A Spinster at the Highland Court: The Highland Ladies Book One

by Barclay, Celeste

  “I don’t blame you for that. It happened before we met. But I hate seeing women fawn over you. I’ve heard about some of the women from the past, but Lady MacAdams is one of the worst. She doesn’t care whether or not a man is happily married. If she assumes a man can pleasure her, she will pursue him tirelessly.” Elizabeth accepted she had to confess, too. She leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling, unable to face Edward. “After I disappeared into the passageway, I waited while I caught my breath. You unnerved me with your looks and your persistence. I listened to your entire conversation with Lady MacAdams, I even peeked. I saw her undo the laces of your leggings, but I also saw you stop her. But then I wanted to sob when I feared you would let her take you in her mouth. I felt used and manipulated, but then you repeated that your bulge wasn’t for her. I can’t imagine sweeter words other than when you tell me you love me. I was horrified and hurt despite your rejection of her. I ran the entire way back to my chamber, but even then, it didn’t stop my mind from returning to you, wanting you.”

  “I couldn’t do it, Beth. Even if you never found out, I would’ve known. It felt like a betrayal if I was with another woman when my intentions with you were honorable.” Edward feathered a kiss across her lips, and Elizabeth eased back into his embrace.

  “Do you think it might be her? Either because you spurned her or because she’s loyal to her clan and Clan Gregor?”

  “If anything, I would assume it’s the latter. She may nurse hurt pride, but she has plenty of other men she is bedding. She is far from lonely.”

  “She is the type to oversee her own spies here at court, and she is a powerful woman when it comes to bending people to her will,” Elizabeth mused.

  Edward nodded, but they both let the matter drop. They stared into the fire and enjoyed the return to companionable silence, both lost in thought. Not long after, Elizabeth relaxed enough to doze off. Edward moved her to the bed and removed her velvet slippers before removing his own boots. He settled next to her for a much-needed nap.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Edward met with Robert the next morning in the antechamber, the topic one neither wanted to give as fodder to the gossips. Edward relayed the various ideas and considerations he and Elizabeth discussed the afternoon before. Robert listened intently and agreed with the conclusions the couple had drawn; however, he was unconvinced that Lady MacAdams would work on behalf of her clan. She came to court with her late husband who was the MacAdams and remained there after he died a short time later. He fell from his horse during a hunt and broke his neck. She enjoyed life at court and stayed on. She served little purpose since she was a widow and too old to be a lady-in-waiting. Additionally, the queen didn’t like her. She wasn’t one of Robert’s spies, nor was she someone who contributed to the royal coffers. She maintained her household at court through the gifts given to her by the men she bedded. She was a favorite among the men at court because not only was she a stunning beauty, she was lusty, too.

  “Beth made an observation this morning that stuck with me. I told her I was coming to you to share what she and I discussed. She pointed out that Lady MacAdams must be one of the most well-informed, and therefore, most dangerous women at court. I didn’t think much of it when Beth said it, since Lady MacAdams doesn’t, or rather didn’t, strike me as someone who cared much for anything beyond gossip. I realize now what Beth meant. She understood that the lady must hear things from her bedmates that they might otherwise keep secret. She doesn’t seem to seduce men for their power, but she’s known to take an ugly man to her bed on occasion, so it’s not merely physical attraction either. I suspect she knows enough to be far more dangerous than anyone has stopped to consider. The question is: who does she share these secrets with?”

  “I’ve had my eye on her since she arrived. A woman that beautiful who knows it is always likely to cause a stir at court, and not in a way anyone but she appreciates. She has refused marriage proposals hand over fist, claiming her heart broke when her husband died. More likely, she doesn’t want a new husband to take her away from court. She does go for powerful men, but she also goes for those who are in positions to know much even if they cannot control much. She seeks out emissaries from other countries and those sent from various clans. When she was newly widowed, I assumed she was just a lusty wench who liked a good tupping, but I noticed the pattern in who she beds. I’ve just never discovered what she does with the information she gathers. Either she’s keeping it to herself for a rainy day, or she’s passing it along from one man to another. I’ve ordered her chambers searched numerous times, but no one ever finds any missives. I’ve arranged for her maids and grooms to be watched and followed, but nothing ever exchanges hands. I just figured she uses what she knows to manipulate men into paying for her to live in the lap of luxury here at court.”

  “Perhaps we should take her more seriously. After all, she may have married into the MacAdams clan, but she’s related to the Gregors through her mother’s people. Many Gregors initially supported the Balliols, many of whom fled to Ireland.”

  “This is a tangled web of former lovers, Edward. Are you thinking Lady MacAdams, in an effort to better the Gregor cause, is funneling information to the Balliols in Ireland? Could they have bought Sinead’s support through jealousy and convinced her to target you?” Robert scratched his chin.

  “While the connections are possible, I doubt Sinead would ever do more than spit in the eye of a Balliol. She’d been invested in the Irish cause since she was a young girl. She was tireless in her efforts to see the English driven from Ireland, so she wasn’t going to aid anyone who sided with the English. Ever. Ireland might be a coincidence, but I doubt the ties between Lady MacAdams and the Gregors and Balliols is a coincidence.”

  “Will they never cease? I have driven them out of Scotland and punished most of their supporters, and yet they persist. Can they not accept defeat graciously?” Robert snarled.

  “Would you?” Robert teased.

  “No, never. Nonetheless, they are a constant thorn in my side when I need to remain focused on Longshanks and his bluidy army.”

  “Perhaps they fear Edward will now take command of your army along the border.” The men spun around as both Edward’s wife Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth entered the antechamber. Edward raised his eyebrows at his wife, silently asking her what else she had to say. “I would assume as much if I were the English or anyone who sympathizes with them. Many people speculated that between Edward’s unexpected arrival and you sending him to the border for a moon.”

  “I heard the rumors but did nothing to disabuse people of the idea since it seemed just as well known, if not more so, that you wanted to retire to the Highlands with your bride.” Robert once again stroked his beard as he looked at his brother.

  “Perhaps people think the Highland notion was a ploy and mean to keep you from taking command at the border,” Queen Elizabeth offered. “They targeted you twice when they thought you were least protected and away from court. They must have thought you were in the carriage with Elizabeth, and then they had to have known you were traveling without an army to Culcreuch. After your moon at the border these people whoever they are, must have grown nervous. My guess is they thought Elizabeth would be so terrified after the accident and the attack that the mess in the chamber would be enough to push her around the bend. I think they were relying on her insisting that you leave court posthaste. They wanted to send a message that they weren’t through, but they also want to chase you away, leaving you unprotected and vulnerable to the next attack.”

  “Have you and my wife been solving the world’s problems together?” Robert bussed a kiss on his wife’s temple as he looked at Elizabeth.

  “Not all of the world’s problems, but hopefully our most immediate one.” Elizabeth came to stand next to Edward, who vacated his seat for her. He’d been overly solicitous for the past day, ever since he learned of the bairn on the way. She eased into the seat and patted the hand he rested on her should
er. “Have you both concluded that Lady MacAdams, the Gregors, and the Balliols are the most likely culprits? That is the conclusion that the queen, Deirdre, Ceit, and I came to.”

  “You’ve been discussing this with others?” The king’s tone announced his displeasure.

  “Not others, Your Grace,” Elizabeth fell back on the deference drilled into her since she arrived at court as an eleven-year-old. “My cousin and her sister-by-marriage are just as much a part of this as I am. It’s their husbands you summoned to help Edward, and Ceit is one of your former spies tasked with keeping an eye on Balliol supporters just across the border. It seemed logical to seek their opinions.”

  Robert seemed mollified, and the glare his wife shot him was surely a part of it. He was accustomed to being brusque with his advisors, but he knew his manners should have been better toward his family. He was unwilling to admit out loud how much the threat to his brother troubled him. Politically, it would be troublesome if his Scottish opponents were becoming active again, especially if they conspired with the English. But it was more than that. Edward was his brother, a man he had loved and trusted since they were children. He’d already lost three of his blood brothers, and his last surviving blood brother was fighting his own war in Ireland. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing one more member of his family. Their sacrifice for his claim to the throne had been a great one.

  “Please. Call me Robert when we gather as family.”

  Elizabeth took a breath before responding. “Thank you. Robert.” She looked back at Edward before returning her gaze to the royal couple. “What do we do next?”

  “I’ve summoned Magnus and Tavish to join us. It would seem we need to learn of Lady MacAdams’s connections.”

  “She isn’t going to volunteer that information if she is a part of this,” Edward stated.

  “If she’s exchanging information with the men she beds, then we need one on our side. I intend to ask Tavish to revisit his rakish days and see if he can seduce her into sharing what she knows.”

  “Absolutely nae. Ma wife would have ma bollocks. And I like them too much,” a deep voice rattled through the chamber as the Sinclair brothers entered. Tavish looked fit to be tied, and Magnus’s scowl looked like a thundercloud. “Even if ma wife wouldnae end ma life that day, I have nay desire to ever go near that she-devil again. I had ma fill of her and dinna want any more.”

  “Yer Grace,” Magnus bowed, trying to show some courtesy before launching his own dissention. “Ye should’ve warned us that ye might suggest we commit adultery. Ye could’ve saved us the trip. Ye ken it will never happen.”

  “I didn’t say he had to actually bed her. I said he should see if he could seduce her.”

  “One in the same, Yer Grace,” Tavish snapped. “I willna do it. I willna disgrace Ceit that way, and I simply dinna want to. The woman is evil.”

  “We know that. We believe she’s part of whomever is plotting to kill Edward.” Robert broke in.

  “Edward? We thought this was about Elizabeth,” Magnus looked at his cousin-by-marriage.

  “We’ve pieced together that there’s just as strong a chance, if not greater, that this is about Edward instead. We think whoever is behind all of this thought he was in the carriage with me, and the attack on the way to Culcreuch wasn’t about kidnapping me.” Elizabeth glanced back at Edward.

  “But ye canna be sure either way,” Magnus surmised.

  “Yer Grace--” Tavish began.

  “Enough!” Robert slammed his hand on the table. “If I hear those two words come out of your mouth again, I shall have you mucking out horse stalls just as your da had you do as a lad. You know you need not address me as such in private. You only do it when you’re peeved at me.”

  “I am peeved, Uncle Robert.” Tavish reverted to what the Sinclairs called the king when they were children. “Sinclairs dinna commit adultery. We dinna even consider it. If Ceit didna kill me, Da would. I willna disappoint him like that, nor will I dishonor ma clan. Ye’ll have to find another way.”

  Tavish turned to face Edward, his eyes hard. He liked Edward well enough and had grown to respect him even more during the month they spent traveling, but he was unwilling to forsake his marriage for anyone.

  “Ye should be the one climbing into bed with her if that’s yer plan. Ye’re the one she’s taken the latest interest in. She kens neither Magnus nor I would ever try to tup her.” Elizabeth stiffened, and Edward’s eyes cast daggers at Tavish. “Aye. The notion doesnae sit any better with yer wife than it would mine.”

  Elizabeth took a deep breath, trying to unwind the coiled knot that took residence in her belly with Tavish’s suggestion. She didn’t think Edward would agree to such a notion, but if Robert considered ordering Tavish to bed another woman, who was to say he wouldn’t issue the same order to her husband?

  “Where are Ceit and Deirdre?” Elizabeth tried to change the subject. “They didn’t come with you?”

  Magnus and Tavish grinned.

  “We don’t need to hear of how exhausted your wives must be now that you’ve returned,” the king grumbled.

  “They are that, but that isnae why they havenae joined us yet. Both are a wee green about the gills in the mornings,” Tavish’s grin widened.

  “Ceit didn’t tell me!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “They figured out about me, but neither of them said anything about Ceit.” It stung that her cousin and friend hadn’t shared Ceit’s happy news when she did.

  “Ceit wasna certain until a day or so ago when she couldnae overlook the nausea any longer. They’ve both been sick as dogs even though Deirdre seems to be over the worst of it.” Magnus explained. “Deirdre told me they didna want to take away from yer happy news. Plus, Ceit wasna sure until Tavish panicked and insisted the healer examine her.”

  “If they can keep aught down, they will join us.” Tavish’s face gave a glimpse of his concern before he pushed his grin back into place.

  “I’m surprised you left their sides. I would’ve thought you’d be hovering like nursemaids.” Robert teased.

  “They were, but they were driving us barmy. We were glad to send them off to answer your summons, Your Grace.” Deirdre chuckled as she and Ceit entered the chamber.

  “That bluidy title again. Lady Deirdre, we are among family,” Robert motioned for them to take a seat beside their husbands.

  Elizabeth could tell both men wished to pull their wives into their laps, but for the sake of some decorum, they settled for pulling their wives chairs next to theirs, wrapping their arms around them, and holding their hands. In turn, both women sagged against their husbands, shadows under their eyes, their skin rather sallow.

  “What did we miss?” Ceit asked before swallowing several times.

  They met her question with silence, making her jerk upright. She looked at the king before casting a long, hard look at Tavish. She raised one eyebrow, and Tavish looked ready to squirm.

  “Before ye start buzzing at me, I refused. I absolutely refused and didna even consider it for a moment,” Tavish began before casting a baleful look at the king. “Elizabeth and Edward think Lady MacAdams may be at the heart of this.”

  Ceit drew back and glared at her husband. There was no love lost between Ceit and Lady MacAdams after the latter tried to seduce Tavish more than once in front of Ceit. Tavish opened his arms again, and she settled back against his side before he continued.

  “It was suggested that she may ken a great deal more than anyone has given her credit for. She may gather secrets from the men she beds, so Robert suggested using that to gather our own information.”

  “You? He suggested you bed her?” Ceit demanded, having already sensed where the conversation was going.

  Tavish swiped his hand across the back of his neck before nodding. Elizabeth had witnessed Ceit’s temper before, especially where it concerned Tavish. First it had been when they bickered while Tavish tried to court her, then it had been any time Ceit felt she needed to defend Tavish. She was
just as protective of her husband as he was of his wife. She’d seen him badly beaten on her account and now took any threat to him as a dire need to defend him.

  “Wheesh, mo sheillean beag.” My little bee. It was Tavish’s pet name for his wife since he claimed she buzzed at him like an angry bee but was sweeter than any honey. “I willna do it. I didna even consider it for a moment, and Robert kens how ridiculous it was to even suggest it.”

  Tavish shot his godfather a glare, daring him to contradict Tavish in front of his angry wife. Everyone’s gaze shifted as Deirdre squirmed several times in her seat before rushing from her chair to the door, her hand covering her mouth.

  “He didna even consider asking me,” Magnus chased after her.

  The queen glowered at her husband after watching all three of her former ladies-in-waiting sit in various degrees of distress.

  “Well met,” the queen muttered.

  “Since this isn’t a path that will work, what else can we try?” Elizabeth once again tried to steer the conversation onto a less fraught topic. “If Lady MacAdams is lending her support to the Gregors and possibly the Balliols, then she has to be communicating with someone. Other than her lovers.”

  “Who is she involved with?” Edward looked toward the queen, knowing she’d be the surest source of the romantic liaisons going on at court.

  “Who isn’t she?” The queen scoffed. “Between the ones she has bedded, the ones she is bedding, and the ones she intends to bed, there are few left.”

  “I can understand the Gregors’ animosity toward me. I don’t believe they’ll ever forgive me ceding the land and barony around Loch Awe to the Campbells. Their only allies are Clan Grant who they helped take Grant Castle from the Comyns. But the Grants have always been loyal to the cause, first to Wallace and then to me.” Robert scrubbed a hand over his face frustrated that despite uniting the Highlands, feuds kept the clans in a suffocating web of alliances and feuds. He was confident that the Comyns wouldn’t rise again, so they didn’t pose a threat despite their previous nefarious connections to the Balliols. While the Gregors helped rid the Grant land of Comyns, they disliked Robert, and while the Gregors sided with the Grants, the Grants sided with Robert. It was all so tangled that Robert’s head throbbed whenever he considered it.