‘To treat the Mathesons as he was always treated us—not important enough to matter.’ Symon stood then. ‘The MacKenzies have offered to back us in this, MacLerie. They are just as powerful as you and their friendship has been offered and accepted.’
Unfortunately, the elders agreed with Symon in this and Rob felt himself losing control of the situation. He’d not accepted the MacKenzie’s offer yet. Glancing at each of them, it was clear that someone had. He felt as though he was fighting with one hand tied to his foot and a blindfold over his eyes.
And Duncan missed none of this. The shrewd negotiator was a watcher first—he studied his opponents before beginning his work. Before giving him more time to determine all of their weaknesses, Rob stood.
‘I will send Lady MacLerie to you, Duncan. We will begin our discussions when Connor arrives.’
‘He is not coming, Rob,’ Duncan said quietly. ‘You know him—that’s not how he handles things.’
‘Surely his daughter’s safety is worth his time.’
‘Is she in danger?’ Duncan asked.
Rurik looked bothered when Duncan asked his question and Rob knew that was not a good sign. Bothered was one step away from angry and anger was dangerous in a man like Rurik. Rob had seen Rurik angry and did want to unleash that here in his hall. Or on his lands. Or on his clan, no matter how much they frustrated him.
‘You may go now. I will send Lady MacLerie to you in the yard,’ he repeated. He needed to get them out of the hall and discover what behind-his-back arrangements were going on with the damned MacKenzies. Although Rurik looked ready to take his head, Duncan nodded and stood.
‘May we return later this day and speak again, Laird Matheson?’ he asked, his tone respectful and even, not meant to inflame, but to engender reasonableness.
‘Laird?’
Rob turned when Symon used the title, for he never had before, not in private and not in public. ‘We will speak in private, Symon.’ He gave a slight shake to his head to tell Symon this was not the time.
‘Until later, then,’ Duncan said as they turned to leave.
Rob watched until they left, escorted out by Dougal, and then he climbed the stairs to seek out Jocelyn in his chambers. When he arrived, he walked quietly down the hall, signalling to Tomas who stood at the door not to announce his presence. Standing silently beyond their sight, he listened as mother and daughter spoke within.
‘I told you, Mother. I am well.’
‘Those bruises say otherwise, Lilidh,’ Jocelyn chided.
‘Would you have expected me to give up without a fight? They killed my guards, almost killed my maid.’
‘Isla?’ Jocelyn asked.
‘Is recovering downstairs, Lady MacLerie,’ he said, walking in then.
They sat side by side on a long bench before one of the windows. Mother and daughter, holding hands, and leaning on each other as they talked. What had Lilidh told her about him? About them? Her gaze caught his as he walked towards them and it was unreadable. Did Jocelyn know?
‘Rob, I beg your pardon for slapping you,’ Jocelyn said, standing and letting go of Lilidh’s hand. ‘I beg you not to hold Lilidh accountable for my—’
‘Bad behaviour?’ he asked.
‘She hit you?’ Lilidh asked, as she stepped over closer and looked at his face.
‘Like daughter, like mother,’ he said
‘I have never struck you,’ Lilidh argued.
‘You tried, when you were brought here.’ Rob realised that Jocelyn was watching their actions closely—too closely. Did they wear their intimacy like a garment so that others could see it?
‘Your men wait for you in the yard, Lady MacLerie.’ Rob turned and motioned to the door. ‘Tomas will escort you down to them.’
Though she looked as if she wanted to fight with him, Jocelyn hugged and kissed Lilidh farewell and left with Tomas. When they’d gone, he closed the door, not certain of his welcome in his own chambers.
She’d been crying, that much he could see. But had it done her any good to see her mother for such a brief time?
‘I am surprised your father allowed her to journey here,’ he said. Though...
‘I doubt that my mother gave him a choice in the matter. I could not believe my eyes when Tomas opened the door and she stood there. I expected you to return, but never did I think I would see her.’
‘And?’ Rob asked.
‘I have not seen her since I married Iain, Rob.’
Jocelyn had no idea of the state of Lilidh’s marriage. Glancing past her, he realised the bed was yet unmade. Had Jocelyn noticed and understood?
‘She asked. I told her the truth—that I’ve been sharing your bed.’
Lilidh was looking at the bed, too. Sadness tinged her words, yet her eyes did not show it. Rob slid his fingers around hers, entwining them together and kissing her hand.
‘Regrets now?’ he asked. It would not surprise him if she was having them, especially now since her mother knew.
Their time-out-of-time was over now. Duty and family called both of them. The nights of acting as if they were meant to be together was done. The acts committed in this bed would now become memories and be the only part of her left to him when she departed here.
‘Nay, no regrets, Rob.’
But she let his hand drop and then went to straighten the bedcovers without saying more. He watched her perform such a menial, everyday task and the longing nearly took him down as the bolt had.
‘I will be meeting with your cousins later. Do you have any greetings to send them? Or have you already told your mother?’
‘No. You do what you must and they will do that as well,’ she said softly.
‘Lilidh—’ He stopped because he just did not know what he could say.
He could not promise to keep her—his clan depended on giving her back in order to survive. He could not offer her his love—for she and he would both be expected to marry elsewhere. He could not tell her the truth—for it would tear her world and her heart apart.
‘Just go and do what you must, Rob.’
He turned to go, but he did want to hear her opinion on one matter before he did.
‘Why do you think your father did not come to get you, Lilidh? Why is he not here, beating down my doors to get to you?’
She shook her head and looked over at him. ‘Because a daughter is not a reason to go to war. Because one person in a battle is expendable,’ she offered. The haunted expression was back in her eyes when she faced him. ‘I know you expected him to answer your challenge, but it’s truly better if only Duncan and Rurik are here instead.’
Thinking back on the way Connor handled matters during Rob’s time at Lairig Dubh made him realise a pattern he’d not seen before or had forgotten since—Connor went only after other measures failed to resolve a conflict. When Connor went....
‘Because if the Beast comes, you will die,’ she finished. ‘You will all die.’
Then they were in deeper trouble than he thought they could be! He’d demanded that Connor face him over this, thinking it would scare off the Mathesons from this foolhardy plan to ransom her, to smack at her father’s nose. Now he might have brought the destruction to them that he had wanted to avoid.
No matter his personal need to confront Connor over sins of the past and to discover the reason for his actions, bringing him here to Keppoch and facing him publicly was too dangerous to the rest of his kith and kin. The only thing he must accept was that any attempt to keep Lilidh, to claim her as his heart and soul wanted him to do, would be as unacceptable to Connor now as it was four years ago.
There would be one way to know if Connor wished the past to remain buried—if he gave gold in return for Lilidh. If he took that easier path to resolution, it was a way to avoid everything else.
And if Connor offered him gold?
The only thing Rob could do was to take it and send her back. To admit that this time they’d shared was the extraordinary time it had been and to
let her move on in her life, hopefully healed of some of the damage he’d done before.
Rob left the chambers then, heading for the elders and Symon. He must convince them to release Lilidh as soon as possible. His reckoning with Connor would have to wait for another time.
* * *
Tyra watched the rest of this first meeting from a hidden corner just out of view of the rest. When Symon exploded with his accusation that the MacLerie was marginalising both the Mathesons and their demands, she’d nearly lost control and laughed aloud. Then the look on Rob’s face when Symon revealed that a deal had been struck with the MacKenzies without his knowledge was more satisfying than she had ever imagined it would be.
It had been favours and gold well spent to set that part up. Luckily she’d found Brother Donal to be more a man of worldly concerns than godly ones and the deal to forge certain documents had been struck. His return to the abbey at Angus’s untimely death had ensured that only his confessor, and that under the holy seal, would ever hear any claims he made.
And the gold spent encouraging one or two of the
elders to continue their enthusiastic support of Symon and his opinions was also done well. None of them would open their mouths or risk exposure as traitors and being named outlaw.
Symon had come to her before this meeting and told her that Rob suspected him of ordering the attack. She hoped she’d kept a concerned expression in her eyes as her brother demonstrated to her once again what kind of fool he was!
So, she’d stoked his anger at being left out of decisions and at Rob’s suspicions until Symon was ready to explode. Then she’d watched as he had—revealing more to the MacLeries than Rob knew.
Leaning back against the wall, she waited for the
MacLeries to leave the keep before seeking her chambers. Though Rob had dismissed her, Symon would come and apprise her of anything said or ordered. And, in turn, she would push and prod Symon to make certain the hostilities between him and Rob continued.
Tyra made her way back to her chambers and found the small casket in which she kept trinkets and keepsakes hidden. The letter lay on top and she opened the parchment and read it once more. Gavin swore his undying love for her and urged her to remain in her faith of him.
Certainly she knew of his proclivity to sleep with the servants—her spy there revealed that to her—but that did not lessen their love. It was only until she took her place as his wife and then she would see to that much as she had been seeing to things here.
Chapter Twenty
Rob strode into the large chamber that he used as a solar and found them waiting for him. Along with the elders, Symon and Dougal sat stone-faced and silent. Brother Finlay entered just behind him, carrying his usual leather satchel with documents, quills, ink and a sharp knife with which to scrape off old used parchments for reuse. A guard closed the door and Rob looked at each man there.
‘Symon mentioned an agreement with the MacKenzies. I know of no such thing,’ he began. ‘How is that?’ Then he crossed his arms and waited for someone to answer his question.
He knew he was being manoeuvred and manipulated, but he did not think Symon intelligent enough to do that. His outburst was a perfect example of how he acted—too fast, too loud and too much. Subtlety was lost on him. Looking around at the others, he tried to decide who could be the one.
‘My lord,’ Brother Finlay began, ‘I found this in your father’s papers. Since you were...ahem...involved in some matter, I showed it to Lord Symon.’ Involved in the carnal knowledge of a certain lady was what Brother Finlay did not say, but they understood what had caught Rob’s attention lately.
If he trusted Symon as a chief should trust his tanist, Rob might have felt differently about that. But Symon’s interference and attempts to push him in only one direction broke what trust they might have had at one time.
Rob took the parchment and walked away from the table, reading it. Although it was not a formal treaty, this did make a preliminary proposal and an agreement to proceed with one. It was written by his father’s clerk and signed by the laird himself and the marks matched the others of his father’s that he’d seen. ‘Why was this not among my father’s other documents? Among the ones I have in my possession.’
‘I know not, my lord,’ the cleric answered with a shrug. ‘I found it in one of the trunks that Brother Donal left when he returned to the abbey. I assumed you knew of it, but with all this talk about treaties and war with the MacLeries, I thought it best to bring it to your attention.’
‘And when did you bring this to the tanist?’ he asked. Symon began to speak, but Rob waved him off.
‘Only yesterday, my lord.’ Brother Finlay, a large man, wiped at his sweating brow with the sleeve of his brown robe. ‘As I said, all this talk...’
‘Does anyone in this room have knowledge of a formal treaty with the MacKenzies?’ he asked quietly and then he waited to give someone, anyone, a chance to answer. When none did, he continued. ‘Has anyone been in contact with the MacKenzie laird or others since my father died?’
‘Rob, you know I have spoken to my father’s cousins there,’ Symon replied. ‘My support of that is not unknown.’
He laughed then at Symon’s understated and unexpected admission. ‘I think we all know of your support to break from the MacLeries.’ He stopped smiling and waited. ‘Any of you have anything to add?’ When they did not, when no one else spoke, Rob leaned on the table with his knuckles and shared his knowledge of Connor’s methods with them.
‘If we are to get out of this situation that Symon has put us in and if we are to get out well enough to continue negotiating with the MacKenzies as you all seem wont to do, I need to know if there will be any other surprises or disclosures. I asked for gold for Lady
MacGregor’s return and will negotiate her release under those conditions.’
Symon began to argue, but Rob would not hear it. ‘You kidnapped her and brought her here, Symon. Though I did not give the orders for that action, as laird and chief, you act on my behalf. I am responsible for what you’ve done.’ Rob stood up and glared at his cousin. ‘It is the way of it, Symon! Now, I ask one last time—have promises of any kind been made to the MacKenzie laird?’
Silence filled the chamber for several moments.
‘Very well,’ Rob said. ‘I will meet with the MacLerie peacemaker and see if he can work out a peace between us.’
Rob stood near the door, signalling that this meeting was done and watched as each one left. He asked Dougal to remain and then he grabbed Symon’s arm.
‘Cousin. Did you have something else to say?’ Something had flashed in Symon’s eyes at his last question, but his cousin had said nothing. He just pulled from his grasp and left.
‘That went well, did it not?’ Dougal asked with a smirk on his face.
‘Symon or the whole discussion?’ Rob asked.
Dougal walked over to a table in the corner and poured two cups of ale. After he handed one to Rob, he backed up a pace and asked. ‘So, will you really return the lady to her family?’
‘Aye.’ Rob drank most of the ale in one swallow. When Dougal said nothing more, he turned and faced him. ‘I did not bring her here, Dougal.’
‘I did not think you had,’ he replied. Watching him over the rim of the cup, he said, ‘But it’s clear to anyone with eyes that you are not unhappy she is here and sharing your bed.’
Though Rob wanted to pummel him for bringing up such a thing, he decided not to protest too much. ‘She is, as it turns out, a lonely widow.’
‘You insult the lady’s honour, Rob,’ Dougal said in an angry voice. ‘And you seem to forget that we have been friends for many years. I saw you when you returned from Lairig Dubh.’ Dougal drank again without taking his gaze off Rob. ‘And I spent three days with you when your father told you of her marriage. You are a talkative drunk, in case you did not know it.’
He’d been a ranting lunatic in those days. Dougal probably did remember more of it
than he did. His friend had taken him somewhere to suffer through it where no one else could be privy to his pain. Or to any of the truth that caused it.
‘It cannot be, Dougal. Connor objected then and he’ll object now—especially with the way this began. There is no way that does not threaten this clan.’
‘If you say so.’ Dougal finished his ale and put the cup down. ‘You still suspect Symon’s motives.’
‘Something does not fit, Dougal. He wanted, he wants, to be chief. He wants this clan to be taken seriously and be allies with the best. Some of his actions just do not make any sense.’ Rob thought on the day they’d gone riding across the farmlands and villages. ‘His suggestions were well thought out and are good ones. They would improve the way we do many things with our crops. His defensive strategies are the same. You said his ideas were intelligent when you travelled with him the other day.’
‘Yet he acts out of turn.’
‘Aye. As though like an angry dog that has been poked in the eye by someone with a large stick.’ Rob shook his head. ‘I put two men on him. Mayhap they will see or hear something to explain it.’
‘Laird?’ The guard spoke from the doorway. ‘The lady asks for permission to visit with her maid.’
‘Is it a good idea, Rob? To have her roaming through the keep when the MacLeries are at our gates?’
‘She is less trouble when she is kept busy, Dougal. Since there is only one way into that chamber, it is easily guarded.’ Rob nodded at the guard. ‘She may go there now and stay until I say so.’
The guard went off to relay the order.
‘And when her mother asks to see her again?’ Dougal asked.
Rob smiled. Lady MacLerie was not difficult to understand. She was here for her daughter and wanted to be with her as much as possible. Would the lady talk her daughter out of his bed if he allowed them to keep company together? Rob shrugged against the inevitable and his friend laughed at him as he left to see to another matter.
Rob called a servant in to ready this chamber for the MacLeries’ arrival. It was large and private, a good place to hold their talks. Though there would be food and drink provided, it would not be a shared meal, so Rob went off to the kitchens to eat something more substantial before the negotiations began.
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