himself for yet again behaving like a fool. The following day he had decided to set his mind on what had happened and what he ought to do about it, and wrote the letter to Margaret. He did not whine, but tried to impress upon her the importance of finding out why intruders were interested in Kerr and Sinclair property and what they were looking for. Then he had begun his second search of the houses and warehouses, occasionally overcome with the memory of his behaviour at Elcho. He considered writing to his mother expressing all his resentment, and had already put pen to parchment when he remembered that she could not read and would therefore rely on one of the sisters, the cleric David, or perhaps the chaplain to read the letter to her. That took all the joy out of attacking her.
When he told the sad tale to his sweetheart, Matilda grew quite excited and suggested that he ask his father’s and Roger’s former clerks, if any were still about, whether there were caches of money or record books that might be of interest to thieves. ‘Although I’ll warrant it’s treason against King Edward one of them is about,’ she said excitedly, obviously savouring the potentialdrama. ‘And no clerk would be trusted with such documents.’ She’d been favouring Fergus with smiles and flirtation for lack of a better suitor now that so many were off to war. It was Fergus’s only consolation.
Celia had not fooled James about the identity of Margaret’s visitor. He had received word from more than one reliable source that Roger Sinclair had arrived with his man, Aylmer, and headed straight for Murdoch’s inn. James thought it unlikely that Roger’s appearance so soon after someone had been searching his belongings was an accident. Robert Bruce would have as many spies as the Comyns, if not more so. James’s family had held sway over the country for so long they had become overconfident. The Bruces had never yet had the opportunity to rest on their accomplishments.
James had met Roger Sinclair occasionally in the past, before he’d had much interest in the man. Before Longshanks had stepped in to choose the Scots’ ruler for them, James had enjoyed a comfortable life as the itinerant negotiator of marriages, trade transactions and occasional ransoms for his wealthier Comyn and Balliol kin. He had been seldom in Edinburgh, and his interest in the tavern had been limited to an occasional drink with someone passing through until Longshanks’s invasion, when it had become useful for spying.Roger, an older, moderately successful merchant trading in Berwick and Perth, had been of no concern to him.
The timing of Roger’s return could not be more inconvenient for James. In considering the route that would allow him to accommodate Margaret he had become reacquainted with the location of Elcho Nunnery, not a great distance south of Perth along the Tay. Dame Christiana MacFarlane, Margaret’s mother, now lived there, the seeress who had been blessed with a vision of Margaret’s future that included a glimpse of the rightful king of Scotland riding into Edinburgh. William Wallace put much weight in prophecies, particularly those of Highland women. Wallace would like very much to know the identity of that king. Margaret need only provide her mother’s description of the king in the vision to compensate James for his trouble. He had therefore decided that escorting her to Perth would benefit both of them.
But with Roger Sinclair’s return, James would not likely be escorting Margaret anywhere. Curse the man and his belated attention to his wife.
It was not merely the timing that bothered James. Margaret had been of much help to him in gathering information, anything from overheard conversations between English soldiers to the names of women from the town who visited the castle garrison. He worried that Roger might persuade her to change sides, abandoning Balliolfor the Bruce, and if she did, she might share information with him.
When he told the sad tale to his sweetheart, Matilda grew quite excited and suggested that he ask his father’s and Roger’s former clerks, if any were still about, whether there were caches of money or record books that might be of interest to thieves. ‘Although I’ll warrant it’s treason against King Edward one of them is about,’ she said excitedly, obviously savouring the potentialdrama. ‘And no clerk would be trusted with such documents.’ She’d been favouring Fergus with smiles and flirtation for lack of a better suitor now that so many were off to war. It was Fergus’s only consolation.
Celia had not fooled James about the identity of Margaret’s visitor. He had received word from more than one reliable source that Roger Sinclair had arrived with his man, Aylmer, and headed straight for Murdoch’s inn. James thought it unlikely that Roger’s appearance so soon after someone had been searching his belongings was an accident. Robert Bruce would have as many spies as the Comyns, if not more so. James’s family had held sway over the country for so long they had become overconfident. The Bruces had never yet had the opportunity to rest on their accomplishments.
James had met Roger Sinclair occasionally in the past, before he’d had much interest in the man. Before Longshanks had stepped in to choose the Scots’ ruler for them, James had enjoyed a comfortable life as the itinerant negotiator of marriages, trade transactions and occasional ransoms for his wealthier Comyn and Balliol kin. He had been seldom in Edinburgh, and his interest in the tavern had been limited to an occasional drink with someone passing through until Longshanks’s invasion, when it had become useful for spying.Roger, an older, moderately successful merchant trading in Berwick and Perth, had been of no concern to him.
The timing of Roger’s return could not be more inconvenient for James. In considering the route that would allow him to accommodate Margaret he had become reacquainted with the location of Elcho Nunnery, not a great distance south of Perth along the Tay. Dame Christiana MacFarlane, Margaret’s mother, now lived there, the seeress who had been blessed with a vision of Margaret’s future that included a glimpse of the rightful king of Scotland riding into Edinburgh. William Wallace put much weight in prophecies, particularly those of Highland women. Wallace would like very much to know the identity of that king. Margaret need only provide her mother’s description of the king in the vision to compensate James for his trouble. He had therefore decided that escorting her to Perth would benefit both of them.
But with Roger Sinclair’s return, James would not likely be escorting Margaret anywhere. Curse the man and his belated attention to his wife.
It was not merely the timing that bothered James. Margaret had been of much help to him in gathering information, anything from overheard conversations between English soldiers to the names of women from the town who visited the castle garrison. He worried that Roger might persuade her to change sides, abandoning Balliolfor the Bruce, and if she did, she might share information with him.
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