so much as glanced up at her entrance, but he did so now with a frown, saying, “Is it time for supper already?”
“Aye, sir, nearly.”
“I do not know where the afternoon went,” he complained. Pushing away the document he had been reading, he sat straight and stretched his spine. Then, adjusting his cap, he looked at her more narrowly and added, “I like that dress.”
“Thank you.”
His lips twitched. “You know that I like it, lassie. I’ve told you so before, more than once. Hoping to soften me up, are you?”
“Aye, sir,” she said frankly. “I’m hungry, and I would like to take supper with the family.”
“You’d like to avoid a whipping, that’s what you’d like.”
“Aye, that too.” She had not known what to expect, but now she relaxed. He might still punish her, but she knew from his light tone that he would not thrash her.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” he said, as if he had read her thoughts. “What were you thinking, lass, to slip off and go to the Elliots? You know how much your mother dislikes such visits.”
“Davy and Lucy are my friends,” she said simply. “I thought if I went early, before anyone here was up and about, I could see them and get back before anyone knew I’d gone. I did not know that the English would raid Liddesdale.”
“It was that perfidious Scrope,” Sir William said. “It was a foolish thing to do, too, because James will not like it. He may well release Buccleuch now, and Buccleuch will exact his revenge.”
“Do you think the King really will release him?”
“Aye,” Sir William said with a sigh. “He’ll soon be on his way back from Edinburgh to Hermitage to begin plotting what he will do. But he should not. It will only make Elizabeth angrier than she is now.”
“Aye, sir.” Laurie did not think it wise to add that, whatever the cost, she hoped that Buccleuch would make the villainous English pay heavily for what they had done. She was in enough trouble already without stirring more.
Instead, she said, “Will you stop being warden if Buccleuch returns?”
He shook his head. “King James thinks me less warlike than Buccleuch and thus more likely to bring peace to the area.”
Impressed, she said, “Can you?”
“God knows I prefer peace to war,” Sir William said with a rueful smile, “but I’m no peacemaker. I’ll be less so if Buccleuch comes back, too. I lack the power to fight him. If James wants peace, he should persuade Buccleuch to impose it. He could if he chose, but I doubt that any other man could.”
A noisy group of men-at-arms entering the hall to take their supper drew his attention just then. He pushed back his armchair and stood up.
“You may come with me now, Laura,” he said.
Laurie felt a prickle of fear. “Am I not to sup with the family then, sir?”
“Aye, you may, but your mother chooses to take supper in the ladies’ parlor today. She’s taken a notion into her mind that it is not suitable for your sisters to sup in company with my men.”
“Not suitable? But why?”
“’Tis acceptable at noon, she says, when everyone is in a hurry and no one talks much. But, at supper, she says, the men tend to become more boisterous and to say things that are not suited to young girls’ ears.”
Sir William extended a forearm as he spoke, and Laurie rested her right hand upon it as she considered his words.
Supper was certainly a more relaxed meal than dinner at Aylewood, just as it was in most households. Nonetheless, since Laurie and her two sisters had dined and supped with the men since childhood, she thought it more likely that Blanche had noticed May’s recent inclination to flirt with any man who looked her way.
At fifteen, the elder of Laurie’s half sisters was eager to marry. Thus, she tended to look upon any man she met as a potential mate. Moreover, despite Blanche’s continued insistence that her daughters were perfect, Laurie was sure she had to know that May, at
“Aye, sir, nearly.”
“I do not know where the afternoon went,” he complained. Pushing away the document he had been reading, he sat straight and stretched his spine. Then, adjusting his cap, he looked at her more narrowly and added, “I like that dress.”
“Thank you.”
His lips twitched. “You know that I like it, lassie. I’ve told you so before, more than once. Hoping to soften me up, are you?”
“Aye, sir,” she said frankly. “I’m hungry, and I would like to take supper with the family.”
“You’d like to avoid a whipping, that’s what you’d like.”
“Aye, that too.” She had not known what to expect, but now she relaxed. He might still punish her, but she knew from his light tone that he would not thrash her.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” he said, as if he had read her thoughts. “What were you thinking, lass, to slip off and go to the Elliots? You know how much your mother dislikes such visits.”
“Davy and Lucy are my friends,” she said simply. “I thought if I went early, before anyone here was up and about, I could see them and get back before anyone knew I’d gone. I did not know that the English would raid Liddesdale.”
“It was that perfidious Scrope,” Sir William said. “It was a foolish thing to do, too, because James will not like it. He may well release Buccleuch now, and Buccleuch will exact his revenge.”
“Do you think the King really will release him?”
“Aye,” Sir William said with a sigh. “He’ll soon be on his way back from Edinburgh to Hermitage to begin plotting what he will do. But he should not. It will only make Elizabeth angrier than she is now.”
“Aye, sir.” Laurie did not think it wise to add that, whatever the cost, she hoped that Buccleuch would make the villainous English pay heavily for what they had done. She was in enough trouble already without stirring more.
Instead, she said, “Will you stop being warden if Buccleuch returns?”
He shook his head. “King James thinks me less warlike than Buccleuch and thus more likely to bring peace to the area.”
Impressed, she said, “Can you?”
“God knows I prefer peace to war,” Sir William said with a rueful smile, “but I’m no peacemaker. I’ll be less so if Buccleuch comes back, too. I lack the power to fight him. If James wants peace, he should persuade Buccleuch to impose it. He could if he chose, but I doubt that any other man could.”
A noisy group of men-at-arms entering the hall to take their supper drew his attention just then. He pushed back his armchair and stood up.
“You may come with me now, Laura,” he said.
Laurie felt a prickle of fear. “Am I not to sup with the family then, sir?”
“Aye, you may, but your mother chooses to take supper in the ladies’ parlor today. She’s taken a notion into her mind that it is not suitable for your sisters to sup in company with my men.”
“Not suitable? But why?”
“’Tis acceptable at noon, she says, when everyone is in a hurry and no one talks much. But, at supper, she says, the men tend to become more boisterous and to say things that are not suited to young girls’ ears.”
Sir William extended a forearm as he spoke, and Laurie rested her right hand upon it as she considered his words.
Supper was certainly a more relaxed meal than dinner at Aylewood, just as it was in most households. Nonetheless, since Laurie and her two sisters had dined and supped with the men since childhood, she thought it more likely that Blanche had noticed May’s recent inclination to flirt with any man who looked her way.
At fifteen, the elder of Laurie’s half sisters was eager to marry. Thus, she tended to look upon any man she met as a potential mate. Moreover, despite Blanche’s continued insistence that her daughters were perfect, Laurie was sure she had to know that May, at
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