The Wild Rose of Kilgannon (16 page)

I ignored his gibe. Be calm, I ordered myself and took a deep breath. "I understand the word, sir. But under English law the prisoner has certain rights."

"We are in
Scotland
, madam."

"English law is still enforced, I believe."

"Madam, I think you do not understand your position here. You are the supplicant, not the bestower." I did not trust myself to speak. "You threw away the ability to claim your English blood when you married this ... Scot. You are now Scottish, madam, and the wife of a traitor. And traitors can only be controlled in one fashion. It is very simple." He slumped back. "You are not allowed to see him. Do not ask me again."

I felt my fury climb. "Why?" I asked coldly.

"Why?" His anger was immediate and very visible. He rose and leaned over the desk. "Why? You ask me why? Who are you to question my decision?" Our eyes met, his enraged and piggish.

"An English citizen. And his wife. Why can I not see him?"

"Because I have decided that you will not.
MacGannon is a very difficult man.
You will not see him."

"Why?"

"I have decided it is so, madam." He sank back in the chair.

"I would like to see your superior."

"I have no superior," Colonel Porter said.

I almost laughed. You have many
superiors, I thought. Everyman who has been kind to us Is your superior. But I was silent. If I inflamed him further, who knew how Alex would pay for my anger? I could not risk it. I rose and brushed my skirts, trying to think of an appropriate answer. Behind me Jeffers cleared his throat. It was hopeless.

"Thank you for your time, sir," I said and turned to the door.

"Easily dissuaded, eh?"

I froze and met Captain Jeffers's sympathetic eyes. Do not let this disgusting man anger you, I commanded myself, or Alex will pay, I turned back to Porter. "Sir," I said
quietly
, "I am at a loss. What is it that will persuade you? Money? I will gladly pay to see my husband."

"Are you bribing me, madam?" The colonel's tone was menacing.

"No, of course not," I said evenly, "but I would be delighted to contribute to the cost of maintaining troops in Edinburgh."

He watched me through narrowed eyes. "You may ask me again in four days, madam. I will consider your request then."

"Thank you, sir," I said and sailed out the door, trembling with anger. I was halfway down the hall when Jeffers caught me.

"Madam, I am sorry he was so difficult. We will try again."

I took a shaky breath. "Is it me? Or does he treat all visitors like that?"

"It is you. Or, actually, it is your husband."

"But why?"

"Kilgannon has been ... unrepentant."

I laughed then, my heart suddenly lighter. Unrepentant. An understatement, no doubt. Good for you, my darling man, I thought. "I'm sure he was," I said. "Well, we will try again. I thank you for your help, Captain. You are
very
kind." I held out the bundle of Alex's clothing. "Do you think there is any way to get these to him?"

"I will see to it," he said, taking the bundle from me.

"Thank you, sir. You are kindness itself." I turned to leave.

"Madam." He took my elbow and turned to me. "I have thought of something. Come with me." He led me down a hallway I had not noticed before. "And pray be quiet," he said over his shoulder. We made two turns and then climbed two flights of stairs. I was feeling quite disoriented when at last we stopped in a hallway, one side filled with windows that overlooked a tiny courtyard two stories below us. I turned to the captain with a curious look.

"From here, madam," he whispered, "you may see your husband. In just a few moments some of the prisoners will be brought outside. He may be with them."

"Thank you," I said, my eyes filling with tears. "Thank you for being so very considerate."

"It is my pleasure, madam." He looked down at the still-empty courtyard and then back at me. "I am simply repaying a debt. Your husband risked his life, Lady Mary, to aid the Duke. I was supposed to be with Duke John that day but had been reassigned at the last moment. I would have been devastated if he had met with harm, but thanks to your husband the Duke was untouched. What I can do here to repay his courage is very
little
."

"It is very appreciated."

"It is very
little
," he answered, embarrassed.

We stood in silence then. The hallway overlooked one small part of the courtyard, and soon a group of people had gathered at a balcony to our right. Several women, fashionably dressed, were accompanied by men in uniform. They chatted and gaily pointed down as though they were at a party. I followed their gaze. Below us a group of prisoners were being led by soldiers into the courtyard. It took me several moments to recognize Alex and the man next to him. Murdoch Maclean. They were filthy and chained at wrist and ankle, but the two of them talked cheerfully to each other and gazed
insolently
up at the watchers while the soldiers prodded them to form a line. Alex had a beard now, copper against the blond of his hair. I strained to see his face and tried to open the window.

Captain Jeffers spoke quietly. "The windows are fixed, madam, and just as well. I must ask you not to try to get your husband's attention. It will go
very
badly for me if we are discovered. And perhaps for Kilgannon."

I nodded and let my hands fall to my waist. Alex looked healthy. His clothing was grimy, his bonnet crooked on his head, but his stance was defiant. The group on the balcony was calling jeers down to the prisoners, one woman waving her handkerchief tauntingly while the men with her laughed. The prisoners watched her and some called comments. Alex and Murdoch talked to each other, looking at the visitors, and then Alex leaned over to his friend, saying something that made Murdoch grin. The two exchanged a look and began singing. After a few lines the other prisoners joined them. I could not distinguish the words, but the group on the balcony stepped back as if singed. The woman who had been waving her handkerchief now clutched her throat. The soldiers in the courtyard grabbed Alex and Murdoch roughly and dragged them away. Alex was laughing. I pressed my forehead to the window and tried not to cry.

The next few days were a miserable blur. The smells of the city assailed me and I spent much of my time with an uneasy stomach or worse. For two days after the visit to the casde I was so sick and despondent that I could barely get out of bed. I kept telling myself that the sickness was a normal part of my pregnancy and would pass, as I had been told. But surely it should be over by now? Perhaps something was going wrong with this pregnancy as it had all the others. The thought paralyzed me. Since I'd arrived I'd accomplished nothing, but I could not think what else to do. I waited for the fourth day to come. It was on that morning, when I was feeling too queasy to face the world, that Angus marched boldly up to the front door and demanded to see me.

I
RAN DOWN THE STAIRS, HAPPIER THAN ID BEEN IN weeks. Angus stood in front of the fire in Robert's
parlour
. When he turned to me, I threw myself into his arms with a cry, bursting into tears.

"Angus, I'm so happy to see you!" I wailed.

"So it would seem," he said coldly, then sank into the chair opposite me, stretching his legs to the fire before turning an angry blue gaze to me. "Mary, what in the name of God are ye doing roaming the streets of this place, dragging the lads with ye and ye with child? What are ye thinking?"

I stared at him. "How did you know, Angus?"

"We saw ye. First, of course, we heard about the English woman who wore a MacGannon plaid over her skirts and had two boys with her and two Campbells to guard her. I'm surprised ye did no' bring the dogs as well. Did ye not think we'd find ye on our own?"

"About the child."

His expression softened. "I was wed, lass, and fathered three children. I ken when a woman is breeding. Ye look puny."

"Thank you, Angus," I said. "It's nice to see you too."

He laughed and shook his head, then turned serious again, his tone softer now. "Mary, what in God's name are ye doing here in Edinburgh?"

"Robert brought me," I said and told him.

He listened
quietly
, then nodded. "I feared as much. Matthew saw ye first and followed ye back to this house. And we've been following ye ever since. Including to the casde two days ago. What were ye thinking, going there, lass?"

"To see Alex. What else?"

"But ye dinna see him, did ye?"

"I did see him, Angus," I said and related my visit.

He almost smiled, then nodded again. "Aye, that's our Alex." He met my eyes. "I saw him this morning."

"Angus, how is he? Is he well? Is he mistreated?"

He shrugged. "He's well, as well as can be expected. They are no' treating him like an
honour
ed guest but he's no' abused."

"How did you manage to see him?"

"How do ye think? Money. We used the money from selling all the Kilgannon goods. I have brought it for ye," he said, fishing a purse from his plaid and handed it to me. I refused to take it. "Take it, Mary. Ye may have need of it. And it's yer money, lass. I have only been safeguarding it for ye. I have used a bit of it to see Alex and some to bribe the jailers to give him things." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a packet. "Like paper. Here. I have a letter from him." I saw the familiar writing through a blur of tears. Alex, I thought. Angus turned to watch the fire. "Go ahead and read it. It's no' long. I'll wait." I unfolded the dirty paper, my hands shaking.

My dearest
Mary
, Alex wrote, lam told that you
and the
boys have arrived In Edinburgh with Robert. Why are you here and not safely In England? How are you, my lady? And my sons? We do well enough here and await our trials, lam housed with Murdoch and Jamie Ramsay so I am In good company. I am fortunate that Angus was allowed to see me. Do not try to visit me in this place. It will have to be enough that we are in the same city. They tell me that prisoners are allowed a visit from family before trial, so I will wait for Angus to bring you to me then. I love you,
Mary
. Keep yourself and my sons safe. I remain yours, Alex.

I looked up at Angus. "Do you know what he says?" He shook his head and I passed him the letter, which he read quickly, then returned with narrowed eyes. "Put the thought from yer mind, lass. I'll no' take ye to see him. It's a

hellish place and no' fit for a woman." "No one would harm me. I'm English." " Ye've already seen what respect that earns ye here. Yer married to a man who is to be tried for treason, lass."

I felt my chin go up of its own accord. "He is still an earl and I a countess until the trial. Surely that makes a difference." "No."

"Then we will use the money." He looked at me from under his eyebrows and began to argue, but I waved his protests away. "I will see my husband, Angus." "Mary, Alex asks ye not to try to see him." I continued as though he'd not spoken. "And I will not stay in this house a moment longer. We will leave immediately. I'll get our things together." I rose, ready to depart. "We will come to where you are staying. And, I assume, Matthew and Gilbey."

"Ye canna stay where we are."

"Wherever you are will do. Or we will go to the Mary Rose."

"Ye canna. She's no' here. I sent her to Kilgannon."

"To Kilgannon! Why?"

"For men." He met my eyes. "If there is a way to spring Alex out of yon prison, we will do so, and if we do, I canna promise to be able to deliver all of ye to safety. We might get the brig away, we might no'. If we dinna, then we divide and flee, and one man, or a handful, I can spirit away, but a pregnant woman and two boys and the blasted dogs, that's another matter. No, Mary, I came to see how ye were and to tell ye to stay here and no' cause a fuss about seeing Alex. If ye go to visit him and then he escapes, the soldiers will be beating down yer door in a moment. Better that ye disappear here in a Campbell's home for a bit. I can think of no place yer less likely to come under suspicion. As soon as the Mary Rose returns I'll send ye to England overland with some of the men. 'Twill be a tricky business, the timing, but I canna see another choice." He sighed. "
Everyone
in the city kens who ye are and what ye do, Mary. They all talk about ye. So become invisible for a bit, will ye, lass? Stay here with Robert."

"Angus," I said crisply. "I am not staying here with Robert. He does not live here and he does not visit. His aunt and the boys are my only companions."

"Aye, I ken that. All of Edinburgh kens he does no' stain yer
honour
. It is the only reason he is still alive." He paused. "He brought ye here because he had to be here. And for his own reasons, which ye ken as well as I."

"Robert has been courteous to me, Angus. And nothing more. He said that we had been placed under his jurisdiction."

"Aye, well, true enough, I've been told. But I suspect that was only to get ye out of Kilgannon." He smiled wryly. "Perhaps we could get Alex placed under Robert's jurisdiction."