An hour later, dinner was served in the hall. It was a far smaller gathering than usual, for Ram and Gavin Douglas and the bulk of their moss-troopers were out on Border patrol. Rob Kennedy, who had slept most of the afternoon, was flanked by his daughter Valentina and Ada. Raven sat with Heron, while Beth and Duncan Kennedy sat across from them.
Raven's glance traveled about the hall, searching for Heath. She saw that he was sitting at a trestle table with the priest and the Douglas men who had been left behind to guard Eskdale Castle. The food was exceptional; both Heron and Duncan remarked on the fact several times during the meal. Raven, however, could taste nothing. She replied politely whenever Duncan Kennedy tried to engage her in conversation, but her attention wandered, and her glance kept straying to the trestle table further down the hall. She reminded herself that she must think with her head and not her heart. Tomorrow she would regain her precious freedom and leave this place forever, and it would be best to forget about it.
When the meal drew to a close, and one by one they stood up to leave, Rob Kennedy staggered on his feet and fell against the table. Tina and Ada grabbed him and sat him down again. Heath was on his feet immediately, striding down the hall.
Beth's hand flew to her mouth. “Father's ill,” she whispered.
Duncan Kennedy cursed. “He's no' ill, he drinks too much. He's been at it all day!”
Heath gave Duncan a level look. “He's feeling his age.” He swept past his half-brother and went to aid his father. “I'll see him to bed,” he told Tina. He picked up Rob Kennedy and carried him from the hall.
The next morning, Raven donned her own riding outfit and went to bid Valentina and her babies goodbye. Tina told her that Heath had arranged an escort to ride with them to the English Border, and Raven realized that she would not be able to bid him goodbye. Under the circumstances, she knew that was best. Her brother, however, lingered over his goodbyes to Beth Kennedy, and Raven suspected that the young couple were becoming attracted to each other.
The trio rode from Eskdale to Liddesdale and crossed the Border at Liddel Water, where their Scots escort turned back. The minute she was on English soil, she threw back her head and cried, “I'm free, I'm free! Oh, Heron, freedom is the most precious thing in the world!” Raven refused to go to Bewcastle, so Heron agreed to ride to their grandmother's at Blackpool Gate. When they arrived, he sent a message to Christopher Dacre that he and Raven were traveling home to Rockcliffe the following day.
Ram Douglas and Heath Kennedy unlocked Eskdale's dungeon and stepped inside. Douglas carried a torch that illuminated the cell, showing its furnishings were a bucket, a straw pallet, and a table. There was neither chair nor stool to sit upon. Kennedy carried a jug of ale, which he set upon the table next to an empty stone jar and a tin plate.
The prisoner immediately arose from the straw pallet and shielded his eyes from the light. When he saw the two dark faces of his visitors, so grim and threatening, he took a step back.
Heath Kennedy pierced him with a stare. “What's your name?”
“Sim Armstrong—Mangey's me brother.”
“Well, Sim,” Ram Douglas said matter-of-factly, “piss around with me, and I'll hand ye yer balls in a jar of ale.”
Armstrong licked lips that were bone dry.
“Your mission was to dispose of Ram Douglas and make it look like an English raid. Why?” Heath demanded.
“Clan Douglas holds too much power.” Armstrong's voice quavered.
“Why me?” Ram probed. “Why not Archibald Douglas, the new earl and head of the clan?”
Sim Armstrong again licked his lips, but this time his tongue was dry too. “I'm a dead mon if I rat!”
Ram unsheathed his knife. “Ye're a dead man if ye don't.”
“Archie Douglas can be bribed!”
“And Henry Tudor knows I cannot,” Ram concluded.
“So Dacre is the go-between?” Heath prompted.
Armstrong nodded, and fear made his words spill out. “Mangey and Dacre are thick as thieves. They fired yer stables tae silence me because I know too much! Ye saw Mangey silence Hob Armstrong at Bewcastle, but I didna believe he'd murder his own brother!”
Heath and Ramsay exchanged a look. Heath pushed the jug of ale across the table toward Armstrong, then they withdrew.
“A piece of the puzzle doesn't fit.” Ram shook his head. “If Henry Tudor wanted me dead, why did the bloody Armstrongs go tae so much trouble tae take ye tae England? Would it not be better fer the king and Dacre tae make it look like the Scots did the deed?”
“Perhaps that was Mangey Armstrong's idea, so we couldn't track them down easily.”
“Or perhaps it was somebody else wanted me dead,” Ram mused. “I believe I'll have a quick ride tae Glasgow tomorrow and have a word with the partner of the late Moses Irvine. Master Goldman is the lawyer's name, if I'm not mistaken.”
“You are seldom mistaken, my friend. Don't ride alone.”
“I'd ask ye tae accompany me, but I know ye wouldn't wish tae forego visitin' with yer family,” Ram jested. “I'll take Jock.”
When Raven and Heron arrived home, her brother made himself scarce by taking his dogs into Rockcliffe Marsh to hunt, leaving his sister to answer the flurry of inevitable questions from their mother. Raven unpacked the clothes she had never worn and saw that they needed pressing before they were hung back in her wardrobe. Lark, curious as a cat, followed her to the kitchen and plied her with questions about Christopher Dacre. As Raven heated the irons, she managed to evade answering her sister, but when her mother came on the scene, Raven knew she would have to be more forthcoming.
“How was my mother? Still living in her own little world, I suppose.” Kate often asked a question, then answered it herself.
“Dame Doris was very well indeed, Mother.”
“Why she insists that you call her Dame Doris, instead of plain Grandmother, I'll never know!”
“She doesn't mind at all when I call her Grandmother, though I imagine she would object to plain Grandmother,” Raven said lightly.
“Did she quiz you about your marriage plans? I warrant, it's none of her business.”
Raven nodded as she gazed into the kitchen fire waiting for her iron to heat, and heard her grandmother's words: He's a Borderer, I hope. I want a real man for you, Raven. Better someone wild and fascinating like a mountain ram than someone tame and uninteresting like a craven lapdog.
“Did you tell her that we have great hope of betrothing you to Lord Dacre's heir, Christopher?”
“Yes, I told her about Chris Dacre.”
“Did she get to meet him? Really, Raven, you would exasperate a saint. Why can't you tell us from beginning to end what happened? You act as if it's a deep, dark secret!”
Raven lifted the iron from the fire and cried out as the handle burned her sensitive palm. She closed her eyes and felt Heath's healing touch.
“Surely I've taught you better than that, Raven!” Her mother thrust an oven pad at her. “If you spent less time with those wild birds and more time learning to run a household, your chances of catching a husband would be vastly improved!”
Raven hung on to her temper. Her mother took such little interest in her “wild birds” she had no idea that Raven had lost Sultan and Sheba. Nor would she care if she did know.
Tenacious as a terrier, Kate went back to the subject she had been pursuing. “I want to know how matters have progressed between you and Christopher Dacre. After all, you only went to Blackpool Gate because it was close to Bewcastle.”
That's true. How long ago it seems. “Chris Dacre invited me to visit Bewcastle, but of course I didn't go.”
“You didn't go?” Kate was incredulous.
“I told him it would be most improper for me to visit Bewcastle unless we were betrothed.”
“Clever girl! Did that prompt him to propose a betrothal?”
Raven did not want to think about it, let alone talk about it. “Mother, Chris Dacre and I went out r
iding one time, and one time only. Matters have not progressed beyond that.”
“You should have made the most of your opportunity!”
Raven looked at her mother through new eyes. “You mean I should have seduced him.”
Kate glanced at her younger daughter, Lark. “I mean no such thing. Watch your language, Raven.”
Raven suddenly realized that was how her mother had managed to snare Sir Lancelot Carleton. Female sexuality was a powerful force indeed.
“Mmm, Lord Dacre will be returning to Carlisle for the Border Wardens' Court meeting next week. Since your father will be presiding at the court, perhaps we should accompany him to Carlisle.”
“I should be training the new pair of young merlins—”
“Don't you dare mention hunting birds to me, Raven! It is high time you got your priorities in order.” Kate Carleton left her daughter to her ironing.
Her sister, however, lingered. “Did you try to seduce him?”
“No, it was the other way about.”
“Did he succeed?” Lark asked avidly.
Raven couldn't believe it. Her sister was actually asking her if she was still a virgin. “This conversation is over,” Raven said with finality.
Ramsay Douglas, along with Jock, his second-in-command, set out at dawn and rode to his castle at the town of Douglas, forty miles from Eskdale. They had a quick meal, changed horses, and rode the remaining twenty miles to Glasgow in two hours. The smoke from the city's chimneys created a pall that hung over Glasgow, making darkness arrive early.
He went straight to the offices of Irvine and Goldman and was asked to wait. He cautioned himself not to pace, but to compose his temper. Jake Goldman opened his door and effusively welcomed his visitor inside. “When I was told a Douglas was here tae see me, I had no notion it was Lord Douglas. How may I serve ye?”
“I understand that Moses Irvine died shortly after my uncle, the Earl of Angus.”
“Sadly, that is so, but I have taken over the practice, and hope to serve the Douglases as well as my late partner did.”
“Irvine named you successor in his will, I presume?”
“Indeed he did, my lord, never dreaming his demise would come about so soon.”
“Aye, it was abrupt.” Too bloody abrupt! “Angus filed his will with Irvine; has it been read yet?” Ram watched Goldman's eyes; when they widened in surprise, Ram knew Archibald had conversed with Goldman since the wedding.
“Ye are mistaken—there was no will, Lord Douglas.”
“I am seldom mistaken. There was indeed a will; you mean there was no will found.”
“Exactly. There was no will found on file. But that presented no problem, since Angus's son Archibald was his legal heir.“
Ye found the fucking will, all right, and it must have presented a horrendous problem. Ye eliminated Irvine before he had a chance to file it in court. Ramsay wanted to pull the swine across his desk and cut out his lying tongue. “Very good. The new Earl of Angus told me all this; I just wanted tae make certain he gets his legal due.”
Ramsay joined Jock, who had been holding the horses. They rode to Angus's town house in Garrowhill, where Ram opened the door with his own key. Angus's majordomo greeted him with genuine affection.
“Ye got my message, my lord!”
“No, I got no message; I'm in Glasgow on business. Did ye send the message tae Douglas?” “Aye, my lord.”
“That explains it. I've been at Eskdale awaiting my wife's delivery.” Ram grinned. “Tina gave me twins, a lad and a lass!”
The majordomo beamed and shook his head. “Congratulations, Lord Douglas! If only the earl was here tae celebrate yer good fortune.”
“What was yer message?”
“We were broken into a fortnight ago. The earl's bedchamber and library were ransacked, but as far as I know, naught was taken.”
“Were any papers missing from his desk?”
The trusted servant looked startled. “I wouldn't know, my lord. I'm no' privy tae the contents of his desk. The house is filled with valuable paintings and art objects, but none are missin'.”
“Has Archibald been here since his father died? The town house is his now.”
“No, my lord, but ye were the only one Angus trusted wi' a key.”
“Archibald doesn't have a key?”
“No, my lord, there are only two keys—yours and the earl's, which I now have in my possession.”
Ram knew that whoever had broken in had come for Angus's copy of the will. He went straight to the library and searched the desk, but as he fully expected, he found no will. Ram and his lieutenant ate in the kitchen, then the majordomo gave Jock a chamber next to his own. Ram took his saddlebags up to the master bedchamber and began to pace. If Archie destroyed the will, and if he conspired with Goldman tae murder Moses Irvine, the amount of gold involved must be considerable. He stopped pacing and looked about. The paintings and art treasures in this mansion-of-a-town house were worth a fortune. Why hadn't Archie come to claim it?
Ram glanced at the walls covered with pale green watered silk, and at the great bed with its padded silk headboard, and knew he needed to bathe before he could sleep there. Fortunately, the house had a bathing room with piped-in water. Ram made short work of the bath, then, wrapped in a towel, returned to the master chamber and lay upon the bed with his hands behind his head.
The ceiling above depicted Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, rising from the sea, with one hand cupped beneath a delicate breast. Her red-gold hair reminded Ram of his beautiful wife and of the passionate nights they had spent in this bed. He chuckled as he recalled the very first night they had spent here, when Tina had locked the door to keep him out. He had used the statue at the top of the stairs to batter down the door and in so doing had damaged the figure almost irreparably. Ram realized he had just passed the statue on his way from the bathing room and, curious to see how it had been mended, arose from the bed.
Ram ran his hand over the hairline fracture in the marble that ran on a diagonal slant across the figure's ankles. From the front it was almost indiscernible, but the back had sustained greater damage, and Ram's fingers could feel the clumsy repair. He lifted the figure from its pedestal so that he could see it better, and almost dropped the statue when he saw the document nestling in the hollowed-out surface of the plaster pedestal.
Ram snatched up the paper, carefully replaced the marble statue, then picked up the towel that had fallen from his hips. Naked, he hurried back to the master bedchamber, lighted all the candles, and spread the document out on the bed. Scribbled across the top was a notation that read: I shall take the precaution of concealing a second copy of my will, in addition to the one in my desk.
Ram pored over the thick, bold writing of the document before him.
This is the last will and testament of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. I nominate, constitute, and appoint Lord Ramsay Douglas to be the Executor and Trustee of this my Will with full power and absolute discretion to carry out my wishes as laid out herein, and to execute all documents necessary for that purpose.
I bequeath my fleet of ships to the Crown of Scotland.
To my son, Archibald, Master of Douglas, I bequeath my title and estates of the Earldom of Angus. These encompass all lands and castles in the County of Angus, and all lands and castles in the County of Perth.
To my nephew, Lord Ramsay Douglas, I bequeath all lands and castles which lie south of the Firth of Forth, to include Tantallon, Blanerne, Drochil, Cavers, Morton, Drumlanrig, and my town house in Garrowhill, Glasgow. In addition I bequeath said nephew all gold and sterling on deposit with my goldsmiths.
Ramsay Douglas could read no further; he sat stunned, trying to take in the magnitude of the inheritance Angus had entrusted to him. Ram lowered his eyes to the paper and read it again. Angus had left his son only property in the Highlands. Everything in the Lowlands and the Borders had been left to him. Ramsay examined the seals and signatures; all looked in order a
nd, ironically, Goldman, the junior partner, had signed as one of the witnesses! Ramsay read further. It charged him to pay all of Angus's just debts and to generously reward all those in his service. Ram's eyes dropped to the two codicils.
To Valentina Kennedy Douglas, wife of Lord Ramsay Douglas, I bequeath the Douglas emeralds and rubies.
To Heath Kennedy, half-brother of Valentina Kennedy Douglas, I bequeath one hundred acres of land which lie along the River Dee, and are adjacent to Castle Douglas, in the County of Kirkcudbright.
Once again Ramsay was stunned. Angus had given no reason for these generous gifts. The first was easy to explain, of course. Angus had loved and admired Valentina. The second gift was far more amazing, for land was precious and seldom passed out of the clan. The bequest went a long way to confirming the rumor that Angus had fathered Heath's mother.
Ram paced again, thinking best on his feet. No bloody wonder Archie wanted me dead! In light of what he now knew, it had been a tactical mistake to visit Goldman and reveal that he was in Glasgow. Like a canny Scot, Angus had not named the goldsmiths who held his gold and sterling, but Ram would bet a penny to a pinch of shit that he would be followed. Come morning, he had to let Sam Erskine see the will, then without delay it must be filed with the Court of Scotland. He slipped on his leathers and went downstairs to warn Jock of the impending danger.
At an early hour, before full daylight came to Glasgow, Jock, dressed in Lord Ramsay Douglas's best clothes, set out from Garrowhill on foot. Within two minutes, Ram Douglas saw that his lieutenant was being followed. He smiled grimly, knowing Jock could be trusted to lead the spy on a merry chase, while he set out for the goldsmith's.
Ram showed the will to Samuel Erskine and asked him to make two copies of the document: one for himself and one for Ram. As he waited, he warned Erskine of the danger. Sam, as he had been instructed by the Earl of Angus, then gave Lord Ramsay Douglas the names of the other goldsmiths who had Angus's gold and sterling on deposit. One was in Edinburgh; the other surprisingly was in Carlisle, England. Erskine, as did all goldsmiths, had guards of his own. Two of them accompanied Ram to the courthouse on Strathclyde. He presented the will and waited until it was registered as being received, then he tucked the receipt into his doublet, dismissed Erskine's guards, and returned to Garrowhill, where Jock awaited him.