A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance

by Barclay, Celeste

  Their home hadn’t been a happy one while his mother was alive, and Ewan realized now how an unwilling bride had spoiled more than just the groom’s life. He didn’t want to repeat his father’s life as his own. Allyson had objected strenuously to his bed-hopping ways and expected he be faithful, which was the opposite of his mother. Allyson proved on the terrace that she didn’t oppose physical intimacy, even if she put limits on it. He’d reacted to the news, assuming Allyson would be like his mother and reject passion and pleasure. She’d never actually objected to it; she’d objected to him sharing it with women other than her.

  “I’ve made a right cock up of this. I jumped to the conclusion that she would be like Mother.”

  “Mother?” Eoin scoffed. “She’s not a bit like Mother. Not even in the least. They couldn’t be more unalike, and the pluck Allyson showed today proves that. Mother would never have spoken out against any man, nor would she have cared whether her husband made his bed with another woman. She never cared. She welcomed it. Once we were born, she had no reason to allow Father ever to return to her chamber. Allyson wanted your head on a pike because she expects you’ll be unfaithful. Mother and Allyson couldn’t be more different than chalk and cheese.”

  “I realize that now, but at the time, my emotions clouded any sense of reason.” Ewan rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyhow, I’ll gain naught more tonight. I have no desire to continue dancing, and Allyson won’t return. I shall bid you goodnight.”

  “Where are you going?” Eoin cast a suspicious glance at his brother.

  “To bed. Alone.”

  “Then I shall retire, too.”

  The brothers quit the Great Hall without a second glance, and Ewan fell into an exhausted sleep as soon as his head touched his pillow.

  Chapter Five

  Allyson carried out her duties as though she hadn’t been given life-altering news the day before. None of the other ladies-in-waiting noticed anything out of the ordinary about her, and she forced herself to remain patient as she went through the daily routine of Mass, meals, and mingling. She’d resolved to slip away from the keep during the equinox feast that evening, so she bribed a guardsman she knew was having an affair with another one of the queen’s attendants. Allyson didn’t doubt she could slip out of the castle gates with the guard and rely on him to escort her to the city gates, which he would ensure she could pass through before they were locked for the night.

  “I’m glad we returned to the overheated Great Hall after our morning pilgrimage to Cairnpapple Hill.” Arabella Johnstone mused. “The view at sunrise might be spectacular as the light filters among the standing stones, but I didn’t appreciate the view of my breath freezing at the end of my nose.”

  “I wouldn’t have minded the cold air if it hadn’t still been dark when we departed,” Cairstine Grant added.

  Allyson kept her eyes on the noon meal as voices flowed around her. She hadn’t minded the morning excursion because it gave her the opportunity to scout the road north as the sun rose. She’d discovered that Elizabeth and Edward Bruce had returned to Culcreuch Castle to stay during the festivities. At an hour’s ride away from Stirling, the couple preferred to be guests of the Galbraiths rather than the royal couple. Allyson intended to pull Elizabeth aside and request shelter at Culcreuch until she could decide what to do next. If her plea was answered, then she would journey to the nearby keep with Elizabeth and Edward after the feast was over. But if Elizabeth refused, then Allyson already had palms greased to facilitate her escape.

  As the afternoon bled into early evening, Allyson failed to spy Elizabeth anywhere near the queen’s solar. Discreet questioning allowed Allyson to discover that the couple didn’t plan to attend the feast because Elizabeth wasn’t feeling up to the heat and odors while she was still in the early months of her first pregnancy. She wanted to groan when she realized that traveling alone was inevitable, but at least Elizabeth wouldn’t deny her request before she left the castle.

  The court gathered in the Great Hall as the feast began, servants bringing laden platters of meats and pastries. Allyson pasted a smile on her face. She forced herself to appear inconspicuous, all while focusing on the exit she’d use to flee the crowd and retire to her chamber to change. She pretended a jovial disposition far from how she felt but was necessary for her ruse to succeed. When the music began, she engaged in one flirtation after another, but kept her eye on the sinking sun as it moved past the windows and doors of the Great Hall. More than once, she noticed Ewan watching her, but she turned away before their gazes could meet.

  Allyson made her move when she caught sight of a man she’d flirted with earlier as he eased his way toward the exit she intended to use. She followed behind as though he led the way but hung back as he slipped out of the gathering hall. Fear of being stopped tempted her to glance back over her shoulder, but she waited until she didn’t need to worry that the man would see her following him. If anyone was paying attention her, and she hoped they were, they would assume she followed him for an assignation. She needed people to believe she was with a dalliance so no one would question why she disappeared and didn’t return to the feast. Once she made it into the passageway, she lifted her skirts above her ankles and ran toward the ladies’-in-waiting chambers. She didn’t pause until she reached her door, breathless but relieved.

  Ewan tracked Allyson as she batted her eyelashes at each would-be suitor who approached. She didn’t decline any request to dance, and she danced more than once with a couple of men. He forced himself to remain propped up against a wall as he’d sworn not to dance with any of the women who batted their own eyelashes at him. No one knew of their betrothal, and Ewan had beseeched the king to give him another day to make amends before everyone learned of their engagement. In the meantime, Allyson continued to appear like an unattached young woman, free to dance with whomever she pleased. Ewan failed to find a moment to speak to her all day. He’d attempted to ride alongside her, but she maneuvered her horse between two other ladies. He slipped between men and women at the standing stones, hoping he could approach her, but she positioned herself next to the queen. He wondered if she sensed his intention to speak to her and was avoiding him.

  “Damn it,” Ewan grumbled. He glanced at Eoin, who had implicitly agreed to keep him company and forego any offers from the women. “She’s followed a man out of the Great Hall again. Didn’t she learn aught last night?”

  Before Eoin could respond, Ewan wove his way through the crowd until he pushed through the doors he’d watched Allyson pass through only moments ago. No one was in sight, but he heard the rustling of clothes in an alcove to his left. Soft murmurs and moans carried, and Ewan felt a wave of panic that Allyson might enjoy more than a mere kiss. He might not want to marry her, but if he had to, he refused to share her. He pushed aside the voice that bellowed he was a hypocrite of the worst sort as he pulled aside the tapestry and yanked the man away. While Ewan recognized him as the man Allyson followed, the woman who screeched and scrambled to push down her skirts wasn’t Allyson.

  “I beg your pardon. I thought you were someone else.” Ewan backed away before spinning around to search for Allyson. Where the devil did she go? And how does she disappear in the blink of an eye?

  * * *

  Allyson tugged at the laces of her gown, twisting and grasping to remove a kirtle that in normal circumstances required a maid’s assistance. There was no way Allyson would alert anyone to her plan or that she’d returned to her chamber. When she was free of the ornate gown, she hung it on a peg in her armoire, pushing it behind other gowns, then lifted the lid of her chest and withdrew the plain travel kirtle and chemise. She rushed to don the new outfit, breathing a sigh of relief that it was an easy gown that didn’t require any help. Allyson lifted the satchel strap over her head and shoulders before wrapping her cloak around her, leaving enough slack to pull up over her nose and mouth. She raised the cowl and hood before peeking out of her door. When nothing stirred and no noise carried to h
er, she eased along the passageway, remaining in the shadows until she reached the servants’ stairs. She raced down them and out to the bailey where she crept toward the postern gate. The guard she’d bribed waited for her. They didn’t exchange a word as he led her away from the castle and deposited her outside the city’s gates.

  She hurried along the road for ten minutes until she came to an outlying village that the royal party had passed through that morning. Allyson had noticed a livery and blacksmith, which had lifted the dread of trying to escape with a horse in tow or on its back. She needed a mount, or she would never make it to Culcreuch unnoticed. As she approached the village stables, she realized it was beside a coaching inn where travelers stopped before reaching Stirling. She entered the stables, but no one greeted her. She passed along the stalls and called out for a stable hand, but there was no response.

  Most of the stalls were empty, but she found a friendly but powerfully built gelding that nodded his large head in greeting. She held out her hand for him to sniff, and when he didn’t nip her, she stroked between his eyes. Allyson felt around behind her for the nearby barrel and retrieved an apple, which she offered on her palm. The animal crunched through the fruit as Allyson eased into the stall. The horse swished his tail once as Allyson hurried to saddle him. She led him from the stable with coins in her hands, then knocked on the back door of the inn. When a man answered, his eyes grew wide to find Allyson on the other side holding the reins to the massive steed. She pressed the coins into his hand, but remained silent. Before the tavern keeper questioned her, she swung into the saddle and nudged the horse forward. She’d kept her hood up and face covered with the shawl. She appeared like an elegant highwayman rather than a lady-in-waiting and laird’s daughter.

  Night was fully upon her when Allyson approached the gates of Culcreuch Castle. She pulled her hood down and lowered her scarf as the distance between her and the portcullis shrank. She wanted to ensure the guardsmen on the battlements could determine she was a woman and posed little threat.

  “Who goes?” A voice bellowed once she was within earshot.

  “Lady Allyson, friend of Lady Bruce,” Allyson called back. She was unwilling to announce to all and sundry who she was. She offered enough information for the guard to pass along, and she prayed Elizabeth would recognize her name and think of her fellow attendant. She need not have feared; only moments later, Elizabeth rushed down the keep’s steps with Edward gripping her elbow. Elizabeth ordered the portcullis raised and Allyson admitted.

  “Allyson, what’re you doing here at this hour? What’s happened?” Elizabeth peered around Allyson’s shoulder and frowned when she realized there was no escort waiting to follow Allyson into the bailey. “Why’re you alone?”

  “Could I speak with you in private?” Allyson murmured as her gaze shot between Elizabeth and Edward, and the nervousness she’d been able to control threatened to weaken her knees.

  “Of course.” Elizabeth led the trio to a chamber Allyson realized was a solar the couple shared. “What’s happened, Allyson? Why are you alone?”

  Allyson unwrapped her scarf and loosened the cloak before she looked at Elizabeth. She took a fortifying breath before launching into her tale of woe. “Do you remember the Gordon twins?” Elizabeth nodded but looked ill at ease at the mention of the brothers who had tried to seduce her into being their mistress more than once. “Your brother-by-marriage ordered me to marry Ewan. He made his decree known only a few hours after I discovered him and Eoin leaving Lady Bevan’s chambers together. Tucking in their leines and grinning. The cad taunted me in the passageway and then threatened to pass me between him and Eoin.”

  “They wouldn’t, Allyson. They wouldn’t dare,” Elizabeth whispered, but her objection rang hollow in her own ears.

  “Why wouldn’t they? They’d just done that very thing with Lady Bevan. To make matters worse, Ewan admitted in front of the king, my father, his father, his brother, and me, not to mention the other men present in the Privy Council, that he had no qualms about forcing me into his bed and keeping a leman, too. None of the men seemed nonplussed by his declaration. None cared about the shame that would bring upon me. None cared that I--” Allyson choked out the last words as the tears she’d controlled for the past day overwhelmed her. Elizabeth pulled her friend into her arms as she looked at her husband. She and Edward knew Allyson couldn’t remain. They were in no position to gainsay Edward’s brother when it came to alliances the king demanded between clans. Furthermore, Culcreuch wasn’t their home. They were guests with an open invitation, but that arrangement came from Robert, not the Galbraiths. They weren’t at liberty to extend shelter in another laird’s home.

  “Allyson, did you run away?” Edward knew the answer, but he needed to be certain. He watched as his wife’s friend nodded but continued to sob against Elizabeth’s shoulder. He wished he could plow his fist into Ewan Gordon’s face, but the young man wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t do Allyson any good. “Does anyone know where you’ve gone? A friend? Your maid?”

  Allyson straightened and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Nay. I didn’t tell anyone. I don’t want my maid punished for my choices, and beyond that, I don’t trust anyone else.”

  Elizabeth exchanged a knowing glance with Edward before tucking stray hair behind Allyson’s ear. She wiped a wayward tear from Allyson’s chin before offering her a reassuring smile. Allyson responded with a weak smile of her own, but her sobs had subsided.

  “Let’s get you settled into a chamber, and in the morning, we can decide how to proceed,” Elizabeth offered. Allyson stared at her for a long moment before nodding.

  “You’re sending me back, aren’t you?” Allyson shrank into herself as the thin hope she’d pinned on making her way to Edward and Elizabeth evaporated.

  “We’ll discuss it in the morning. Nothing’s decided yet,” Edward reassured.

  “You haven’t decided whether you’re returning me personally or just sending your guard as my escort. I shouldn’t have come.” Allyson turned toward the door. “I shouldn’t have involved you.”

  “Allyson, wait. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, you can’t go back out in the night alone. You’re tempting fate. Stay the night, rest, wake up with a clear head, and we’ll decide what to do.” Elizabeth squeezed her hands before leading her from the solar. The trio walked in silence until Elizabeth showed Allyson the chamber where she could pass the rest of the night.

  “Should we post a guard?” Elizabeth murmured as she and Edward made their way to their chamber. “She will run again.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because, Eddie, it’s what I would do.” Elizabeth frowned as she weighed her words. Her husband was protective to a fault, and while his possessiveness never kept her from doing what she wanted, it could overwhelm anyone on the receiving end of his ire. “Both Gordon twins made offers to me over the years, and they never had aught to do with marriage. Everyone knows both men are womanizers. Laird Gordon may be a good man and a good leader, but he hasn’t done aught to hide his mistresses over the years. The apples didn’t fall far from the tree. Neither Ewan nor Eoin believe in the sanctity of marriage, and while it shocks me to hear Ewan threatened to mistreat Allyson, it doesn’t surprise me he did naught to hide his intention to keep a leman. Eddie, I know most women aren’t as fortunate as I am to marry a man I love and who loves me, but no woman deserves to enter a marriage where her groom will flaunt his infidelity in her face. And no woman should be forced to accept a man who has already admitted he has little regard for her wellbeing.”

  “Beth, what you and Allyson have said concerns me, but neither you nor I are able to thwart Robert’s plans. I’ll travel back to Stirling with Allyson and speak on her behalf to my brother, but I can’t promise he’ll listen.”

  “I’m coming, too.”

  “Nay.”

  “Aye. Eddie, she’s my friend. I’ve also experienced the Gordons’ less-than-honorable advances and can speak to t
heir behavior. She needs people on her side, and who better to accompany the king’s brother than a former lady-in-waiting who also happens to be the king’s sister-by-marriage?” Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips and challenged her husband to argue with her. Edward shrugged and rolled his eyes, his capitulation coming without an argument. “But you still haven’t answered my question about whether we should post a guard. I’m afraid she’ll bolt before daylight.”

  “She can’t. None of the guards will open any of the gates to her that early. And if she tries to saddle her horse, at least one of the stable hands will notice and notify me.”

  Elizabeth looked doubtful, but nodded as she climbed into bed.

  Chapter Six

  Allyson dropped the satchel on the floor beside the bed and collapsed onto it, too exhausted to do more than remove her outerwear and boots. She pulled the covers from the far side over her and wrapped herself in them like a cocoon. Her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and her tired eyes were dry and scratchy after crying. Despite feeling worn out, Allyson’s mind wasn’t as depleted as her emotions and her body. She contemplated how to slip away from Edward and Elizabeth before they arranged to return her to court. She once more considered heading toward the Sinclairs and seeking sanctuary with them through her friend Isabella Dunbar, but she remembered two factors that would prove impossible to surmount. She couldn’t travel into the northern Highlands alone, and she’d made more than one inappropriate comment about Magnus and Tavish Sinclair in front of the women they married. She doubted they would receive her warmly after jesting about what laid beneath the men’s plaids. Besides that, Isabella had a husband now and a baby on the way. Allyson dropped off to sleep when her mind gave up its resistance, but she had no new plan in place.