Candace Robb: A Cruel Courtship

That she was thinking of James in a romantic way would puzzle her Uncle Murdoch, who had introduced them in Edinburgh. They had not seemed destined for friendship, let alone anything deeper, in the beginning; in fact, James had threatened her and she had suspected him of being a sadistic murderer. Even now she tried not to think of the events that had led her to believe that of him. She understood that war changed the rules. She tossed in bed, uncomfortable with her acceptance of that. Losing her heart to someone other than her husband embarrassed her here in the dark of the bed she’d shared with Roger. Eager to be of some use, she had vowed to do all in her power to help James in the effort to restore his kinsman John Balliol to the throne of Scotland. Desiring James had not been part of her plan.

She trained her thoughts on the owl’s visitation, returning to the question of whether Roger was safe at the nunnery. It was not a small thing, to go to him there. With the English, who held Perth, closely watching the countryside around the town and considering no wanderer innocent, she had little room to manoeuvre. She prayed that her mother might also have premonitions of Roger’s danger and warn him. It was because her mother bided in Elcho Nunnery that both Roger and her father were there. Her mother had retired to the nunnery when Margaret was wed. Her father had been pleased for her to do so at the time, but he’d recently returned from abroad determined to coax her back into living as man and wife. Roger had accompanied her father to the nunnery, apparently hoping to convince her mother to give him details of a vision she’d had of Margaret standing with her husband and child watching the King of Scotland arrive in Edinburgh. Roger’s chosen lord, Robert Bruce, was understandably keen to know whether he was that king. James, too, was keen, but hoped the king was his kinsman. That they had all arrived at Elcho on the same evening had been an unfortunate coincidence — two boats stealthily arriving on the riverbank had thrown the guards into a panic that resulted in injuries to Roger, his companion Aylmer, and her father.

Although the English soldiers left Elcho Nunnery in peace as a favour to her mother, who had to her shame done them an inadvertent service, Margaret feared she might not be included in her mother’s protected circle. It was possible the English knew of her connection to James Comyn, and thus to William Wallace and Andrew Murray, who were fighting to return the throne to John Balliol. She should not risk the possibility that the English might be waiting for her to leave the town and the protection of her neighbours so that they might take her for questioning without raising an alarm. But she had agreed to help James, and so she must wait for his escort.

Margaret’s resolution unfortunately did nothing to help her sleep, for she had a wealth of worries awaiting her attention. The owl’s visit was only the most recent one. She had hoped to enjoy some quiet after the storm of familial troubles that had brought her back to Perth from Edinburgh. She must have been mad to think there would be any peace for her when all her family were involved in the struggle between the Scots and King Edward of England. The immediate danger was a fresh English army approaching the southern border. Margaret had thought the summer’s end would be relatively peaceful because King Edward was in the Low Countries, but apparently his presence was not necessary for an attack. Worst of all, the army would be marching across Soutra Hill, the site of the spital where her brother Andrew was confessor to the English soldiers. His assignment there was a condemnation, for as he was a Scot he would never be released now that he had heard the confessions of the enemy — which is precisely why his abbot had sent him there.

Worries upon worries, cares upon cares. Yet despite it all Margaret must have drifted off because suddenly the dawn shone softly through the bed curtains that Celia had parted as she slipped out.

‘I must go below,’ said Celia, noticing that Margaret stirred.

‘Tom can see to the kitchen fire,’ Margaret assured her.

‘He can’t manage everything,’ Celia said. ‘If we overwork him we’ll lose him.’

The new servant was a young man with whom Margaret was mostly delighted; he was efficient and energetic, though she did wonder why he had not chosen a side in the struggles and gone to fight. Celia believed that a man might be just as reluctant to fight as any sensible woman would be. Indeed Celia worried that Margaret’s hovering might frighten him off when there were so few young men to help with the heavier work.

Falling back on the pillow, Margaret immediately resumed her inner debate about whether Celia had been right about the owl and she should go to warn Roger. But she had no idea what to warn him about. It had been his choice to risk his life and his property, knowing full well that as Robert the Bruce’s man he would be considered a traitor by the English. And the owl might simply have been hunting.

Margaret spent the day in her garden, arguing with herself about her responsibilities while cutting down the spent plants, weeding, hoeing composted leaves from the previous year into the soil. It was good work for anger, and she had the garden to herself while Celia was at the river with the laundry.

This was not a time to put her own feelings first, especially since she had coaxed James into allowing her to take on this mission. Wallace and Murray needed news from Stirling Castle and the lad who’d been providing it had been failing them. News from the castle was critical because in order to regain control of their country the Scots must control the crossing of the River Forth, which was guarded by Stirling Castle — now in the hands of the English. Therefore they must wrest control of Stirling and its castle from Longshanks’s army.

She’d wondered why they’d left it so long. It had seemed foolhardy for them to focus so much of the summer’s fighting at Dundee when holding the bridge over the River Forth was so crucial to the protection of the north. She imagined that merchants concerned about their shipping were buying some of Wallace’s and Murray’s wits, pressuring them to keep the port open. Now, with English forces approaching, the two needed as much information about the English plans as possible, and as soon as possible. Margaret could not allow her concerns about Roger to distract her. She could not jeopardise the mission she’d fought for by rushing off to Elcho.

Certainly Roger had not put aside his work for Robert Bruce in order to pay attention to her. And therein lay the crux of their marriage’s failure. Roger had disappeared the previous autumn, promising to return by Yuletide, but he had not returned until early August, lying his way back into their conjugal bed by swearing that he’d not meant to desert her, but rather he’d been caught up in the struggle against Edward Longshanks and then judged it dangerous to communicate with her. Margaret had been cautiously happy for a time, particularly with the bed sport, but once she’d learned the extent of Roger’s lies she could no longer trust him; nor could she see how they could peaceably bide together while supporting competitors for the Scottish crown. She wished he might have come round to her way of thinking.

Margaret did not understand how Roger could believe that the Bruce, who had until very recently supported the invader, King Edward Longshanks of England, cared a whit for the people of Scotland. Two powerful Scots families had made claim for the empty throne, and Longshanks, invited to advise, had chosen the Comyn claimant, John Balliol. Now Robert Bruce, the young heir to the other claimant, was gathering supporters. Roger argued that Robert Bruce was the country’s only hope against Longshanks, that he’d proved steadfast in his defence of Ayr against the English troops in weeks past. That he had not surrendered despite being overpowered was proof of his loyalty to his people. As punishment for his rebellion Bruce was to deliver his daughter to the English as a hostage. Margaret had said a prayer for the daughter, but she’d reminded Roger that Robert Bruce had been defending his lands, which was no more than his duty. When Roger further argued that John Balliol had failed his people and would never regain their confidence or even more importantly that of the nobles, his argument had fallen on deaf ears, for Margaret was convinced of the opposite, that the nobles, including Robert Bruce, had failed Balliol, their king.