Seduced by a Rogue (40 page)

“We’ll see about that,” Mairi said grimly. To the waiting Jopson, she said, “Send messengers north to Lord Johnstone and to
anyone else who may be willing to help stop this outrage. Warn them to make haste to Dunwythie Mains.”

“Should I send to warn the Jardines then, as well, mistress?”

Fiona’s image leaped to mind, and she said, “Aye, tell them that we are on the way and will welcome their aid. We must not
expect them to help, but I could not be easy of mind if I did not warn them that trouble is about to erupt so near them.”

“Old Jardine be more apt to be a-siding wi’ the Maxwells,” Parland Dow said. “I ha’ nae doots that fierce old man kens fine
what be going on, and Will, too.”

“They most likely do, aye,” Mairi said. “But they may not, and the lady Fiona is with them at Spedlins Tower, so I
must
warn them. Jopson, tell Captain Gerrard about this and help him gather our men swiftly. I’ll order food for us, change my
clothing, and will be ready to ride as soon as the men are. Tell Gerrard they must dress as if they were raiding England,
and to prepare themselves well for battle.”

“Ye willna go yourself, m’lady!” the steward exclaimed. “Beg pardon, but… I mean to say, ye’d only be—”

“I ken fine that I am no warrior, Jopson. But I will not send our men into danger whilst I stay safely here. Dunwythie of
Dunwythie will lead the way, as always. However,” she added dryly, “assure them that her ladyship will pull aside before she
can become a nuisance—most likely before we reach the chapel hill.”

When he frowned, she added, “I should be safe enough riding that far with our men. The Maxwells, coming from Dumfries, will
likely cross the Annan
north
of the Hall. With the recent heavy rains, the ford below Applegarth won’t be safe.”

“I think Sir Hugh expects ye to stay here at Annan House,” Dow said warily.

Meeting her indignant look with a rueful grimace, he reached hastily into his leather jack and withdrew a narrow roll of vellum,
adding as he held it out to her, “I did bring ye another message, as well, from Dumfries.”

Taking it gently, she said, “Faith, who sent this?”

“I warrant it will bear a signature,” Dow said, giving her a look.

“So it will,” she agreed, noting that the red wax seal revealed only a small, narrow thumbprint. Stepping away from the two
men, she broke the seal and unrolled the brief message:

My dearest,

Since Easter service, he has been most melancholy and restless, so if you had doubts of him, you may dismiss them. Know that
I shall do all I can to aid you if you seek what, in a more accepting world, you both so clearly would seek. He will not long
allow himself to feel so haunted without seeking action. Know, too, that Archie the Grim is even now gathering an army for
his latest purpose and will order that all men of Galloway follow him when he sets forth. —
AK

Striving to suppress suddenly roiling emotions, and wondering if Lady Kelso could possibly have known when she wrote the message
that her elder grandson meant to seize Dunwythie Mains and her other estates, Mairi rolled the message up again and said,
“Tell our lads to hurry, but be sure they have all they will need, Jopson. We can still reach the Hall before sundown, I believe.”

“Aye, mistress, easily. Moreover, I should think the Maxwells canna ha’ set foot yet in Annandale, or we’d have had word of
it.”

She nodded, seeing no reason to mention that, just weeks before, several of the sheriff’s men had come into Annandale without
warning. If the sheriff headed a large force, as she expected he would, many would notice. In any case, Jopson would send
messengers out straightaway to warn as many as they could.

Without sparing another thought for the men’s preparations, knowing that Jopson and Gerrard would see to them and that she
could trust both men implicitly, she went in to order the food and tackle Phaeline.

Gibby was piling wood in a basket by the hall fire with one hand and dangling a string with the other for Tiggie, so she sent
him to issue her orders for food. “Tell them to pack what the men will need and send it outside,” she ordered.

“Aye, mistress, I’ll see to it,” the boy said as he ran toward the kitchen.

Next, she found her stepmother still in the solar. Relating the news Parland Dow had brought, Mairi said, “Hugh is on his
way, madam, and I shall go with our men, of course. But we will leave enough men-at-arms here to keep you safe.”

“Godamercy,
no
Maxwell has the right to seize our estates,” Phaeline protested. “Doubtless the sheriff thinks he can do so only because
you are a woman. So ’tis just as I warned you it would be. Faith, but I suspect he thinks it is his
duty
to take them, if only to run them properly. But we will just see what my cousin Archie thinks of such impudence.”

“Doubtless Sir Hugh has already sent word to the Lord of Galloway,” Mairi said. “However, I cannot dally here. I don’t want
to delay the men.”

“Sakes, you will delay them simply by insisting on riding
with
them,” Phaeline said. “What do you think
you
can do to aid them?”

“My father, for all his peaceful ways, never let his men ride into danger without leading them. Nor shall I. I shan’t wield
a sword, but I
will
be nearby.”

“Utter stupidity,” Phaeline said with an unladylike snort. “But you will have your way, I expect.”

“In this matter, I certainly will,” Mairi said.

“Then it is no less than my bounden duty to go with you,” Phaeline declared.

“Nay, then, you need not!” Mairi exclaimed in dismay.

“My dearling child,
no
unmarried female should be riding with an army of rough men, no matter where their loyalties may lie. Moreover, I
am
still your mother, so do
not
argue with me.”

Mairi had no time to argue. Furthermore, she suspected that Phaeline was more concerned about Fiona than she had yet let anyone
see. They had heard not a word from her, or about her, since their return from Thornhill.

Therefore, saying only that Phaeline would have to make haste, as they would not wait for her, Mairi hurried to her own room
and summoned Sadie. Dressing quickly, she snatched up the bundle of clothing that Sadie packed hastily for her and rushed
back to the yard to find all in train for their departure.

As Jopson strapped her bundle to her horse, he reported that he had sent word to every baron for twenty miles around that
the Maxwells were coming.

“The lad I sent on to Lord Johnstone will learn if his lordship had already sent out word himself, mistress. If not, the lad
will ask him to warn all north o’ him,” he added. “Ye’ll ha’ a good-sized Annandale army a-joining ours soon.”

“Good,” Mairi said. “The more help we can gather the better. By the bye, Jopson, the lady Phaeline will be riding with us.”
Anticipating his dismay, she added, “I hope you do not think I ought to have stopped her—”

“Nay, mistress, I think nowt o’ the sort. In sooth, it be a load off me mind, that ye’ll ha’ her ladyship wi’ ye, though it
do take me aback that she be willing to go.”

To Mairi’s surprise, for she had expected her to keep them waiting just to prove she could, Phaeline hurried out a few minutes
later. It occurred to Mairi only then that, as Applegarth lay south of Dunwythie Mains, Phaeline might be thinking that they
could seek shelter there. If so, she would learn her error.

Mairi’s place was with her own people at Dunwythie Mains.

Rob and Sir Hugh Douglas, between them, led a party of eighty-five men, but Rob was certain they would need more. As they
crested the long ridge that divided Nithsdale from Annandale, he half expected to see Alex’s army filling the landscape below
them.

Aware of Hugh’s gaze, he met it and saw a twinkle in the older man’s eyes.

“What?” Rob demanded curtly.

“Here now, lad, don’t be snapping at me,” Hugh warned. But the twinkle deepened. “I cannot help it if I still feel amazed
at receiving a warning from a Maxwell about a Maxwell attack on Annandale.”

“Sakes, not all of Annandale, only the Dunwythie estates,” Rob said.

“Even so,” Hugh said. “Maxwells rarely turn against Maxwells.”

“Nor have I,” Rob said. “As I told you, I want only to protect the lady Mairi’s estates by keeping Alex from seizing them.
I don’t want anyone killed.”

“That may happen, though, if battle comes of this, as I believe it may.”

“I could not allow the seizure, Hugh. You know Dunwythie attended to the Crown’s business in Annandale just as seneschals
of old did. That fact alone should satisfy
everyone with a stake in the matter.”

“So one would think.”

“But Alex thirsts to expand his powers as Sheriff of Dumfries. He would see the Maxwells, under his guidance, control as much
of southwest Scotland as he can lay hands on, your cousin Archie notwithstanding.”

“He has sadly underestimated the Douglases then,” Hugh said.

“I ken that fine. But Alex sees nowt save his own ambition, and so far, Archie has not found reason to thrust
his
power in Alex’s face.”

“So far, Archie has but dipped a toe in Nithsdale water to test its sheriff’s intent,” Hugh said. “If your brother were wiser,
he’d see that.”

“Archie is not
now
in Nithsdale,” Rob pointed out.

“Art so sure of that?”

A chill tickled Rob’s spine much like the one that had struck when he realized Alex meant to take Mairi’s lands. He had no
idea where Archie was.

“Has he returned to these parts, then?” he asked.

“Archie hears more than any other commander and moves faster. Those are facts that most men know about him, facts that your
brother has clearly forgotten.”

“But Alex keeps ears out, too,” Rob protested. “Surely, he would know if the Douglases had entered Nithsdale, and that’s the
most likely route to Annandale.”

“Archie is like the wind—gone and then back again when one least expects it,” Hugh said. “He has certainly visited Annandale,
for he wants badly to get the English occupiers of Lochmaben out of this country.”

“Aye, we must.”

“Meantime, your brother is seizing what he thinks is a grand opportunity. Has he not wit enough to see how
Archie will perceive a move against one of his own?”

Rob knew that Alex had discounted all risk, but he could see no reason to tell Hugh so. Alex was, after all, still Rob’s brother.
He said, “I’d hoped that you and I could stop him before it came to that.”

In a gentle voice that did not fool Rob in the least, Hugh said, “Before you came to me at Thornhill, you must have guessed
I would send to advise Archie of what was going forward. Did you not count on Douglas strength, in the end, to foil the sheriff’s
plan?”

“Aye, sure,” Rob said. “But I counted on the threat alone to dissuade him. I thought Douglas was back in Galloway, at Threave,
not anywhere near at hand.”

“Aye, well, in future you should be minded of two facts about Archie. If you need him, he will come, and if you
don’t
want him, he’ll come all the faster.”

Deciding to change the subject since it was far too late to change Archie, who might be needed, Rob said, “Do you trust Dow
to warn them at Annan House without terrifying them or stirring the lady Mairi to ride straight to the Hall?”

“Mairi is always sensible,” Hugh said in a tone that Rob thought he meant to be reassuring. “I told Dow to say the message
came from me, and not just because you asked me to do so. I thought it wiser not to confuse her by telling her you would be
with me. She will trust me to deal with any number of Maxwells.”

As Rob had not told Hugh about his feelings for Mairi or hers for him, Hugh’s confidence did not reassure him at all. He feared
that Mairi might put herself in harm’s way, hoping she could stop the sheriff—stop the Maxwells, in fact—or intervene some
other way, before anyone got hurt.

“She will think I ride with Alex,” he said.

Hugh looked narrowly at him. “What if she does?”

Rob grimaced. “She will either hope I can keep him from harming anyone else or will think I agree that we Maxwells should
control Annandale. Sithee, she has accused me more than once of trying to control
all
.”

To his surprise, Hugh chuckled. “Women frequently make such accusations,” he said, “particularly when a man issues an order
he expects them to obey.”

“You speak from experience, I expect.”

“Aye, sure, I do—experience with another baroness in her own right, come to that. Such women have little trouble making decisions,
so doubtless most of them take umbrage when a man tells them what to do. I did therefore have the sense not to issue anything
resembling a command in that message I sent with Dow.”

A shiver shot up Rob’s spine. “Mayhap you should have,” he said. “I’m thinking we should ride faster, Hugh.”