“Aye, I do, Rosamund. I am but a few generations out of Cumbria, and the land seems to catch at your heart. I never cared much for my house at Cambridge. I’ll keep the London and Greenwich houses, however,” he said. “You never know when we might want to trot south to court, although quite frankly, Queen Katherine’s court is a bit too formal, dull, and staid for me. I far prefer this delightful court of King James.”
“Here you are, sweetheart.” Patrick had come upon them. “I understood you were back, my lord.” He held out his hand to Tom. “Stay seated, my lord. I am going to join you.” He looked at Rosamund. “You have asked him, I hope.”
“Asked me what?” Tom wanted to know.
“There has been no time. I have been getting the news of home,” she replied.
“You must ask him,” the earl said, a desperate tone in his voice.
“Ask me what?” Lord Cambridge repeated.
“May we please stay at the house you have leased here in Edinburgh, Tom? The queen has had me sleeping in her antechamber, and poor Patrick has been in the hall. We so long for a comfortable bed to lay our heads in, dear cousin.”
Tom laughed. “The Tudors have a rather wicked sense of humor, my dear Rosamund. I told the queen when I leased the Edinburgh house that when you returned she was to give you the key to it. This great hulking old castle is scarcely a place a guest of little importance, such as you and the earl, want to stay. She must have truly missed you, cousin, that she played this jest on you. Of course you may stay with me. The house is not large, but it is comfortable and clean. And it is an easy walk up the castle hill. You know how I dislike being late for social functions. I thought when I arrived yesterday that you had not returned yet, as you were not in residence and the housekeeper said no one had come. I assumed the queen had been sent word of your impending return, which was why she sent for me. What a wicked tease she is.” And he laughed heartily.
Neither the Earl of Glenkirk nor Rosamund joined in his laughter. They were not amused.
“Can we go now?” the earl asked. “I need a bath and a soft bed.”
“I will excuse myself from the queen’s presence,” Rosamund said. “Do not go without me, my lords. You will have to share your bath, Patrick.”
“As we did in San Lorenzo,” he replied softly, and he smiled into her eyes.
“Aye,” she said slowly, her amber eyes never leaving his.
Lord Cambridge shook his head wonderingly. Nothing had changed, he thought. They were as deeply in love now as they had been at Christmas. Yet Rosamund would not marry the Earl of Glenkirk and had said quite frankly that one day they would be parted, as the fates meant them to be. He worried for his cousin. He had loved her as the sister he lost ever since they had met. But this love she bore for Patrick burned white-hot, and what would happen when they were separated he feared to learn.
The queen was gracious in her small victory over her friend. She released Rosamund from her company. “Go home, and be with your lasses,” Margaret Tudor said. “Your earl has done us good service, and you should be together. I will ask you to come to me again one day. Godspeed, dear Rosamund.”
Rosamund kissed the queen’s hand, and after curtsying, immediately left her. Together she and Patrick took their leave of the king.
James Stewart’s warm amber eyes surveyed the pair. “Twice you have come to my aid, Patrick. If I call you again, will you come?”
The Earl of Glenkirk nodded. “You are my king, Jamie Stewart, and though I lost my beloved daughter, Janet, in your service, I will answer your call. I think that you royal Stewarts are not fortunate for the Leslies of Glenkirk, but I will come should you need me.”
“Had you not come this time, Patrick, you should not have met Rosamund Bolton,” the king reminded the earl.
“Aye, that is to your credit,” the earl agreed affably.
“Are you bound for Glenkirk, then?” the king asked.
“Nay. I have sent a messenger to my son asking him to maintain his position as sole keeper of our lands for a time longer. I am of a mind to see England. I shall go with Rosamund to Friarsgate.”
“Claven’s Carn is on your route,” the king said mischievously.
“We will not be stopping,” Rosamund replied tartly.
The two gentlemen laughed. Then the king and the Earl of Glenkirk embraced. James kissed Rosamund’s hand, and she curtsied prettily.
“Go with God,” the king told them as they left him.
Lord Cambridge was waiting for them, and together they walked down the castle hill to the house in the Highgate that he had leased. “I have come all the way to Edinburgh and am not to go to court,” he grumbled. “It does not seem fair.”
“You are welcome to remain,” Rosamund told him sweetly.
“Without you? After all these months? I think not, cousin!” Lord Cambridge said firmly. “Ah, here we are.” Drawing a key from his pocket, he unlocked the door of the gray stone house and led them inside. “Mistress MacGregor!” he shouted. “We are here!”
A small, thin woman came from the dark recesses of the long hall. “I am nae deef, yer lordship,” she said, and seeing the earl and Rosamund, she curtsied.
“My cousin wants a bath,” Lord Cambridge announced to the housekeeper.
“You’ll have to take it in the kitchen, m’lady,” Mistress MacGregor said. “The tub is there wi the hot water. There is nae one to lug it all upstairs.”
“I shall be happy to bathe before a hot fire in your kitchen,” Rosamund said. “My servants will be here shortly. Dermid will do any heavy work you require, and Annie, while expecting a child, is quite strong.”
The housekeeper smiled broadly. “I’ll be pleased for a wee bit of help, m’lady,” she said.
“Annie is expecting a child?” Tom looked at her askance.
“She and Dermid wed in March,” Rosamund quickly explained. “After Patrick and I have washed, are in warm, clean clothing, and are fed, I shall tell you all of our adventures in San Lorenzo, Tom. Oh, I wish you had been there! You would have simply adored it. The weather was warm. There were flowers everywhere in February. It was really a little bit of heaven on earth.”
“I am so pleased to learn that,” he replied dryly.
Annie and Dermid arrived with a cart carrying the luggage. They had been directed from the castle where they had first gone, having just come this day from Leith. Rosamund, with Annie’s help, bathed in a sturdy oak tub before the kitchen fire. Afterwards, the earl, with Dermid’s aid, bathed in the same water before it grew cold. Wrapped in chamber robes, they sat before the fire in the room that served as a hall, their feet turned to the fire taking the chill from the June night. Mrs. MacGregor served them a fine dinner of broiled salmon, duck with plum sauce, fresh green peas, bread, and cheese. There was good brown ale to drink. Finally sated and relaxed, they shared with Tom their adventures of the past few months. He laughed to learn of the nudes the artist, Loredano, had done of them unawares. He was interested to learn that a Howard was an ambassador from King Henry.
“I remember that particular Howard. A sly fellow with ambition not suited to his few talents. He recognized you?”
“Aye, but as I was never formally introduced to him, I claimed I knew him not,” Rosamund said. “He looked like the sort of fellow who sees plots where there are none.”
Tom nodded. Then he said, “I cannot wait to see the portrait he did of you, my dear girl. Is it marvelous? Is it too wonderful?”
“It is magnificent!” the Earl of Glenkirk enthused. “He pictured her among her hills, a flaming sunset behind her, defending Friarsgate. There are really no words to describe how wonderful this painting is, Tom. You will have to judge for yourself.”