by Amanda Scott
“I’ll keep it now,” he said. “And we’ll keep this between us, Robby, until we learn more about it. Anything buried on Coklaw land belongs legally to Coklaw, so until we learn otherwise, this is rightfully Benjy’s property. I agree with you, though, that Rab knew naught of this. If he had, I think he’d have told me.”
“Or me,” she said with a nod. “He doesn’t… didn’t know about it.”
“We cannot be sure of that,” Dev said gently. “It is, however, unlikely that he’d neglect to mention such a fortune to me before he died. At the end, his purpose in exerting himself to talk at all was to see you, Benjy, and Coklaw well protected.”
A slight scraping sound above them drew Robina’s attention upward. A density of oak leaves on one of the higher branches was trembling.
“What is it?” Dev said.
“A squirrel, I expect,” she replied. “But we should go in, and I must keep the jar under my cloak until we are safely in our chamber. I was afraid that if we tried to discuss it there, Coll might interrupt us. But there is a carved box of Rab’s on a high shelf there that the jar should fit into. I think it will be safest there.”
“Aye, I ken the box you mean,” Dev said. Carefully returning the coins to the jar, he replaced its lid and wired it back in place. Then, rewrapping the jar in the towel, he handed it to her.
When he put an arm around her shoulders, she smiled up at him. “Art showing them all that I belong to you now, sir?”
“I’m showing them that I protect my own, Robby.”
She had not changed her mind about one person possessing another, even when the other was his wife. But Dev’s arm felt natural and right there.
In the oak tree, high above them, Benjy remained motionless on his branch, praying that if he could not see them, they would not see him. Happy as he was that Dev had married Beany, he felt sad about it, too. In time, Dev would take her away to live with him, and he would lose the last member of his family.
When he’d run from the dreadful hole the culprit had left after ripping out Rab’s tree, he had headed for Sunnyside Hill. But, recalling that Buccleuch and his family would soon depart, and knowing that Dev and Beany would take a dim view of his not being there to bid them farewell, he’d circled westward through the woods to Beany’s tree.
Shortly afterward, when he saw Dev’s men, Coll and Eckie, heading toward him, he’d climbed higher so they wouldn’t see him and tell him to hie himself back inside the wall. He needed to think.
He’d never meant to listen to Dev and Beany talking, but neither had he wanted to shout down that he was in the tree. Beany would say that he’d climbed too high, and Dev might declare that he ought not to have come outside the wall at all. It seemed simpler then to keep still and wait for them to leave.
Besides, he’d torn the new tan shirt that Beany’s seamstress had made for him.
He knew now that he’d been wrong to keep quiet, and he winced inside at the thought that Tig might have come looking for him and stopped under the tree to bark. Then Dev or even Beany might have climbed up to see why Tig barked, and he would never have heard their so-interesting conversation.
For the further sake of his own skin, Benjy waited until Coll and Eckie had followed them through the gateway. Then, climbing down from the tree, he made his way casually to the north side of the wall. There, he helped one of Wat’s men tie a rolled tent to his pony’s saddle and then walked with him around to the gate and into the yard.
No one heeded him, so he was safe unless he slipped and mentioned what he’d overheard. Benjy hoped he was wise enough not to do such a daft thing.
He was wise enough to know what Dev would do if he did.
Dev followed Robby upstairs to the master’s bedchamber and looked inside before they entered to be sure Corinne was not there. Finding the way clear, they entered and he shut the door behind them. Taking the towel-wrapped jar from Robby, he said, “I hope you know you can trust me with this.”
Meeting his gaze solemnly, she said just as quietly, “I’ve entrusted you with myself, sir. There’s Rab’s box, yonder,” she added, pointing to the carved box on its high shelf. “I should have told you about the jar at once, but…”
She hesitated as if she was uncomfortable explaining herself to him. Then, in a rush, she said, “I kept it to myself because Rab”—she shook her head—“that is, because Rosalie shares any news or idle talk she hears too easily. I wanted to keep it from her.”
“I am not angry, sweetheart, but honored that you did tell me,” Dev said as he reached up to take the box from its shelf and opened it. “We will take good care of this until we learn more about it and decide what to do next.”
“I should see if Benjy has come in yet,” she said after he’d put the unwrapped jar in the box and gently returned the box to its shelf. “The Scotts must be ready to leave, and he should be here to make his farewells.”
“Go find him then,” Dev said. “I’ll be along shortly.”
He watched her go, listened for her footsteps heading downstairs, and then bolted the door quietly and took the box down from the shelf again.
Then, bolting the door to the service stairs that connected the chamber with the lower levels, he took out the jar, removed its cap, and poured a handful of the coins into his hand. Laying them out on the table near the west window, he found that they were a mix of English and Scottish coins predating the current kings of both countries. The mixture looked like the sort that Border nobles used to pay their warriors. He recognized marks of Alexander III and Robert I on a few Scottish ones, making some more than a century old.
He also found some bearing the mark of Scotland’s Robert III but none showing King Jamie’s mark, so whoever had buried the jar had likely done so before Robert III’s death in 1406. It was common enough to find English and Scottish coins on both sides of the line, though. People accepted any such as payment, and silver lasted a long while.
Certain that Coll would take no immediate interest in the carved box, Dev carefully returned the coins to the jar, the jar to the box, and the box to its place on the shelf.
Then, unbolting both doors, he went in search of Wat, aware that he had neglected his primary, soon departing guest much longer than good manners allowed.
Chapter 19
Robina went downstairs, believing she had acquitted herself well regarding the jar of coins. Dev knew about it now, and they might learn more soon.
“You lied to your husband. He won’t react well to that, Beany.”
Nearly jumping out of her skin, she whirled on the stair, because Rab’s voice had sounded right behind her. He was not there, not in body at least.
She muttered, “If you mean what I said about Rosalie, I didn’t lie. I could hardly tell him that you said not to tell anyone else. Where have you been?”
“With you, lass, always with you.”
“Mercy! I hope not,” she said, remembering the previous night with Dev.
He chuckled, and the sound faded to silence when two servants hurried out onto the hall landing and down the stairs ahead of her to the kitchen level.
She went outside and saw Benjy below in the courtyard, holding the reins of Lady Meg’s cream-colored palfrey.
Other lads a short distance away held Janet’s dun, Wat’s bay horse, and another, smaller bay that Robina knew must be Bella’s. Lady Rosalie’s gray palfrey stood near the stable with Ned Graham.
Benjy watched Robina’s approach as if he expected a scolding.
She smiled, although she noted that he’d torn his shirt. “I’m glad to see you, laddie. I had a foolish fear you might forget that Buccleuch and his family will soon be departing.”
“Aye, but he sent his Geordie to gather his lads and their ponies outside the gate whilst I were a-helping them pack,” Benjy said. “Then Sym said I could hold Lady Meg’s palfrey whilst he went inside to speed folks along. They’ll take their midday dinner wi’ them to eat along the way, so I expect they’ll be coming out
anon.”
“For Sym to trust you with her ladyship’s horse should make you proud,” Robina said. “He is gey particular when it comes to Lady Meg.”
“Aye, he calls her ‘Herself,’ just as our people were used to call our da ‘Himself,’ ” Benjy said. “Someday, mayhap they’ll call me so, too.”
“I think they will,” Robina said. Seeing Janet and Bella emerge from the tower with Fiona Ormiston, she excused herself and hurried to meet them.
“You’re not leaving already, too, are you, Fiona? I’ve never had a sister before. I was hoping you’d stay longer.”
Fiona grinned. “Father had expected to stay through Beltane. Then, when he learned you were to be married, he said we might stay only until Monday. However, since you and Davy are staying here instead of riding off to an estate of his own, as most bridal couples do, Lady Meg reminded us that you’d be obliged to entertain me and that Davy would have to spend much of his time with Father.”
“We would never view such visits as a penance,” Robina said sincerely.
“Nay, but we agreed—Father and I—that you should have this time together. So, we are going to Scott’s Hall, instead. That way, we’ll be near enough for you to visit if you miss us but far enough away, Lady Meg said, to give you and Davy a good excuse to stay away if you’d liefer be alone.”
“We’ll have to see what Davy has to say about that,” Robina said.
“You usually call him Dev, I know,” Fiona said. “Has he been such a devil to you? Before you married him, I mean,” she added hastily.
Robina was shaking her head. “Rab and most of Dev’s men called him ‘Dev,’ ” she said. “So, Benjy and I always did, too. I’ve seen his devilish side, though, and I’ll confess that I’d liefer never see it again.”
“ ’Tis likely you’re safe,” Janet said. “He rarely shows it to women, I think.”
“Or to lassocks like me,” Bella said cheerfully. “When I have a husband, I hope he is just like Sir Davy.”
Robina’s startled gaze met Fiona’s dancing one as Janet said with her warm chuckle, “You must tell him so, Bella.”
Robina smiled at the remark, and Fiona laughed.
Bella’s face flushed fiery red, though, and Benjy said, “I dinna think ye should tease her. She doesna like it, and I dinna think Dev would, neither.”
Robina looked at her little brother in astonishment, but Benjy was sternly watching Janet, who said promptly, “You are right to object, sir, and it is kind of you to speak up for Bella. I am ashamed to say that I would be the first to condemn such behavior in anyone else.” Turning to her little sister, she said, “I’m truly sorry, Bella. I won’t do that again.”
“I forgive you,” Bella said. “Likely I should not have said what I did, either.”
Janet hugged her. “You were merely speaking your thoughts, love. You may always do that to me and to our good friends Fiona and Robby. I was the one in the wrong, for teasing you, just as Benjy had the good sense and the courage to say.”
Robina noted that Benjy stood a little straighter. If he was aware that he’d lost a piece of his new shirt, he gave no sign of it.
Dev and Wat came outside then with the ladies Meg and Rosalie. Ormiston followed them with Sym Elliot. Wat’s dogs, hitherto curled in the shade by the stable, leaped up and dashed with wagging tails to meet their master.
The riders mounted and, amid farewells, bridal wishes, and promises to meet again soon, Buccleuch’s and Ormiston’s parties departed together.
Robina watched them go, feeling strangely bereft. She had enjoyed having the other women there and would have liked them to stay longer.
Watching her, Dev sensed her mood and silently put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. When she leaned closer, he kissed the top of her head and wished he could scoop her up and carry her upstairs to their bedchamber.
“D’ye think ye should be a-hugging ’n a-kissing our Beany out here?” Benjy asked, startling him.
Recovering swiftly, Dev said, “ ’Tis a husband’s privilege to hug his wife and kiss her whenever he likes, within reason. Did you enjoy your ramble earlier?”
“Ramble?”
“As I recall, you dashed out of the hall in a fury and appeared again only as our guests were preparing to leave. I assumed you’d gone walking outside the wall.”
“Och, aye,” Benjy said. “I did ramble a bit, and then I went round to watch Buccleuch’s men pack their gear onto their ponies. I helped one o’ them. Then I helped Sandy and them till Sym said I could hold Lady Meg’s horse.”
“Mayhap you can find Ash now and think of something to do with him,” Dev said. “I want to talk with Robby.”
Grimacing, Benjy said, “Talk, aye. I warrant ye’ll just be a-hugging and such, then. If I dinna find Ash, I’ll help Sandy and them, so ye can do as ye will.”
Robina stifled a laugh, and Dev gave her a quelling look. But when Benjy ran off, he said, “Did you detect mockery in that scamp’s tone?”
“Perhaps,” she agreed. “I also detected some glibness when he described his earlier activities, and that he’d torn his shirt. I wonder what mischief he got up to out there.”
“We’re not going to think about that now. We are going to find Greenlaw.”
“Should we show him the jar?”
“Not yet. I looked more closely at the coins before I came downstairs. Some are ancient, some more recent, but I found none from his grace’s reign or from those of the fifth or sixth Henrys of England.”
“His grace returned from England only four years ago,” Robina said.
“Aye, but his reign began in 1406, when his father died soon after the English captured Jamie. The Governor, Albany, issued Jamie’s first coins soon afterward. Therefore, I suspect that whoever buried the jar did so before 1406. What’s more, there seem to be many more English coins than Scottish.”
She frowned thoughtfully, and he waited for her to demand an explanation.
Instead, she said, “You suspect they have some connection to the siege.”
“ ’Tis a possibility, aye,” he said, pleased that she had so quickly followed his thinking. “So much silver amounts to a lordly sum, so I doubt it belonged to a tenant here or in England. Nor would any other lord in the area have reason to bury his money at Coklaw. And, as you pointed out before, for the Laird of Coklaw to bury such a sum outside the wall is too unlikely to warrant further consideration.”
“So we approach Greenlaw,” Robina said. “He may know naught of the silver, but he will know all about the siege.”
They found Coklaw’s steward in the housekeeper’s room with his wife. When Dev said they would like to talk privily with Greenlaw, Robina said hastily, “Mistress Greenlaw must stay, too, sir. She was here during the siege, and we have rarely kept secrets from either of them… not successfully, at all events.”
“Ada is fully in my confidence, Sir David, and ye can trust her, too,” Greenlaw said. “She’s as close as an oyster, is Ada.”
Ada knitted silently, and Robina knew that everything was in train for their midday meal, or she would not be knitting. She also knew that whatever Ada was doing, she would not miss a word of what the others said.
Looking at Dev, Robina wondered if he wanted to do the talking. When he gazed steadily back, she said, “We’d like to ask you both about the siege that took place here twenty-five years ago.”
“In June of 1403, that was,” Greenlaw said, nodding. “Northumberland’s army besieged our tower for fifteen days. But they didna breach our wall.”
“Northumberland directed the siege himself, aye?” Robina said.
“The first earl, aye, with his son, Hotspur,” Greenlaw said. “They tried to persuade me to cede this tower to them. Then, after a sennight, they demanded it.”
Ada said quietly, “John told them he’d defend it as long as he had one man to stand by him. They couldna get in, so they dwelt in tents beyond range of arrows from our wall.”
; “How many were in their army?” Dev asked.
“I canna tell ye that, sir,” Greenlaw said. “There was dunamany, though. The laird then—her ladyship’s granddad, that be—he were at Gledstanes wi’ the family. When he heard o’ the siege, he hied him to the Governor at Stirling, and Albany gathered an army. Just afore they arrived, the Percys up and fled in the middle of the night. We learned later that they hied theirselves to Wales and got mixed up in the rebellion there.”
“We’d heard that England’s king were a-coming north, too, wi’ more men,” Ada said. “But when he heard Northumberland had gone, he followed him to Wales, instead, and we heard later that his men killed Northumberland’s son.”
Greenlaw nodded. “Hotspur and his uncle, the late earl’s brother, were both killed and some Douglases aided them in that battle, too, and were taken prisoner.”
“We want to know more about the siege itself,” Dev said. “You had men on the wall, watching the enemy, aye?”
“Aye, sure, sir. We didna make a song about it, though. The English had longbows and a cannon, but my lads popped their heads up oft enough to see what was what.”
Mistress Greenlaw said, “They’ll be serving the midday meal soon, Sir David. Is there aught in particular that you want to know?”
Dev looked at Robina and gave a slight nod.
She understood it to mean that she should decide what to tell them, so she said, “Aye, there is.” To Greenlaw, she said, “I found a jar buried on that rise southeast of the wall when I dug the hole for Benjy’s sapling—a crockery jar with silver coins in it. They are tarnished but one can see that they are a mix of English and Scottish coins, more being English. So, we wondered if, during the siege…”
Greenlaw frowned thoughtfully when she paused, and Ada returned to her knitting.
Robina knew then that Ada had naught that she could tell them about the coins but was listening to all that they said.