A Spinster at the Highland Court: The Highland Ladies Book One

by Barclay, Celeste

  “I’m sorry,” Elizabeth whispered before turning back to the others. “If someone will go with me, then that’s the best way to discover what Amelia is up to. Many of the chambers in the royal family’s suites have walls thin enough to listen through, but that isn’t the case in other parts of the castle. The wing that Lady MacAdams and Lady Gordon live in, along with other unwed matrons, wasn’t always used as bedchambers. All the walls are thin, and there are even gaps where you can see into some of them. The mortar is crumbling in some parts, so it wouldn’t be hard to scrape some away to make it easier to hear and see.”

  “Not someone, me.” Edward crossed his arms over his broad chest and dared his wife to disagree. Without batting an eyelash, she took up the challenge.

  “That part of the castle has narrower passageways than others. Because those chambers weren’t meant for anyone to hide there, the tunnels aren’t wide. They are just connectors to the main parts of the keep. They weren’t designed for many people to use at once like others were if the castle needed to be evacuated. You’d have a hard time fitting. Any of you men would. Ceit could come with me.”

  Ceit nodded, but Tavish was already shaking his head.

  “Nay. Dinna even let the idea take root, Ceity. Ye arenae wandering through the bowels of this heap.”

  “You can’t fit. You heard Elizabeth. Deirdre is too far along to be comfortable either, even if she’s only showing a bit. Both Elizabeth and I can bend and stoop if we need to. The last thing Elizabeth needs is to try to unwedge one of you giants. Then she really will be up a gum tree.”

  Elizabeth and Ceit faced off with their husbands, an epic battle of wills the men already accepted they would lose. Tavish and Edward may have stared down enemies intent upon killing them, but both men would acknowledge their stubbornness was little match for their wives’ iron wills. They also understood that logically speaking, their wives were right. But neither was willing to give up the good fight yet.

  “What if someone hears you?” Edward demanded.

  “Even if they did, and that’s assuming I stop using the skills I’ve had for half my life and our former spy suddenly forgets how to be quiet, they still wouldn’t know how to get into the passageways. They wouldn’t even know where on the walls to search for the peepholes or the latches,” Elizabeth reasoned.

  “What if someone kens how to get into the passageways and they hear ye passing by? They could catch ye before ye even get to Amelia’s chamber,” Tavish reasoned.

  “Only a few ladies-in-waiting are aware of the tunnels, and they use them to slip outside to the barracks. There’s a door to the bailey from a passageway. None have any idea how it connects to the larger maze. I don’t think the king even knows where all the tunnels lead. I have the entire castle memorized after all these years. I know how many steps it takes if I walk and how many it takes if I run. I know what to search for in the dark to know my way or to find an exit.” Elizabeth explained, but blushed to her roots when everyone shared the same shocked expression. “I was lonely as a child. This was well before Deirdre came to court; I’d already been here for five years. I had Reubadair and rode as often as I could, but that didn’t fill all my days. I took lessons with a tutor, learned to dance and play more than one instrument, but that still left large stretches of the day where my parents expected me to stay confined to my chamber. I got bored and explored. Knowing my way around allowed me to slip out to ride or to see my half-brother and half-sisters.”

  Elizabeth wasn’t about to admit to the Sinclairs what she had to Edward: it allowed her to watch other couples.

  “What if we took an hourglass with us?” Ceit offered. “We set one before we go into the tunnels and you set one from wherever we enter. If we aren’t back before the glass runs out, then you search for us. Elizabeth, can you draw a map of where we enter to Amelia’s chamber? That way if they get into too much of a twitch, they can find us.”

  “I can do that. I already have some parts of the keep drawn out. I hide the parchments in one of my chests. I used to roll them up and stored them with the clothes I wore to ride or go out into town. I had a spot under the floorboards beneath my bed.”

  “That’s where I hid my clothes and weapons,” Ceit giggled, but Tavish’s growl cut it short. She leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips. “Aye well, you aren’t the only one with a past that’s less than spotless.”

  “If Amelia’s been seeing this man for the past sennight, then mayhap she’ll see him again this evening. I’d guess she’s been in the Great Hall until well after the dancing begins, but I’m not certain how long she stays since we leave early.” Deirdre rubbed her belly as Magnus kissed her cheek.

  “All of us retire early most nights, so it won’t seem unusual if we go before most courtiers even begin their revelry. Ceit and I can slip into the passageway once we’re given the sign that Amelia is in her chamber. I trust my maid enough to watch for Amelia and to inform us when she retires.”

  “How do you suppose she’s getting him smuggled into her chamber? Do you think Amelia kens about the passages, too?” Magnus asked.

  “It’s possible since she has been here for years, but I doubt it. I’ve never heard anyone else and never seen traces of anyone else in the tunnels. Even when someone broke into our chamber, there was no sign of who it was. There are no additional sets of footprints other than near the ladies-in-waiting tunnel. I suspect a thick cloak and some well-greased palms.” Elizabeth explained.

  “Then there is not much for us to do until tomorrow eve,” Deirdre offered.

  The three couples said their goodnights before leaving Edward and Elizabeth alone.

  “I’m sorry for what I said,” Elizabeth offered. She wasn’t sure where to gaze because she still felt guilty accusing Edward of using her. “I haven’t accepted your past with as much aplomb as I wanted to believe. It was eating at me, and that was the moment I lashed out.”

  Edward cupped Elizabeth’s shoulders and waited for her to glance up.

  “I realize this isn’t easy. I’ve said we can leave the past where it belongs, but now none of us have a choice but to face part of it. I would protect you from it; you know that, but it doesn’t seem that fate wants to cooperate.”

  “If your past were filled with faceless and nameless women, then it wouldn’t hurt so much.” Elizabeth’s voice rasped.

  “I understand, little one.”

  “It’s not even anything you’ve done. It’s them. Their constant need to remind me is horrible.” Elizabeth sank into Edward’s embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I mean, look at us. We’re alone in our chamber. I know where you are. I know that you choose to be here with me. I know you’re not going anywhere. But yet, it still bothers me.” She rested her forehead against his chest before continuing. “I’m even jealous of Ceit, and I’m wretched for it. I realize this isn’t any easier for her than it is for me, but she escaped it soon after she married. She told me she hasn’t had to deal with any women from Tavish’s past now that they are at home at Dunbeath. She accepts that there are women in the village, but none have made themselves known, and she hasn’t asked. She’ll escape it once again soon enough when they leave.”

  “Beth, I wish I figured out how to make this better for you. I would do anything.”

  Elizabeth looked up and pressed a long, soft kiss against his lips.

  “I know you would. It’s a problem of my own mind’s making.”

  “Perhaps, but I can’t imagine being in your shoes. I’d kill any man who reminded me that he had carnal knowledge of you.”

  “Can I kill any woman who reminds me?” Elizabeth grinned.

  “Would that you could.” Edward began unlacing Elizabeth’s kirtle as she rolled down her stockings and kicked off her slippers. It wasn’t long before they were both undressed and climbed into bed. Other women and other men were the last things on their minds for the rest of the night.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Elizabeth an
d Ceit stood by an open door in the stone wall of the music room. It was the same chamber all those weeks ago that Elizabeth slipped into to avoid Edward, and where he found himself in the clutches of Lady Amelia MacAdams. Elizabeth held a lit torch while Ceit clutched a large hourglass that had enough grains for two hours. Elizabeth soundly argued they needed that much time because it would take them at least fifteen minutes to wind their way through the tunnels each way, and Amelia might not be in the midst of a confession when they arrived. Magnus, Deirdre, Tavish, and Edward stood in a semicircle as the two women prepared to enter the passageways. Elizabeth and Ceit wore breeks and long tunics, since Elizabeth warned how tight the tunnels were. Neither wanted to trip over their skirts.

  “I don’t like this, but you’re right that it’s the only way.” Edward lifted the torch out of the way as he pulled Elizabeth into his tight embrace. She absorbed the tremor that ran through him as she pressed a kiss to his neck. He tucked hair behind her ear and kissed her.

  “I’m not headed off to battle,” Elizabeth tried to reassure her husband. “You look grimmer than I did when you left to go scouting.”

  Edward only nodded.

  “You do know I’m coming back? Eddie, there may be some spiders and even a rat or two, but nothing is coming to get us. There isn’t a brollachan waiting for us. No shapeless nightcrawler is waiting to pounce.” Elizabeth looked to Ceit and noticed she was having a similar conversation with Tavish, whose massive arms looked to hold Ceit in a vice.

  Ceit pushed away from Tavish and nodded. She and Tavish flipped their hourglasses simultaneously before Ceit and Elizabeth stepped into the passageway. Ceit’s voice drifted back to the others who waited for them.

  “What the bluidy hell do they think we did before they came along?”

  Elizabeth guided Ceit through the passageways, both walking on silent feet. Elizabeth held the torch aloft, so they could both see where they stepped and Ceit could watch for Elizabeth’s signals. It took them the fifteen minutes Elizabeth predicted. Elizabeth held up a fist and turned to face the wall.

  “This should be about the right place. Run your fingers along the wall at about forehead levels. If there is already a peephole, it was made by a man taller than us. If not, we can try to pry some mortar away. I don’t hear any voices, but this should be right.” Elizabeth leaned close to Ceit to whisper.

  Both women ran their hands over the wall, but neither found anything. Elizabeth handed the torch to Ceit and drew her dirk from her belt. She tested how loud it would be when she scraped the blade against the mortar. The sound rang in Elizabeth’s ears, but she realized it wasn’t that loud when Ceit didn’t react. She pried more of the mortar out of the way until a tiny sliver of light floated through the wall. She placed her eye to the hole. It was almost too small to peer through, but she stared into the chamber. Directly across the room was a large fireplace, and above the mantle hung an enormous painting of Amelia.

  “Right room,” Elizabeth whispered and motioned for Ceit to peek.

  “Pride is a sin,” Ceit muttered.

  There was no doubting they found the correct chamber. Elizabeth whittled the hole a little more, giving her enough room to observe the chamber without making the hole obvious to anyone on the other side.

  “Now we wait,” Elizabeth breathed. “We need to put the torch out. We can’t have the light be a beacon. I have a flint to relight it later. I wish you could make a peephole, but I don’t dare make two holes in the wall. The air will whistle when the door opens and closes if we do.”

  Elizabeth ground the torch against the ground, extinguishing it and casting them in pitch black. The two women slid down the wall behind them and sat to wait. Ceit worried that time was slipping away from them, but the hourglass wasn’t visible. After what seemed like an eternity, the creak of a door and voices floated to them. Elizabeth and Ceit eased to their feet, and Elizabeth placed her eye to the hole as Ceit pressed her ear against the wall. Ceit realized Elizabeth hadn’t been exaggerating about the sound carrying through the wall. It made her want to hold her breath lest she give them away.

  “Come in before someone sees you,” Amelia hissed to a man not yet in Elizabeth’s line of sight. The spyhole limited her view to only a few feet on each side of the fireplace. Fortunately, the bed was below her, but she also realized it would mean she should not peer through the hole if they approached. She wanted neither Amelia nor the unknown man to catch her eyeball glowing white against the gray stone wall.

  “You worry needlessly, my dove,” came a gravelly voice. “It’s not like people don’t expect men to enter your chamber. They will marvel that you found one with discretion at last.”

  “You don’t look like you have discretion. You look suspicious,” Amelia snapped.

  “Now, is that any way to greet your lover?” The man stepped before the fire and dropped the cowl of his cloak.

  Elizabeth covered her mouth to smother her gasp. The man in Amelia’s chamber wasn’t Baron Baird. It was Roy Gregor. Not only was he the son of the Gregor laird, but the Campbells labeled him an outlaw for an incident involving the death of a forester and the raiding of Campbell cattle. It astonished Elizabeth that he dared come into Stirling, let alone the royal castle. She sympathized with the Gregors’ plight and didn’t agreed with Robert’s decision to give their land to the Campbells, but her sympathy ran out when it came to the cattle rustling that led to deaths. Roy Gregor risked his life to bed Amelia. There were Campbells from all parts of the country at court. They were in favor with the king, so there was little chance Roy would survive discovery.

  “I would prefer not to watch your neck stretched,” Amelia’s voice was soft, and it surprised Elizabeth to note true emotion in it.

  “My love, would you mourn for me?” Roy queried as he took Amelia’s hand, but she resisted being pulled into his embrace, so he stepped forward to wrap an arm around her.

  “You know I would. I don’t like that jest, nor do I like you creeping about the castle.”

  “Afraid one of your other lovers will be put out because I’m stealing their time?”

  Amelia pushed him away and scowled.

  “It’s not as though you don’t benefit from my liaisons. You know you’re why I do it.”

  “Me? I assumed it was for all Gregors.” Roy grinned as he cupped her nape and pulled Amelia into a smoldering kiss. When they broke apart, Roy brushed a tear from her cheek. “What’s this? Tears? You never cry.”

  “No one else is worth my tears.” Amelia’s quiet words were difficult for Elizabeth to catch, but she made them out if she strained. Amelia brushed away another tear and shook her head as though it would knock away her feelings. “Baird will be here soon. I don’t want him to find you. He has expectations.”

  “Expectations that you will tell him the king’s schedule. The man oversteps believing he can kill Robert when so many others have failed.

  Elizabeth sensed Ceit’s movement, and she assumed her friend was staring at her in the dark as shocked as she was.

  “That is what he wants. Do you have any idea how difficult it has been to keep him at bay long enough to gather enough information to implicate him so your father can go to the king?”

  “And when do you think that will be?”

  “You just want me to stop bedding the odious little man.”

  “I’d like you to stop bedding any man beside me.”

  “And then how would you get the information your father expects?”

  “There’s bound to be someone he can pay to do this. You could come home.” Roy kissed Amelia once more, but this was a tender kiss, and Elizabeth’s heart felt pinched. It was clear there was genuine emotion between the couple.

  “And how would your father pay for that? You have even less than you did a year ago. Your father won’t give up my free service for someone he has to shell out coins to.”

  “Your service comes at a cost far greater than my father realizes. I never wanted you to spy for us.
I wanted you to be by my side as we grow old together.”

  “Aye well, neither your father nor mine considered us an advantageous marriage. Your father argued that my mother’s marriage to my father connected the Gregors and the Grants more than enough. My father wanted to ally the Grants with the MacAdams, and your father agreed, knowing marrying me off strengthened their alliances to them, too.”

  “Your father wasn’t even in a position to form an alliance. Not as a distant cousin of Laird Grant. It was just another marriage as far as Laird Grant was concerned.”

  “But he was as ambitious as my husband was and your father is.” Amelia looked away and closed her eyes. “My mother and I both paid for it.”

  “Amelia, come home with me.” Roy’s voice was strong, but Elizabeth didn’t miss the pleading.

  Amelia collapsed into his arms as he held her tightly against his bigger frame. Elizabeth watched as tears streamed down the woman’s beautiful face, and Elizabeth understood Amelia’s life better than she ever imagined. She sympathized with the woman who was as much a pawn as she’d been, and much like Ceit, Deirdre, Isabella, and every other woman at court.

  “You know I can’t,” Amelia’s ragged voice choked out each word. “Your father would never allow me to stay. He’d kill me or send me back. He believes the MacAdams still owe him, and he expects me to pay that debt.”

  “You’re not even a fucking MacAdams,” Roy growled.

  “But I’m able to keep your father informed. When I warned him that your land was being given to the Campbells, he realized that all my years at court were worth it. He expects me to work for my room and board here along with being his informant. He doesn’t see me as useful at your home. Now he wants to ingratiate himself back into the king’s good graces by being the one to warn the king of Baird’s treason. But he has to realize that the king will never give that land back.”