Bond of Passion Read online

  “Aye, he understood. I asked him why he had called me to Dunbar when he did not really need me. Do ye know what he answered? He said that because he knew the great risk he had taken with the queen he wanted one true friend by his side, if only briefly.” The earl’s eyes teared with the memory, but then he continued. “When I said it seemed to me that all of his friends surrounded him at the moment, he laughed. He said they were none of them true friends. They would remain with him as long as it appeared he had a chance of winning, but once it was decided he could not win this particular fight, they would disappear like so many rats scuttling back to their holes.”

  “Oh, Angus, how sad!” Annabella said, and she kissed the tears from his cheek.

  “He’s wagered it all this time, sweetheart.”

  “Does he really love her, or is it just the power he seeks?” she asked.

  “Nay, he loves her. Madly. Passionately. And she returns his love. She has already said she will not make him king, or give him the crown matrimonial,” Angus told his wife as she washed him. “He feels their marriage is the only way he can protect her from Moray and the others. Because he is one of them, and because he has always been strong, he thinks he can manage to keep them in check as her husband. I do not. They know she will be influenced by him to a certain degree. Ye know the earls. Each a cock on his own dunghill, crowing. They are afraid of him because individually he has the power to keep them at bay so Mary Stuart may rule. None of them has that charisma. They all need one another to defy her. And now they will with a vengeance.”

  “Did they wed?”

  “Aye, but it was nae easy. He gave Jean Gordon everything she wanted to be free of her. The queen’s confessor had been forbidden by the pope from performing the marriage, and has withdrawn from her side until she gives Bothwell up, but in this even the Church cannot prevail. The queen is wildly in love for the first time in her life. Darnley was but a foolish infatuation. James Hepburn is another matter altogether. But even Edinburgh’s most distinguished pastors of the Reformed kirk would nae perform the ceremony. They finally found one who accepted a large bribe to formalize the marriage. I left Edinburgh at dawn the morning of the wedding, which was performed at Holyrood’s chapel.”

  “But surely now the deed is done Moray and his cohorts will accept the queen’s decision.” She quickly washed his dark hair and rinsed it free of soap.

  He arose and stepped from the large stone basin. “I dinna remain to find out, but I doubt it. Moray is but for an accident of birth the man who should be king. He is nae about to give up his position at the top of the hierarchy. He’ll fight, and many will fight wi’ him. The question is, can Bothwell gather as many forces, and overcome him.”

  Annabella toweled her big husband dry with several towels warmed on a rack by the fire. “I’ll leave Tormod to get ye dressed again,” she said, referring to Angus’s servant. “They’ll be waiting in the hall to hear all of what ye have told me. Ye’ll nae be going away again soon, will ye?”

  “Nay, I’m home to stay, sweetheart.” He pulled her against his naked body, and kissed her a long, sweet kiss. “I’ve missed ye,” he said.

  She lingered a moment in his embrace, but then drew quickly away, her hand brushing down his long cock, which was showing strong signs of interest in her. “There is nae time, my lord, for they are waiting in the hall. Afterward, however, I shall be pleased to entertain yon eager laddie. I have some news that should please ye well. By year’s end we’ll hae an heir.” Then, with a quick smile, she turned and left him.

  Angus Ferguson wanted to shout with his joy. He was home! Duin was safe! And Annabella was going to give him a son. “Tormod!” he shouted as he opened the door back into his own apartments. “I need clothes!”

  She heard him as she hurried down into the hall, and Annabella smiled. While she felt a strong sympathy for Mary Stuart and James Hepburn, she didn’t want the Fergusons of Duin involved in what was certain to be a very volatile matter, and would surely become worse. They would be safe in their haven here in the southwest borders. The summer was almost upon them, and she would have her bairn in safety.

  But while peace surrounded Duin, the queen and her bridegroom found themselves facing a great wall of opposition to their marriage. On June fifteenth, a month to the day after their marriage, the forces of the queen were defeated at Carberry. Bothwell fled north into the isles, while Mary was taken first to Edinburgh, and then imprisoned at Lochleven, where she miscarried of twins on the twenty-third of July. This served as proof to all that Mary and Bothwell had been adulterous lovers. The next day the queen was forced to sign a document abdicating her position in favor of her year-old son, James. The little king was crowned five days later at Stirling, and his uncle, James Stewart, now ruled Scotland as the king’s protector. But at Duin none of this was known until several months later.

  The summer faded away into autumn. Annabella grew large with her bairn. The earl was openly solititous of his plain wife. Their amusement came from the constant battle between Matthew Ferguson and Agnes Baird. Agnes would be seventeen at year’s end, and there was no hiding the fact that Matthew wanted her as his wife. The laird of Rath and his wife would be coming before winter to be with their eldest daughter when she gave birth. Matthew intended to ask the laird’s permission to marry Agnes then. He had, however, said nothing to Agnes; nor would he until he had spoken with Robert Baird.

  Finally, in mid-October, a messenger arrived to say the laird and his wife were but a day behind him. Annabella was overjoyed, for she had not seen her parents since their fateful journey to Edinburgh almost two years prior. Agnes was not as pleased.

  “I hope they do not want me to return to Rath,” she said.

  “Ye’re welcome to remain wi’ us at Duin,” Annabella replied, “but as ye’re soon to be seventeen I suspect our parents are concerned that ye hae no husband. There is no court for ye to visit, and so a husband must be found for ye among the border families near Rath. Ye must be wed, Aggie. The old Church is nae longer an option, so it is wed ye must be. I’m sure Da will have a suggestion as to a husband for ye.”

  “I dinna want to leave Duin,” Agnes insisted. “I love it here. I love being wi’ ye.”

  “Then if a husband canna be found for ye at Rath, one must be found at Duin,” Annabella said mischievously, looking directly at Matthew Ferguson, who looked away.

  Agnes saw her look and sniffed scornfully, but said nothing, to her sister’s surprise.

  The Bairds of Rath arrived, to be greeted by both of their daughters. Anne Baird looked upon her eldest daughter’s big belly, exclaiming, “Are ye certain this child is to come in December?”

  Annabella laughed. “Sometimes I wish it would come now, for I am as fat as a well-fed shoat, and I can no longer see my feet.”

  “I think it is a good thing we have come now,” the lady Anne replied.

  Robert Baird, however, after greeting his two daughters, was eager to know whether he and Angus would be hunting grouse anytime soon. He was delighted to learn they would be going out on the morrow. “Not today?” he said, not keeping the disappointment from his voice.

  “’Tis past the noon hour,” Angus told his father-in-law, “and the sun will be setting soon, Robert. The grouse will be awaiting us tomorrow.”

  The laird’s glance turned to Agnes. He looked her up and down. “Ye’ve grown some since we last saw ye,” he said. “Ye’ll be needing a husband, Agnes.” Then, turning, he followed the rest of his family into the castle’s hall. The entrance to Duin Castle across the worn oak drawbridge had given the laird of Rath pause. He had known that his son-in-law was a wealthy man, but the solid stone walls and the iron portcullis had come as a bit of a surprise. Inside, however, the house proved to be gracious and warm. More important, Annabella was obviously very happy.

  There was a fine hot meal to greet the guests: rabbit stew, venison, a roasted capon, fresh bread, two kinds of cheese, and butter. There was a choice of wine or ale.


  And apples baked with cinnamon were served when the rest of the meal had been cleared away. “Ye keep a good table, daughter,” the laird of Rath praised his daughter.

  Afterward they gathered about one of the two large fireplaces in the hall to exchange news. Sorcha had delivered a son, and her husband’s family was well pleased. Nothing had been heard from Myrna in the north, although the laird’s sister had written once to say they had arrived, and Myrna seemed to be settling into her new home. The lady Anne expressed her disappointment at not having heard from her second daughter.

  “Be glad, Mama,” Annabella said. “If she were unhappy the whole of Scotland would know it by now. She is obviously content wi’ her lot and wi’ her man.”

  “Else she would hae filled our ears wi’ her complaints by now,” Agnes said mischievously. “Her Highlander is probably wondering what he got himself into.”

  They all laughed, but Annabella was more sympathetic. “Aggie, dinna say it. Pray our sister and her husband will live a long and happy life wi’ many bairns.”

  “Myrna was foolish,” Agnes said without the slightest hint of remorse. “She gave away her most precious possession to that cad Melville. A man who was already deceiving her wi’ another. I will never do such a thing! I will preserve my virtue until my wedding night.”

  “But will ye preserve it after yer wedding?” Matthew Ferguson said wickedly.

  The laird of Rath shot a quick look at his wife, confused to see her suddenly smile a very knowing smile. What was this all about? he wondered silently.

  Agnes Baird gasped with shock at his question. “How dare ye make such inquiry of me?” she demanded of him. “Do ye imply I would behave dishonorably after I am wed?” Her cheeks were pink with her outrage.

  “I simply wish to learn whether ye will be a willing and faithful bedmate once we are wed,” Matthew responded calmly.

  “Wed?” Agnes practically screeched. “How dare ye even presume to think I should wed ye, Matthew Ferguson?”

  “If I can gain yer da’s permission, Aggie, of course ye’ll wed me,” he said, and he looked to the laird. “May I have the honor of yer daughter Agnes’s hand, my lord?” he asked Robert Baird. “I have become quite fond of the lass these two years past that she has been wi’ us at Duin. I am my brother’s steward. He will tell ye that I serve him to his satisfaction. I hae the means to care well for Aggie. We will live here in the castle, where she will hae her sister for good company. Our bairns will hae their cousins for playmates. If this dinna suit yer daughter I will build her a stone house on lands that I own nearby. I have more than enough coin for it.”

  “Do ye hae yer brother’s permission to ask for my daughter’s hand?” the laird asked, knowing the answer but preserving the formalities.

  “Aye, my lord, I hae Angus’s permission,” Matthew replied.

  “I’ll nae wed him!” Agnes shouted, jumping up and stamping her foot.

  “Be silent, lassie!” her father roared back. Then he looked to his wife.

  “We will speak in private,” she told him.

  “’Tis a most generous offer, sir,” the laird of Rath said to Matthew Ferguson. “My wife and I will consider it. We will gie ye our answer in due time.”

  “I am satisfied to await yer answer,” Matthew responded politely.

  “Well, I am nae satisfied!” Agnes said.

  “Be quiet, daughter!” the laird of Rath snapped.

  “Aggie, do gie over, and cease yer turmoil,” Annabella chided her sibling. “Ye’re tired, overexcited by this long day and our parents’ arrival. Ye hae our permission to seek yer bed, dearest.”

  “Aye, Agnes,” the earl spoke up, backing his wife’s decision. “Go and rest, lass.”

  Agnes Baird looked briefly as if she were going to cry, but then she turned, running from the hall. When Matthew made to follow, his brother bade him remain. The laird of Rath was pleased by the firm hand with which the earl ruled his household and his lands. He spent many a pleasant hour in the weeks that followed in Angus Ferguson’s company, coming to like his son-in-law better and better with each passing day. And the lady Anne’s previous concerns of sorcery were erased entirely. Both parents were touched by the devotion between their daughter and her husband.

  When November was half-gone, the matter of Agnes Baird’s betrothal came to the forefront once again. The laird of Rath was willing to accept Matthew Ferguson’s proposal for his daughter’s hand, but both Annabella and her mother felt that Agnes had to be allowed to make the choice to wed him or not.

  “I’ll nae return to Rath,” Agnes said stubbornly.

  “The scandal over yer sister has long died,” the laird told her.

  “And there are several fine young men seeking wives,” the lady Anne added. “There are Bobby Lindsay, Ian Scott, Alexander Bruce, Jamie Elliot, and several of our Hamilton cousins who look most favorably upon ye, Agnes.”

  “But I like it here at Duin. As for the swains ye offer me, Mam, Bobby Lindsay has a nose like a turnip! I’m taller than Jamie Elliot, and he stammers every time he looks at me. I thought Alex Bruce was to wed Mary Douglas. If that light-skirt cried off I certainly wouldn’t want him. As for Ian Scott, he has a face full of pockmarks, and lips that are much too big. He always looks like a salmon gasping for air.”

  “What of our Hamilton cousins?” Annabella said sweetly.

  “Never! They may be our kin, but one of their ilk stole my sister’s laddie. I’ll hae nothing to do wi’ any of them,” Agnes said angrily.

  “Ye’re getting a bit long in the tooth for us to marry ye off well,” the laird noted.

  “Annabella was twenty when she wed Angus!” Agnes snapped. “I’ll just be seventeen next month, Da. I certainly hae time.”

  “Yer brother will nae take a wife until all of his sisters are wed and gone,” the laird told her.

  Agnes laughed. “’Tis but an excuse for Rob to play the tomcat, Da.”

  “ ’Tis yer brother who will inherit Rath one day. It is important we find him the best match, which we canna if I must worry about ye. Besides, I want to see another heir before I die. I’m nae a lad, daughter.”

  “Bah!” Agnes laughed again. “Ye’re nae old, Da.”

  The laird sighed. No one knew how to irritate him more than his youngest daughter. “I canna hae ye causing a calumny like yer sister,” he told her. “There is a certain willfulness in ye, Agnes. What respectable family will gie us a well-dowered daughter for yer brother if ours is considered a scandalous household? Ye’ll settle on a husband here or I’ll take ye home and pick a man for ye,” Robert Baird threatened her. “Yer mam was fifteen when she wed me. Seventeen is nae too young to marry.”

  Agnes burst into tears, sobbing piteously, but her father was not moved.

  Annabella put a comforting arm about her little sister. “Why will ye nae accept Matthew when I believe that ye love him, Aggie?”

  “He doesna love me! He has nae said it! He never asks. He only tells me what I am going to do! I’m nae his servant!” Agnes said.

  Blessed Mother! Why was it that beautiful girls thought they could have their way in everything? But Agnes was correct in one thing: Matthew was too bossy and set in his ways. But it would be up to Aggie to change that. No one else could do it for her. Annabella sighed. “Ye hae to tell him,” she advised Agnes. “If ye care enough for him ye canna refuse him. I dinna want ye unhappy, Aggie, but I do believe ye care.”

  “He is the only man who can make me angry,” Agnes said slowly, “but he also makes me happy,” she admitted. “And he is so very handsome. Not as handsome as the earl, but handsome enough to make me the envy of many a woman in the borders when I become his wife. But I’ve been so mean, Annabella. Will his offer to Da still stand?”

  “We’ll only know that if Da gives him an answer,” Annabella said.

  Agnes looked up at her father. “I’ll wed him, Da.”

  “Good!” Robert Baird said. “I’ll be glad to hae this dr
ama over and done wi’.”

  The earl echoed his father-in-law’s sentiments. “Now my brother can stop hiding his love for the wench. I’m tired of his moaning about over her.” He sent for his sibling.

  “Let us sit together by the fire,” Annabella suggested to her sister, taking her hand and drawing her over to a cushioned settle, where they sat down. Their parents remained at the high board with the earl, awaiting Matthew’s arrival. “Now you will learn the fine art of patience,” Annabella told her sister.

  “What is happening?” Agnes wanted to know.

  “All is well,” Annabella responded reassuringly.

  Matthew came into the hall and went directly to his brother. They watched as the four heads at the high board came together. They could not even hear an echo of what was said, but Annabella could well imagine.

  Then Matthew came over to where the two young women sat. He bowed politely to them. “Will ye consent to walk wi’ me, Agnes?” he asked her, holding out his hand.

  “I will,” the girl said, taking his hand, standing up.

  Then together they walked to the far end of the hall, where they appeared to be engaged in animated conversation.

  Annabella got up from her place by the fire and joined the others at the high board. As she reached it she heard her father saying to her husband, “Aggie’s dower isn’t large, my lord. Each of my daughters has had the same dower, excepting Annabella, who brought ye the land ye wanted instead.”

  “If such a dower portion was good enough for me, and yer two other sons-in-law, then it is certainly good enough for my brother,” the earl reassured the laird. “Especially since Matthew’s birth on the wrong side of the blanket dinna bother ye.”

  “I’ve come to learn that he is a fine young man, and he hae yer favor,” the laird said. “I am content in the match.”

  “I’m glad,” the earl replied. “Agnes’s presence is good for Annabella, especially now. I would suggest we hold the wedding sooner than later.”