The Kadin - Bertrice Small [171]
“The rogue,” she later laughed to her son and her brother.
Charles laughed with her, but Adam was shocked. “You could be his grandmother,” he said.
“I most certainly could not!” she snapped back. “God’s bones, Adam! What a prig you’ve become. Father would have laughed as does my son.”
Several days later, they left for Glenkirk, but not before Fergus More had paid them a visit As they rode from the city, the earl of Glenkirk was richer by two hundred and fifty pounds gold, and Lady Janet Leslie was the owner of Glen Rae, its surrounding hills, lake and island. Each was well satisfied.
Janet Leslie was returning, after more than forty years, to her ancestral home, and as the cavalcade wended its way down the hills that surrounded Glenkirk Castle, Anne MacDonald Leslie, countess of Glenkirk, sat in her bedchamber receiving reports of its progress. She was a handsome woman of forty-five with a clear peachy complexion, beautiful dark brown hair, and cold gray eyes.
“They are almost to the bridge, my lady,” said her chief waiting woman. “We will just have time to reach the courtyard.”
“No, Hannah. I am not going down. It is vital that my lord’s sister learn immediately her place in my house as a poor pensioner is of no importance. If this lesson is not made clear in the beginning, I shall have a querulous old woman upsetting the routine of my household. I want you to secret yourself somewhere where you can see, but not be seen. Report back to me as soon as possible.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Moving swiftly through the stone corridors, Hannah slipped into a small enclosure that overlooked the entry court She was just in time to see the lord of Glenkirk and his party enter the castle yard. She waited while the men-at-arms guarding the convoy dispersed. She could identify the earl and his nephew, Sir Charles. There were three women, but two were obviously servants. The third wore an elegant dark hooded cloak. As Sir Charles helped her to dismount the hood fell back, and Hannah gasped in amazement. I must get closer, she thought That cannot be my lord’s sister! Squeezing out of her cubbyhole, she scampered down to the courtyard.
“Welcome home, my lord. My lady is indisposed and begs to be excused.”
“Thank you, Hannah. Nothing serious?”
“Nay, sir. She will be up by dinner.”
The earl drew the beauty forward. “Janet this is Anne’s waiting woman, Hannah. Hannah, this is my sister, Lady Leslie. She will show you and your women to your apartments.”
“Och, my lord, Lady Leslie will think us terribly ill-prepared, but we were not sure when to expect you, and several of the maids have been ill with the flu. If my lady and her companions will follow me, there is a good fire going in the Great Hall, and she may wait there while I finish the preparations.”
“Thank you, Hannah,” Lady Leslie said in her musical voice. “Adam, go see to Anne. You also, my son. Now, Hannah,” she spoke as she walked, “since naught is prepared for me, I would reside in the apartments in the West Tower. They are available?”
“Yes, my lady, but—”
“Good! This is my Marian, and her daughter, Ruth. They will help you. I have brought draperies, rugs, featherbeds, linens, and all manner of things to make me comfortable. See that the trunks are carried up to my tower. Be sure there is plenty of wood for my fires. And you don’t have to escort me to the Great Hall. I remember the way quite well After all, I grew up here. Thank you, Hannah.”
Stunned, Hannah watched the beauty leave her. Then turning to Marian she asked, “Is she always like that?”
“She ran a household a hundred times the size of this one,” snapped Marian. “My, but you’re a quick one, my dear. What shabby quarters did your mistress prepare for mine? My lady was not fooled, you know. However, she does admire your loyalty.”
Janet walked into the main hall of the castle and up the stairs to the Great Hall which was on the second floor of the building. Four steps led up from the anteroom to a landing. Four steps led down from the landing into the hall. To the right and to the left were enormous fireplaces