A Laird for Christmas

by Gerri Russell

  Colin settled his hands gently on her shoulders. “Lady Jane, do not be afraid of your passion,” he said, as though reading her thoughts. “Any one of your suitors would see it as the greatest asset in a wife. I especially would.”

  Jane drew back. A shiver of fear worked its way down her spine. “You have heard the rumors, then?”

  At what must have been a horrified look on her face, he reached up again and smoothed his finger across her cheek. “I care nothing about what others say. I judge for myself. I can clearly see now that the rumors were untrue. You should not care so much about gossip.”

  “That is easier for a man than a woman to accomplish.”

  “You may be right, but it has been my experience that others will hold you back from achieving your dreams only if you let them.” He smiled. “Come, let me take you back to the castle.” He took her fingers in his and guided her back down the path of their footprints.

  “Your fingers are cold,” she said, realizing how silly the words sounded in light of what had just passed between them.

  He stopped and took both her hands in his. “My heart is warm and that is what matters. Thank you, Lady Jane, for these first moments alone with you. I am so honored that you chose me, no matter the reason.” A heartbeat later, his words faded and his features hardened.

  “Colin?”

  “There are three sets of footprints,” he said softly. “There were no others besides ours when we first entered the garden.”

  As a shiver of alarm raced down her spine, Jane allowed Colin to pull her close against his side.

  His gaze narrowed on the nearby trees. “Come, we must hurry back inside where you will be less of a target.”

  “Why did we not notice someone else in the garden?”

  His face softened. “The kiss.”

  Jane felt her cheeks warm.

  He curled his arm around her waist and matched his steps to hers. “I should not have brought you out here.”

  “The location does not seem to matter,” Jane said, trying to make him feel better.

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “After the dagger in the great hall, I have come to realize that all the accidents over the last few weeks were not ‘accidents.’ ”

  “You mean your aunt’s carriage wheel?”

  “That and a falling stone and a collapsing stair.”

  Colin drew her even closer against him, nearly carrying her along with his steps. When they reached the half wall, he had her up and over before she could even assist him. Finally, when they reached the keep, he drew away and his gaze met hers. “I will not let whoever it is hurt you.”

  Before she could comment, her Aunt Margaret hurried toward her, followed by David, Nicholas, Jules, Lord Galloway, and Bryce, their faces a mixture of concern and anger.

  “Back so soon?” David asked as his eyes narrowed with suspicion on Colin.

  “Someone followed us to the garden,” Colin stated.

  “Did you find the person?” Lord Galloway asked.

  “Not yet. I thought it best to return Lady Jane to safety before I went in pursuit.”

  Colin signaled two of his men forward. They hastened to his side. “Stand guard over Lady Jane.”

  Jane stared at the two big warriors. Each carried a sword and looked quite capable of protecting her, but this was not what she wanted. For a brief moment her gaze shifted to Jules, then back to the warriors. “I will not be a prisoner in my own home.”

  “Your safety is at stake.” Concern flared in David’s eyes.

  “I will not walk around Bellhaven in fear,” Jane said, suddenly feeling dwarfed as her suitors gathered around her. She straightened. “Lord Galloway, you mentioned Sir David’s skill as a hunter before. Perhaps it is time to use his knowledge to aid us.”

  “How?” Lord Galloway asked.

  “By setting a trap, with me as the bait.”

  “No.” Colin’s features darkened. “That is unnecessary.”

  Jane ignored his and all the other dissenting comments the men tossed her way. “Tomorrow you shall compete in a fox hunt. We have until then to come up with a plan to draw out whoever is trying to harm me and Aunt Margaret.”

  “Not outside of the castle. It is too dangerous,” Nicholas argued.

  “A hunt inside the castle walls would be no test of your skill at all,” Jane countered with a smile.

  The smile did not have the effect she had hoped for as David’s frown deepened. “I agree with Nicholas. You will be too exposed outside the castle gates.”

  “What better way to force our villain to show himself,” Jane replied with a false sense of bravado. Inside, she shook. If she were honest, that dagger had unsettled her more than any of her other accidents. A fall, or a loose stone, even a loose carriage wheel she could rationalize away. A dagger thrown at her—that was a message even she could not avoid.

  Her aunt worked her way to Jane’s side. “Allow me to dress in your clothing and cover my face with a veil.”

  “No,” Jane said emphatically. “I will not put you or anyone else in danger.” She looked at each man gathered around her. Jules looked at her with sadness. David’s face was pensive. Lord Galloway shook his head in disagreement. Nicholas’s dark eyes smoldered as though pleading with her to change her mind. Bryce shrugged.

  Colin’s features were hardened with concern. “I still do not like the fact that you will be in harm’s way, but such a ruse just might work.”

  “Fear not. I have no intention of dying today or any day soon,” Jane said. “I have six worthy protectors. What could go wrong?”

  Up in her chamber later that evening, Jane sat in a chair near the hearth and mindlessly brushed out her hair. For her suitors she had dismissed tonight’s attempt on her life and the extra set of footsteps in the garden, but both events had rattled her to the core.

  Even now, her hand shook as she brushed, for the hundredth time, her long, golden hair. It was dangerous to be anywhere near her at the moment. Could she willingly endanger the lives of the brave men who had responded to Margaret’s invitation for her own gain? Bellhaven was all she had left, but to allow anyone to be harmed in order for her to keep her home seemed so very wrong.

  The door on the opposite side of the room opened softly and Margaret slipped inside the room. “I was wondering where you had gone,” she said approaching Jane. She held out her hand. “Here, let me do that for you.”

  Margaret used to brush her hair every night after her mother died. It had helped to calm Jane enough so that she could sleep. Perhaps her efforts would have the same effect now.

  “Are you truly recovered from the incident in the great hall?” Margaret asked, studying Jane’s face.

  “These accidents are becoming a regular part of our lives. Are they not?” Jane replied with a forced laugh.

  Margaret paled. “This is a serious matter, Jane. One of these times, whoever is behind the attempts will hit their mark.”

  Jane reached for the small dagger she had set on the table before her. The weapon had once belonged to her mother. Jane had spent the last hour sharpening the blade to a lethal point. “I am prepared.”

  Margaret frowned as she began to smooth Jane’s hair. “That dagger will only stop so much.”

  “I know,” Jane replied, her voice tightening with emotion. She forced back sudden tears. She would not cry. There was no reason other than the fact that someone wanted her dead, her whole life was about to change, and she could do nothing about either.

  Not noticing Jane’s emotional state, Margaret continued to brush Jane’s hair. “All of the men are rather handsome, would you not agree, Jane?” She did not wait for a reply. “Colin seems quite taken with you. He is rather handsome, in a rugged, debonair way. He would make you a fine husband.”

  Margaret frowned for a moment, then continued without a response from Jane. “Then again, David has changed much since you have last seen him. He is more confident now. His manner seems more ref
ined as well.”

  Her aunt sighed. “Then there is Lord Galloway. That man is too handsome by far.”

  Margaret continued to brush, but the brushing had no calming effect on Jane’s nerves this time.

  “Jules is too thin, by far. Would it be wrong of me to ask Doctor Samuelson to come look him over?”

  This time she waited for Jane’s response. “It depends. Do you want him examined because you think he is ill or because you wish to identify any impediment to his marrying me?”

  Margaret forced a smile. “Both, I suppose. I merely do not want you to suffer as I…”

  When she did not continue, Jane added the words Margaret did not say, “As you have suffered?”

  She nodded. “I was married for three days, Jane. Three whole days before Thomas was gone.”

  Jane did not know much about Margaret’s history with her husband; she had been only an infant when Thomas had died. “Did you love him so very much?”

  Margaret stopped brushing. “Love him? I hardly knew him.”

  Jane turned to face her aunt. “What?”

  “Our marriage was arranged by the king. Sir Thomas Avery and Lady Margaret Lennox. Everyone thought it was a perfect match. That was until Thomas fell dead.”

  Jane knew the man had died young, but she had never asked about the details. Did Margaret wish to talk about her husband now? “How did he die?” Jane asked gently.

  Margaret blushed. “It was terrible, really.” Her blush deepened. “Since you are about to marry yourself I might as well tell you. We were coupling. It was that moment—and he just died.”

  Jane had no idea what “that moment” meant, but she could imagine by the tone of Margaret’s voice that it was something special. “I am so sorry,” Jane said, meaning it, yet not knowing what else to say.

  Margaret shook herself. “That is in the past. I do not regret a moment of what happened after that. Before the king could arrange yet another marriage for me, my good brother called me here to care for you and your brother. I was pleased by the outcome.”

  Jane took Margaret’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “You were a blessing then as you are now.”

  Margaret’s smile returned. “In order not to repeat the past, we need to find you a husband who has good health and stamina. And I am not certain Jules is that man.”

  “Jules will be well.” He had to be. She would move heaven and earth to see he fully recovered. Yet Margaret had a point. Jules was not nearly as healthy as she had hoped he would be despite the coins she had slipped to the guard to make certain he was cared for. “It might be a good idea to send for Doctor Samuelson, but only if Jules agrees.”

  Margaret nodded and continued her brushing. “What about Nicholas?”

  Just hearing his name sent an odd combination of warmth and pain straight to her heart. She drew a sharp breath. “I cannot honestly say I have given him much thought,” she lied.

  “How does it feel to see him again? You parted so suddenly.”

  The memory of that day stabbed her with the agony of a knife. All the emotions of the day must have breached the wall she had erected between herself and Nicholas. Her heart raced and her pain was palpable. With her emotions so raw, she felt stripped bare and more vulnerable than she liked. She stared blandly back at Margaret.

  “Nicholas was once very dear to you,” Margaret said, watching her reaction with caution.

  Jane stood and moved to the opposite side of the room, leaving Margaret holding the brush in empty air. She needed distance, but there was no distancing herself from the memories and emotions now pouring through her mind. She needed to close herself off again, pull that wall back around her. Her brother had sent Nicholas away, and Nicholas had left without a fight. But it was what happened after that tightened her rib cage and made it hard to breathe.

  Margaret caught her gaze and in it read her anxiety and her pain. “Oh, Jane. I understand what his words have done to you more than anyone else. I was furious with him for a time, however, with time and distance, I cannot help but wonder if he was tricked into saying such things about you. The Nicholas I knew would never have hurt you in such a horrible way.”

  Jane did not know what to think. A part of her had hoped it was all a mistake, but the men whose jeers she had had to endure for the last six months were no fantasy. Jane swallowed hard. Could she ever forgive him for the pain he had caused her? Could she ever trust his love again?

  “I need time to think about Nicholas, about them all,” Jane finally replied when she could do so in a steady tone. Her back was to a wall. She had to choose one of them if she wanted to keep her home. She let loose a hitched breath. It was more than that—she would lose so much more than her home. But asking one of them to join with her might also end their very lives, and in a much more violent way than Margaret’s husband met his end.

  Jane had been so deep in her own thoughts that she had not noticed Margaret approach. Margaret reached for Jane’s hand. “I know the fear you carry in your heart. But trust in these men to protect you and love you as you deserve. You must choose one of them. Marry for love, Jane, if at all possible, and let the rest take care of itself.”

  That would mean trusting in someone else again—something she had not done in a very long time. There was no one else to help her and Margaret but the six men and their men-at-arms, who were below stairs settling in for the night. Jane fully grasped the danger they faced. She had to marry to get the army she needed and to mend her tarnished reputation.

  Jane brought her gaze to Margaret’s, saw the earnest expression there, and against all rationality, made a decision with her heart. “I will keep myself open to possibility, Aunt Margaret. Love is a stretch, but I will not close myself off to their affections over the next few days.” She drew a sharp breath. “I will let destiny take me where it will with any one of these men.”

  The next morning was crisp and a new layer of snowfall covered the ground as Jane rode her gray mare from the stable to where her suitors had gathered in preparation for the hunt. For a moment she signaled her horse to stop. The hunt would be the second competition between her suitors. Her bold statement last night to keep herself open came back to her and her stomach knotted as six gentlemen turned her way. Of all the six, it was Nicholas her gaze moved to.

  A familiar warmth simmered in his sherry-colored eyes and a sudden thrill echoed inside her. She smiled at him, but that smile died a heartbeat later as he turned away.

  “A beautiful day for a hunt, wouldn’t you say?” Lord Galloway asked as she neared. His breath rose in a warm, thin coil matched only by his gaze as it lingered on the slight glimpse of her leather boot peeking out from beneath her riding habit.

  Heat flooded Jane’s cheeks. She shifted the corner of her woolen skirt to cover herself more fully. Jane had enjoyed it when Nicholas had looked at her that way. With Lord Galloway, she felt bared and uncomfortable.

  An amused smile lifted the corner of Lord Galloway’s lips.

  “Indeed,” Jane replied in a tight voice, shifting her gaze from him to the chaos around her. David was dressed in the traditional scarlet coat and white breeches. He would act as the master of the hunt and guide the pack of twenty dogs through the competition. The dogs danced in the excited knowledge that they would be dashing across the pristine snow cover any moment in search of the scent David would offer them on a coiled piece of cloth. Baying filled the air as the dogs scratched at the frosty earth and frolicked with each other. The horses danced with as much anticipation as the dogs.

  Jane held her reins loose, but signaled her horse to remain still with her knees. Lord Galloway, Jules, Bryce, Colin, and Nicholas all wore black coats, buff-colored breeches, and shiny black boots. Of all the men, only David looked entirely comfortable in the clothing of the hunt. Colin looked entirely uncomfortable as he fidgeted with his white cravat. As he noticed Jane’s glance, he offered her a smile and brought his horse alongside hers.

  “Judging by the way you si
t your horse, you appear to be a skilled rider,” Colin commented.

  “I am no stranger to this horse or the hunt.”

  Colin smiled. As his features brightened, Jane’s pulse leapt. The man was devastatingly handsome when he smiled.

  “Are we to hunt a red fox?” he asked Jane.

  She nodded. “How else are we to determine a winner of this competition if not for the fox?”

  Bryce frowned and his eyes narrowed at the two of them. “As I am most familiar with the woodlands, I will win this farce before any of you or your dogs have caught the scent.”

  “We will see about that,” Colin replied with confidence.

  Jane turned her horse away from the two men beside her to seek out Nicholas and Jules. They hung back from the others, gazing off into the distance, searching the woodlands beyond.

  A shiver danced across Jane’s neck. She forced it away. The accidents of the past few weeks would not touch her here, with so many protectors nearby. David blew a horn, indicating the hunt was about to begin. At the call of the horn and the barking of the racing dogs, Jane gave her horse a thump of her heels and urged herself forward into the fray. Careful to keep her distance, Jane surged into the woodlands behind her six suitors. David was in the lead, followed by Bryce and Nicholas. Lord Galloway rode more carefully alongside Jules, and Colin brought up the rear, almost as if he were hanging back in order to keep an eye on her. As the forest became dense with foliage, Jane soared over a fallen tree that lay across the path and came to earth again. The rushing wind tugged at her hat, but it remained in place as they zigzagged from the woodlands to an open field.

  “Well done, milady,” Colin shouted, sending her one of his devastating smiles.

  The smile distracted Jane. She startled at the sudden movement of a deer darting back to the safety of the trees.

  Instantly Nicholas was beside her. He said nothing, but his gaze spoke volumes as he first assessed her then the surrounding area for signs of danger.