not abandoning us already. I would speak with you again, for I vow, you are the most beautiful creature I have laid eyes on in a twelvemonth.”
Although she smiled with ready delight at the unexpected compliment, she saw her brother Ivor and Fin not far behind him. Both of them were frowning.
Recalling what her grandmother had said about Rothesay, she said, “I fear that you flatter me, my lord, but ’tis most kind.”
“I am never kind, lassie, and I do know beauty when I see it,” he said with what in any man, including a prince of the realm, was an impudent grin. “Prithee, do not be so cruel as to say that you will not walk with me.”
He was, nevertheless, not only a prince of the realm but also one of vast power and known to use it recklessly.
Evenly, she said, “I am never cruel, sir.”
“Then you will be generous, my lady,” he said, grinning confidently.
Glancing beyond him again, she saw that although Rothesay might call her generous, both Ivor and Fin had other words in mind.
Chapter 11
God’s teeth,” Ivor swore, glowering. “Under any other circumstance, I’d soon teach my sister not to smile at such a man.”
“But this is here and now,” Fin said. “And the man flirting with her is a prince of the realm. So you’d be wise to take that fierce look off your face, my lad, before he sees it. Others are already looking this way.”
“Sakes, do you condone his behavior? No matter who he is, he has no business to be taking liberties with my sister. God rot the man! He’s married.”
“And treats his wife badly, though she is sister to one of the most powerful lords in Scotland, so he is unlikely to care about your feelings,” Fin said. “As to my condoning what Rothesay does, it is not my business to condone or condemn it.”
“Fiend seize you then. I thought you liked Cat.”
“Don’t be daft,” Fin retorted. “Whether I like her or not has nowt to do with Rothesay. Nor would his knowing that I like her curb his impulses. Sakes, man, I serve him. He does not let powerful husbands interfere with him when he flirts with their wives—aye, and does more than flirt with most of them, come to that.”
“So those tales are true, are they?” Ivor said grimly.
“He is the heir to the throne and dangerously personable,” Fin said. “Women adore his handsome face and that devilish Stewart charm. I have never known one he favors to complain about his behavior in bed. On the contrary…”
Ivor made a sound perilously near a growl.
Glancing at the Mackintosh, Fin was surprised to see the old man eyeing him speculatively. Touching Ivor’s arm, he said, “Your grandfather is watching us, and he will not thank you if you cause trouble with Rothesay. So control that temper of yours, my lad, and look elsewhere before you land us both in the briars.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time that happened,” Ivor said, his lips twitching.
The bare hint of a smile was welcome and let Fin relax.
When Morag took up her lute, James joined them. “I have news,” he said.
Ivor raised his eyebrows, and Fin said, “Would you like me to step away?”
“Nay, you should stay,” James said. “ ’Tis just that I mean to take my lady wife home to visit her family. She misses them sorely and”—he looked at Fin—“she has missed me, as well. Father agrees that my presence or the lack of it cannot influence the outcome of these talks, and my grandfather said I’d do better to indulge my lady wife for a time whilst I can.”
With a wry smile, Ivor said, “I’ll admit, I’d go with you in a twinkling.”
“Nay, you will not. Why should you?”
“Because today’s proceedings bored me nigh to lunacy. You’d think they were playing a game, each afraid that some other might gain a point.”
“To them, it is something of a game,” Fin said. “But before Rothesay can summon Parliament, he wants to know that he will retain the Governorship. To do that, he desperately needs Donald’s support, Alex’s, and the votes of every other lord in Parliament who supports either of them.”
Ivor said, “I can see that Alex will play his hand as he always does, thinking only of keeping the Lordship of the North firmly in his own hands.”
“But Donald wants more than keeping his Lordship, aye?” James said.
“Donald is a deep one,” Fin pointed out. “However, we all know that he covets