Arsenic and Old Armor (22 page)

Marion looked up at her husband. She was
impressed by the way he’d dealt with William and how kind he was to
her aunts.

“
I’m sorry for all the
accusations I made. Of you not caring for my family, I mean. I was
clearly so wrong.”

He put down the empty cup on the table. “Do
you understand now why this wasn’t the perfect place for you to
grow up?”

“
I don’t know,” she
answered honestly. “My aunts take some getting used to, but I was
accustomed to their ways. And I am sure I shall feel comfortable
after a day with them.”

“
And your
uncle?”

“
Sir William does appear to
have grown more peculiar than I recall, but he’s very sweet, and
I’m certain that he’s harmless.” She smiled. “And after all, it
takes a great deal of work to raise an army.”

Iain frowned and lowered his voice. “Before
coming inside, I took a moment to talk to Brother Luke. He told me
that tonight, for the first time, Sir William actually frightened
him.”

“
Frightened him?” Marion
asked, suddenly concerned. “What did my uncle do?”

“
He got it in his head that
Brother Luke was English. You can imagine how Sir William behaves
when he thinks there is an Englishman in the Tower.” Iain glanced
toward the back stairwell. “Your uncle is always armed. That is my
immediate concern. Before I left, he was shooting arrows at tenants
who were bringing food for your aunts.”

“
But he hasn’t hurt
anyone,” she said.

“
Not yet. But with his
growing inability to remember people, it is possible that someone
might get hurt.” Iain frowned. “And don’t forget, there are
Englishmen in the Borders right now to attend a certain
wedding.”

As much as she hated to agree, Marion did.
“But how are you going to take away his weapons without serious
bloodshed?”

“
I don’t know. We need to
talk about that more when I get back.” Iain motioned to the
courtyard. “The men are still waiting for me outside. My stable
hands who have been serving as members of Sir William’s army tell
me that there’s been no sign of your cousin, Jack, and his band of
outlaws.”

“
Perhaps he heard the news
of our marriage and decided to go away and leave us in peace,” she
said hopefully.

“
Or perhaps he is preparing
to create greater havoc through our wedding.”

“
What do you mean by that?”
Marion asked.

“
Brother Luke told me that
in this past week, three Englishmen who were sent from the Tudor
court have disappeared. All of them were last seen in the Borders,
too close to Fleet Tower and Blackthorn Hall.”

“
And you think Jack is
responsible for it?”

“
Who else?” Iain
shrugged.

“
Doesn’t he know that in
doing this, he’ll have not only you but the English army, as well,
after him?”

“
I don’t pretend to
understand Jack Fitzwilliam. I never have.” He looked around the
great hall. “All I know is that if we don’t find them or the people
responsible for their disappearance, there will be hell to
pay.”

He leaned down and kissed her lips. “I need
to go out and send the men home to their families. We’ll lower the
portcullis, and Tom and John will stay the night and keep watch.
They were supposed to be part of a search party, but they’re needed
here more. They should be enough until tomorrow. Alan will send
back fresh riders to escort us to Blackthorn Hall tomorrow.”

Marion walked with him to the entryway.
“Won’t Lady Elizabeth be offended that you are staying here
tonight?”

“
The way Brother Luke
explained it to me, she’s far too busy with all the guests who have
arrived to worry about anything else. I’m not concerned about that.
I have no interest in anything right now other than being here with
you.”

Marion certainly hoped so. She was in love
with her husband. She looked forward to the lifetime they would
have together. The children they would have. She wanted everything
and everyone else around them to fit in with that life. She was so
different from the woman she’d been a fortnight ago.

No conflict, only peace. This was to be her
new motto. Almost overwhelmed with what she was feeling, she raised
herself on her tiptoes and kissed Iain on the lips.

“
I’ll only be gone for a
few minutes,” he told her, smiling and caressing her
cheek.

She waited until he went out the door to the
courtyard before she turned to the room. Judith was standing by the
table holding another tray. Marion hadn’t heard her come in.

“
I thought the laird was
staying,” Judith said. She looked disappointed.

Marion rushed over to help her. “He’ll be
right back. He wanted to send his men on their way before securing
the gates.”

“
I saw you two,” Judith
said with a giggle.

“
You did?” Marion put the
basket of bread and the dishes on the table and glanced hesitantly
at her aunt.

“
I did. I saw the two of
you kiss, just now, as I was coming into the great hall. The laird
was going out the other door.”

Marion felt her face growing warm, but she
told herself she shouldn’t be embarrassed. She and Iain were
married. Still, her aunts didn’t know the truth, and Marion didn’t
know why they shouldn’t be told. It wasn’t as if they were going to
meet any of the guests in the few days left before the ceremony.
And even if they did and the news got out, it didn’t matter. If
Lady Elizabeth hadn’t involved herself, Iain and Marion were going
to announce their news to everyone anyway.

“
He is quite handsome, you
know.”

“
Yes, I know.”

“
And I am so glad you
turned out so bonny and tall. He should be happy with what he is
getting.”

Marion thought Iain might have already felt
differently on several occasions, namely the times she might have
expressed her opinion too strongly, or acted a bit too
single-mindedly, or behaved downright disagreeably. Other than
those moments, though, he definitely appeared happy with what he
was getting, especially in their more intimate moments.

When Marion looked up, her aunt was looking
at her with a peculiar expression on her face.

“
Is something wrong, Aunt
Judith?”

“
Well, yes, dear.” She
paused. “There are things that a young woman should learn from her
mother before marrying, but you don’t have a mother. And Margaret
and I have never married, so there is much we don’t know to tell
you. And I doubt those nuns on the Isle of Skye knew much about
these things, either. So Margaret and I were thinking of asking one
of the McCall women from the village—”

“
That really won’t be
necessary, Aunt Judith,” Marion said in a rush. She felt her cheeks
burning with embarrassment.

“
But it will be very
important,” Judith said seriously. “You want to keep a man like the
laird happy. It will be important not to be afraid and—”

“
I won’t be afraid. I’m not
afraid,” Marion said. “In fact, I have a secret to share with you,
Aunt Judith.”

“
Really?” She smiled,
coming closer. “I like secrets.”

Marion looked around the empty hall. It was
perfectly fine for them to know, she told herself.

“
Iain and I are already
married,” she announced.

“
No, dear. You’re not.”
Judith shook her head. “You’re
betrothed
. There is a difference.
You’ll be married after the church ceremony next week.”

“
No, Aunt Judith. We are
married. The ceremony took place at the priory before we left
Skye,” Marion explained.

“
You are
not
, my sweet.” Judith
shook her head adamantly. “I cannot blame you for not knowing, for
I guess there are very few weddings that take place in a priory.
And, now that I think of it, I don’t remember ever taking you to a
wedding when you were a wee bairn. But this is the way things are.
There are betrothals and there are marriages.”

Marion could not believe it when Judith
began a lecture on how a wedding ceremony is conducted in a church,
or on a church steps. It was so much like her aunt not to hear what
was being said. Unless, of course, it was being said by Aunt
Margaret.

To her relief, Margaret appeared in the
doorway, bringing in a platter of fruit and cheeses. Marion went to
help her.

“
Where is the laird?” she
asked.

“
He is in the courtyard,
sending his men home. He’ll be right back,” Marion explained. “Aunt
Margaret, I have a secret I’d like to share with you and Aunt
Judith.”

“
We like secrets,” Margaret
said excitedly.

“
We do indeed like
secrets,” Judith repeated.

Marion shook her head. She wouldn’t dwell on
each little peculiarity or she’d surely drive herself mad. “My
secret pertains to Iain and me. We’re already married. We were wed
at the priory on the Isle of Skye. Since I was to be traveling
south without a female companion, we felt it was more proper to be
married.”

She looked for Margaret’s reaction.

Her aunt stared at her.

“
Iain and I are already
married, Aunt Margaret,” Marion repeated.

The second time around was the icebreaker.
The older woman’s face blossomed into a smile. “You two are already
married?”

“
You two are married?”
Judith repeated, acting as if this were the first time she was
hearing the news.

Marion took a deep breath and nodded. “We
are. But all of it is a secret, for Lady Elizabeth doesn’t wish to
offend the guests from court. So you can’t tell anyone about
it.”

“
We won’t tell anyone,”
Margaret said.

“
No one,” Judith
repeated.

Both women rushed to give her a hug. The
little secret was out, Marion thought. Now she had no hesitation
about Iain staying the night. If they were caught holding hands or
kissing, so be it.

“
We were hoping you two
would marry like this,” Margaret said.

“
We were hoping,” Judith
repeated.

“
Now we don’t need to worry
about the wedding gown,” Margaret announced.

“
No need to worry
now.”

“
Don’t forget. Our news is
a secret,” Marion repeated. “You shouldn’t tell this to anyone.
I’ll still be walking down the aisle and marrying Iain again next
week.”

Both women nodded.

“
That is, if they find the
missing Englishmen,” Marion said in a lower tone.

“
We must celebrate
tonight,” Margaret announced, clapping her hands.

“
We love to celebrate!”
Judith agreed.

“
Come with me, Judith,”
Margaret told her younger sister. “I need your help in the kitchen
to bring in the rest of the supper.”

“
I can help,” Marion
offered.

“
No, dear. We can handle
it.”

“
We can handle it on our
own,” Judith added.

Marion looked helplessly around the hall.
“But I feel so useless. Please let me do something,” she asked of
the two women.

“
Very well. We can set this
table by the fire for our celebration, with all the finery,”
Margaret said. “The damask cloth to cover the table, and the silver
knives.”

“
Damask and silver.” Judith
nodded enthusiastically.

“
That was the way we used
to entertain when your father, the earl, was alive,” Margaret said.
“Rest his soul.”

“
I’ll set the table,”
Marion said quickly. “It will be lovely to have dinner the way we
once did. Perhaps we can even get Uncle William to join
us.”

“
Oh, I don’t know.”
Margaret looked doubtful.

“
I don’t know,” Judith
repeated.

Both women started toward the kitchen.

“
Where can I find the
linens and the silver?” Marion asked them.

“
The same place where they
always are,” Margaret said over her shoulder.

“
The same place,” Judith
repeated.

As her aunts disappeared, Marion looked
around the room, trying to recall where everything had been. When
she'd been a six year old, there had been servants who saw to these
kinds of things. There were only a few storage places in the great
hall.

Marion opened a chest that sat beside the
hearth. It was filled with what appeared to be garments needing
mending. She went to a tall cupboard built into the paneling of
another. As she opened one door she remembered a small chest that
had been locked away there. She wondered if it contained the silver
knives. The shelf where the chest had been kept was bare.

She turned and scanned the hall again.
Crossing the room, she went to one of the window seats and took off
the cushions. Lifting the lid, she looked inside. Nothing but some
scraps of cloth at the bottom.

Marion went to the other
window seat. Margaret’s cloak and a basket sat on it. Putting them
on a nearby bench, she picked up the cushions and, tucking them
under her arm, looked inside it. No chest, but there
was
a man inside. Marion
lowered the lid and put the cushions back on before starting for
the next window.