Chapter 19

Mairi's party neared the south boundary of Jardine Mains an hour later.

Spedlins Tower lay near the river Annan just as the Hall did, not far from the Roman road they followed. Knowing that her party was large enough that word of their approach had likely reached the Jardines, Mairi said, "We must be cautious from this point so we do not unexpectedly meet Jardines or the sheriff and his men."

"We must stop long enough at the tower to pay our respects," Phaeline said. "Surely, they can tell us if there are Maxwells in the dale."

It was the first time she had spoken of the Jardines, but Mairi shook her head.

"I know you want to see Fiona," she said gently. "But not yet. The lad we sent ahead to them has not returned, so we don't know they got our warning. The fact is that they are likely in league with the sheriff. You know they are not our friends."

"Godamercy," Phaeline said. "Will Jardine is married to our Fiona. If you think she would allow—"

"Madam, prithee, hear your own words," Mairi replied. "Fiona is headstrong, to be sure. But I do not believe she willfully missed our father's burial or thought such a course to be ‘wise.' Will is the one who decreed it so. If you think more carefully, I think you will agree that only if Will Jardine forced her obedience could he have kept her from us on such an occasion."

Phaeline grimaced and sighed. "You are right, of course. I have feared all along that he abducted Fiona as surely as Maxwell abducted you. Your father did not believe it, but if I had my way, both those men would hang for their crimes."

Mairi stared at her. "I had no idea you felt so strongly, madam. I knew, of course, that Fiona's elopement upset you dreadfully, as it did my father, but—"

"I do not believe she eloped," Phaeline repeated. "That man took her."

Mairi realized that since Fiona had not been daft enough to reveal her feelings for Will to her mother, Phaeline knew nothing about them. Unwilling to tell her when they did not know what lay ahead, she said, "I thought you blamed me as much as you blamed Rob… Robert Maxwell for my abduction."

"You are my daughter, too, Mairi, but I cannot fault you for believing I had few motherly feelings for you," Phaeline said with one of her sighs. "Until you vanished so abruptly and we had no idea what had become of you, I did not know that I did care. Recall how young I was when your father married me… a full year younger than you are now. If I showed stronger feelings for our ungrateful Fiona—"

"Prithee, madam, say no more on that head," Mairi interjected, touched by Phaeline's unexpectedly honest revelation. "Fiona is dear to all of us, and you are the only mother I have known. By my troth, I have never blamed you—"

"I know that," Phaeline said, cutting in as swiftly as Mairi had before. "You make me feel all the smaller, because you have never cast my bad behavior in my teeth. But I did behave badly, too often, I fear. Sithee, even your father did call me to account once or twice, although for him to do so was most unusual."

"He loved you, madam," Mairi said, knowing it was true.

"He did, aye, and I took advantage," Phaeline said. "I feel so ashamed now that I lied. Sithee, I thought no one would ever know. You were clever to confront Sadie, although I do think she ought to have warned me that you suspected I was not with child, and let me be the one to tell you. I'll not forgive her for that."

The words were at the tip of Mairi's tongue to admit that had Sadie not told her, she would not have suspected. Instead, she said, "But why did you lie?"

Phaeline grimaced. "I wish I could cite some noble reason. But the sad truth is just that your father treated me more kindly when he thought I was pregnant than when he knew I was not. Sithee, he wanted a son so badly, and I took advantage of that, too, I fear. I must be a wicked woman," she added with a sigh.

"Women often do what they think is necessary to protect themselves or their families or just to keep peace," Mairi said, remembering her own behavior before her discovery of more open, easier communication with Rob.

"Mayhap they do," Phaeline agreed. "But that does not excuse my behavior."

"The turning lies about a half mile yonder," Hugh said sometime later.

Rob nodded. He knew where they were from his last trip to Annandale. The Chapel Hill a mile northeast of the round tower keep made a good landmark.

"Do you think your man will find Archie?" he asked Hugh.

Hugh shrugged. "He will find him. But we won't wait for them."

"I'll send men on ahead to see what they can see," Rob said. "Alex will cross at the ford a mile this side of Dunwythie Hall, so we'll want to keep our eyes open."

The two lads he sent ahead returned to report all clear, so avoiding the track, he and Hugh led their men across the densely wooded slope toward the Hall.

As they neared the wide clearing around the wall that protected the tower keep, screaming men dropped from trees and sprang out of the dense shrubbery, swords and pikes at the ready.

Except for the horses' hoofbeats and a jingle of harness, most of Mairi's party had been silent for some time when Gib muttered urgently, "M'lady!"

Only then did the sounds he had heard reach Mairi's own sharp ears. She raised a hand, unconsciously aping her father's signal to bring his men to a halt.

The nearer sounds ceased. The distant ones did not. Looking around, she realized that while she had been talking with Phaeline, they had reached their own land southwest of the Chapel Hill. They were less than a mile from the Hall.

Shifting her gaze to Gerrard, she saw from his narrow-eyed frown that he, too, had heard the distant sounds of clashing metal, faint shouts, and screams.

Meeting her gaze, he said, "There be a fight yonder, m'lady. The two o' ye and Gib should ride on east now, past yon hill, till ye reach Dryfe Water. Stay near the water, and dinna come back. I'll send lads to fetch ye when it's safe."

She did not argue but reined aside to let the men pass. As they did, she saw expressions ranging from wariness to outright grins and lust for battle.

"I'm thinking we would be safer at Spedlins Tower than Dryfe Water even if, or especially if Old Jardine is helping the Maxwells attack the Hall," Phaeline said.

"Nay, madam," Mairi countered. "Only think what Sir Hugh would say to us if we did that and the Jardines managed to take us hostage."

Phaeline grimaced, clearly remembering her stern brother's more unpleasant ways of making his views plain. "Very well," she said. "However, if our serving as hostages can be at all useful for those attacking Dunwythie Mains, it must be on your account, not mine. I doubt Hugh would submit to a Maxwell just to save me."

Mairi chuckled. "You underrate Sir Hugh's loyalty to his kinfolk, madam. Moreover, few men would esteem one of their fellows who did naught to protect his sister and his own beloved Jenny's favorite cousin from harm."

A smile touched Phaeline's lips, but it vanished at once. "You are right again, my dear. The truth is I do not want to ride two or three miles more to Dryfe Water, merely to wait there till called for. Heaven knows how long that would be."

"I agree," Mairi said. "I have meant all along to ride up Chapel Hill, to see what I can from the top. If you are willing, I still want to do that."

"Aye, that be a good notion, that," Gib said approvingly.

Phaeline nodded, clearly as curious as Mairi was. But what they saw when they reached the hilltop and skirted the stone chapel was carnage below.

"Gor bless us," Gib muttered.

Snatching his sword free of its belt across his back, Rob had dealt swiftly and savagely with his first assailant as Sir Hugh dealt with another. A half dozen of their men were afoot, knocked from their saddles by the attackers. But they all had their swords and dirks out and were fighting for their lives.

Others, still horsed, fought as fiercely, to the disadvantage of their opponents who, thanks to their places of ambush, were all afoot. So Rob shifted his attention to a second attacker, hoping none of his men would mistake any of Hugh's for the enemy or vice versa. Members of their party wore red cockades on their helms or caps, rather than clan colors. But a man might easily lose his badge in battle.

Recognizing one of Alex's men fighting one of his own lads as he dispatched his second opponent, Rob spurred his horse toward them, shouting, "Hold there, Jock MacGowan and Ian Rigg! Where is the sheriff, Jock?"

The two men flung up their swords at the sound of his voice and whirled to face him. Both looked shamefaced. The taller one met Rob's stern gaze and said defensively, "I didna hold wi' lying in wait for ye, Master Rob. But the sheriff did say that if ye came here, we was to arrest ye and all who rode wi' ye."

"Where is he?" Rob repeated grimly.

Jock gestured toward the keep. "Yonder, Master Rob, inside. He took a dozen men in wi' him, and he said he'd tell them at the gate he were expecting to speak wi' the lady Mairi, that doubtless summat had delayed her."

"So 'tis likely he surprised those inside, too, and has been asserting the authority of his office," Rob said. "Now, listen to me, Jock MacGowan. We have Maxwell men injured who need tending, so this must stop now. I warrant you do not recognize that man yonder," he added, gesturing toward Hugh. "He is Sir Hugh Douglas, cousin to Archie the Grim. The dowager Lady Douglas is likewise Archie's cousin and Sir Hugh's sister. Do you take my meaning?"

"Aye, sir, I'd ha' to be ten times a fool no to ken better than to stir Douglas tempers," Jock MacGowan said, his eyes widening. "Sakes, but we'll ha' the whole fearsome clan after us an we do that, I'm thinking."

"Not if we can end this now," Rob said.

Jock bit his lower lip, looking around. Bleeding bodies lay everywhere.

Rob kept his eyes on Jock, trying to ignore the dreadful sounds of clashing steel and injured men. When Jock met his gaze again, Rob said quietly, "Where is Abel the hornsman?"

Nodding decisively then, Jock gestured to someone beyond Rob on his right. As Rob turned, he heard the two-note Maxwell signal to cease fighting.

In almost the same moment, three sharp notes came from another horn. Looking swiftly toward Sir Hugh, Rob saw that Hugh's man, Lucas, held the horn. Hugh had lowered his sword. The rest of his men and Rob's were doing likewise.

Rob breathed a sigh of relief, although he knew the battle was far from over.

"You must have more men than these, Jock," he said. "Where are they?"

"A few be inside and a score o' them yonder," the man said. "Near the road, wi' Old Jardine's lot, a-waiting for them what may come from the south."

"From Annan House?"

"Aye."

Swearing, Rob shouted for Hugh.

The cessation of battle sounds raised Mairi's hopes until Phaeline, pointing to the road below, said, "Look! It must be a hundred men! They cannot be ours."

"I expect they are the sheriff's men," Mairi said. "I see no banner, but with all the talk that Archie the Grim means to take the dales, mayhap the sheriff hoped folks would think that his force, being so large, must be Douglases."

"Would they not wonder why they do not fly the Douglas banner?"

"Sakes, they'd be daft to wave the Douglases' banner when they dinna be Douglases," Gib said scornfully.

"Folks might wonder, but I wager most would keep clear," Mairi said dryly. "It might explain why we had no warning that the Maxwells were coming."

Phaeline nodded. "Gibby is right, too, though," she said. "If our Archie were to hear that men were falsely waving his banner or otherwise aping Douglases, he'd soon have their heads on pikes at Threave. Why has it grown so quiet below?"

"I heard horns, so it must be over," Mairi said. "But I mean to find out."

"You mustn't go down there!" Phaeline exclaimed. "I shan't let you!"

"Nay, m'lady," Gib said. "Ye must no go down. I can go and see for ye."

"I'm going," Mairi said. "This is my land, and they attacked my people. If those riders yonder did not join the fray, the sheriff's force must—Wait," she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes. "Is that large black horse not Gerrard's?"

"Aye, it is," Gibby said, his eyes wide. "Sakes, m'lady, they've got our men!"

"Then I must see what has happened at the Hall. But you stay here with the lady Phaeline, Gib." Giving neither time to argue, Mairi wrenched her horse toward the track downhill to the Hall. But before she reached it, half a dozen armed riders crested the hilltop from the south and quickly surrounded her.

They all wore helmets, but she recognized Will Jardine when he urged his mount up beside hers and grabbed her horse's bridle.

"Let go and get out of my way," she snapped. "You are on Dunwythie land!"

"Aye, sure, and don't I ken that fine?" Will said with a cheeky grin. "One day soon, though, it will all belong to me."

"Good sakes, Will Jardine, how do you think that can happen?"

"Aye, well, let me see now. Dunwythie be dead, and if ye be dead next, the land goes to my Fiona and hence to me," he said, ticking the statements off on his fingers.

"That is not going to happen," she said. "Even Sheriff Maxwell would not be party to such a theft, if only because he wants to seize my estates for Clan Maxwell."

Will chuckled. "Nay, then, for he sent word to me da that he were a-coming, sithee. And me da means to make the facts plain to him. He already has your lads, and he'll soon take anyone else who gets in his way."

"Where is Fiona?" Phaeline cried out to him.

"At home where a good wife belongs," he snapped.

"There are many others coming," Mairi said, striving for calm. "We sent men out to warn all the lairds in Annandale before we came here."

"Ye did, aye, and I warrant ye must be a-wondering what became o' them. Sithee, me da sent his lads out to collect yours, and others to relay the news that 'twas all a mistake and nobbut the sheriff and a few lads paying calls like before."

His men were listening and watching him with grins much like his own when Mairi saw Gib slide down the offside of his pony and dive into nearby bushes. To give him time to get safely away, she kicked her horse, making it plunge and pull hard against the bridle Will held, nearly unseating the man.

He raised his whip menacingly. "Do that again, lass, and see what ye get!"

"Alex has more men with the Jardines' lot, lying in wait on the road just south of us for anyone coming from Annan House," Rob told Hugh. "Gather all these men here, ours as well as your own—"

Hugh's eyebrows rose. "Your brother's men?"

Rob looked at Jock and Ian Rigg. "My brother's men will do as I tell them," he said sternly. "Will they not, Jock MacGowan?"

"Aye, sir," Jock said, nodding hastily. Ian Rigg nodded, too.

"Very well, then," Hugh said. "What do you—?"

"Master Rob! Master Rob!"

Whirling, Rob saw Gibby dashing headlong toward him, heedless of armed men or injured ones. Brambles and twigs clung to his tattered clothes.

"Them Jardines ha' her ladyship!" he shouted. "Both o' their ladyships!"

Gasping, the lad stumbled, and Rob caught him, set him upright, and looked into his sweat-streaked face. "Where, lad?"

"Yonder… hill," Gib said, taking gusty breaths. "I ran all the way down!"

"How many men?" Rob asked him.

"Six on the hill, many at the bottom, but methinks lots o' them be Annan House men the Jardines caught. They got the lads that Captain Gerrard sent out to raise the other lairds, too. Lady Mairi were expecting many to join us, but them wicked Jardines—Sakes, laird, the one a-leading them… her ladyship did call him Will Jardine. He said her land will belong to him when she be dead like her da!"

"You've done well, lad," Rob said, squeezing Gib's shoulder as his own fury leaped within him. He was as angry with Mairi for putting herself at risk, and with Phaeline for letting her, as he was with the treacherous Jardines. Ruthlessly controlling his ire, he turned to the two Maxwell men beside him.

"Ian, look after the men seeing to our injured. Gibby here will help them when he gets his breath. Jock, are our own men on the gates yonder?"

"Aye, sir."

"Tell them they are to stay right where they are. Then get the rest ready to ride. But first, send Abel the Horn to me."

Hugh said, "My lads are ready, so what is our plan?"

"How many clan calls does your hornsman know?" Rob asked him.

Hugh grinned. "Any you need. Lucas Horne!" he shouted. "I want you!"

A dour-looking man with bushy dark eyebrows who had ridden directly behind them from Thornhill strode up to join them, "Aye, sir?" he said to Hugh.

"Maxwell here wants to know how many clans' horn calls you can blow."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in much the same way that Hugh had earlier. "Happen we be up to old mischief then, eh, Master Hugo?" Looking at Rob, he said, "Who d'ye want we should pretend t' be, sir?"

"Annandale clans, Johnstone, Kirkpatrick, whoever will impress the Jardines," Rob told him. Then, indicating Abel, he added, "This is my hornsman. Teach him one or two as we ride. Then I want the two of you to split off into the woods and make as much noise as you can when we get near the Jardines."

"Ye'll want Douglas, too," Lucas said. "But Sir Hugh has his own horn and can blow as good as most. Ye be lookin' to ha' armies in t' woods, I'm thinkin'."

"That's it," Hugh said, but he was frowning. "What if they run, Rob?"

"I want the Jardines to run."

"But they might take the women with them."

"Recall that Gib told us there are only six men with them on that hill," Rob said. "I doubt Will Jardine has the stomach to fratch with two resistant women if the rest of the Jardine men take off. And Mairi will resist. Recall, too, that Old Jardine has hostages to give him trouble. Mairi's captain and his men are unlikely to stand idle when they know reinforcements are on the way."

"I hope you're right," Hugh said.

"Me, too," Rob said. "Will Jardine better hope so, too. If I'm wrong, and I can get to him, he'll soon be a dead man."

Some time had passed since Mairi had stared back at Will until he lowered his whip. He had told her then that he did not want to hear another word from her, and she had kept silent, wondering what he would do next.

He had moved them farther east on the hill until they could not see her men, Old Jardine's, or the road to the Hall.

Will was evidently waiting for a signal or for someone else to join them, because he had not told her or Phaeline to dismount. He had also sent two of his men to keep watch, one looking south along the road and the other north.

At last, he said to a third, "Go see if anyone be coming from the Hall yet."

As the fellow slid off his horse and tethered it, Mairi said curiously, "How did you stop my men? We heard no battle down there on the road."

"Nay, for me da be too clever for that," Will said. "Sithee, sound travels with such ease as might surprise ye hereabouts, up and down the dale. Me da didna want to warn anyone approaching the Hall that we were there."

"That was clever," she said. "What do you want us to do now?"

Phaeline said tersely, "I want to know how Fiona is."

"She's good is what she is," Will said. "Mayhap ye'll see her, mayhap no."

"I certainly will see her! You had no business—"

Her words broke in a sharp cry, as Will backhanded her across the mouth.

"Ye'll be silent unless ye want more o' the same," he said. Turning back to Mairi as casually as if he were just continuing their conversation, he said, "As to what ye'll do, ye'll first sign over yon Annan House to us, and then—"

Distant horns interrupted him, first one then another.

"Bless us!" Will exclaimed. "That be Douglas! And Kirkpatrick, aye!"

"Johnstone!" one of his men shouted.

"And Dunwythie," Mairi exclaimed, astonished when she recognized it.

Will's face paled. "They must ha' defeated the sheriff!" Turning, he shouted across the hill, "What be the old man a-doing?"

"Trying to leave!" the shout came back. "But them bastards he stopped be fighting our lads now. Do we ride to their aid?"

"Nay, we take these women to the tower, straight-away!"

"You won't!" Mairi said angrily, digging her heels into her horse and wrenching her reins hard to pull its head away from Will's grasp.

As he reached for it again, two horses came over the eastern brow of the hill. Both riders had swords drawn and Will, seeing them, lost interest in Mairi's horse. Grabbing his own reins with both hands, he whirled his horse southward and spurred it hard. His remaining two men followed.

As Mairi drew a breath and turned toward Phaeline, one of the approaching horsemen reached for her bridle as the other rode past her to take Phaeline's.

"Release our horses, damn you," Mairi said.

"With respect, m'lady, we dare not," the man said. "Ye must come wi' us lest there be more o' them villains hereabouts."

She recognized him then. "You serve Sir Hugh. Do you not know us?"

"Aye, m' lady, I ken ye both fine. But we were told to look after ye just now."

"Has Sir Hugh not taken command at the Hall?" Mairi asked. "I heard Dunwythie horns and others that must have been Douglas, I suppose. Why should Sir Hugh even have expected me or the lady Phaeline to be here?"

"Hugh did not expect that," a voice behind Mairi said grimly. "But I feared that you might do just such a daft thing. Then Gib told us that you were both here."

Mairi turned sharply to see Rob striding toward her, his expression as furious as she had ever seen it.

"What the devil were you thinking, coming here?" he demanded as he gestured away the horseman who had held her bridle.

"These are my people," Mairi said, her own temper soaring. "Would you stay safely in Dumfries if Trailinghail were threatened with attack?"

"Nay, I would not, but I am a swordsman, lass."

"Where is Gib? Is he safe?"

"Aye, he must have run like the wind for he had none left when he reached us. But he told us you were here. We'd feared Will might have taken you down to Old Jardine, but when I saw movement on the hillside, I sent these lads up around on horseback, left my own horse below, and crept up through the shrubbery."

"But there was a man on that side of the hill, keeping watch," she said.

"He won't trouble us further, or anyone else, come to that," Rob said.

She swallowed. "Will and the others rode off."

"So did Old Jardine, aye," he said. "I saw as much, for I came up the hill on that side before moving to see to yon watcher. Your own men fought bravely when they heard the horns, and most are safe. But you'll hear all about that later."

"We could not see anything after Will came. Where is your brother?"

"Still at the Hall," Rob said. "Hugh and I were about to join him inside when Gib found us. We still need to talk to him, so you must…" He paused, grimacing.

"Must what?" she asked bluntly. "Ride north to keep safe with Lord Johnstone? Or Kirkpatrick? Are they not both here?"

"Nay, the horns were ours. Did Jardine hurt you?"

Phaeline said urgently, "We must get Fiona away from those horrid people!"

"Not today," Rob said. "The Jardines will have entrenched themselves at Applegarth by now, madam. None of us wants more conflict if we can avoid it."

Mairi said, "If the fighting has stopped, we should leave this place. But I shall go nowhere except to my home, sir. You may come with me if you like."

From the abrupt way his eyes narrowed and his gaze bored into hers, she knew he had been rigidly containing his volatile temper.

She met that fierce gaze steadily, hoping Phaeline would have the sense to keep silent. Whether her stepmother recognized in Rob a man she could not charm or simply could think of nothing to say, she did hold her tongue.

Mairi let the silence lengthen but did not look away from Rob.

Then, softly, she said, "The Hall and its people are my responsibility, and the sun has gone down. If the sheriff and his men will not leave peacefully, then I will send again for lords Johnstone and Kirkpatrick. Together, surely we'll outnum—"

"Alex's men are with me," Rob said. "And Hugh sent for Archie before we came. He will have told Old Jardine as much if he got a chance. In any event they will find out soon enough, and they have no allies here in the dale."

"Sakes, we don't want Archie here, either," Phaeline said, speaking for the first time. "He is more likely than anyone to want to take control of everything."

Mairi saw Rob's lips twitch then and allowed herself a smile. "Shall we go back to the Hall, sir? Together we should be able to persuade your brother that he has no good reason to stay there."

He hesitated for only a moment before saying, "I'll talk to… nay, then…we'll talk to Hugh and see—"

"…and explain to him what I have decided to do," Mairi said firmly.

Rob drew a breath and suppressed a simmering urge to argue, recognizing it as simple proof of Mairi's accusation that he liked to control all around him.

She was watching him expectantly, braced for battle, and the lady Phaeline watched both of them. So he smiled and said, "Let's go find Hugh."

Mairi's smile flashed then, warming him and banishing the last shreds of his anger with her for scaring him half witless.

The two men who had ridden up the hill to help joined them, one leading a horse that Mairi explained was the one Gibby had ridden. Rob mounted it and on the way down to the road they collected his from the woods where he'd left it.

They found Hugh on the road with his men and their own, but no Jardines.

When Mairi asked Hugh what had become of them, he said, "Your man Gerrard here told me they hied themselves off when they heard our horns."

"Aye, m'lady," Gerrard said then. "We damaged them some, but our lot came through wi' nae more than a couple o' scratches."

Returning to the Hall together, they found more serious injuries there, and learned that three of their own men and several of Alex's had died.

As they dismounted, Gibby ran to Mairi. Nearly tearful with relief, he exclaimed, "Ye're safe, m'lady! Did the laird kill all them treacherous villains?"

"Nay," she said, ruffling his hair. "We let them go. The man who interfered with us on the hilltop is my sister's husband. Sithee, he fled when the laird and Sir Hugh came with their men, and for that we have you to thank."

"Aye, sure. But they must ha' been right cowards then. And so I thought them, too, when I seen that Will-one raise his whip to ye," Gib said with a grimace.

"What is this?" Rob demanded.

"Naught to concern anyone," she replied coolly. "He merely threatened me. We'll see to the burial of all the dead in the cemetery here, Hugh," she added.

"Thank you, my lads will see to it, aye," Hugh said solemnly. "We'll make camp in your woods, too, lass, if we may. I want to be away before dawn."

"Aye, sure," she said. "But I hope you will sup with us tonight, sir."

"I'm going to find Alex," Rob said to her when Hugh had accepted her invitation. "Are you still going to come with me?"

"You know that I am," she said, giving him a look.

They saw Alex sooner than Rob had expected, because he strode out through the gate as they approached it. His demeanor suggested anger, but his expression was less decipherable. His mouth tightened when his gaze met Rob's.

However, instead of the angry remarks Rob expected to hear, Alex said, "I am glad to see you safe, my lady. I swear, it was never my intent to cause you harm."

"Indeed, sir?" Mairi said. "Then why did you send so many of your men to add to the Jardine army? 'Twas Jardines who tried to harm me."

"So my man told me, and I offer my deepest apology to you," Alex said. Then, meeting Rob's gaze at last, he said, "One of the lads on the gate told me you had come. I talked to Ian Rigg then and sent the others out to help with the injured."

"Sakes, Alex, you set them on us from the trees—on me!" Rob said. "And all to take a woman's property because you thought she was weak. As you have seen for yourself, she is nowt of the sort."

"I do see," Alex said, looking ruefully at Mairi.

She had not, Rob noted, accepted his brother's apology.

"Those who were killed died through sheer folly," he said. "I did not know the two who fell upon me, and Sir Hugh's men knew none of them. Once I saw Jock MacGowan and Ian Rigg, I was able to call our lads to order. You should have known they would respond to my orders as they always have."

"Oddly, I thought I was in command," Alex said on a bitter note.

"Aye, well, that is what happens when you entrust your duties so often to others," Rob said. "Your men outside accepted my command and that of Sir Hugh Douglas of Thornhill. And, by the bye, lest you think of stirring more trouble, you should know that he sent for Archie before we left Thornhill. So, before long, the Douglases are bound to descend on Annandale if not all Dumfriesshire."

"Tell him he let them vicious Jardines get their oozlie hands on my lady, aye, and her mam," Gibby said clearly from behind Rob. "He'll be sorry for that."

"What the devil!" Alex exclaimed. "Who dares to speak so insolently?"

"'Tis just me," Gib said, stepping forward, his bony shoulders squared. "But I'm thinking Herself will be gey wroth wi' ye, too, when I tell her them Jardines o' yours were a-going to kill our lady Mairi."