Ewan led them back toward the Great Hall and urged Allyson to enter before him. He waited until she stood with her father and brothers before following her. Eoin joined him as they approached the three Elliot men and Allyson.
“Allyson, when are you returning to court?” Angus inquired.
“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far,” Allyson admitted.
“Don’t you think you should leave soon?” Graeme, the younger of the two brothers, persisted. “Don’t you miss your home and friends?”
“My home?” Allyson whispered before straightening her spine. “Court isn’t my home, but it’s the most appealing place I can think of, and that isn’t saying much.”
Allyson stepped away from her relatives, and Ewan took her arm to escort her to the dais. Eoin followed as though he were on guard, his eyes shifting to watch for anyone else who might make Allyson their target. Once seated, Ewan and Eoin shared a glance over Allyson’s head. He was in a perpetual state of shock at how blatant this hostility was to Allyson. It made no sense to him, but there had to be a reason, and he intended to discover it or take Allyson back to court.
The meal passed with little disturbance, and the twins engaged Allyson in conversation throughout it. They weren’t interested in speaking to anyone else, nor were they willing to allow Allyson to be ignored. When the dancing began, Ewan witnessed Allyson transform into the vibrant woman he remembered from court. It was the same as it had been her first night here. It appeared the Elliot clan didn’t share the laird’s family’s rejection, and several young guardsmen took turns dancing with Allyson. Ewan observed as she partnered with one man after another, some young enough to be a suitor while others were old enough to be her grandfather. She laughed with each of them, light on her feet and graceful as they swung her around.
It was Shrove Tuesday, and the last day for merriment before the solemnity of Lent began. Ewan feared without the opportunity for entertainment and lightheartedness, he wouldn’t see her smile for the next forty days.
“She’s enjoying herself,” Ewan mused. “She looks like she does at court. It amazes me, and not in the good way, that her parents and siblings can have such an effect on her personality. But I can’t blame her. I think I would be the same.”
“No, I’d be the same,” Eoin countered. “You’d have told them all to go to hell by now.”
“True. I’m ready to do that now.” Ewan turned to face his twin. “I’ve asked her to meet me in the garden tonight. I’m going to figure out whether or not we have a future. Eoin, you should have been the older twin. You’re far wiser than I am.”
"I have no interest in being the older brother. You need the voice of reason, so you’re lucky we came as a matched set.”
“Mary propositioned me yesterday, and I realized that my betrayal, if I strayed, would be even worse than her sister’s. It forced me to consider how things have unraveled in the past sennight and a half. I went from wanting to dance with Allyson that blasted day that changed all of this to dreading marriage to wanting to drag her to the kirk. I stopped to think about what this must be like from her position.”
“But I can’t imagine Mary changed your mind. She’s been eying both of us since we walked in, so what really made you alter your course?”
“I told you. If I marry Allyson, which I was never averse to, and am not faithful, that’s worse than her sister trying to bed me. She can’t pick her relatives, but she’s fighting tooth and nail to have some control over who she must marry. It terrified her and left her powerless, so she ran. You and I will never experience that. It may not have thrilled me to discover others made plans for me, and I did feel powerless, but I was never scared. We’re men; we have all the power, and that keeps us from experiencing the fear women must live with when they have no control over the decisions made for them. I’m the heir to a large clan that has influence throughout not only the Highlands but all of Scotland. Besides Father and the king, who can force my hand? No one. Not really. But who can force Allyson? Everyone. She deserves a husband committed to her, and if I won’t do that, then I have no business marrying her.”
“But you do want to marry her?”
“I do.”
“Why? Is it because she’s pretty? Because you’ve enjoyed stealing kisses?”
“I won’t deny both things are true, but I’ve had time to evaluate what I know about her. She’s brave and resourceful. She’s able to create a life for herself wherever she goes. She can endure more than most will face, and she’s come out unscathed. She may be naïve and foolish at times, but with age and support, she’ll learn the way of the world. She will make a fine lady for our clan. Even now I can tell, and that’s the position she will step into. Father may still be laird, but with Mother gone, she will be Lady Gordon for all intents and purposes.”
“I’m glad you see that at last.”
“At last? When did you figure that out?”
“When she hissed and spat at you like a trapped wildcat.”
“You might have explained this sooner, little brother.”
“You had to come to these realizations on your own.”
Ewan shot him a withering glance as he raised his mug of ale to his mouth, but he recognized Eoin was right. His brother had tried to make him realize it, but he’d remained stubborn.
Chapter Twenty
Allyson glanced behind her as she moved toward the passageway that would take her to the gardens. She stifled a groan when she spotted Alice and Laurel approaching. She had no desire for her sisters to waylay her as she attempted to meet Ewan in the gardens. Allyson assumed everyone had retired, especially Laurel, who’d already gone abovestairs to check on her children, but both women drew closer. She strained to see past their shoulders and noticed Mary sitting before the fire, watching Alice and Laurel stalk their prey.
“Where are you going, sister?” Alice purred.
“I thought to step outside for a moment. A breath of fresh air and a moment of solitude before I retire for the night.”
“Are you sure you’re not meeting a mon?” Laurel narrowed her eyes as though she might read Allyson’s thoughts.
“Nay. I’d prefer to be alone,” Allyson countered. She needed to convince her sisters she held no interest for them.
“Alone? You didn’t appear to want to be alone all eve as you danced with one mon after another. You didn’t spare any mon your attention. You made a disgrace of yourself. And the way the Gordon twins passed you back and forth, it made it obvious they’re both bedding you.” Alice managed to look down her nose at Allyson, even though they were the same height.
“Just because that’s what you might do, doesn’t mean that’s what I’m doing. I’ve met both brothers before at court, they’re our guests, and I’m to be betrothed to one of them. It stands to reason that I would dance with them. One will be my husband and the other will be my brother-by-marriage.” Allyson forced herself to cease speaking before she said something that she couldn’t take back, something the sisters would hold against her.
“What are you implying?” Alice angled herself closer, cutting off Allyson’s path to the gardens.
“I’m implying naught. I’m saying I’ve seen you and Mary flirting with the mon I’m to marry, and I don’t appreciate it.”
“Our little sister is trying to grow a backbone,” Laurel laughed. “You’re naught but a wee lass who doesn’t understand what that mon wants or how to give it to him.”
“And Alice does? She’s never been married either. How would she know?” Allyson glared at her sisters as she waited for her sisters to admit Alice was no innocent.
“She’s had the benefit of my and Mary’s experience. We have been able to enlighten Alice to what a mon expects in his bed.”
“You’ve turned her into a whore,” Allyson shuddered and took a step back, her hand going over her heart.
Alice reached up and pinched the back of Allyson’s arm as she pushed her toward the Great Hall and where Mary sat
. “You would know after your time at court. There’s no way that you haven’t been bedded like every other whoring lady-in-waiting.”
“Where do you get your information? None of you have been to court more than a handful of times, and the last time was for Father to present you before the king and queen. That was years ago. None of you have spent time there, nor are you acquainted with any other ladies-in-waiting. How would you be aware of what happens there? You have naught but made up stories.”
“Mother and Father told us what goes on there.” Laurel lifted her chin higher in an attempt at haughtiness, but she looked ridiculous with her head tilted back.
“Neither of them has spent much time at court since Queen Elizabeth returned. How would they know? And if they’re so convinced it’s a moral abyss, why did they send me to serve there?”
“To rid us of you.” Alice didn’t hesitate in her response. She leaned close to Allyson’s ear but did little to lower her voice. “We all thought Father would find you a fat auld mon, slobbering to get a son off you.”
“But that’s not who the king chose, and now you and Mary are jealous that I’ve got a mon, a braw one, and you’ve got naught.”
“It’s not fair,” Alice whined before catching herself.
“Little in life is fair. It wasn’t fair that I was born into such a coldhearted family, but I’m surviving.”
“We’re only cold toward you,” Laurel sniffed.
“Why? What did I ever do to any of you?” Allyson was certain her sisters heard the neediness in her voice because they both grinned.
“You’re not one of us,” Laurel hissed.
“You presume either Mother or Father took a lover.”
“We’re certain Father has. Several. You’re one of his bastards fobbed off on Mother and us. We never wanted you,” Laurel practically barked the last words.
“How can you be certain?” Allyson needed to know, needed to hear her sisters confess what they’d taunted her with for years.
“Besides you resemble none of us? We never saw Mother’s waist expanding, so when we arrived home from court to find you screeching like a banshee, there was no other explanation. Mother did not bear you.”
“I have as much control over how I look as I do who my parents are. Why punish me?”
“You think we could speak out against Father? Besides, you’re the one we don’t want. You’re a disgrace, and a reminder to Mother of how horrid Father was to her. Why would any of us want a constant reminder?” Laurel crossed her arms, casting Allyson a look of utter disgust. Allyson felt like little more than refuse under her sisters’ hateful heels.
“Then leave me alone. You never took an interest in me before. Don’t bother now.”
“But you have something I want,” Alice chimed in.
“Ewan isn’t a something. He’s a person, and he’s a person the king has already decided will marry me.”
“He won’t if you step aside. You ran from him to avoid marrying him. You don’t want him, but you won’t let anyone else have him either. You’re selfish,” Alice whined.
“I was scared.”
“Every bride is scared.” Mary joined the conversation, having grown impatient for her sisters to move closer to the fireplace. “My husband forced me on our wedding night, but I got over it. Laurel can barely tolerate the sight of her husband, but she’s born his children. Who are you to decide you can avoid your duty?”
“You intend to punish me. Make me watch you two,” Allyson gestured to Mary and Alice. “Attempt to seduce him. He can’t marry both of you. He can’t marry either of you. Like I said, the king decided this matter.”
“I don’t intend to marry him,” Marry countered. “I just intend to bed him. A mon like that has appetites only an experienced woman can satisfy. Alice will marry him, but in the meantime, I shall enjoy him.”
“You’re disgusting. The bible teaches us ‘flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.’ You are covetous.”
“That’s laughable coming from a soiled dove who’s probably bedded more men than our tavern wenches.”
“You are convinced men have led me astray, yet Berta examined me when I arrived and found naught amiss. I have not been with a mon.” Allyson realized she’d fallen into her sisters’ trap. While she defended herself, she admitted that she hadn’t the knowledge or experience a man like Ewan expected from his bed partners. She bit her tongue lest she dig herself in deeper.
“Step aside, little sister. We won’t ask again,” Alice sneered.
“You haven’t asked for aught. All you’ve tried to do is bully me, but one thing I learned at court is how to survive those who would intimidate me. I have naught left to say to any of you.” Allyson spun on her heels but drew up short when she spotted a large form cast in the shadows of the passageway. She couldn’t tell if it was Ewan or Eoin, but one of them had heard the disastrous conversation. The exchange with her sisters mortified her too much to meet Ewan in the gardens, so she pivoted and dashed up the stairs.
* * *
Ewan stormed into the tower chamber, livid. He slammed the door shut as Eoin glanced up from sharpening his sword. Ewan paced across the small chamber several times, yanking at the collar of his leine as though it tried to strangle him. Finally he ripped it over his head and flung it against the wall.
“Failed to steal a kiss from Allyson? Did she smash your toes or knee you in the cods?” Eoin chuckled.
“Nay. I waited for her in the garden, but when she didn’t appear, I searched for her. I found her in an argument with her sisters. It started with Alice and Laurel, but then Mary joined in. They told her she’s illegitimate and that none of them ever wanted her. They called her a whore for her time at court and told her she would never be what I want. How the devil would they know what I want? Even if my reputation precedes me, which I’m now certain it does, or even if those bitches just made an accurate assessment of my past, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to marry Allyson. I chased her across God’s creation.”
“And until this evening, you intended to bed any woman you fancied regardless of being married. It seems they had a similar line of thought as you did.”
“But to say it to Allyson’s face?”
“You did. You did it not only in front of me but our father, her father, and the king. I don’t know which is a worse humiliation.”
“Bugger it. I’ve never wanted to strike someone as badly as I did her sisters. And they’re women!”
“You stood there and listened? You didn’t come to her defense?”
“At first, I was too stunned to say aught. When I gathered my wits, Allyson was already defending herself. I was in two minds whether to step in, but I didn’t want her sisters to think Allyson’s weak. If I intervened, they would never respect her.”
“That’s laughable, brother. You think they’ll ever respect her?”
“As though calling her a whore wasn’t bad enough, they taunted her, claiming she could never satisfy me. They went back and forth from every side, cutting Allyson down to the quick. Then Mary and Alice confessed they’ve decided Mary will be my mistress until Alice marries me! Bluidy bleeding hell! Can you believe that? Who says that to their sister?”
“Women can be conniving and manipulative, but this takes it to the extreme. It’s one thing when the women are competing at court. It’s political as much as it’s personal, but they usually aren’t sisters. They’re not even from the same clan most of the time.” Eoin paused as he shook his head before asking the pivotal question. “What are you going to do?”
“Since I can’t wring their scrawny necks, I will avoid them when I can. I want to spend time with Allyson, anyway.”
“I’ll do aught that I can to help you.” Eoin grinned.
“Don’t you dare bed any of Allyson’s sisters, or I’ll throttle you.” Ewan warned as Eoin threw his hands up in surrender and laughed.
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“I’m not bedding any of her relatives. Maybe a wench or two at the tavern, but I have no interest in any of the Elliot sisters.”
“Eoin, she saw me.” Ewan came to stand before his brother, and it surprised Eoin to see how embarrassed, even ashamed, Ewan looked. “You asked why I didn’t step in. She must be asking herself the same question. I’m certain she couldn’t tell whether it was you or me, but I know she saw someone. What do I say?”
“If she asks, explain it to her the same way you did to me. It made sense to me.”
“I don’t know that she’ll see it that way. She defended me when Alice called me ‘something.’ If I’m to be Ally’s husband, then I should protect her.”
“But she’s also a woman who wants to prove she can stand on her own two feet, one who doesn’t cower behind a man.”
“I hope she sees it that way.”
“Don’t bring it up unless she does. Then she might assume it was me rather than you eavesdropping.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping!”
“I think you were. I think that’s exactly what eavesdropping is.”
“I don’t know that I can avoid it. Silence is as good as a lie in this case.”
Eoin shrugged and returned to sharpening his blade. Ewan stood by the arrow slit and stared at the sky, wishing he could be anywhere but at Redheugh, but only if he could take Allyson with him.
Chapter Twenty-One
The following fortnight took on a pattern that filled Ewan’s day, but he was certain it left Allyson alone for most of it. He awoke, then he and Eoin made their way to the lists. They spent the morning and early afternoon training with their men and the Elliot warriors. He’d find Allyson alone in the gardens, reading or weeding. Other times she visited the various workshops in the bailey, and a few times he found her having just returned from the village. They walked together in the bailey or sat in the garden, some days enjoying companionable silence, but other days they talked of Allyson’s life at court and Ewan’s life with his clan in the Highlands. Ewan discovered when Allyson was away from her family, she returned to the lighthearted woman he knew from court. She shared the latest gossip and laughed at Ewan’s impersonations of the Lowland courtiers who flocked to King Robert’s side. Allyson had Ewan laughing so hard he held his side when she attempted a Highland burr.
A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance Page 14
