Chapter 10

Chapter 10

In the coach, Adela listened as the countess and her hostess chatted about the evening. Wondering if she would join the expedition the next day, she told herself it would serve Lestalric right if she feigned a headache and stayed home.

She knew she would do no such thing, though. Meeting him had made life enjoyable again, and more stimulating to her senses than it had ever been before.

As the coach drew to a halt in front of Sinclair House, the countess said, "I hope you mean to take advantage of Lestalric's invitation, dearling. The abbey is remarkable, and Lestalric Castle boasts a fine view of the Firth and Leith Harbor."

"I'm sure it will be an interesting day, madam," Adela said.

"Then we're going," Lady Clendenen said happily. "You are making a stir, my dear. Not in town a full day yet and two eligible suitors. 'Tis an excellent start."

Embarrassed but knowing she meant only to be kind, Adela said, "I hope you will not put that notion into either of their heads."

"Oh, but I need not do any such thing, because—"

"Have mercy, Ealga," Isabella said with a laugh as a gillie flung open the coach door and she prepared to descend. "Her husband is not yet buried! For now, my dear Adela, I suggest you think of nothing but getting a good night's sleep."

"Thank you, madam," Adela said, sincerely grateful for the intervention.

Lady Clendenen said no more about suitors during the short drive to her house or after they went inside. But her beaming smile revealed her delight in Adela's success, so Adela was glad to retire. The cheerful maidservant helped her prepare for bed, and once under the covers she had thoughts only for the day ahead.

It seemed as if she had no sooner shut her eyes than she was tossing on a windswept sea in a boatful of people she knew one minute who were strangers the next. As larger and larger waves crashed around them, the others vanished one by one until she was all alone in a terrifying, much smaller boat.

A distant wave seemed to grow larger and larger the nearer it came until it loomed as high as a castle's curtain wall and began to break directly over her, certain to drown her and crush the wee boat she was in. She awoke then, sitting bolt upright and shaking, to find herself alone in the dark bedchamber.

Getting up, she went to the window, pushed the curtain aside, and gazed out at misty moonlight gleaming on the garden below until her pounding heartbeat slowed to normal. Then, returning to bed, she slept soundly until the maid woke her with a cheery demand to know what she wanted to wear for the fine day's outing.

Not long after Adela and Lady Clendenen had broken their fast in her ladyship's sunny solar, a gillie informed them that Sir Robert, the countess, and the Earl of Orkney had arrived. They went downstairs to the spacious hall to greet them.

Isabella had chosen a riding dress of russet kersey in a simple style similar to Adela's moss-green one. But both men looked nearly as grand as they had at court. Henry wore an emerald-green cape trimmed with sable and Lestalric a doublet of purple so dark it looked black until a sunbeam from a nearby window struck it.

His eyes, which had looked golden in the amber glow of candles and firelight, were light brownish hazel by daylight. As he bowed to Lady Clendenen, Adela decided his dark lashes would still be the envy of any woman.

"Where is Etienne?" Lady Clendenen asked after she'd greeted her guests.

"The chevalier sent his apologies for the delay," Henry said. "He hopes to join us at Holyrood but assures us that if he misses us, he'll find us along the way."

Adela, watching Lestalric, saw his lips tighten. Then he turned toward her and smiled. "'Tis a fine, bright morning, is it not?"

She agreed, and they did not tarry but went right outside, where they found their horses awaiting them, plus an escort of six men-at-arms that Henry had provided. The morning was bright but chilly, and Adela was glad the snug-fitting tunic she wore over her full skirts would keep her warm.

The horse her hostess had provided for her was a fine gray gelding bearing the plain man's saddle that Adela and her sisters preferred. Isabella's saddle was similar, because both women rode astride. Macleod had taught all his daughters to ride, and Adela had begun riding astride when she learned to walk.

In contrast, Lady Clendenen's liver-colored mare sported a large, boxy, sheepskin-lined lady's saddle. "My Gussy is a good, trustworthy lass, and her gait is as smooth as a mare's can be," she said, eyeing the flat leather saddles with strong disapproval. "But I want more than a mane and a rein to cling to when I ride."

Lestalric rode a spirited bay with dark mane and stockings, and Henry a black.

Adela soon discovered that Lady Clendenen's notion of riding was more like a stately royal progress than any-thing akin to exercise for horse or rider. But the public road was no place for exercise, and it was only a short ride to the abbey.

"Do you know the origin of the name Holyrood?" Henry asked Adela.

"It relates to the cross on which Christ died, does it not?"

"Aye, but David I, who built the abbey, named it to honor a piece of the Holy Rood contained in a small, ebony-inlaid, golden casket that his mother brought to Scotland when she married his father. 'Twas called the Black Rood of Scotland, and it became the most sacred of our nation's emblems."

"Until it was snatched from David II by his English captors at the battle of Neville's Cross," Lestalric said lightly as they rode into the abbey kirkyard.

Henry chuckled. "One does wonder why any sensible King of Scots would carry so valued a relic into battle."

The imposing abbey fa?ade with its deeply recessed doorway loomed ahead of them. On its north side, its great square tower stretched skyward.

"It's beautiful," Adela said, certain it was the largest kirk she'd ever seen.

"Would you like to see the interior?" Lestalric asked.

She hesitated, wondering if he thought they could talk privately there. It did not seem a proper place for it if he truly did mean to confide in her.

Lady Clendenen settled the matter, saying indignantly, "Mercy, sir, would you have us dismount when we've just got settled?"

"'Tis too splendid a morning to waste indoors," Isabella said. "There are at least two fine stretches of country on the track to Lestalric and Leith village."

Lestalric guided his horse alongside Adela's as they rode along the rounded arcade on the kirkyard's north wall.

She said, "Is Leith where your home lies?"

"The castle sits yonder on that hilltop, a mile north of the abbey," he said with a smile. "Leith village lies another mile beyond."

"Aye, and 'tis a quaint place," Henry said. "How much of Lestalric do you want to see today, Rob? As I recall, it extends east from Leith to Portobello."

Lestalric protested that he had no intention of dragging everyone over the whole estate, but Lady Clendenen looked perplexed. "Does the land beyond the abbey not belong to the Kirk? I thought they owned even the village of Leith."

Henry said, "They don't own it, but they draw their rents from North Leith, the portion across the river. The fishermen there provide fish for the Kirk's many fast days and maintain the abbey's fishing boats and other vessels. South Leith and the land east of it comprise the barony of Lestalric."

Isabella said curiously, "Other vessels?"

Lestalric chuckled. "The abbot's ferry was my favorite. I warrant it's still the only practical way to get from this side of the river to North Leith."

"Aye," Henry said with a grimace. "The abbot makes a fine living from that ferry, too, because Edinburgh's only safe harbor is the one at North Leith. All merchants' ships and others, including mine, harbor there."

Isabella declaring that she thought Adela had seen enough of the abbey for one day, they rode through the gates and turned north. In minutes they were in open country, and soon the castle they sought loomed ahead on a craggy outcropping that overlooked a long oval loch just east of it.

Tilled fields, lush woodland, and open moors spread in every direction. Adela sighed with pleasure at the sight.

"Shall we let these beasts stretch their legs, mayhap as far as the woods hugging the base of the outcropping?" Lestalric murmured beside her.

She glanced at him hopefully. "Dare we? Won't they object?"

"I doubt it," he said. "Henry is enjoying himself, and he knows the way. With luck, the countess will keep her ladyship entertained as they plod along."

She glanced back to find the countess watching her as she chatted with Henry and Lady Clendenen. When their eyes met, Isabella nodded.

Rob saw the exchange and heaped blessings on the countess. He could do nothing to slow the pace of the group as a whole, but if he had not misread the signs, Isabella would exert herself as much as Henry would to let him try to explain himself to Adela. He'd feared at any moment to see de Gredin bearing down on them, but they'd seen no sign of him yet, and Rob hoped he would stay away.

Accordingly, when Adela turned back to him with her eyes shining and her smooth cheeks pink from the chilly fresh air, he gave his horse a touch of spur. As the bay increased its pace, Adela's gray kept up easily. When she leaned forward, clearly intending to push ahead of him, he let her extend her lead for a minute or two before urging the bay to catch up with her.

The track was firm, the footing for the horses excellent, and he soon saw that her skill matched that of any other horsewoman he knew. He had expected no less, for he had seen two of her sisters ride and knew both to be fine horsewomen, too.

He exerted himself then, thundering after her to let the horses decide the race. When his pulled ahead, he grinned at her and slowed again, delighted to see her smile as she reined in beside him. The woods still lay some distance ahead.

"May we talk now, sir?" she asked, sobering.

He nearly told her to keep smiling, that she possessed a beautiful, warm smile that she ought to share often. But memory of her condemnation of fulsome compliments the previous night stopped the words before they left his tongue. Instead he said, "I am willing to talk, but do not be surprised if that fellow de Gredin should suddenly pop up from behind a bush to interrupt us."

"He is a kind, charming man," she said, giving him a look. Disconcertingly, she added, "I must remind myself of that often, because if I do not, I tend to think of him as the one who deceived me. And that is unfair, as he did nothing of the sort."

He gave her a look of his own then and saw her lips twitch, which nearly undid him. He had not suspected that she even had a sense of humor, let alone that it could surface at such a time. Before, she had stirred only a strong desire in him to protect her and another, more intense but elusive emotion that he had not defined.

There was lust, of course. He could not deny that, not after his body had responded instantly and so unexpectedly to her nearness in the chapel and again the first time he'd walked with her at the royal court. It fairly hummed now in simple enjoyment of being alone with her. But there was more, a new and different hunger that he wanted to explore.

First, he had to respond sensibly to her questions and still leave his honor and his oath to the Order intact. Hoping he sounded only as if he were remembering his promise to be frank, he said, "What would you like to know?"

"First, about Einar. You admitted that he is your kinsman, and he did me a significant service. I want to know what has become of him."

"He has risen above his proper station in life," Rob said, suddenly fearful of what she would say when he told her the truth but knowing he had to tell her. It was not a matter of trusting her not to tell anyone else, the cynical voice in his mind muttered. She could tell the world if she chose. What mattered was what she would think of the choice he had made and the fact that he had deceived her.

He wanted to trust her to understand what he had done and to learn to trust him again despite his deception, because she had touched him as no one had before. She answered that unexpected, indefinable hunger in him that he had forgotten he could feel until their meeting on Roslin's ramparts had brought it to life again.

She remained silent, regarding him soberly.

He had the distinct impression that had she been standing, instead of on horseback, she would have tapped her foot with impatience. He met her gaze.

"Do you mean to explain that odd remark about Einar, sir?"

He sighed. "I've imagined this moment, my lady, over and over. But in my imagining, I am always more adept at explaining myself."

"You need only speak the truth," she said. "Where is he?"

"He stands—that is, he sits astride the horse next to yours."

Wide-eyed, she gaped at him but recovered swiftly. "What are you saying?" she demanded. "Do you take me for a dafty? You cannot mean you are he!"

"That is exactly what I mean."

"But how can you be? Einar Logan is a simple man-at-arms."

"Nay, lass, a serving knight," Rob said with a wry smile. "'Tis a small difference, I grant you, but an important one. It was a nonetheless humbling experience, but in the beginning, I thought I needed humbling."

"Why?"

"Because, despite all my training, I'd let them goad me into losing my temper. It was always unpredictable, but I thought I'd mastered it."

"Have you mastered it now?"

"I hope so."

"And you have risen to be captain of Hugo's fighting tail now."

He smiled. "Aye, I rose quickly. I'm proud of that."

She did not respond to his smile. Her cheeks and eyes were brighter than ever. "You are very glib, sir," she said. "But I simply don't believe you. Einar Logan is a rough Borderer who speaks like a ruffian. I've heard him."

"I canna say nowt agin ye," he said in Einar's accents. "That be plain fact."

"Mercy," she said, then frowned again. "But Einar had a beard."

He said nothing, then nearly smiled when she grimaced. "One needs no more than a razor to alter that."

"And a steady hand," he agreed. "In troth, I let Henry's man shave me. He is a more skillful barber than I shall ever be."

"And no one recognized you? Not as Sir Robert before or as Einar now?"

"Logans abound in the Borders," he said. "Even into the Highlands, although they call themselves MacLennans there. I'd only to admit I was kin to the baron. If folks got a notion he'd spread his seed far afield, who was I to correct them?"

"But did your father never know where you were? Or your brother?"

"Nay," Rob said. "I doubt either gave me a thought after I rode away."

"Och, poor laddie," she exclaimed impulsively, reaching toward him.

"I'm no cause for pity," he said more sharply than he had intended. Then he was immediately sorry when she jerked back her hand. Gently, he said, "To be fair, lass, after my mother died, the relationship between the three of us suffered greatly. They'd scarcely set eyes on me for four years before the day I returned and left again."

"You fostered at Dunclathy, then, with Hugo and Michael."

"Aye, and Henry, too," he said. "He was older and kept his distance at first, for he wore his rank heavily then. He'd been head of his family for years before I trained with him. His father died in battle when Henry was only thirteen."

"What was it like, your training?"

"Much the same as any other lad's, I expect. Boring stuff for females but interesting to us. And we practiced the art of chivalry when Sir Edward's daughters visited. Lady Robison died years before I went there."

"I find it hard to imagine that Hugo's sisters did not know you."

He winced inwardly at certain memories but said, "The wee ones, Kate and Meg, were but six and seven when I went to Dunclathy. Moreover, since their mother had died by then, they fostered with kinsmen. I doubt they were more than nine and ten the last time I saw them before I won my spurs."

"I see." She paused. "Did not someone tell me Hugo has a third sister?"

"Aye, the lady Elizabeth, but she married soon after I arrived. I seldom saw her there, and I promise you, she never spared a look later for a mere serving knight."

They had reached the woods leading up the east end of the outcropping to the castle above. Lestalric Castle had been a fortress in its day, Rob knew, but after his years of experience at Dunclathy, Roslin, and other more solidly fortified places, his view of it now simply explained how easily the English had occupied it a half century before, and why, having done so, they'd used it only to store supplies.

Glancing over his shoulder to see the rest of their party still far behind, he said, "We'd better wait here. Isabella will support our talking together if we stay in view, but I doubt she'd be happy if we went on to the castle alone."

"If you want to ride on to see the place, I'll wait for them," she said.

"Nay, lass, I only contrived this outing so we might talk. What else would you know of me?"

Adela hesitated. There was so much she wanted to know, because his revelations thus far had astonished her. She had seen little of Einar Logan, but she had formed a clear impression of the man.

For one thing, he had seemed smaller than Lestalric. As the thought formed, the sight of the approaching party with Henry's men-at-arms riding tactfully behind them reminded her that the Sinclair men and Hugo surrounded themselves with large, powerful henchmen of Nordic ancestry like their own. Amidst Borderers, Sir Robert would appear abnormally tall and broad. Amidst Highlanders, who mixed Celtic traits with Nordic ones, he would appear a bit taller than the average, albeit no match for truly large men like her sister Cristina's husband, Hector the Ferocious.

But amidst Hugo's men, Sir Robert might easily have seemed smaller.

The silence between them felt comfortable. But although he seemed inclined to be patient, the rest of their party had closed a third of the distance between them.

Realizing that if she wanted to ask him anything more, she had better do so at once, she said, "Why did you do it? Why did you become Einar Logan?"

When he hesitated, she wanted to kick herself. What a thing to ask when it was most likely the one question he did not want to answer. What could the reason be but something he was ashamed of or felt deeply remorseful about?

Then he said ruefully, "I lost my temper. I'd arrived at midday, proud of winning my spurs, and we talked of battles and such whilst we dined. Then my father demanded information I could not give him. We disagreed, and Will entered the fray. That just made me angrier, but we'd never been ten minutes in the same room without fratching." He paused, clearly reluctant to continue. "My father said then that I was a damned disappointment to him and not worth anything, so I left."

"It was a dreadful thing for him to say!"

"Aye, well, I swore he'd never see me again. I kept my word, too, but that was pride more than anything else. I went to Hugo and Michael at Roslin because they'd always felt more like my family than my father or Will did. But I wasn't family, of course, and had nowt of my own. I told them I wanted to earn my way, and I didn't want anyone calling me Sir Anything whilst I did. My new knighthood had lost its luster, you see. But Hugo's lads knew me for a knight and felt insolent calling me Rob so I told them I'd had a falling out with my family and did not want my father or brother to find me. I suggested they call me Einar Logan and treat me as one of themselves. 'Twas a good Norse name from my mother's family."

She cocked her head to one side, regarding him with narrowing eyes. "Did you really not want your family to find you?"

He smiled wryly. "You remind me of Hugo. He suggested that I didn't want to know if they didn't try to find me. In troth, I don't think it matters much now what my reasons were then. The others are almost here," he added, nodding toward the approaching riders. "We'll talk more when we can, because I want to know about you, too. You should know, though, that nothing I did reflects badly on me now. I've paid my penance for the things I regret, and—" He broke off.

"What?" she asked. She looked toward the others, half expecting to see that de Gredin had arrived, or that something else had occurred to annoy him.

When she looked back, he seemed rueful. "I may be wrong about paying full penance," he said. "It occurs to me that mayhap I have not."

Adela wanted to shake him but could not. Not only was he too far away, and much too large for shaking, but the others were now much too near.

Rob saw the spark of anger but could think of nothing to say that would not ignite it to flame. As he had spoken the words, he realized they might prove false.

For all he knew, the cause of his father's and brother's murders lay at his door. If someone was trying to eliminate the Logans of Lestalric, might the reason not be an attempt to acquire what they believed the Logans guarded? Was it possible that what she called the beginning, the boyish taunt he had flung at Will years ago, had bloomed over time into something greater? Or was he turning a seed into an oak tree?

The others joined them moments later, and they continued through the woods and up to the castle gate. Rob had only to identify himself before it swung open, and they entered the small, square courtyard that he remembered from visits to his grandfather. The castle's constable emerged from the gate tower to welcome him.

"Ye'll be remembering Tam Geddes, lad," the man said bluffly as he glanced at Henry and the half dozen men-at-arms that had ridden in behind them. "One o' me lads did hear in town that ye was back and would be a-coming today. I'm that glad to see ye. I wager ye'll be wanting to make a good many changes, will ye no?"

"Oh, I expect I'll look into things," Rob said as he looked around. The yard looked tidy enough, but he could see that the place was poorly maintained. Still, he did not want to give much away before finding a clear path. "I can see that you might want to furbish up a few things," he said. "But I expect you know more about that sort of thing than I do, Tam Geddes."

"Aye, well, ye've no been next or nigh the place in years, and your da were content enough whenever he were here," Geddes said. "Young Will were more interested in spending Sir Ian's gelt on fine clothes to impress the lassies in Stirling or at the Castle when the royal court were in residence there."

"I'll want to see your accounts before I leave Edinburgh," Rob said. "But I'll be in town a few more days, so I'll look them over next time I come. No need to keep the ladies dangling about today whilst we talk."

"Nay, sir," the man said with another glance at Henry, who looked truly splendid in his fine cape. And splendidly vacuous, too, Rob thought.

He remembered Tam Geddes as a gillie from his youth, and he thought the man seemed nervous. He detected no extraordinary relief in him at learning he need not yet share his accounts, but neither did he read any enthusiasm for change.

They dismounted and walked to the main entrance and into the great hall, where clearly a number of men had been living for at least a fortnight without benefit of servants to clear up after them. The place was as untidy as if they had simply cast their belongings everywhere.

"How long has Lady Logan been away?" Rob asked Geddes.

Frowning, he said, "I expect it'll be nigh two months now. She went to stay wi' her lady mother when Sir Ian and our Will rode to join the Douglas."

Rob decided that if he wanted to live comfortably at Lestalric, he'd have to institute a number of changes. But to his chagrin, he hardly knew where to begin.

Henry said blandly that he was looking forward to seeing more of the place. But Isabella and Lady Clendenen both declined to examine the upper regions.

"Faith, I feel as if I'm still in that saddle, fearing I'll be pitched to the ground any minute," Lady Clendenen said. "I mean to sit still until I must move again."

Glancing at Henry, who nodded, Rob said, "We'll be a few moments then, if you don't mind waiting. Mayhap Tam Geddes can find you something to drink."

"Aye, sir, I'll find summat," the man said, still clearly nervous.

Adela said, "I'd like to go with you, Sir Robert. Countess Isabella said Lestalric boasts some splendid views of the Firth."

"It does," Rob admitted, ignoring the twinkle in Henry's eyes. With no polite way to deny her request, he said, "We'll go this way, my lady."

He led them up the main stairway to the next floor, then along a corridor on which several chambers opened, to the last. Entering, he found Sir Ian's bedchamber, which had been Sir Walter's before him, as untidy as the hall had been. "Sakes!" he exclaimed. "Have the men been sleeping here, too?"

Adela had followed him in. "This mess is not mere untidiness sir," she said. "That kist appears to have been purposefully turned upside down."

"She's right, Rob," Henry said from the chamber next door. "This one looks the same. Everything's upended. They've even taken the bed apart."

"Someone has searched the place," Rob said, feeling his temper stir, and dismay as well. "Lass, watch the stairway. If anyone comes, greet them loudly enough for us to hear."

She obeyed without question, and he moved swiftly to the wood-framed bed against the wall. It boasted two posts, a carved tester, and rich red velvet curtains, but he was interested only in the wood panels at its head.

Feeling along the bottom edge of an unadorned flat panel between two carved ones, he located the long, slender wedge at its base, holding it in place. Easing it out, he removed the panel and reached into the shallow space behind it, finding a narrow roll of vellum. Removing it, he unrolled it, glanced at it, rolled it again, and slipped it up his sleeve. Then he replaced the panel and its wedge and went to find Henry sorting through things in the next room. "Let's go," Rob said.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Henry asked.

"I hope so," Rob replied, glancing at Adela near the stairs. "But I'm afraid it's only half a map. Look here." He stepped into the room and opened the map. "What do you think?"

"It does look incomplete," Henry agreed. "That one side looks neatly cut, despite being all curves. But what will please you is that I'm nearly certain I've got something similar amongst my maps from the chest."

Adela knew now that she had been fooling herself by believing she lacked curiosity. She had been curious about Lestalric from the first moment they'd met, and curious about his castle from the moment they had entered it. Now, as she stood gazing out one of the corridor windows with her ears aprick for the slightest sound from the stair-way, she was dying to know what he'd found.

She thought she had heard him say it was a map, but she was not sure. Both men had spoken, and were still speaking, only in murmurs.

Isabella was right about the view of the Firth of Forth, though. She could see what must be Leith Harbor to her left in the distance. But her thoughts were not on the view. Having managed a household with untidy sisters and a father who cast his belongings thither and yon, she had seen at a glance, even before she had seen the bed-chambers, that someone had searched Lestalric's great hall.

But Lestalric had asked no questions. His intent from the first, she thought, had been to get upstairs. Hearing the two men coming, she turned.

"I think I'm going to be asking a few more questions, Sir Robert," she said.

"Aye, well, I've a few to ask myself," he said grimly.

But confronting Geddes in the hall, Rob said mildly, "Those rooms abovestairs are a bit of a shambles. Who's been in Sir Ian's chamber?"

The man's face reddened. "Ha' mercy, me lord. 'Twas none o' us here! They came a sennight ago wi' a royal banner flying. When they said the laird were dead and the estates likely to revert to the King, I didna dare deny them entrance."

"I trust you will find the courage to deny them if they come again."

"Aye, sir, I will."

"Good. I shall want the place cleaned up before I return. You may hire as many men as you need and more men-at-arms to safeguard the castle, as well. If you cannot see to it quickly, I expect I shall have to look for a new constable."

"Mayhap hiring a housekeeper would be wise, sir," Adela said. "It does not appear as if one has tended the place for some time."

"I warrant you can see to that as well, can you not?" he said to Geddes.

"Aye, sir. I'll do what I can, but it'll take a good bit o' gelt, that will."

Henry said with the bland disinterest he had shown earlier, "If you require funds, sirrah, send those you hire to Sinclair House in the Canongate, where Sir Robert presently resides. He will attend to their recompense there."

"Aye, my lord," Geddes said, turning back to Rob. "I'll do as ye bid, sir."

Rob said lightly, "I shall rely upon you, Tam Geddes."

"But must I send the lads into town to get their gelt? Ye could let me attend to it for ye," he suggested. "'Twould be more convenient for the lads, ye ken."

With effort, Rob avoided looking at Henry as he said with every affectation in play, "But 'tis more convenient for me to do it at Sinclair House."

"Sakes, I guess it will be more convenient," he said afterward as he and Henry followed the women down the slope toward the woods at its base. "What the devil was that about, Henry? I didn't think about the money, but if you can tell me how I'm to pay all those men before I know what rents Lestalric collects and—"

"I'll pay them," Henry said, cutting in without apology. "And before I leave for the north, I'll arrange for you to draw on my funds here if you need them. Don't stiffen up like that, Rob. You were wise back there not to set Geddes on his guard. But if you cannot see by the state of the lands we've ridden through to get here and all we see right now that your rents here must be enormous, I certainly can."

Rob frowned. "You know that I've had training in managing what finances come my way. We all did, because a man cannot plan for battle without knowing how to assess his resources and pay for his men's needs. But I ken little of rents. I can see that the land is in better trim than the castle, but I assumed that Geddes had passed the rents on to my father or Will and that they'd spent it all on finery."

"That may well be the case," Henry acknowledged. "But you'd have to be a fool not to inspect his accounts. I'd remind you that someone has already stuck a finger in your affairs. And that means your father and brother may not have been the only ones to whom Geddes paid the rents. If I may presume a step more …"

"As many as you like," Rob said as they entered the shady woodland. "Much as I'd prefer not to be beholden to you in such an enormous way—"

"I'll get it all back," Henry said. "But you'd do well to let me set my man of affairs onto Geddes with a few of my men-at-arms to back his efforts. You'll know then that you're getting a full accounting. If you can be content to trust my chap as much as I do, I think you'll find him sat-is factory."

"Sakes, Henry, I'd have to be daft to refuse such an offer," Rob said sincerely. "Will he mind trying to impart some of his knowledge to me?"

"Not a bit," Henry said with a reminiscent smile. "Only think what it must have been like for him to try to train a thirteen-year-old who was angry at the Fates for taking his father and cocksure of himself and his rank besides."

"Were you ever like that?" Rob asked innocently. "I don't recall it."

"Wise of you to forget," Henry said with a grin.

Rob was laughing aloud when the arrow struck.