ate chicken, bread with butter, and new strawberries while sipping wine from small silver goblets.
“I have found that Scotland is very beautiful, though still wild,” Cicely said, gazing about her at the green hills and up at the blue sky. Nearby a small waterfall tumbled over a rocky streambed.
“Fairlea is wilder yet, but beautiful, my lady. Still, I believe you would like it,” Andrew Gordon said. “I have a fine stone house with its own tower at the far and narrower end of Loch Brae. My kinsman, Angus Gordon, who is laird of Loch Brae, does not begrudge my wee bit of his loch. I have cattle aplenty, and even some sheep.”
“You are a propertied man, my lord,” Cicely replied.
“I have almost everything I want in this world,” Andrew said, smiling at her. “I lack only one thing.”
“And that is?” Cicely asked, smiling back at him. Blessed Jesu! He really was handsome. He had blue eyes that seemed to reflect the sky. When he reached out to take her hand Cicely’s heart jumped in her chest.
Drawing that small, soft hand to his lips, Andrew Gordon kissed it. “I need a wife,” he answered her. “A wife to keep my home, to give me sons.”
“And to love?” Cicely asked quietly. “One day I must take a husband, my lord, but I must love him, and he must love me.”
“You must respect him,” the laird of Fairlea returned.
“Aye, I will respect him, but especially if I love him,” Cicely answered. “I was always told how much my father loved my mother, my lord. I did not know her, for she died at my birth. When my father wed again it was for wealth to rebuild Leighton’s fortunes. He holds my stepmother in high regard because she has given him three sons. She in return respects him and is a good wife to him. I see how King James loves Queen Joan. That is what I want, my lord. I would love the man I marry, and I would have him love me. It is not, I realize, very practical, but it is how I feel. I am not apt to change.”
“What does your father say to such thoughts, my lady?” he asked. “Will he not make the best match for you that he can? You are, I am told, an earl’s daughter.” He was still holding her hand, and did not seem inclined to release it.
“King James has my father’s formal consent to make a match for me, but there is one condition: I have the right to say nay should it not please me, my lord,” Cicely told him. “Perhaps if I find no one in Scotland who pleases me I shall return to England.” Now, why had she said that? Cicely wondered. There was no going back for her, but, the words spoken, she could not take them back without making herself the fool.
“Then we shall have to fall in love, my English rose,” he told her, giving her hand a little squeeze. “But perhaps there is someone else.”
“Oh, no! There is no one else!” Cicely burst out, and then she blushed furiously at her blunder.
“You do realize that I am endeavoring to court you,” Andrew Gordon said dryly.
“Aye,” Cicely replied nonchalantly, quickly regaining her equilibrium. Oh, she had been flirted with and teased in the past by various young men. But never courted openly. Still, there was no reason for the laird of Fairlea to know that. “Your attempt, my lord, is a bit feeble,” she tormented him. Picking several daisies, she began to weave them into a wreath for her hair.
He laughed aloud at her words, and then, taking her small, heart-shaped face between his two big hands, he kissed her a deep, slow kiss upon her strawberry-stained lips. He found the surprise in her blue-green eyes very satisfactory as he broke off the embrace. “Is that perhaps a bit better, my lady Cicely?”
Her heart was thundering in her chest. The firm lips on her lips had been thrilling. Once a boy at court had stolen a kiss from her, but it had been chill and swift. Nothing at all like Andrew Gordon’s warm mouth on hers. “Aye, ’tis better, my lord,” she agreed pleasantly. “And if you
“I have found that Scotland is very beautiful, though still wild,” Cicely said, gazing about her at the green hills and up at the blue sky. Nearby a small waterfall tumbled over a rocky streambed.
“Fairlea is wilder yet, but beautiful, my lady. Still, I believe you would like it,” Andrew Gordon said. “I have a fine stone house with its own tower at the far and narrower end of Loch Brae. My kinsman, Angus Gordon, who is laird of Loch Brae, does not begrudge my wee bit of his loch. I have cattle aplenty, and even some sheep.”
“You are a propertied man, my lord,” Cicely replied.
“I have almost everything I want in this world,” Andrew said, smiling at her. “I lack only one thing.”
“And that is?” Cicely asked, smiling back at him. Blessed Jesu! He really was handsome. He had blue eyes that seemed to reflect the sky. When he reached out to take her hand Cicely’s heart jumped in her chest.
Drawing that small, soft hand to his lips, Andrew Gordon kissed it. “I need a wife,” he answered her. “A wife to keep my home, to give me sons.”
“And to love?” Cicely asked quietly. “One day I must take a husband, my lord, but I must love him, and he must love me.”
“You must respect him,” the laird of Fairlea returned.
“Aye, I will respect him, but especially if I love him,” Cicely answered. “I was always told how much my father loved my mother, my lord. I did not know her, for she died at my birth. When my father wed again it was for wealth to rebuild Leighton’s fortunes. He holds my stepmother in high regard because she has given him three sons. She in return respects him and is a good wife to him. I see how King James loves Queen Joan. That is what I want, my lord. I would love the man I marry, and I would have him love me. It is not, I realize, very practical, but it is how I feel. I am not apt to change.”
“What does your father say to such thoughts, my lady?” he asked. “Will he not make the best match for you that he can? You are, I am told, an earl’s daughter.” He was still holding her hand, and did not seem inclined to release it.
“King James has my father’s formal consent to make a match for me, but there is one condition: I have the right to say nay should it not please me, my lord,” Cicely told him. “Perhaps if I find no one in Scotland who pleases me I shall return to England.” Now, why had she said that? Cicely wondered. There was no going back for her, but, the words spoken, she could not take them back without making herself the fool.
“Then we shall have to fall in love, my English rose,” he told her, giving her hand a little squeeze. “But perhaps there is someone else.”
“Oh, no! There is no one else!” Cicely burst out, and then she blushed furiously at her blunder.
“You do realize that I am endeavoring to court you,” Andrew Gordon said dryly.
“Aye,” Cicely replied nonchalantly, quickly regaining her equilibrium. Oh, she had been flirted with and teased in the past by various young men. But never courted openly. Still, there was no reason for the laird of Fairlea to know that. “Your attempt, my lord, is a bit feeble,” she tormented him. Picking several daisies, she began to weave them into a wreath for her hair.
He laughed aloud at her words, and then, taking her small, heart-shaped face between his two big hands, he kissed her a deep, slow kiss upon her strawberry-stained lips. He found the surprise in her blue-green eyes very satisfactory as he broke off the embrace. “Is that perhaps a bit better, my lady Cicely?”
Her heart was thundering in her chest. The firm lips on her lips had been thrilling. Once a boy at court had stolen a kiss from her, but it had been chill and swift. Nothing at all like Andrew Gordon’s warm mouth on hers. “Aye, ’tis better, my lord,” she agreed pleasantly. “And if you
Similar Books
