by Amanda Scott
Laughter and jeers from the men below them echoed through the stairwell. Then Wat and Sym gave Dev a push and, to Dev’s deep relief, shut the door after him.
The uproar that had accompanied him up the stairs continued.
Bolting the door, he prayed that no one would test the strength of that bolt.
Chapter 18
Robina, already nervous, stared in dismay at her clearly naked husband. He faced his bed, with her in it, holding the remains of a shirt strategically before him.
His hair was tousled and his face as red as fury. But he did not speak until she squirmed against the soft new sheet and tugged the coverlet higher over her breasts.
His expression softened, but he still looked strangely unsure of himself.
The ladies Meg and Rosalie had sent Janet and Bella away after letting them help her undress. Then the two older women had plumped pillows behind her to prop her up. But she was as naked as Dev was and felt more vulnerable than ever.
Other feelings stirred, too… a burning anticipation of what lay ahead, an eagerness to learn more about being a married woman.
The sudden clap of thunder startled them both. At the same time, lightning lit the sky outside the open window, and the rain that had threatened since dawn poured down.
It slanted in through the narrow north window a few feet from the bed’s head, and through the west-facing window between its foot and the privy-stair door. The master’s bedchamber shared its eastern wall, to Robina’s left, with the upper half of the inner chamber and the hall below. Dev had come through the door near the southeast corner. The narrower privy-stair door was in the southwest one.
Dev moved quickly, still holding the shirt in front of him, to close the shutters, darkening the room more but giving Robina fine views of his muscular profile and well-formed backside.
When he turned to face her, she clamped her teeth on her lower lip to keep from grinning. Evidently, he could still discern her amusement, because a slow, appreciative smile crept to his face.
She said the first thing then that came to mind: “You look like a mischievous bairn, thinking mischievous thoughts.”
“You heard what Wat said. I’m to do credit to my manhood.”
“So, even the Lord of Buccleuch and Rankilburn can act the dafty.”
“Is that what you think? That this is daft?”
“That is not what I said. I said, or as good as said, that Wat is daft if he thinks you need to prove your manhood. I’ll tell him so, if you like.”
“Move over and let a man climb into his bed,” Dev said, striding toward her and casting his shirt aside.
Gasping, she moved hastily away from him toward the wall.
Hearing her gasp and seeing her scoot away, Dev hesitated at the edge of the bed. But, when her steady gaze met his, he climbed in and took her in his arms.
“I wanted to strip that gown off of you myself,” he muttered, stroking her thick, wavy hair.
“Tradition rules at weddings,” she said. “However, I’m sure we can arrange for you to strip it off me later.”
“See here, Robby,” he said, turning onto his left elbow so he could more accurately judge her feelings from her reactions. “You sound confident, but I know you’ve never coupled before. If you’re frightened or uncertain, you must tell me.”
“Lady Meg explained it to me long ago,” she said. “I’d asked Father what married people did and why they slept together. He wouldn’t say, and I feared I had upset him by asking. Then, a few days later, Lady Meg came to visit. She was frank.”
“She is always frank, brutally so sometimes,” he said. Shifting her hair aside to bare her nearer shoulder, he kissed it lightly.
“She said most of it is pleasurable, that but for the first time, she’d enjoyed it.”
Her words made his body throb for hers, but he knew he should take things slowly. He said, “I’ll make it as pleasurable as I can.”
Then, capturing her lips with his, he kissed her deeply and gently stroked her shoulders and arms until he felt her relax. She responded to his kisses eagerly, dancing her tongue against his when it slipped into the softness of her mouth.
When he knew she was ready for more, he eased the sheet and coverlet away from their bodies, baring her breasts, first to his touch and then to his lips. Kissing her, he stroked her body lower and lower until, while he plundered her lips and mouth again, his seeking hand stroked the soft curls at the juncture of her legs.
Her eyes had remained closed, but they opened wide then, and she stiffened. When she gave no other sign of resistance, he began to explore her nether lips with his fingertips. Next, they explored the area within more thoroughly.
His cock was stiff, trembling with its need, but he did his best to ignore it long enough to prepare her as well as he could. When she moaned softly and then muttered, “You’re driving my senses daft, Dev. Even so, I can think of naught save what you must do. Prithee, get it done.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Blethers. If you can make me feel like this, I’ll not complain long.”
Grinning, he eased himself up and positioned himself to take her. Her request reminded him of his father’s advice, years before: “With a virgin bride, ’tis best to get the business done,” Ormiston had said. “Then teach her about pleasuring.”
Robina wondered why Lady Meg had not told her more about the pleasures of coupling. Then Dev withdrew his fingers and pressed something larger into her.
Knowing what it was, she braced herself.
“Doucely, Robby,” he murmured. “It will be less painful if you can relax.”
She did her best, and he eased his way in. She was glad that Lady Meg had warned her that men soon lost the ability to control themselves, because after moving slowly and carefully for a time, he moved faster and then began to pound into her.
It was over soon after that, and she felt only relief that it was.
She thanked her ladyship then for explaining that men often fell asleep directly afterward. Dev at least waited until they had cleansed themselves and were back in bed. Then he put an arm around her, pulled her close, and silently kissed the top of her head. Lying back, he relaxed and soon began softly to snore.
The next thing she knew it was morning and the rain had stopped.
Mote-ridden sunbeams pierced the shutters. One of them laid a diagonal gold stripe on the opposite wall, across a sampler she’d stitched as a child for her mother.
Thinking she should tell Dev about that sampler, she realized that he’d vanished.
Getting up, she felt a bit sore but otherwise none the worse for their bedding. Already looking forward to the next time, she found the creamy shift she’d worn under the saffron silk gown and pulled it on over her head. Opening the door, prepared to shout for Corinne, she found the maid sitting on the landing step.
Scrambling up with a smile, Corinne said, “I’d wager nae one told ye we’d put your new kirtles in one o’ the master’s kists.”
Shaking her head, Robina said, “Come help me dress. I’m famished.”
“Aye, Sir David still be at the high table, but he said to let ye sleep. Everyone will be leaving soon, save for Lord Ormiston and the lady Fiona.”
“The Scotts are leaving? Why?”
“Herself did command it,” Corinne said.
“Lady Meg ordered his lordship to leave this morning?”
Corinne cocked her head thoughtfully. “Mayhap he gave the orders, but it were Herself who said the last thing the pair o’ ye’d want were a host o’ lingering guests to feed and entertain. That be when Buccleuch gave the order.”
Chuckling, Robina said, “I see. I’ll miss them…” Pausing, she realized that Corinne had not mentioned Rosalie. “Is Cousin Rosalie going, too?”
“Aye,” Corinne said. “I think she might ha’ stayed, but Herself said ye’d be safe without her now and that the pair o’ ye need time alone to know each other better. I think our Benjy will miss
Lady Bella, though. He told Ash Nixon she were the only guest who paid him any heed.”
With a mental note to have Dev or Coll explain to Ash that he should not reveal Benjy’s confidences to others, Robina thanked Corinne and turned her attention to which new kirtle she would wear first.
From the two that were finished—a primrose one, and a new and slightly darker pink—she chose the pink one.
When Corinne asked her to sit so she could arrange her hair, Robina said, “Just brush and plait it as usual. I want no more loops or twists.”
“Aye, then,” Corinne replied amiably.
After that, Robina was ready in a trice and hurried down to find Dev, Ormiston, and Fiona at the high table, listening to a visibly agitated Benjy.
“What’s amiss here?” Robina asked as she approached them.
Benjy turned to her, his face tearstained and white with fury. “Some’un ripped Rab’s tree out o’ the ground and dug our hole bigger. I told Sandy and them to find the wicked bast—” He glanced at Dev. “I mean, the…”
“Villain,” Robina supplied gently when he paused again.
“Aye, him,” Benjy snapped. “I told our lads to find him and hang him!”
Looking from the boy to Dev, she said, “Are they looking for him?”
“Benjy just told me about it, but I expect they are,” he said. “I don’t know why anyone would do such a thing. But I sent Ash to find Sandy or Jock, so we’ll soon know more. The Scotts are upstairs now, preparing to leave. How did you sleep?”
“Soundly,” she murmured, her thoughts having flown to the jar of coins in her previous bedchamber. If someone had pulled up Rab’s tree to dig deeper—
“Will ye help me put Rab’s tree back?” Benjy demanded.
“Aye, sure,” Robina promised. “It may be damaged, but we can plant another hawthorn if it is. Rab knows now that it’s where you want to talk to him.”
“Good, then,” Benjy said. “I do talk to him other places, too, but—” Breaking off, he said, “Here comes Tad wi’ your breakfast, Beany. Ye’d better sit and eat quick.”
She obeyed, exchanging greetings with Ormiston and Fiona as she took her place and then chatting between bites with Fiona.
Tad returned minutes later. To Benjy, he said, “Jock said they couldna find nowt, sir. It rained hard, he said, and the ground be nobbut mud. Whoever dug that hole, Sandy said, must ha’ looked a sight after. But the rain washed out all o’ his tracks.”
Dev said, “We had many visitors, Benjy, and most of them stayed till dark. The culprit might have been someone just acting daft after too much drink.”
Benjy shook his head, and Robina saw Ash shaking his, too. “Why do you disagree,” she asked the older boy.
“Yon hole be too deep, m’lady,” Ash said. “Sandy said it looks as if someone sought summat else in that hole ’sides a wee tree.”
Knowing that if she looked at Dev, her guilty knowledge of the jar would reveal itself, she returned her gaze to Benjy, instead.
To her dismay, he frowned at her and said angrily, “Ye said it were a good place. Ye didna say nowt about some… some culprit digging it up.”
Tears streaming again, he turned and ran from the hall.
“I’ll fetch ’im, mistress,” Ash said as he started to follow.
Robina stopped him. “Let him go, Ash. He’ll not go far, and I think he’d liefer be alone. If he hasn’t tidied his room yet, you might see to that for him. It will likely lift his spirits more than anyone’s company would right now.”
“Aye, then, mistress, I’ll do that,” Ash said and hurried away.
Glancing at Dev, she noticed at once that his eyes had narrowed.
Something deep within her quivered at the sight, reminding her of what Janet had said about facing Wat’s anger and her own reply, that Dev’s could be more dangerous. He was going to be annoyed that she had kept something from him, especially something as valuable as a jarful of silver.
She dared not put off telling him about it any longer.
Robby had the same speculative look on her face that Rab had always had when he’d done something he knew Dev would dislike or consider reckless. Whatever she had done, he’d soon have it out of her, but he decided they should see their guests off before he confronted her.
She straightened then and said abruptly, “I have something to show you, but I must fetch it, and I cannot show it to you here or discuss it inside the tower.”
Dev frowned. “You cannot tell me anything more?”
“I’d liefer show you than tell you,” she said. Then, biting her lower lip, she added, “I can think of nowhere inside the keep where the Greenlaws, a household servant, or one of our guests might not intrude. But people are still wandering about here and in the yard, and Wat’s men are outside the wall, too, are they not?”
“Aye, they are packing up now, but they set their tents north and northeast of the wall. We must stay nearby, in any event, since the Scotts will depart soon, and we must bid them farewell. If you can safely take your treasure outside, we’ll find a place to talk—mayhap at your favorite tree?”
She hesitated. Her expression still revealed her wariness… of him.
Unable to think of a better place in a household or yard teeming with people, Robina said at last, “Very well, I’ll meet you at the tree. But we must be certain that no one can get close enough to see us or hear what I say to you.”
He nodded. “I’ll tell Jock we want privacy. He can keep watch himself, and I’ll have him send two lads to check those woods and keep others away.”
“Not Jem Keith,” Robina said hastily, thinking of Corinne and unwilling to trust Jem, because he seemed too quick to share what he knew with her.
“I’ll speak to Jock,” Dev said. “But if you fear that one of my men may creep close enough to hear aught I say in a private conversation, be easy, lass. They are all brave men, but not one of them is brave enough for that.”
His very tone sent a chill up her spine, and she believed him. Even so, they would have to take care.
“I’ll meet you at the tree, then,” she said. “I must fetch my cloak.”
Dev found Jock in the stable and said, “I’m going to meet the lady Robina by that great oak tree a short way inside the woods west of the gate. We don’t want interruption, so find Coll and Eckie and tell them to see that no one in those woods disturbs us. They must keep their distance, too. Send them now, and tell them to let me know when they’re in place. If either of them can hear us talking, he is to whistle a warning and move back.”
“I’ll see to it, sir,” Jock said. “Coll is helping Eckie and his lordship’s lads wi’ their horses, so they’re both in the stable. I’ll keep watch, too, from the wall walk.”
Nodding, then deciding that he and Robby should walk outside the wall together, Dev turned toward the keep to watch for her. Eckie and Coll emerged from the stable shortly thereafter, and he walked to the gate with them.
“Our usual signals, sir?” Coll asked.
“Aye,” Dev said. “Just make sure those woods west of here are clear.”
He watched them go and stood by the gateway, open now so that Wat’s men could come and go. Even so, Shag stood nearby, keeping watch.
Dev beckoned to him. “If you see people heading toward those west woods, discourage them, Shag. Her ladyship and I want to be alone there for a time.”
“Aye, sir, I’ll see to it,” Shag said.
Robby came down the steps then, wearing a cloak that he thought looked too heavy for the day. But it would be cooler and perhaps still damp in the woods. She walked toward him, holding her cloak closed, and he could tell—although most people would not—that she concealed something under the cloak.
“This way, lass,” he said when she drew near and he knew that Shag could still hear them. “We’ll walk yonder. Shag will shout when Wat comes down.”
Robby obeyed silently but looked around as if she expected an enemy to pop up from the shrubber
y. He scanned the area, too. Scattered clouds drifted eastward, and a ghostly pale oval moon had risen above the horizon, but no one heeded the two of them.
“We’ll be safe here,” he said as they entered the woodland and walked to her tree. “My lads will see that we’re left in peace.”
“I hope so,” she said. Eyeing him warily again, she began to open her cloak.
“Wait one more moment,” he said, listening for Coll and Eckie to signal him.
She nodded, and seconds later an owl hooted some distance southwest of them. Another echoed it from the north.
“Owls at midday?” she said, raising her eyebrows.
“My lads,” Dev said. “Now, let’s see this treasure of yours.”
She opened her cloak and produced a crockery jar wrapped in a towel. “This is the secret you once asked me about,” she said, handing it to him. “Open it, and please don’t be too angry with me.”
She watched as Dev dealt easily with the wired-on cap. He handed it to her to hold while he peered into the jar. Then, glancing at her with a frown, he poured several coins into his free hand.
“Where the devil did you get this?” he muttered.
“I scraped it with a shovel the day you returned from Scott’s Hall.”
His expression showed his quick understanding. “In the hole you’d begun to dig for Benjy’s tree?”
“Aye, but I don’t know how it got there or where the coins came from. My father would surely have told Rab had he buried it there. That’s a lot of gelt, is it not?”
“It is more than a lot,” Dev said. “The silver is tarnished black, so it’s been there for some time. Mayhap Greenlaw knows about it.”
“I never thought of Greenlaw,” she admitted. “I cannot imagine anyone at Coklaw burying it outside the wall, though. Would it not have been more sensible to hide it inside the keep, or to have buried it under a stone in the yard?”
“It would, aye,” he said. “What do you expect me to do with it?”
“I don’t know, but I knew I had to tell you about it,” Robina said. “Sithee, I had it hidden in a blanket kist in my bedchamber. When the Scotts surprised us, I had no time to find another hiding place, so I’ve lived in terror that someone would need more blankets.”