Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

W hen Janice saw the horseman in the distance, she rightly assumed that he was having trouble finding his way and went to assist him. However, as she came closer and closer to him, she realized that he was different from any other man she had ever met. This was no ordinary working man; his uniform proclaimed him to be a soldier, and she recognized the Ballantine clan emblem on his livery.

He was sitting astride a huge black stallion with a white star on its forehead, but then he needed a warhorse because he was the biggest man she had ever seen. He was also the most handsome, and for a moment she was mesmerized by the golden brown of his eyes, which were so unusual in a Scotsman. His features were perfectly symmetrical, with high sloping cheekbones, a slightly aquiline nose, and firm, sculpted lips. It was the kind of face women would fall in love with and men would kill for.

When he looked up and met her eyes, he smiled. Janice felt her heart skip a beat, and after they had exchanged names and he had ridden away again, she found herself trembling. What was wrong with her? She felt distinctively uncomfortable dampness between her legs and a sweet, pleasant ache. Worst of all, she had the almost irresistible urge to kiss him, something she had never experienced before because she had never found the right man. However, she thought that she had now, as she fixed her gaze on his firm lips and tried to imagine how they would feel pressed against hers.

Then she pushed the fantasy away. This broad, muscular, delicious man was not for her. She was destined to be the wife of a laird, probably a man who was twenty years older than she was. Still, she could dream, even if she knew it was a dream that would never come true.

Five minutes later, the stranger was back with a small party of men and horses. The red-headed man who rode beside Bernard had a look of utter bemusement on his face, and his eyes were fixed on her until Bernard spoke to him and he turned away. The man who rode beside him was obviously his father since they looked so much like each other. Behind them came two more guards and two pack horses.

The laird rode forward and introduced both himself and William.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, mistress," he said pleasantly, bowing as he spoke. "Thank you for inviting us to your home."

Janice smiled, although it was all she could do to keep her eyes from straying toward Bernard.

"You are most welcome, M'Laird," she replied, inclining her head politely. "Follow me, and I will take you to the castle." She turned her horse around and rode beside them.

Janice made pleasant conversation with them all the way back to the castle, and when they arrived, she knew quite a lot about them, while they knew virtually nothing about her.

This was a skill that she had acquired over the years and often used to her advantage because she subscribed to the theory that knowledge was power, and she had more often than not found it to be true. Most people loved to talk about themselves but did not even realize that they were being very subtly interrogated as she spoke to them.

They arrived at the castle after an hour or so to find themselves among a raucous throng of people who were milling about and getting in each other's way. The din of discordant, screeching voices was deafening.

The noise came from a long queue of servants who were struggling to get into the quarters they had been allocated on the lower floors beneath ground level. The staff of Howdenbrae had their own reasonably spacious quarters, which were big enough for everyone with room to spare. However, now they were being asked to accommodate dozens more people, making their space cramped and very uncomfortable.

The castle guards slept in the keep along with their weapons, but it was not big enough to hold everyone else's soldiers too, so many of them had to go outside to the practice field where the guards trained, which was not a comfortable place to bed down for the night. However, soldiers were used to being uncomfortable, and none of them complained.

Naturally, Laird Ballantine was allowed to ride past the servants and soldiers, but when Bernard tried to go with him, two burly castle guards stopped him. For a moment, flummoxed, he had no idea what to do, then William came to his rescue.

"Let this man pass," he growled. "He stays with me."

"Cannae dae that, sir," the guard replied stubbornly. "I am under orders tae let naybody but guests inside. The laird says he haes enough guards tae look after everybody. Let him go over there. That is where a' the others are sleepin'." He pointed to the practice field just outside the castle, where large tents were being set up.

Bernard decided that there was no point in fighting about it, so he turned to go. There was no point in causing an argument about such a trivial thing. He had slept in worse places.

However, William had other ideas. He grabbed Bernard's arm to stop him from leaving. "This man is my friend, not someone who works for me," he said to the guard furiously, his brows lowered in a ferocious frown. He was livid. "You will treat him with the respect he deserves. I demand he has his own bedchamber!"

Bernard was not surprised to see that his friend was furious on his behalf. William was nothing if not completely loyal to those he loved. Nonetheless, the guard did not budge. He was a hefty man with piercing green eyes and a nose that had been broken at one time. He looked fierce, but he could afford to since there were plenty of his fellows around to give him assistance if he needed it. Now, he drew his shoulders back and stood his ground.

"Those are my orders, sir," he replied firmly. "Ye must speak tae Mistress Janice if ye want another answer."

"William, I will be quite comfortable with the other men," Bernard said soothingly. "I will not come to any harm, and it might be a lot of fun. I am not one of you, and I expected to be sleeping with the soldiers. It is fine. Leave it."

He was smiling and trying to make the best of a bad situation, but William was having none of it. He was not to be dissuaded. When Bernard tried to tug his arm away, William hung on more tightly and was about to begin berating the guard again.

However, at that moment, Janice, having pushed her way past the crowd, came to stand before them, frowning in obvious displeasure.

"Can I be of assistance?"

Her voice was polite, but there was a dangerous edge to it, and she was standing with narrowed eyes and her hands on her hips, looking as though she might slap him hard and smile while doing it.

William butted in. "Yes, you can," he replied grimly. "I wish to have a chamber assigned to my friend, preferably near mine."

"I am afraid guards do not sleep among the guests," Janice replied regretfully. No matter how handsome they are.

"Bernard Taggart is my guest and therefore one of yours," William replied stubbornly.

"I did not invite him," Janice pointed out. "Therefore, he is not one of my guests. He is a member of staff."

"He is a member of my family." By this time, William was sounding more and more belligerent, and a crowd of guests was forming around them, all with ears tuned to hear what would happen next.

"If you force him to sleep with the guards, then so will I."

"I will too," Laird Ballantine added firmly.

Janice was sorely tempted to call their bluff. She eyed the mass of people around them, all keen to see what would happen next.

"I will compromise with you. He may share your room. Will that do?" She raised her eyebrows in a question, but it was not really a question at all. She had made up her mind.

William looked at the laird, who raised his eyebrows and looked at Bernard.

He nodded and sighed. "It will be fine, mistress, thank you," he answered resignedly.

The whole matter had thoroughly embarrassed Bernard in front of the one woman he would have liked to impress. However, he thought, with an inward shrug, he was a nobody. She had likely hardly noticed him.

Bernard was wrong on that point. He was the one person Janice had singled out for particular attention, even though she did not show it. She could easily have left the task of showing her guests to a bedroom to one of the maids, but she chose to do it herself. The reason was simply that she wanted to look at him for a while longer.

"Here is your chamber, M'Laird," she said to Laird Ballantine. "I hope it is to your liking. We have so many people staying with us this weekend that almost all our rooms are full, which is why I was hesitant about giving you another chamber. We expected a few cancelations or refusals, but there were neither."

She looked flustered, and the laird immediately felt sorry for her.

"That is likely because this is a much-anticipated event," he answered pleasantly. "It is also very novel. I have never heard of two brothers competing for a lairdship before."

"Neither have I," Janice agreed, with a grim laugh. "My father suggested it, not expecting anyone to take it seriously, but the twins leaped at the idea. It was their suggestion that we should make it into a spectacle and invite half of Scotland to see it. My father is very ill, and he agreed because he wanted to see his sons enjoying their lives to the fullest while he still could. I am not sure this whole circus is good for him." Suddenly she put her hand to her mouth and blushed. "Forgive me, I did not mean to burden you with my tedious family matters."

"Family matters are never tedious," the laird said kindly, then he looked around the room, which was enormous. It was beautifully decorated with a huge oak bed whose yellow satin coverlets glowed in the daylight, and the tables and chairs were polished to a mirror-like finish. It boasted an elaborately plastered ceiling, and its oak floor was scattered with handwoven jewel-colored rugs.

When he looked out of the window at the magnificent view of the rolling hills and distant loch, he smiled, and his blue eyes sparkled with appreciation. "You have done us proud, Mistress Stewart," he said happily.

Janice bowed her head in thanks and returned the smile, then she led Bernard and William along the corridor to another room. "I am sorry, but this room is little used and much smaller, so it is one of the only ones we have left," she told them, opening the door.

They walked in and saw that the room was a fair size, although not nearly as big as the laird's, and much less elaborately decorated. The bed was smaller too, and Bernard frowned as he looked at it. Two big men could never squeeze into that.

"Don't worry, I will have another bed brought in," Janice assured them, having seen the desperate look on Bernard's face. "Now, I will leave you to settle in. I will have wine sent up. I apologize for my rudeness, but today has been rather stressful, as you can imagine."

With that, she marched out of the room as if she could not wait to be away.

The two men looked at each other and sighed. "I will never understand women," William said, shaking his head.

Bernard laughed and agreed. "But would we love them as much if we could?" he asked.

By the time she went downstairs again, the flow of guests was still streaming in, and Janice felt obliged to stand in line to meet them, even though she was exhausted and still wearing the shabby brown dress she always wore for riding.

Most of the men greeted her courteously enough, although very briefly. The women gave her a disgusted once-over as if she was something to be avoided at all costs. Given her attire, Janice thought, she could not blame them. She looked over at her brothers, then looked away again, completely embarrassed.

"You really should not be allowed out without a guard," said Andrew to a simpering young miss who was called Alana MacLean. "You are far too beautiful. All the other young ladies will be so jealous they might want to harm you—and then my heart would be broken beyond repair!"

The young woman, all five feet of her, giggled. Janice could see that she was not much more than a girl who was still under the protective eye of her mother. She was glad when she tugged her daughter away from her idiot of a brother.

Alasdair was no better. He had dragged one of the guards into the throng of guests and was pretending to fight with him. The man could have flattened him with one arm tied behind his back, but he could not be seen to win or he would have been without employment within an hour.

At last, after having suffered through an embarrassing five minutes of torture, he obeyed Janice's silent signal to fall down and pretend to be dead. Alasdair pranced triumphantly around for a while, soaking up the applause from the crowd, but Janice turned away, hoping she could make her escape soon.

When they had finally welcomed the last guest, Janice had the chance to slip away upstairs to be alone. She collapsed onto her bed and lay thinking for a while, trying to force her mind onto the important matters that still had to be dealt with during the rest of the day, but all she could think about was Bernard.

She ordered a bath and lay in it for a long while since she had ordered the housekeeper to take care of the guests while she readied herself for dinner and the many meetings and greetings she would have to endure. The night was going to be endless.