The Magnificent Rogue (40 page)

It was now close to midnight. With the winter storms over, the northern route around Scotland was both safe and speedy. They would have nearly a two-day head start before Robert could get back to Craighdhu, ready his own ship, and set sail.

“Craighdhu?” Jock asked.

Robert nodded. “It’s the quickest way.”

“Robert … I’m sorry … Gavin …” Duncan shrugged helplessly. “You know my father. I could not stop him. No one could stop him.”

“Aye, I know him.” A sickening chill went through him at the memory of Gavin’s broken body. Kate thought she could manipulate that bastard to her own designs, but it would take only one false step for Alec to try to subjugate her as he did everyone around him. He could merely hope she did not make that false step until he reached Edinburgh and could deal with Alec himself.

He turned and rode back toward Robbie MacBrennan and Jamie Grant to explain why he had brought them here for naught and tell them to go home.

Damn and blast the woman.

“
Y
ou’re not eating. That’s
not good. You must keep up your strength.” Malcolm nodded at the servant standing at attention at the side of the door of the cabin. “Give the countess a slice of that excellent lamb.”

“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.” She looked at the table with its fine goblets and polished trenchers without interest. She was unutterably weary, but this interminable meal would soon be over, and she would be permitted to go to her cabin. “It’s been a long day.”

“I’m sure it’s been a longer one for MacDarren,” Malcolm said maliciously. “He should be arriving at Kilgranne about now.”

“Perhaps.” She lifted her glass of wine to her lips. “If he chose to follow me.”

“Oh, I believe we both know he’ll follow you. MacDarren detests losing anything that belongs to him, and he will particularly dislike the idea of losing to me. Our rivalry has been most bitter over the years.” He ate a bit of lamb. “Unfortunately, he has succeeded more often than I in the past. It’s been most annoying. I’ve never understood it, for I never lose to anyone else. That’s why I’m very determined not to lose in this endeavor.” He chuckled. “This time I’ve made sure that even if I lose, I’ll win.”

She was too tired to decipher the cryptic words. “When will we arrived in Edinburgh?”

“Not long. If the winds are with us.” Alec smiled. “Are you so eager to start your new life?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Aye, but we must go slowly at first.”

Kate stifled a sigh of relief. She had been afraid Malcolm would wish to plunge immediately into the conspiracy, and she would be given no opportunity to initiate a plot of her own. Not that she had any idea of what that plot would be. The only certainty was that Alec Malcolm must be destroyed. “You disappoint me. I’ve waited too long already.”

“You’re very impatient. Like your mother. I’ve noticed you have several of her attributes.”

“You met my mother?”

“I encountered her several times through the years. I found her very astute.”

Astute was not an adjective usually applied to Mary, Kate thought. He was obviously trying to give Kate herself a backhanded compliment. In the past hours she had discovered Jock was right about Malcolm. He was both clever and manipulative and would say anything that would sway her in the way he wanted her to go. She changed the subject. “Where are we staying in Edinburgh?”

“I’m staying at court, but I’m establishing you at my estate, Selwyth, south of the city.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “James will be sure to hear I’m in the city. I prefer that he has no knowledge that you’re my companion until the time is right.”

“He’ll hear soon enough once you start contacting Mary’s supporters.”

“That’s why we will be doing no such thing.” He sipped his wine. “I have a few loose ends to tie up, but after I pacify James and give him a plausible reason for
my departure, we will be leaving immediately for England.”

“England!”

“Aye, it’s safer for us to first rally support among the English supporters across the border. We’ll go to Kenilworth or perhaps Warwick. Elizabeth is occupied now with the war with Spain and will have no time to worry about a conspiracy that might topple her from the throne.” He chuckled with genuine amusement. “And when she does, it will be too late.”

“So you intend to take England as well as Scotland?”

“Of course. Didn’t I promise to make you the greatest queen the world has ever known?”

“I would have settled for Scotland. It’s a dangerous move.”

“But one we must take.”

But it would be Kate who would be at the center of that risk. Her mother had conspired to seize both crowns and had ended up a prisoner and then a victim of the ax. What did Malcolm care? Kate thought bitterly. She was only a pawn.

“It’s not as dangerous as it sounds. You’ll find I never act without having the weapons to lay a proper siege. Trust me, I assure you I have no intention of losing my head … or yours,” he added softly. “You have great value to me. I have every intention of guarding you as if you were the crown itself.”

A subtle threat lay beneath his words. He wanted her to know he was not fool enough to place trust in her. Suddenly, she’d had enough of this. She was tired and lonely and wanted desperately to run back to Craighdhu. Only months ago she had thought the greatest challenge was defying Sebastian, and now she was matching wits with a man even the vicar would have called an archdemon. She could bear no more tonight. “Then I’m sure I shall be very safe.” She pushed
back her chair and stood up. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’ll retire to my cabin. The hour grows late.”

“Certainly.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll join you shortly.”

She looked at him, shocked.

He saw her reaction and raised his brows. “But surely you expected us to seal our pact in the most pleasurable of fashions?”

She had not expected it. Malcolm did not want her body. She knew the signs of desire, and he had displayed none of them.

He smiled. “I can hardly wait.”

Then understanding came to her. It was only another way to seek out her weakness and gain an advantage over her. Domination. She restrained a shiver as she realized that this would be no teasing, seductive domination such as Robert had practiced only a few days ago.

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Tonight,” he said firmly. “We will wed as soon as we get to Edinburgh, but I’m too eager to partake of a bridegroom’s privilege to wait for the words to be said over us.”

If he was eager for anything, it was to be a royal consort and then at some convenient time seize the crown itself. God’s blood, she was too tired to face this challenge now.

What was she sniveling about? she told herself in disgust. Challenges did not come when you wished to deal with them, or they would not be challenges. She thought quickly, seeking a way out that would give her the time she needed and still answer his self-interest.

“If we wed in Scotland, James will hear about it. We should wait until we get to England.” She met his gaze. “And there’s a possibility I may be with child. If you bed me now and I become pregnant, no one will know whether the child is yours or Robert’s. Do you
wish Robert to have a claim to the throne through your child?”

The thought clearly displeased him. “You know the line of succession must be clear.”

“Then you will wait.”

His lips tightened. “How long?’

“If I’m not with child, I should have my flux within a month.”

“Then I shall be monitoring you closely.” He suddenly smiled. “But you’re right, under no circumstance should we have MacDarren’s child with which to contend. If you prove to be with child, I promise you I’ll find a way to rid you of it safely. The ladies of the court use an old woman who has an extensive knowledge of herbs.”

She frowned in puzzlement. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“No? I did not expect you to be this ignorant. You seem so clever, I forgot you were unable to gather much practical knowledge under your vicar’s wing. Let me be more clear.” He paused and then said, “We will kill the child in your womb.”

He was gazing intently at her face, and she knew he was again searching for weakness. She should not let him see the horror the words brought. He had struck too deep, and she could not hide it, so she quickly turned on her heel and moved toward the door. With an effort she managed to keep her voice steady. “Perhaps it won’t be necessary. We will see. Good night.”

She did not stop walking until she reached her cabin. She leaned back against the door, her stomach heaving, every limb shaking.

He meant to murder her child.

The child she had wanted so desperately, the babe that was to save Robert and Craighdhu for her, would be treated as just another pawn to be removed from the chessboard. She had not even thought such an act possible.

It might be all right—there might be no child.

But what if there was a babe in her womb this very moment?

Why in heaven could she not have just accepted Malcolm into her bed? It would have sickened her, but she could have borne it. This question of succession might never have occurred to him if she had not brought it up.

She had thought she was a match for Malcolm, but her ignorance had already led her to make a mistake that might mean her baby’s life.

Edinburgh lay on the southern shores of the Firth of Forth, an arm of the North Sea. Robert chose to anchor the
Irish Princess
at Granton, a sleepy fishing port, rather than the busier Leith.

“You stay here on the ship,” Jock said. “I’ll go to Bobby MacGrath’s and see what he’s heard about Malcolm.”

“And I’m to sit here and wait?” Robert asked. “Not likely.”

“No, you’d probably rather blunder around Edinburgh and let Alec know he has enemies knocking on his front door.”

“I wouldn’t blunder—” He drew a deep breath. He knew Jock was right, and the safest course was to search out the lay of the land before he showed himself in Edinburgh. He was well known here, and word would instantly be carried to the court of his presence in the town. But dammit, he didn’t want to take the safest course. His tension had simmered on this damnable journey until it was a volcano ready to explode. He wanted to
do
something.

But impulsiveness could be fatal for Kate. Alec was walking a thin tightrope, balancing James’s influence on one hand and his own ambitions for the throne on the other. If he decided that Robert’s presence could sway the balance, he might jettison his plans for the throne
and get rid of Kate, the only proof of his treason against James. “Very well. I’ll wait here.”

Jock nodded approvingly. “Perhaps you have a brain in your head after all.” He climbed down the rope ladder and stepped into the longboat. “I’ll be back by nightfall.”

It was only noon now. Jesus, it was going to be a long day. “Bring MacGrath with you. I want to talk to him.”

Robert found talking to Bobby MacGrath a very irritating process. He was turtle slow and as deliberate as a priest giving the last rites.

“I know nothing of any woman,” MacGrath said. “Alec Malcolm returned to Edinburgh alone. He’s been at court for the last four days.”

“Does he have lodgings in town?” Robert asked.

MacGrath shook his head. “He’s staying in James’s apartments.”

Jock asked, “Has he visited anywhere outside the castle since he came?”

“Aye, he visited a cottage at the edge of the city the first day and spent a good four hours there yesterday.”

“Whose cottage is it?” Robert asked.

“There’s no woman there either.”

Robert tried to restrain his impatience and reminded himself that MacGrath was a good, loyal clansman. “Who is there?”

“An old man.” MacGrath sipped his ale. “White hair, wild eyes, thin as a string.”

“Sebastian Landfield,” Robert murmured.

MacGrath shrugged. “I don’t know. I never heard his name. I only got close enough to the window to catch one glimpse of him.”

The description fit too closely for the man not to be Landfield. Malcolm had mentioned the vicar, but Robert had thought no more about him. This news made no sense. After Alec had wrested the information
he had wanted from Sebastian, it was not reasonable he would waste more time on him. “Is this the first time you’ve seen him?”

MacGrath nodded. “Malcolm paid no visits to him when he was here before. The first I knew of the man was when I followed Alec to the cottage that first day.” He paused. “But there was already a guard at the door of the cottage when Alec arrived. It’s possible he might have given orders to put him under guard before Alec left Edinburgh.”

No matter what Alec’s reason for imprisoning him, Sebastian was now Robert’s only link to Kate, and there was a slight possibility Alec might have disclosed her whereabouts to the vicar. “Where is he? I want to talk to him.”

“Fourteen Greybriar.” MacGrath made a face “But I don’t know if he’ll be able to talk. From the sounds I heard coming from the place yesterday, I’d judge Malcolm’s been playing his games with the old man.”

“Torture?”

“You didn’t say I should interfere with Malcolm,” MacGrath said defensively. “And the old man isn’t one of ours.”