‘How do you make such wonderful bread?’ she asked Anna at the first opportunity.’
‘We have used a month’s ration of wheat in your honour,’ Anna laughed. ‘We never have enough wheat so we often mix in barley or rye. We shall probably live on oatcakes for a month now but we are hoping for a good harvest so we shall set aside enough for my wedding too.’
‘When the English raiders came they often set fire to our crops,’ Isabella said, ‘even though they were almost ready for harvesting. That made a very lean year for any kind of bread, but Father used to say our own men were just as heartless when they went over the border. Now I would like to talk to Jamie. They leave at dawn tomorrow, and there is Sam. I must talk with him. He has been such a loyal friend.’ She blinked away tears.
The music and dancing and revelry increased as the night wore on and Isabella had little time to worry about the night ahead. Then Jamie came to say goodnight.
‘Sam and I need a good sleep if we are to set out early and cross the marsh before dark.’ Isabella hugged him tightly and stifled her tears. ‘Anna is coming to help you to bed soon. I thought Alexander would enjoy the revelry but he has been very quiet and serious. He says he can’t wait for the night to be over. Ah, here is Anna coming to escort you to bed.’ He kissed Isabella and hugged her, but he could say no more for the unmanly lump which had gathered in his throat. Isabella understood and gave him a tremulous smile as she followed Anna, and escaped from the other women who tried to follow until Zander intervened.
‘This nightdress is much too low, Anna,’ Isabella protested. ‘It barely covers me.’
‘That is the way it is meant to be,’ she chuckled, ‘to seduce your husband. Privately she thought it would take more than that to seduce her brother, especially if Lizzie was right. ‘You will not forget to empty the cup before you come down to breakfast?’ she whispered anxiously. ‘And you will never, ever tell anyone?’
‘I promise. I have heard of women being whipped.’ She shuddered. ‘I would not like that.’
‘Henry is coming! I must leave you, dearest Isabella.’ She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. ‘Goodnight, my sister.’ She went swiftly from the room and Isabella snuggled into the feather mattress. She was deadly tired and might have fallen asleep immediately if the noise of many men’s voices had not alarmed her. She sat upright in the big bed but curried down swiftly when the door burst open and several men entered half carrying, half shoving Henry before them, tugging at his clothes in spite of his protests. All of them were laughing, except Zander. Isabella thought he looked tense and in no mood for fun. He too had to be up at dawn and probably wanted to get to bed and sleep.
‘Let me go! Leave me alone…’ Henry yelled, struggling as the men pulled off his shoes and hose and removed his doublet and silk shirt. They were set to strip him naked but Zander bellowed at them and shoed them from the room amidst protests and rude remarks. Two of them dashed back on the pretext of kissing the bride, pulling down the covers as they did so. Zander saw how low her nightgown was, exposing her white skin and half of her firm young breasts before she could snatch the quilt back. He groaned silently. He would give half his life to be in Henry’s place tonight. But the two men were trying again to remove the rest of Henry’s clothing and he threw them out and closed the door.
‘Get into your nightshirt, Henry,’ he snapped impatiently. Henry had never known his cousin to be anything but mild and patient with him, even though he was known to be a fearsome adversary when other men displeased him. Henry looked at him in surprise. He had had a rough day and a rougher evening with all the men teasing and offering advice. He felt physically sick and he knew he could never do what his father expected of him this night. Now it seemed even Zander was losing patience. He was the only one who might have helped – yet how could he?
Zander snatched up the voluminous white night shirt and tossed it to the other side of the room.
‘Get into that while I kiss your bride goodnight, then I shall leave you both in peace.’ He leaned over the bed. Supporting himself on one arm while his other fell lightly across Isabella’s body. She gave a faint gasp as she felt the warmth of his hand against her heart through the thin cotton gown. He could not resist stroking her nipple with the pad of his thumb and her lips parted as he had known they would. His kiss was long and leisurely and he wished with all his heart that he was the one who would stay with her throughout this first night as a bride, and all the nights to follow. For the first time in their lives he was unable to take Henry’s place and shield him from his father’s wrath as he had so often done in the past. This time it would have given him exquisite pleasure.
When Zander had gone Henry came to the bedside. If she had not been so tired Isabella might have laughed at his thin legs beneath the voluminous shirt. He fell to his knees and put his head in his hands. At first Isabella thought he was praying. Was he catholic or protestant she wondered. Religion could cause difficulties even in families. Her own mother had been brought up in a catholic convent but she had accepted her father’s protestant religion when they married. King James’ own mother, Queen Mary, had been beheaded by order of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, for her catholic beliefs. Now King James himself was declared a protestant. Isabella was surprised to discover Henry was not praying at all when he looked up. His blue eyes were full of despair.
‘I can never be the kind of husband you deserve, Isabella. I shall never be the man my father craves either. It is beyond me! I should have refused to marry you, when I know I can never treat you as a husband should. I can only love you as a sister. Can you forgive me?’
‘There is nothing to forgive, Henry. You have saved my life. I could have been hanging from a tree now if you had refused to marry me.’
‘I can’t believe my father would have carried out his threat to a girl as brave as you.’
‘He would have demanded some kind of punishment, maybe he would have taken Jamie’s life. You have saved both of us. For that I shall be a good and loyal wife and do my best to please you. Right now I am so tired all I want to do is sleep for a week. I did not go to bed at all last night, and this has been an exhausting day.’ She spoke the truth and Henry seemed to relax. She would not make demands on him as a husband, even if she knew what those demands were supposed to be. She only knew that Zander’s touch had aroused unfamiliar yearnings in her.
‘I have not shared a bed since I was five years old,’ Henry said. ‘Do you mind if I put the long pillow in the middle? It will be like sleeping in our own beds.’ Even as he said the words he was tugging the bolster down the middle of the bed. Isabella was already asleep by the time he climbed in. He breathed a sigh of relief. He knew now he would never quarrel with this girl who had been forced to marry him, but pleasing his father was another matter and quite beyond him. He would have to be content with Anna’s children, and Zander’s, if his cousin ever found a wife to match his fiery passion and strength of character.
Isabella slept deeply but she awakened refreshed and alert as dawn was breaking. She wanted to see Jamie one more time before he left on his journey across the treacherous marshes. They were as unfamiliar to him as they had been to her. They both depended on dear, loyal Sam to guide them. She had checked the night before that her own clothes had been washed and returned. They lay ready now on top of her chest where she had placed them. Henry was still sleeping like a baby but she moved quickly and silently. Only her cap was missing but she found a cord and tied up her hair so that it fell down her back in rippling waves. She was about to creep out of the room when she remembered the cup of blood and Anna’s urgent plea. She took it from its hiding place and tipped it onto the sheet at her side of the big bed, taking care not to stain the long pillow which cocooned her husband. It was a very small amount and she wondered why Anna considered it so important but she had carried out her promise and she hid the tiny container again.
She crept down the stairs to the floor below. She smiled at the guard and continu
ed to descended the stairs to the lower floor. She found Jamie and Sam with Zander as well as his friends Walter and Thomas. They were supping bowls of gruel. They looked up, surprised to see her so early in the morning. Walter and Zander exchanged glances. Isabella looked bright and cheerful and well rested. If she had been his bride, Zander thought, she would not have escaped from his bed for a night and a day at least. The gloom which had quenched his usual good spirits suddenly lifted and he smiled merrily.
‘I wanted to bid Jamie and Sam God speed one more time before they leave,’ Isabella said.
‘Perhaps you would like to ride with us to the foot of the mountain?’ Zander suggested.
‘Oh yes, I would like that very much.’
‘Then you must eat before we set out.’ He went to the top of the spiral stairs.
‘Eliza will you bring another bowl of oatmeal gruel please?’ Isabella noticed how Zander always said please and thank you even to the lowliest servants and they all smiled and did his bidding, even Eliza, who was apparently prone to grumbling.
Isabella pulled a face and looked across at Jamie when she tasted the gruel. He laughed aloud although he had been looking solemn and anxious.
‘It is not as good as you, or mother, make, I agree,’ he chuckled.
‘There is no salt in it,’ Isabella said. ‘It tastes vile.’
‘Salt?’ Zander asked. ‘You put salt in your oatmeal?’
‘When we make gruel we do,’ Isabella said. ‘Our father always brought back a barrel of salt after he had been to see the ships coming into the town of Annan. The women who live in the villages beside the Solway Firth collect the salt to sell so they can earn money to feed their families. Mother keeps it in a stone box to keep it dry.’ She turned to Jamie. ‘There is not much left. If Uncle David Munro does not bring some back with him you will have to make the journey instead. Be sure to take some trustworthy men with you, brother dear, for the Truddles will not be happy to see you have returned safely.’ She looked at Jamie with anxious eyes. The other men chuckled.
‘I think she is keeping you in instructions even now, Jamie Ellwood,’ Walter chuckled. ‘I begin to feel some sympathy for poor Henry after all.’
‘Just you wait until you take Anna for a wife. She will keep you in order,’ Zander teased.
‘Jamie and I have always looked after each other,’ Isabella said in a shaky voice.
‘Aye, so they have,’ Sam said, ‘but never fear lassie. His men will watch out for him when they hear of the dastardly trick Neb Truddle played. Young Marjorie will keep the salt crock full.’
‘I suppose she will,’ Jamie smiled. ‘I think it is time to start our journey though, if you have supped your gruel, Belle?’
‘I have but I must find my cloak. The morning is chilly. I don’t know where Anna put it.’
‘I shall find it for you,’ Zander said. ‘Will you see the horses are ready please, Thomas, including Isabella’s mare?’ The men left at once and he disappeared into an alcove off the main living area and returned with her soft leather cloak with the fur lining.’
‘Someone must have tanned this well for you to make it so soft,’ he said.
‘Yes. It was my father’s old friend and tutor.’
‘Will Henry wonder where you are?’
‘I don’t know. When I crept from the room he was sleeping as peacefully as a baby. He seemed anxious when you had gone last night but he didn’t want me to cuddle him for comfort as I would have done my sisters. I was very tired but I think we shall be good friends. Only he – he didn’t even want me to touch him,’ she said remembering the long pillow between them.
‘I see.’ So if Henry didn’t want her to touch him… Zander’s spirits rose, even while he knew it was unworthy of him to want Henry to prove a failure as a husband, but he was more convinced than ever that his cousin could not have attempted to make love with Isabella. Yet how could any man resist? Friends? That could mean anything. She had not said lovers. She did not look like a woman who had been passionately loved. She still looked and sounded like the same innocent girl he had kissed goodnight. His stomach muscles clenched at the thought of her in the big bed in her nightgown with her soft pale skin glowing in the candlelight.
As they rode along the bottom of the valley the sun began to rise over the mountain in a splendour of crimson, pink, purple and gold.
‘How beautiful it is,’ Isabella breathed softly and Jamie, riding beside her, agreed but he sounded pensive. The same sun would rise and be just as beautiful over his own home but Isabella would not be there. He wondered what their mother would say and whether she would blame him. Wee Mary would cry, he knew that. Marjorie and Margaret would miss her dreadfully too.
Isabella and Sam were both surprised when Zander called a halt, long before they reached the narrow mountain path they had traversed when they arrived.
‘We shall show you a shorter way to the other side of the mountain. We were later setting out than Sam intended so it will save time. You must both swear on Isabella’s life that you will not share the secret with any man?’
‘I swear I shall tell no one,’ Jamie said solemnly. Sam saw Zander was serious.
‘I give you my word, young master. I welcome anything which cuts short the journey over the mountain,’ he said fervently.
‘Very well, though you may wish you had stayed on the mountain by the time you reach the other side,’ Zander said with a rueful smile. ‘And in return maybe you will show me the path across the marshes one day, now our families are joined. Perhaps we could mark the path with poles?’
‘We could, but I doubt if they would last long, and then you could be led to your death,’ Sam said gravely. ‘It is the black mud that sucks things out of sight. I have seen sheep disappear and once the master and I saw a man and his pony sucked to their deaths. The man was a thief and thought to get away but no man could wish such a death for him.’
‘I see. You and Isabella are even braver than I realised to risk such a journey,’ Zander said. ‘May you have a safe journey home today. The path through the mountain is very rough so Thomas and Walter will leave their horses here and lead you through. It is a tunnel most of the way where water once flowed. It is dark and uneven but it will save a lot of time and it will be easier on the horses. I will stay here and wait with the horses. Isabella must wait here too.
Isabella dismounted at once and ran to hug Jamie and bid him and Sam farewell. Walter moved close to Zander.
‘Do you think she will make her escape if we take her through to the other side?’
‘No, I don’t think that would enter her head when she has given her promise to Henry, but she is safer here.’
‘Is she, my friend? It will take some time before we see them onto the track and return to this side. She is very pretty and I have seen the way you look at her.’
‘She is married now. She is forbidden to me.’ Zander replied coolly.
‘Since when did that ever stop you, Zander?’ Walter laughed aloud.
‘Isabella belongs to Henry. That is the difference.’
‘I cannot believe Henry has bedded her. She still has the same air of innocence and she was out of bed so early. Anyway I can’t help wondering if Henry would be able...?’
‘I know.’ Zander’s tone was serious. ‘There will be the devil to pay if he cannot produce a grandson for Uncle William. He has set his heart on it.’
Isabella stood until Jamie turned and gave one last wave before he disappeared from sight behind some boulders. When she turned Zander saw the tears streaming silently down her face. She had been so brave, so in control while Jamie could see her. His heart ached for her and he would have drawn her to him to comfort her but she brushed him aside.
‘Leave me. I need to be alone.’ She walked past him and sat by herself on a large stone with only her thoughts for company. After a while she regained her composure, and brushed her cheeks, wishing she could wash her tear stained face. She turned back to Zander. ‘What h
ave you done with the horses?’
‘I let them loose to graze. They will enjoy the fresh pasture for a little while.’
‘They might run away.’
‘They’ll come when I whistle.’
‘I hope Beauty comes too. She is used to me calling her name.’
‘Don’t worry, Isabella, I’m sure she’ll stay with my horse and come to you. There is a spring of fresh water and a little pool at the other side of this clump of trees. Anna, Henry, Walter and I often used to come here when we were young. We thought we were having an adventure so far from home.’ He led her the short distance to the pool and found a patch of short grass for her to sit. The morning grew warmer as the sun rose high in the sky. He removed her cloak and spread it on the grass for her to sit but she went to the little spring and cupped the cold water in her hands and splashed her face several times then began to search for her kerchief to wipe her cheeks. It was nowhere to be found. Zander chuckled and passed her a clean white linen square from his belt.
‘Feel better now?’ he asked gently. She nodded and went to sit beside him on her cloak. ‘Tell me about your sisters and home and what you did as children. Did you wander far from home?’
‘Oh no. There always seemed to be raids expected or the men preparing to go on a return raid. It is much better since the King decreed we should be at peace with our English neighbours, though they still come sometimes. Anyway I did not care to wander alone since the day I encountered Neb Truddle and he tried to – to…’
‘You’re a very pretty girl. I can’t blame the man for wanting to kiss you,’ Zander teased. ‘Would it have been so bad?’ Isabel looked at him and shuddered.
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