Tamed by a Laird

by Amanda Scott

  “If you think I’ll dislike it, I know I will,” she said, sitting upright and facing him, prepared to do battle. “What is it?”

  “A husband’s right to command obedience,” he replied. “We will leave for Annan House today, Jenny, and I don’t want to hear any argument.”

  Chapter 12

  Hugh had indeed scarcely slept, other than to doze from time to time, and had wakened well before Jenny had, when her warm body had snuggled against his. His had leapt in welcome of her presence as he wakened, and he had lain stiffly, quietly, since then, not wanting to awaken her. But he ached to hold her.

  Although he told himself he would ache to hold any comely lass, he knew it was untrue. None had stirred him since Ella’s death, although he had met many in the meantime. He had believed no woman would ever stir him again. But Jenny did.

  He eyed her now, glowering at him, and had to struggle not to smile.

  He did not expect her to submit to his decision without argument. But after days of feeling helpless to do anything but keep an eye on her, he now had a legal right to enforce his authority—and he would.

  Continuing to glower, she said, “Do you really think you can make me go if I don’t want to?”

  “Aye, I can,” he said. “I could toss you over my shoulder and carry you to your horse, and not one man here would interfere.”

  “They would if I asked them to.”

  “Lass, like it or not, these people contrived to make me your husband and they accept me as such. But you do have a choice. You can obey me in this or you can reveal your identity, and mine, and admit to everyone here that you have deceived them from the outset. When you tell them that you lied to the Joculator about my being your suitor, how do you think they will react?”

  She sighed. “You know how. You also know how I feel about it. I behaved badly, stupidly. But I lied only to him. He must have told someone else, because they all seem to think that you care for me. If only everyone had detested you—”

  She broke off, grimacing. “That was a horrid thing to say. I never meant them to dislike you. I just wanted to make it harder for you to take me back by force.”

  “I couldn’t have done that in any event,” he said. “Dunwythie asked me to fetch you but gave me no written authority to do so. That I might need such a thing occurred to neither of us, because he wanted no scandal.”

  “I’m glad he gave you no authority,” she said, putting her hands to her flushed cheeks. “Just think if you’d had a document to show to the Joculator! You’d have taken me straightaway. How embarrassing! Of course, if you had, I’d never have told him that fib, and—”

  “I doubt if any document would have persuaded the Joculator to let me take you against your will,” Hugh said. “Minstrel companies, being itinerant by nature, rarely expect the law to treat them fairly, so they look after their own, and you became an accepted member of this company overnight. I knew from the start that they would take your part against me, especially the Joculator. Having no family of his own, other than this company, the chances of his siding with your uncle—”

  “He did have a son,” Jenny reminded him. “Recall that the vielle belonged to him, but he died years ago. Cath said the anniversary of his death is near, which is why the Joculator spends so much time alone and sets his tent apart from the others.”

  “What happened to his wife?”

  “I don’t think he ever married. But that is naught to do with us, sir. I still think we must go to Threave to warn Archie that he may have trouble brewing!”

  Hugh shook his head. “I’ll see that he learns of your suspicion.”

  “Faith, you still don’t believe there is any plot threatening him,” she said more sharply than she had yet spoken to him.

  “Whether I believe it or not, I will see that Archie hears of your concerns,” he said, careful to keep his voice even and not reveal a hint of his own increasing suspicion that something was at least amiss. “He is my kinsman and I served him loyally for years. I would not keep any such possibility from him.”

  “Still, you do not attach much importance to warning him, or you would set off straightaway and just leave me here. I would be perfectly safe.”

  “I also have a duty to Dunwythie,” he reminded her. When she opened her mouth to go on arguing, he added curtly, “Think, lass. If I were to ride off to Threave, leaving you with this company, what do you think would happen if you are right and some plot does exist? What would the plotters think?”

  She frowned. “You need not say you are riding to Threave.”

  “Sakes, I told everyone at the outset that I was going there,” he said. “ ’Tis why they’ve let me travel with them.”

  “Even so—”

  “Don’t you see, if someone is plotting mischief and has reason to think you might suspect as much, you might be in danger here. In any event, you will go back to Annan House so his lordship can begin to undo this marriage of ours and set things right. Betrothals are complex matters, and the Kirk takes a dim view of treating them lightly, let alone of ignoring one and marrying someone else.”

  “But I didn’t do that!”

  “You know that, and I know that. But yon priest has a copy of our marriage lines, which he will duly record in the parish book at Sweetheart Abbey. You heard him say he must follow his rules, and we must follow the Kirk’s laws to undo what he did. Until then…”

  “But you said the minstrels don’t care about laws, so what makes you so sure they won’t support me if I say I want to stay with them?”

  Exerting himself to find patience, he said, “We have already plucked that crow. The plain fact is that a husband has absolute right to command his wife, and every man and woman here knows that.”

  She met his gaze for a long moment and then sighed, pushed aside the covers, and said, “Where did I put my shoes?”

  “Yonder,” he said, pointing to the shadows at the foot of her pallet.

  She nodded, stretched to retrieve them, and put them on. “If you will permit me to go outside, sir, I must…” She bit her lip. When he nodded his understanding, she stood, pushed aside the tent flap, and stepped out.

  Finding his boots, Hugh pulled them on, wishing he could think clearly. His body still ached for hers, as if it called him a fool for honoring his promise to her.

  It had been all he could do to pretend that he was unaffected by having her so close to him. The temptation to grab her and stop her arguments with kisses and caresses had been almost more than he could withstand.

  Jenny hurried into the woods, found a place to see to her immediate need, and then, hoping Hugh would not look for her right away, went to find Peg.

  The erstwhile maidservant was talking with Gawkus near one of the cook fires, but seeing Jenny, she broke off her conversation and hurried to meet her.

  “I didna think ye’d be up so early,” she said.

  “Sir Hugh means to take me back,” Jenny said. “However, I do not want to go. He thinks our marriage is not legal, sithee, because of my betrothal to his brother. So, he means to hand me back to my uncle to sort things out.”

  “Sakes, mistress, I thought ye’d be gey pleased to marry Sir Hugh. The two o’ ye seem to like each other, and more. Sakes, when ye sing to him—”

  “That was an act, Peg, like everything else!” Ignoring the silent protest that arose within her at the words, Jenny added fiercely, “I don’t want to go back!”

  Peg frowned. “I dinna blame ye for that, mistress, especially if they can still make ye marry that Reid Douglas. Sakes, me own cousin were overnight with a man—and him another cousin—’cause his mam died whilst she were a-staying wi’ them. He arranged to send her home the very next morning, but the man she were betrothed to demanded she be examined to make sure her cousin hadna taken her maidenhead—aggrieved as the poor man were, and all!”

  “Examined?”

  “Aye, sure, d’ye ken nowt o’ such?

  When Jenny shook her head, Peg said, �
�Me cousin told me half the women in the village came to watch when the midwife felt to see did she still have her virtue intact. She’ll never forgive her man for demanding such a thing o’ her.”

  A shiver shot up Jenny’s spine. Would Reid demand such an examination? The image Peg’s words had stirred in her mind made her skin crawl.

  “I can’t go back,” she said firmly.

  “Aye, but ye must, mistress. A woman must do as her husband bids her.”

  Jenny ground her teeth together to keep from shrieking that she need not do so. But she knew that arguing the point with Peg would be useless.

  Looking around, she saw that Hugh had come out of their tent and was talking with several other men near the second fire.

  He caught her gaze briefly but made no move toward her. Nor did he motion her to join him.

  Taking it to mean he would not try to order her about yet, and seeing that Gilly had joined Gawkus where Peg had left the latter, she strolled toward them, trying to think how to put her case to them.

  They both smiled at her approach. But she noted, too, that they looked as one toward Hugh.

  “Good morrow,” she said, drawing their attention back to her. “I hope you have some time for us to practice after breakfast, Gilly. I want to show you how much better my aim is with my dirk.”

  “Aye, sure, Jenny,” Gilly said. “That is, if your man approves it. Husbands, sithee, can be prickly creatures.”

  “Oh, Hugo will not mind,” she said.

  Gawkus frowned. “Sakes, lass,” he said. “The man has watched over ye like a wolf wi’ one cub since he came here. And Gilly may be small, but he’s aye another man for all that.”

  Feeling heat flood her cheeks, Jenny said, “Even so, Hugo knows that Gilly has been teaching me. He won’t object to another lesson.”

  “Will he not?” Gilly asked with a slight movement of his head.

  Following the motion, expecting to see Hugh striding toward them, she saw instead with a sinking sensation that Lucas had begun to take down their tents.

  “He has already taken out the pallets, lass. For all that your Hugo said he meant to ride with us to Threave, I’m thinking he has taken another notion into his head now. He were none so pleased as we thought he’d be by yon wedding.”

  “Sakes, do you think he is leaving me?”

  “Nay, then,” Gawkus said. “The man doesna breathe wha’ would be such a dunder-pate as that. He wants ye to himself now, is all.”

  That thought shot new sensations through her. She was sure Hugh could make her do almost anything if he set his mind to it, and instead of infuriating her, the knowledge intensified the unfamiliar feelings and made her feel hot all over.

  “Ye’re blushing, lassie,” Gilly said with a knowing smile. “I’ll just go ask him does he want me to go on teach—”

  “Nay, then, don’t,” she said, flustered but determined not to give Hugh a chance to tell Gilly he was taking her home. “I’ll… I’ll ask him myself.”

  “Aye, that would be better,” the little man agreed.

  Certain now that with Peg, Gilly, and Gawkus reacting as they had to her marriage, she could count on no one else—least of all the Joculator—to side with her, Jenny felt more irritated than ever with Hugh.

  She equaled him in rank. In fact, for all she knew of Thornhill, her estates might be larger and more valuable than his were. Yet, because of her foolish lie and the contrivance of her supposed friends, Hugh was now her husband and could command her to do whatever it occurred to him to command.

  “It is not fair,” she muttered.

  “What’s that, Jenny-lass?” Gawkus asked gently.

  Still watching Hugh as Gerda swayed up to him, doubtless with eyelashes aflutter, Jenny had forgotten about the two men who stood with her.

  Glancing up at Gawkus, she wished she had kept a guard on her tongue. But knowing she owed him an explanation, she decided on the truth and said ruefully, “I don’t want him to take me away from here.”

  “Then ye’ve only to tell him so,” Gawkus recommended.

  “I did.”

  “I see.” He exchanged a look with Gilly, then looked soberly back at her. “Did we do ye a disservice, Jenny-lass? We none of us meant to do that.”

  Gilly, too, looked upset.

  Jenny could not let her two friends think they had betrayed her, not when the whole thing was her own fault. “Nay,” she said gently. “ ’Twas no disservice. I… I am just not accustomed to submitting to any man since my father died.”

  “Aye, we did think ye must lack a father, as sure o’ yourself as ye be,” Gawkus said. “I warrant ye’ve nae brothers either.”

  She shook her head, realizing she could not continue a discussion of her family without revealing the truth or trying to lie again, and she did not want to do either one. If she had her way, she would never lie again, to anyone.

  “Yon Hugo still be a-staring at us,” Gilly said. “I think ye should go now and put the man’s mind to rest afore he comes over here and puts us to rest.”

  Jenny looked at Hugh and saw that Gerda still chatted with him. Even so, he was watching her, and Gilly was right. Hugh looked grim.

  Wary of stirring his temper further, she said, “I had better go.”

  “So I were just a-thinking that mayhap we should practice yon scene again lest we forget our lines,” Gerda said.

  Gerda had been batting her eyelashes at Hugh as if she were trying to fling them off her eyelids. Twice now, she had touched his arm as if she sensed that he was trying to ignore her. Glancing away, he saw Jenny walking toward them.

  When Gerda put a hand on his forearm and left it there, he reluctantly wrenched his gaze from Jenny to look at the plumper lass, wishing he could think of something to say that would discourage Gerda’s flirting without giving offense.

  He had not decided what he would say to the others in the company, but he would have to think of something soon. Lucas had packed the sumpter baskets and nearly had the tent down. Although he had acted quietly, someone would demand an explanation soon. The minstrels would not pack up for at least two more days.

  Bustling up to them, Cath said, “Gerda, if ye’re going to break your fast, ye’d best get to it. Hugo doesna want to hear your blandishments today. The man just married, love, so leave him be—at least till his passions cool some.”

  Hugh met Cath’s laughing eyes and smiled. “Such cooling may take time,” he said, knowing that would be true, annulment or no annulment.

  “Aye, sure,” Cath said. “But everyone forgets these first days soon enough. I see that your man be a-packing your things. D’ye mean to be away, then?”

  “I expect ye’ll understand how it is,” he said. “I followed me lass for so long and came so near giving up thinking I might win her that I want her to m’self now for a time. Will the others think the worse o’ me for that?”

  “Nay then,” she said, casting a teasing glance at her daughter. “What I’m thinking is that only one person will grieve your loss, Hugo, and that be our Gerda. Lanky Gawkus can take your place in yon play, for if Gilly plays the priest, ’twill be even funnier. And,” she added with a sour look, “Cuddy’s cousin Drogo be going to Threave with us, so he can take your place wi’ the singing.”

  Seeing Jenny pause nearby, Hugh motioned her close and put an arm around her. “I was just telling Cath and Gerda that we mean to leave, lass. I think now that I ought to have told the Joculator first, though. We had better go do that now.”

  He saw her glance at Gerda, her expression revealing little. She held out a hand to Cath then, saying, “Thank you, and you, too, Gerda, for making me feel so welcome here. I shall miss you both. Indeed, I will miss everyone here.”

  Cath opened her arms, and Jenny walked into them. With tears in her eyes, she hugged the older woman hard. Then, turning to Gerda, she opened her own arms.

  Grinning, Gerda hugged her. “I willna say ye’re the better woman for him, Jen,” she said. “But ye d
o sing well. So, if he casts ye off, come and find us.”

  With a watery chuckle, Jenny said, “I will, and gladly. Thank you!”

  As they walked away, Hugh said, “You have a good heart, lass.”

  She did not answer, and he knew she was still fighting tears.

  Jenny would not have wanted to admit that, briefly, she had felt more like scratching out Gerda’s eyes than hugging her. Why that impulse had leapt into being she could not have said. It had formed when she saw Gerda rest her hand on Hugh’s arm and had swiftly ballooned to near fury. Surely, she was not jealous!

  Neither did she want to admit that she had made herself hug Gerda only because she had hugged Cath and did not want to give Gerda cause to speak against her. It had seemed right to do it, so she had simply followed an instinct that had served her well in the past. Now, she was glad she had.

  Walking to find the Joculator, she waited for Hugh to speak.

  “Looks like snow,” he said at last, frowning at the sky.

  “As it has every day for a sennight,” she reminded him.

  “Those clouds in the west are blacker though, and ’tis growing colder.”

  He was right, but normally in March, the nearer one came to the end, the milder the weather. Moreover, they had not had a heavy snowstorm in weeks.

  She was more concerned about what they would say to the Joculator and what he would say to them. They found him at his tent.

  He had heard them coming and came out to meet them. Looking from one to the other, he said, “So ye’re leaving us. I trust there be nae ill will betwixt us.”

  “None, sir,” Hugh said. “Though I do mean to take my lass away from here. I hope you have no objection.”

  “Nay, how should I? I’m thinking I dinna ken the whole tale yet, but mayhap someday ye’ll see fit to tell me.”