled across from Dornie village on a log raft. The hall was crowded and noisy.

Sir Patrick, looking like a lord in an elegant blue velvet doublet and black hose, informed Molly and Barbara when they arrived
that Kintail had left orders to seat them near the rear.

Molly had hoped to sit as close to the proceedings as possible, but when she protested, Patrick said flatly, “I’m to put you
out if you make a fuss, mistress. As for you, Bab,” he added, turning to his sister, “you and I are going to have a serious
talk before the day is done.”

Neither protested any further. When they had taken the places he indicated and he had walked away, Barbara said, “I wonder
what I have done now.”

Realizing that she had gone straight to her bedchamber after speaking with Kintail the previous night and had not seen the
younger girl again, Molly said, “I believe he knows now what really happened in Kintail’s bedchamber.”

“But how could he? Fin did not tell him yestereve. We know he did not.”

Molly explained, adding, “Will your brother truly be angry, Barbara? Surely, he trusts Kintail not to have taken liberties
with you.”

The worried look disappeared when Barbara chuckled. “I would certainly call it a liberty to topple me into the bath with him.”

“He told me that my knocking startled him, and at all events, you know what sort of liberties I meant,” Molly said.

“Aye, but I doubt that Patrick would fully trust Fin near anyone wearing a skirt. The pair of them often got up to mischief
together before our fathers were killed, and since nearly any woman in Kintail would gladly submit to either one of them,
who knows what Patrick is thinking?”

Shocked, Molly said, “You cannot mean that Kintail would—”

“Oh, no,” Barbara said, controlling her merriment with visible difficulty. “He would not, and hopefully, now that Patrick
has had time to think about it, he will realize that Fin would never harm me, so I
am
glad that Fin did not tell him straightaway. Patrick’s temper is like his, you see. They both flame up easily, and when either
one is blazing away, it is best to leave at once—if one can do so.”

“They had better not blaze at me, either of them,” Molly said coolly.

Barbara looked at her in wonder. “Are you not afraid of a man’s anger, then? They can be very fierce.”

Molly shrugged, ignoring the chill that shot up her spine at the thought of Kintail being fierce. They had no more time to
talk, however, for Sir Patrick had moved to the front of the hall. When he raised a hand, the assembly hushed. Feet shuffled,
but the few lingering whispers were quickly silenced.

Sir Patrick said only, “The laird,” and everyone arose as Kintail strode in and sat in the lone armchair on the dais where
the high table generally sat.