Stacey and Eric worried about their son. They had heard the war in Ireland was going badly. King Richard II, returned looking for funds to future wage his war on Ireland. Shane was back within a year, badly wounded and was slowly getting around. When they rode in, Stacey could not get to her son fast enough. Shane hugged her and said, “I told my friends here, just get me home to my mother. She will work her magic and make me fit again.”
Stacey held her son tight and said, “That I will my darling that I will.”
The earl asked the two young knights to stay. They were quite happy to do so. It felt good to be safe inside strong walls again. Shane had a severe leg wound that was not healing well. Stacey coated the wound with honey to kill the bacteria and then mixed her yogurt and mushroom concoction and fed it to him to help stop the infection.
Shane asked, “Be this the same thing ye gave us when we were little and had chest pains?”
“Yes it is,” his mother said. “It’s good for many things.”
Shane took her hand and said, “Mother, I think I should get married so ye can help us keep our children healthy.”
“Who is she darling?” his mother asked.
Shane smiled and said, “Mayhap I was joking.”
“Then again, mayhap you were not,” his mother said. And asked again, “Who is she my love?”
Shane watched his mother’s face as he said, “Anne Barr, the Duke’s illegitimate daughter.” Shane was fearful Anne would not be acceptable even though she was the daughter of the Duke of York because of the circumstance of her birth.
“Do you love her?”
“Yes, I believe I do.”
“Does she love you?”
Shane replied with a grin on his handsome face, “She says she does.”
“Why don’t we invite her here to help you get well?” his mother suggested.
With a smile on his handsome face, Shane said, “Thank ye, Mother that would be grand. I should have known ye would not let the circumstance of her birth sway ye.” Shane watched his mother for a bit, then said, “By the by, Mother, how did ye know we would lose in Ireland?”
In an innocent voice his mother asked, “Is the battle over? You came home I thought, because you were wounded. Rest now my love, I’ll be back later.”
Stacey spoke with Eric and told him about the Duke’s daughter. With a smile on his face, the Earl sent a letter to the Duke inviting his daughter to Dun-Raven. Two weeks later, a lovely young woman arrived and romance was in the air. The two young knights asked the Earl of Dun-Raven could he use their services.
The earl was happy to receive their service. He was acquainted with the uncle of Colin Ashworth and had great respect for him. James Howard seemed like a fine young man too. Eric was not blind. He had noticed both Colin and James had eyes for his lovely twin daughters. “The fact that we have two very lovely daughters surely has nothing to do with their decision,” Eric laughingly told Stacey.
When Shane came home wounded and accompanied by two gallant young knights, it was no secret that the twins Jessie and Jackie saw their chance to use their feminine wiles. They were gracious young hosts to the handsome young friends of their brother. When Anne Barr arrived, they felt this opened the door for shenanigans, which these two were experts. Stacey knew her daughters well and kept an eye on them. While Anne kept Shane Company, the twins rode with Colin and James along with Mary Douglas as chaperon as well as older knights. After the eventide meal, the young people acted out skits, sang and danced.
On a warm spring night, the twins disappeared from Mary’s watchful eye. Innocently, Jessie and Jackie soon lured Colin and James into the darkness of the arbor. The twins had discussed and planed this escapade earlier wondering what a kiss would feel like. After accomplishing their mission, they darted from the arbor into the castle giggling. Later that night in their solar, they talked and made plans. To them it only seemed fair for each of them to experience the kiss of each of the knights. Otherwise, how were they to know which they would enjoy kissing the most?
Of course, Colin and James were not privy to their skullduggery. The next morn, at the breakfast table the twins were dressed in their riding skirts. They sat above the salt and sent coy glances at Colin and James. Eric smiled at Stacey; to him the twins could do no wrong. He was aware they were spirited and vivacious. Eric loved that about them and as Stacey had told him many, many times he was putty in their hands. After breaking the fast, Stacey met the twins in the corridor on their way downstairs. She noticed they had exchanged their clothes. Because they were identical twins only family members could recognize one from the other. As they passed their mother giggling, they said, “We will see ye later Mother, we’re going picnicking by the river with Shane and Anne.”
“Is there a special reason you two exchanged your clothes?” their mother asked as she kissed their cheeks. The twins’ eyes filled with mischief as they looked at each other. “Don’t go too far with these games you two play, they may backfire on you some day. Go along with you now and have fun.” The twins were not surprised their mother noticed their attire; she was the one person they could never bamboozle. Mary Douglas was waiting for them as they descended the stairs. “Our riding party be waiting for us in the bailey,” she said.
Outside, Shane with Anne, Colin, James and Sir Gellman were waiting as the twins and Mary joined them. Riding was difficult for Shane as he was still recuperating from his leg wound. Anne was solicitous to his every need. The night before, as fate would have it Jackie had kissed James and Jessie had kissed Colin in the darken arbor. Now, when the opportunity presents itself they mean to turn the occasion around. Shane was watchful, but he could not put his finger on his nagging thoughts and of course, Anne was there which distracted him.
Shortly after eating their picnic lunch, Shane and Sir Gellman stretched out on the grass under a shade tree to nap. Anne and Mary watched as the twins with Colin and James held their cane poles in the water hoping to catch fish. As they fished one place or another, they were soon out of sight of their chaperone. With a silent language, all their own they each took the hand of a young knight and wander to the cool foliage of the trees by the riverbank. With the sun glistering on the river water and the earthy smell of the grass and trees it was almost intoxicating. When Jackie and Colin walked a few steps away under the trees, Jackie turned her face up to Colin for a kiss. As their lips met, Colin could feel his blood rushing to his heart. Jackie too knew this was different from last night. As Colin held her in his arms her heart was pounding wildly. When his lips left hers he whispered, “Oh, sweet Jesus, Jessie, I have never had a woman affect me the way ye do.”
Jackie too felt the difference and asked, “Did ye not feel this way last night?”
“No, love, I did not,” Colin admitted. “Last night and now, be like kissing two different women.” They kissed again and then Colin heard Mary Douglas calling. “We should get back before we are missed,” he said. “T’would do ye reputation no good for ye to be found alone with me.”
As they came from the trees, Jessie and James met them holding hands. Both girls ran to the riverbank grabbed their cane poles and sat down on the bank as if they were fishing. When Mary and Sir Gellman came around the river bend, they saw the twins fishing and the two young knights a ways down the riverbank skipping rocks across the water. “Why did ye not answer when I called?” Mary asked.
Both of the girls looked surprised and said, “Forgive us Mary, we did not hear ye. We be leaving now?”
“Yes,” Mary said, suspiciously. “Ye brother be tired and tis a ways back to the castle.”
Sir Gellman whistled and Colin and James stopped tossing pebbles and joined them. Colin was quieter than usual on the way back to the castle. Jackie felt a little remorseful that she had not shared the truth with him. That night in their solar, Jessie told Jackie she had confessed their trickery to James. He had laughed and thought it a clever joke. Jackie looked horrified and said, “Jessie how could ye without t
alking to me first. James may find it entertaining, but I doubt Colin will.”
The next morning, Colin did not appear at breakfast. Jackie was concerned and chide herself for playing such a childish trick on him. She was lying across her bed crying when her mother knocked softly on her door, then came in and took her in her arms. Stacey stroked Jackie’s raven hair as her lovely daughter sobbed her heart out. “What will I do Mother, he will never talk to me again.”
“Would you like for your father to have a talk with him?”
“No, Mother, absolutely not. This be my own fault, so I will talk to him myself.”
Jackie did not want the entire castle knowing her business, so she asked James to help her to speak privately with Colin. Jessie and James thought the whole joke quiet amusing but they were kindred spirits in many ways. Colin felt Jackie had made a fool of him; however, he came to the parlor to hear her out just the same. A knock on the door and Jackie turned as Colin entered the parlor. As their eyes met, Jackie could sense how hurt and angry he was with her. The dark blue eyes that had looked at her so longingly were now cold as ice.
Jackie took a deep breath and said, “Colin, I’m terribly sorry our silly joke offended ye. I assure ye that was not our intent.”
“Lady Jackie, if that be to whom I am speaking. I do not find subterfuge amusing,” he said, accusingly.
“Would ye care to kiss me again sir, in order to be sure of whom I am,” Jackie challenged.
“I would not fancy being made a fool of twice, my lady,” Colin informed her.
“Well, since ye mind be made up not to forgive me, there be nothing more that I can say so good day to ye sir,” Jackie said as she turned her back to him and walked to the windows to look outside.
Colin stood looking at her haughty back and asked, “Am I being dismissed, my lady Jacquelyn?”
Incredulously, she said, “Yes, ye are dismissed from the room, but not from my heart, Colin.”
Colin stood transfixed and then said, “My lady Jacquelyn, could I interest ye in a walk in the garden tonight to discuss this matter further.”
Jackie looked into his deep blue eyes as her heart melted and said, “Yes, sir knight, I will be more than happy to help ye clear up this matter.”
In the arbor, after a few turns in the garden, Colin could resist no longer. After a long sensuous kiss Colin asked, “Will ye consent to be my wife, Jackie? If so I will speak with ye father on the morrow.”
When Colin went to the earl to ask for permission to marry Jacquelyn, James went with him to ask for the hand of his other daughter Jessica. The earl sat back thoughtfully observing the two young knights and said, “Be ye both sure that this be what ye fancy, ye know once ye be wed there be no turning back and I will not tolerate my daughters’ being unhappy.”
“I understand, your lordship,” Colin said. “And I pledge to ye and to Lady Jacquelyn that I will love and honor her always.” Then it was James turn and he vowed his love and honor to Jessica as well. The earl gave his permission and as the door closed behind these two love struck young men he threw back his head back, laughed a hearty laugh, and thought to himself, may god help ye two young men, as ye betrothed be much like their mother and that will bring ye much happiness and much confrontation
Chapter 27
The Weddings
The Earl sent a letter to the Duke of York to ask his permission for his daughter to marry Shane. In a few weeks, they received an answer giving permission for the marriage. In the spring of thirteen-ninty-three, there were three weddings planned at Dun-Raven Castle. Families gathered at Dun-Raven castle from all across England. Stacey could not be happier now that all of her chicks would still be under one roof. Anne was a delightful young woman and was welcomed into the family. Stacey had talks with all three girls prior to their wedding. She had tried to prepare Jessie and Jackie all along the way about marriage. Stacey felt knowledge was the greatest gift you could give your children after love. Stacey wanted her girls to know they had a right to marital pleasure as well as the males.
Jessie and Jackie smiled at each other and said, “Yes Mother, we know.”
“How do you know?” Stacey asked with a frown.
“We have ears, Mother,” Jackie said. “Ye and Papa go to the hunting lodge, but ye do not always hunt. In a castle such as ours, with many people always around, it be very difficult not to hear talk or know what be going on. We children have always known when ye and papa make love because ye eyes be shining. We have talked about this and we want to experience that kind of love too.”
Stacey hugged the girls and said, “I want that for you too. I would never want you married to a man you didn’t love.”
Anne assured the countess that she and Shane were well prepared for marriage. They had talked about it and they both agreed they wanted their marriage to be sound and joyfully as his mother and father’s. Anne’s father had been kind to her, however, she had never known parental love. Anne’s father, the duke of York was out of the country on business for King Richard, therefore to make sure that Anne did not feel neglected, Stacey arranged for the brides to meet their grooms at the top of the stairs and walk down together.
Their wedding dresses were white silk with a veil and a long train with a retinue of bridesmaids dressed in blue. Anne had three cousins that journeyed form York to be Anne’s bridesmaids. Cassandra, along with four of Jessie and Jackie’s friends were bridesmaids for them. The castle was a happy festive place even the village of Dun Raven was included in the festivities. The old saying about how a bride be most beautiful on her wedding day was no myth. All three brides were radiant.
The wedding festivities lasted for three days. After the celebration, the three wedded couples journeyed to London to spend their honeymoon. Colin and Jackie were going to Kent to meet Colin Ashworth’s grandmother, because she was too old to travel to Dun-Raven. James and Jessie were going to meet James Howard’s family. James’s older brother Edward came to the wedding, but not his parents.
Jessie knew there was conflict over James marrying her, even though she was the daughter of an earl. He was promised since childhood to his cousin. James told Jessie, “My parents promised, I did not.”
Shane and Anne were invited to King Richard’s birthday regale. The birthday gifts Shane and Anne took were a place setting of a silver knife, fork and two spoons with engraved RP, on the handles and a box of eight linen handkerchiefs with the king’s emblem of a white hart embroidered in one corner. Anne had not seen her cousin Richard for some years. She felt he would not remember her, or acknowledge her if he did, because of the circumstance of her birth. Anne’s mother had died when she was four and her father, Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of York, brought her to live in Middleham castle where she and Richard were playmates.
To Anne’s astonishment, Richard remembered her fondly. He also liked his gifts immensely. They were unusual and useful. Richard remembered Shane’s father. He knew his own father had regarded the earl of Dun-Raven as a trusted friend. Now he hoped the son would be his friend. Four years of peace and tranquility went by. Stacey helped to deliver four of their grandchildren. Shane and Anne had a son, Geoffrey Thomas. Jackie and Colin Ashworth had a daughter, Margaret Suzanne. Jessie and James Howard had twin sons, Joshua and Jacob. Eric and Stacey were ecstatic to have bairns in the castle again. These were very special bairns because they were their grandchildren.
Their only unhappy event was when Eric’s mother, Lady Margaret, died in the spring of thirteen-ninety-five. It was a wet, cold spring. Many lambs and calves died from the piercing cold winds coming in off the North Sea. The countess was kept busy with her healing powers with animals as well as people. There was much sickness in the village as well as folks within the castle. Because of the wretched weather only the earl, the countess and their two sons made the trip to Hampton hall to the funeral of the earl’s mother. The earl of Hampton, Rodric and his family were already there. The funeral was a sad heart-breaking affair. To lose ones mother is
always a grim occasion.
Because of the wretched spring weather, many of the patrons of the village pub in their superstitious minds started looking for some one to blame. They drank and they talked until many convinced themselves that the devil was at work in Yorkshire. Because the countess had helped heal the villains as well as their animals, she must have powers that regular folk did not posses. Over the coming weeks, the village of Dun Raven became a hot bed of gossip. What started out as drunken innuendos soon became thought of as fact in their superstitious ignorance.
Most of the village women ignored the gossip about the countess; however, there are always some that revel in others misfortune. These misguided few hatched a diabolical plot to bring the witch to justice. When Thomas Hardy told his wife their plans, she could not believe that he would be a party to such treachery. Her anger and disgust spilled over. “Do ye not remember when our Teddy was at deaths door and her Ladyship came in the dead of winter with medicine for our son and sat up all night with him and her big with babe. Do ye forget her strange ways was what saved his life and now ye want to burn her for a witch?
Many of the people were torn as to what to think. They remembered many years back when she first came to Dun Raven and the many rumors they heard of her strange speech and ways, but the earl married her and the talk mostly stopped. Now, a bunch of drunken louts was starting trouble again. The fishwife, from a few years back came to her Ladyship to tell her of the rumors. Stacey remembered her and said, “Mrs. Fisher please come in. I have not seen ye for some time, all be well with ye cottage?” The woman frowned a little and said, “Oh, yes ma’am, ye need not worry ye self about that, we be settled in for some time now.”
A young severing girl brought in refreshments and her Ladyship poured for both of them. Stacey smiled and asked, “How be ye sons? I hope they be well.”
A Fall Through Time (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #1) Page 15