Amanda Scott (14 page)

“And Will rode with him?”

“Aye, your brother, as you know, was always eager to find the least taxing way to impress others with his prowess. He’d doubtless have returned to court full of exploits, sporting new finery and spewing tales to impress the lasses. But I should not speak ill of him now,” Michael added with a look of apology.

“I’d as lief we not speak of him at all,” Rob said. “I wish I could feel grief for either of them, but other than a sense of outrage at whoever dared to murder them, I feel nothing. There is one other thing I should discuss with you both, however,” he added reluctantly.

Hugo and Michael were two of his three closest friends in the world. He trusted them completely, would trust either with his life or with his wife if he had one. But he’d never told either one what he needed to share with them now.

Both regarded him intently, and Hugo said, “I’m guessing this must be even more important than what you and I discussed before.”

“Aye,” Rob said. “It may have something to do with the Order—if not with what we found before, then with some item given into its care in similar fashion.”

“You’re speaking riddles,” Michael complained. “Talk plainly.”

“Wait,” Hugo said, getting up and moving to the door. He opened it, looked out on the stairwell, then shut it tight again and threw the bolt. “Now, what is it?”

“I need to talk to Henry, too,” Rob said. “My grandfather Logan gave me information before he sent me to Dunclathy. But a key feature of what he knew lies else-where, and I’m thinking Henry may be of some help with it when I find it.”

“Do you want him now?” Michael asked. “He’s gone back to Edinburgh.”

“Then I’ll talk with him there,” Rob said. “One thing about claiming my own is that I’ll be able to approach him without drawing undue notice.”

“What sort of information did your grandfather give you?” Hugo asked.

“He told me two things,” Rob said. “The first was that I’d learn things at Dunclathy and become part of something there that was both secret and vitally important, something that I was never to talk about to anyone else.”

“He was talking about the Order, of course,” Michael said.

“Aye, but he did not say so. He was also cryptic about the other matter, saying only that he would leave information for me in a safe place, but I’m guessing it’s most likely a map. He was already ailing when he sent me to your father for training, Hugo, and he feared he might die before he saw me again. He never trusted Will, who began as soon as he learned he was Master of Lestalric to care only about being heir to the barony and to seek his own advantage.”

“Where is this item and what makes you think it’s a map?” Michael asked.

“In troth, I may have created the notion of a map in my own head,” Rob said. “But Grandfather said I’d know all that I needed to know when the time came to look for it and would find the key in the most likely place for him to hide it at Lestalric. He said I’d learn then where it would lead me.”

“How could he know all that?” Michael asked, drawing up a stool to sit on.

“He said I’d understand more as I came to know the Sinclair brothers better,” Rob said. “That was when I learned we’d be training together. But when Sir Edward revealed that our heritage included the Knights Templar and all the duties the Order entailed, I began to think the secret must have to do with something the Order is guarding, as it guards the Templars’ own treasure now. If that is true, it may be something my grandfather meant to entrust to the Templars or that someone else entrusted to my family because of its early connection to the Templars.”

“Perhaps the Logans took possession of a second portion of the Templar treasure,” Michael said. “We know it had to be larger than what we’ve discovered so far. May-hap bits of it were scattered all over Scotland.”

Rob shook his head. “I cannot say that you are wrong, but recall that in 1307, when the treasure ships arrived in the Isles, my family lived here in Lothian. And it was my great-grandfather and his brother, both Templars, who were close friends with Sir James Douglas and Sir William St. Clair.”

“The English overran this area in those days,” Hugo reminded him. “And they invaded twice more after the Bruce routed them. You cannot know whose aid your ancestors might have engaged, or who might have engaged theirs—or your grandfather’s later, come to that.”

“That’s all true,” Rob said. “I’m thinking this may be something different, though. Recall that the Order acted as bankers to the world, securing all manner of treasures for royal houses everywhere. Recall, too, that the Bruce was close friends with your ancestors and mine, as well as with Sir James Douglas, and that the greater part of the Order’s archives are likewise missing.”

Michael and Hugo looked at each other, and when Hugo raised his eyebrows, Michael said, “We know that the Order also guarded items for heads of state, and at least one chest full of maps and documents.” To Rob, he said, “Your grandfather said you’d know when the time was right. Why do you think that time is now?”

Rob grimaced. “If aught happened to me, no one else would know what he’d said. That’s been true all along, I expect, but never before did I see it so clearly, and the English seem bent now on a new invasion, so I decided that the men I trust most should know as much as I do about it. Also, someone seems eager to do away with the barons Lestalric,” he added dryly. “Since I’m not ready to die yet …”

“Understandable,” Michael said when he paused.

“Aye,” Hugo said. “But you left out at least one detail, Rob.”

“What’s that?”

“Will’s beautiful widow. I warrant the lady Ellen will be pleased to learn of your return. Had you not considered that?”

“Nay, truly, I had not,” Rob said. Although his brother’s widow had once been the love of his life, he had ceased thinking of her as such long ago, and had not thought of her at all until reminded of who might have in terest in Lestalric. That she might be interested in him seemed unlikely now that she was a widow, too. Even for the daughter of Scotland’s most powerful lord, it was no easy thing to lose a husband.

The three continued to discuss details of his departure, and a short time later he took his leave of them. Having accumulated but few belongings, he had little to pack and soon was fast asleep.

Rising early the next morning, he saddled his horse, said a few words to the stable lads, and left Roslin Castle behind him.

Waking later than usual, Adela dressed and broke her fast in the privacy of her bedchamber with a manchet loaf and an apple that Kenna brought to her, and asked the girl if her brothers had spoken yet with Einar Logan.

“Tam said I just wanted to flirt wi’ the man m’self and he were no going to have Einar clout him one for putting him in the way o’ a lovesick lass. But I’m no such thing, m’lady. I like Einar, but he’s no interested in me. I ken that fine.”

So, Adela went to the stable again. But the lad who had spoken with her before said Einar had gone.

“Left at dawn wi’ a message to the Douglas from Sir Hugo,” he said. “But he said to tell ye, ye needna thank him, m’lady. He were that glad to help ye.”

“I see,” Adela said, disappointed and more concerned about him than ever.

Thanking the lad, she went next in search of Sorcha, only to learn her sister had not yet returned to Roslin from Hawthornden Castle.

“But Sir Hugo be here, me lady,” the gillie added. “He’ll be wi’— Och, nay, there he be now.”

Following his gaze, she saw Hugo emerging from the countess’s solar. She was reluctant to confront him, especially since her midnight comforter had insisted that she tell him all that she had overheard. Hugo would be angry, but she could not ignore what she knew. Accepting that she had no choice, she hurried to meet him.

“If you please, sir, I would speak with you,” she said when they met.

“What is it, lass?” he asked.

She looked around, noting several gillies attending to their chores.

Hugo said, “Let us move close to the fire by the dais. I’ll dismiss the lad there, so we may speak privately.”

She would have preferred total privacy, but she doubted he would agree to such a request. He was more likely to deem it improper, so she nodded and went with him to the dais. Even without the privacy screens, if they spoke quietly, their voices should not carry to anyone else.

“Now, how may I be of service to you?” Hugo asked when they stood before the warm fire.

“I want to ask a boon, sir,” Adela said, deciding she would be wise to ask him before discussing Einar. If Hugo agreed to let her stay at Hawthornden, he would not change his mind only because she managed to make him angry about something else.

He smiled. “Ask away. If it is in my power, I’ll do what I can.”

“Did Sorcha not ask you about Hawthornden?”

He shook his head. “What, exactly, was she to ask me?”

It was annoying that Sorcha had forgotten to ask, but perhaps she had been waiting for the right moment. But, bad timing or not, Adela had to ask him now.

“You see,” she said, “everyone has been telling me I need not go home with Ardelve’s body, but I hesitate to accept Lady Clendenen’s invitation to stay with her in Edinburgh, because it does not seem right that I should go to court with her when I am so recently a widow. Yet she insists I should.”

“I see naught amiss in such a plan, but you had better decide soon. Bodies don’t keep overlong, sithee, so they mean to leave for Glasgow at midday today.”

She winced at the image that leaped to mind but said, “I mean to stay, I think, but …” She drew breath, then said in a rush, “If you will let me, I’d like to stay at Hawthornden. You see, I’m not used to living with so many people. Roslin is teeming with them, and half of them spend three-quarters of their time telling me what I should think and what I should do. I’m longing for peace.”

“I wish I could oblige you, Adela,” he said.

“Please, sir, I would take a maidservant with me, and …”

“I’d provide all the servants you’d need if I could do it,” he said. “The fact is I’ve already promised a friend of mine that he can stay there. He means to pay his respects to the King but prefers not to stay long in Edinburgh. Like yourself, he prefers a quieter place, so as we’ll be leaving, I’ve offered him Hawthornden.”

“I see.” She bit her lower lip.

“Is there something else you would discuss with me?”

“Aye,” she said, gathering herself. “What have you done with Einar Logan?”

His eyebrows shot upward. “As he is mine to command, I warrant I may do anything I like, within reason. Why do you ask?”

“I … I am concerned for his safety.”

“Why?”

His sudden intensity disconcerted her. She saw no hint of guilt, only disquiet. Could she be wrong? Could the voice she’d heard be someone else’s? Common sense said no, that she knew his voice well. And both men had been in his chamber.

“I looked for you yesterday to ask about Hawthorn-den, and I heard you,” she said. “You were talking with a man, a Borderer, I think. He said you’d have to do away with Einar Logan and you agreed. And now Einar is gone, because I asked for him at the stable. I wanted to thank him for helping rescue me. I never have thanked him, you see, and I should have. Where is he, Hugo?”

“Did they not tell you when you asked for him?”

“They
said
he’d taken a message for you to the Douglas. Is that true?” She looked right at him, daring him to lie to her.

“I can tell you only that he is safe, lass, and in no danger from me or anyone I call friend. But you should know that listening at doors rarely supplies the listener with accurate information. What you heard was but a small piece of a conversation. The rest does not concern you, nor do I intend to explain it to you.”

Squirming now, knowing he had every right to be displeased with her, she said, “I believe you, sir. I do not think you would lie to me about such a thing.”

“I would not,” he said. “I must ask that you not discuss this matter with anyone else, though, including your sisters.” He smiled then, adding, “I’ve no time for fratching just now, and if Sorcha didn’t have my head for worrying you, she’d want it for making you fear for Einar’s life.”

She knew that for all his faults, he was a man of honor. “I’ll say nothing, but you see that nothing bad happens to him. I suppose he’ll go with you to the Isles.”

He smiled warmly, the way she had seen him smile at her sister, and said, “You need not fear for him, lassie. We look after our own.”

“I know,” she said, relaxing, although she noted that he had ignored her supposition. “Is Lady Clendenen with the countess?”

“Aye, and that cousin of hers, as well. Although he says he’ll be leaving today, the fog cleared enough yesterday afternoon for him to have left then.”

“You don’t like the chevalier de Gredin?”

He grimaced. “He’s not a man I’d choose for a boon companion. I ken fine that he charms the ladies, though, so I’ll say no more.”

When they parted, she went to the solar, where she found Lady Clendenen with the countess, Sidony, Isobel, and the chevalier engaged in conversation.

“You are looking much better, dearling,” Lady Clendenen said with an approving smile. “I vow, you have roses in your cheeks again.”

“Thank you, madam, I feel more rested. I have come to tell you that if you still desire it, I shall be honored to accept your kind invitation.”

Lady Clendenen exclaimed her delight, but Sidony’s eyes had widened, and as soon as her ladyship paused to draw breath, she said, “But I thought you were set on returning with Ardelve’s corpse, Adela. What changed your mind?”

“Her good sense,” Isabella said. “You will of course be going to court, Adela, so we must put our heads together and determine how best to provide you with all you’ll need. You will want to leave us now, Chevalier,” she added brusquely. “Such conversation can hold little interest for any man.”

“I assure you, madame, I should be most honored to take part in such a discussion,” he said, flashing his smile. “I have excellent taste in ladies’ dress.”

“Well, we don’t want you,” Isabella said bluntly. “Do run away now so we may talk of matters better discussed without a gentleman’s assistance.”