A Trust Betrayed by Candace Robb

common these days.”
     
    “Idle maids are ever common. I need a laundress and a chambermaid. I have too much work and Celia will be useless.”
     
    “You cannot work there.”
     
    “I have no wish to live in filth.”
     
    “You should have better lodgings.”
     
    “I do not need them. I shall make the inn better lodgings.”
     
    “Promise me you will not be seen in the tavern.”
     
    “This is not a time for the manners of a fine lady, Andrew. I am strong and capable, and I cannot think that any man would risk Murdoch’s anger by laying hands on me. But I do need a laundress and a chambermaid.”
     
    “Is that why you came? To tell me that? All that way?” She was impossible.
     
    Margaret drew herself up, her sharp chin thrust out, the hazel eyes beneath the pale red brows hot with anger. “Why did I come? I hoped to find solace in my brother. Why, I cannot say. You have never comforted me. You did not even tell me what you knew of Roger.”
     
    Perhaps Andrew had been wrong not to tell her. He could think of nothing to say that would calm her. He lamely asked, “What would Roger say about your being here?” He knew it was a mistake the moment he said it.
     
    She caught her breath. Her fine eyes glistened. How like their mother Margaret was. Does she know my secrets?
     
    Softly she said, “It is because of my husband that I am here.” Catching her skirts, she swept out the door. Her footsteps echoed down the corridor.
     
    Such a knot of feelings washed over Andrew as she departed. Their mother had predicted trouble for him, but she had not said it would touch every part of his life.
     
    He had gone to Elcho Nunnery to see their mother on his way from St. Andrews, just before Jack’s death.
     
    “You have betrayed your people,” she had said. “I knew this would come, but not why.”
     
    “He is my abbot. I had no choice.”
     
    Christiana had touched his face. “You are angry and frightened.”
     
    “Tell me what is to come, Mother.”
     
    Sadly, she stroked his cheek. “You will pass through fire, Andrew.” She would tell him no more.
     
    He did not know what to do about Margaret. So proud, so fine, so reckless. He could not expect any woman to understand the complex dangers here, but he should be able to guide her. He must think how.
     
    A servant announced that Andrew was summoned to Abbot Adam.
     
    Andrew must put Margaret from his mind for the moment. Conversations with his abbot took all his concentration. It was difficult to hide all he felt. He prayed for calm as he walked.
     
    “Benedicte, Father Andrew.” Abbot Adam’s smile was broad, his voice friendly. He motioned to Andrew to sit across from him at a table strewn with documents trying to curl closed. “I did not realize you had a sister in Edinburgh.”
     
    “She traveled with me from Dunfermline.”
     
    “In the midst of war?”
     
    “Is it a war, My Lord Abbot?”
     
    The abbot threw up his hands in mock confusion. Strangers sometimes thought him a gentle fool. “You have not been yourself since you returned from St. Andrews. What is troubling you, my son?”
     
    “Today it is my sister who troubles me. She has learned her husband was unfaithful and now demands more information from me. But I am not so cruel as my uncle.”
     
    “Murdoch Kerr. How much did he charge her for the information?” Adam attempted a joke.
     
    Andrew could not force a smile.
     
    The abbot shook his head. “I have offended you, though all say he is a conniver. Still, it is good you have such feeling for your uncle. I like that.” Adam settled his elbows on a small, cleared space and leaned toward Andrew. “But I remind you of your vow of silence.”
     
    “If you think I am such a fool as to tell anyone what I know, you chose unwisely.”
     
    “Still angry. That is what all this is about. There will come a day when you will be proud of what you have done for the king.”
     
    Shame was all Andrew felt. And hatred,