that. When Rothesay urged me to walk with him, everyone else had moved away, and even Father had said I could not be rude to him. But when I said that Father disapproved of my showing favor in such a way, Rothesay said I was being rude. I think he must be ape-drunk.”
“Very likely. He often does drink too much.”
“I did think that I could take care of myself here in our own hall, but—”
“Nay, lassie, and never with Rothesay.”
She drew a long breath and let it go, knowing that he was right. “How much did you hear of what we said?”
“Not much until Rothesay said what he did about Fin’s taking an interest in you himself. Sithee, I was still on the dais talking to James when you left it, so—”
He broke off when the door opened and James entered as if the mention of his name had brought him. He stood there, looking at them, clearly deciding what to say.
Ivor said, “Shut the door, James. It won’t do for Cat to see Father leading Fin into that room as he used to lead us when we were in for a raging or worse. I was just telling her what you and I saw and heard.”
James gave Catriona a searching look as he reached back and shut the door. Then he said, “You should never have let Rothesay walk off with you like that, lass, but, by my troth, I do not know how you could have stopped him. The man believes that his position and the blood royal running through his veins grant him the right always to get his own way. We have all seen that.”
Catriona looked from one man to the other and fixed her gaze on Ivor. “I expected you, especially, to be furious about what happened down there,” she said. “Instead, you looked almost amused… and… and something else. Art worried, sir?”
Ivor looked at James, who shrugged. “Your emotions hardly count as the gist of the matter, I’d think,” he said.
“Sithee, Cat,” Ivor said, “by the time anyone but Fin noticed that you had left the dais with Rothesay, you were too far away and too much mixed in with our people in the lower hall for us to do aught save shout. We could only depend on Fin’s ability to intervene diplomatically.”
“He doubtless would have succeeded in diverting Rothesay,” James said solemnly, “had you not interfered with him.”
Catriona disagreed, since Rothesay had been in no mood for anyone to divert him, but she knew better than to say so.
However, Ivor said, “By the time you and I were near enough to hear what the three of them were saying, James, I warrant the matter had already gone too far.”
“I did try to stop Rothesay,” she said, hating the defensive note in her voice but unwilling for them to think that she had simply complied with his wishes. “He reminded me then of his great power as Governor. He… he made threats.”
“Aye,” James said, nodding. “The man does wield much power, lass, and often threatens to use it. But it did look at first as if you went willingly with him.”
“You said yourself that you don’t know how I might have stopped him, James. So how could I have known how? Just tell me what—”
“Enough, Cat,” Ivor interjected, clearly impatient with James’s need to explore details ponderously and at length or with her own reaction, or both. Ivor added, “Although Rothesay is but three-and-twenty, he does stand in the place of our King, so it is true that you cannot slap his face or order him to take his hands off you as you would with any other lad. Even so, many who saw you will believe that you found his attentions flattering and that you responded to them.”
She nodded. “Morag said as much the first time I walked with him.”
“Then we’ll say no more about that,” Ivor said. “We did soon see that you were unwilling and tried to get to you quickly but without stirring undue curiosity.”
“Aye,” James agreed, adding earnestly, “I did not mean to make ye think otherwise, Cat. Rothesay would be a difficult man for any lass to manage.”
“I heard nothing clearly until Rothesay raised his voice to ask if Fin intended to defy him,” Ivor said. “I saw you frown, and the next thing I heard was Rothesay declaring that Fin had an interest in you himself. And Fin did not deny that, Cat.”
“Nay, he did not,” she