A Cruel Courtship (Margaret Kerr Mysteries 3) Read online

  About the Book

  Scotland, 1297.

  Passionate, brave and fiercely loyal, Margaret Kerr - a young woman estranged from her husband - is determined to play her part in saving Scotland from the hammer of Edward Longshanks - King of England and would-be King of the Scots. And so she travels to Stirling to discover why the informer upon whom the Scottish rebels depend has become unreliable.

  It is an important and difficult mission, for he who holds Stirling Castle holds Scotland, and with fresh English recruits marching forth, a bloody battle for the castle is imminent. As the Scots prepare to cast off the English yoke once and for all, Margaret soon realises she can trust no one, not even her closest friends. Is she prepared to give her life for her country?

  Acclaim for Candace Robb

  ‘Thirteenth-century Edinburgh comes off the page cold and convincing, from the smoke and noise of the tavern kitchen to Holyrood Abbey under a treacherous abbot. Most enjoyable’ The LIst

  ‘Brilliant … Robb presents a fiesty new heroine who proves to be no fool’ Woman & Home

  ‘This is history as it should be told!’ Good Book Guide

  CANDACE

  ROBB

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  Epub ISBN 9781446439234

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  Published by Arrow Books in 2006

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  Copyright © Candace Robb 2005

  Candace Robb has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  Apart from references to actual historical figures, all other characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2005 by William Heinemann

  Arrow Books

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 0 09 941013 3 (from Jan 2007)

  ISBN 0 09 941013 3

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acclaim for Candace Robb

  About the Author

  Also by Candace Robb

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary

  Maps

  Epigraphs

  Prologue

  1. Owls

  2. Andrew’s Mission

  3. Mystical Gifts

  4. Trust

  5. Is It Love?

  6. Doubts

  7. Between Camps and Castle

  8. Revelations

  9. Everything Changed

  10. A Funeral and a Ring

  11. Wounds

  12. The Dyke Breaks

  13. Stirling Bridge and After

  14. Resolutions

  Author’s Note

  Further Reading

  In Memory of

  Hilde Bial Neurath

  Acclaim for Candace Robb

  ‘Thirteenth-century Edinburgh comes off the page cold and convincing, from the smoke and noise of the tavern kitchen to Holyrood Abbey under a treacherous abbot’ The List

  ‘Meticulously researched, authentic and gripping’ Yorkshire Post

  ‘Ellis Peters has a cohort of pretenders snapping at her heels … most impressive of the bunch in Candace Robb’ Time Out

  ‘A rich and satisfying novel’ Publishers Weekly

  ‘It’s … the Machiavellian intrigue that makes this such an enjoyable read. When the iron curtain came down people said the spy-thriller genre was dead. They were wrong. This is as full of intrigue as a Deighton or a Le Carré’ Guardian

  ‘Intrigue abounds … Robb’s captivating blend of history and mystery vividly evokes medieval Scotland’ Booklist

  Candace Robb studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval and Anglo-Saxon Literature and has continued to read and research medieval history and literature ever since. The Owen Archer series grew out of a fascination with the city of York and the tumultuous fourteenth century; the first in the series, The Apothecary Rose, was published in 1994, at which point she began to write full time. In addition to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and America, her novels are published in France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy and Holland, and she is also available in the UK on audiobook and in large print.

  She is also the author of the Margaret Kerr Mystery series, set in Scotland at the time of Robert the Bruce. The first, A Trust Betrayed, was published in November 2000 to great acclaim, followed by The Fire in the Flint. A Cruel Courtship is the third in the series.

  Also by Candace Robb

  THE OWEN ARCHER MYSTERIES

  The Apothecary Rose

  The Lady Chapel

  The Nun’s Tale

  The King’s Bishop

  The Riddle of St Leonard’s

  A Gift of Sanctuary

  A Spy for the Redeemer

  The Cross-Legged Knight

  THE MARGARET KERR MYSTERIES

  A Trust Betrayed

  The Fire in the Flint

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I wish to thank Elizabeth Ewan for sharing with me her research in Scottish women and Scottish history, as well as for reading and critiquing a draft of this book; Kimm Perkins for her research in medieval Scottish nunneries; David Bowler of the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust for pointing me towards detailed maps of Stirling; Kate Elton, Joyce Gibb, Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Evan Marshall for careful readings and critiques of the manuscript; and Charlie Robb for photos, maps, and tender loving care on our travels and at home.

  Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Peter Neurath for inspiring some aspects of Peter Fitzsimon – his physique, his good looks, and the idea that he posed to me that a great warrior might have fear as the sole motivation for honing his fighting skills. Peter donated a generous sum of money to the Washington State Alzheimer’s Association to appear in one of my books and what do I do, I make him an unsavoury character! But he’d given me carte blanche with good humour. Peter’s generous gift to this non-profit organisation, which provides much-needed support for those caring for Alzheimer victims, was in memory of his mother, Hilde Bial Neurath, and I in turn ded
icate this book to her. In her willingness to open her house to Margaret at a dangerous time, Ada is a kindred spirit to Hilde, whom Peter described as loving to match people with the perfect house, being a terrific hostess, and enjoying good conversation.

  GLOSSARY

  barded adj. caparisoned, protected with armour

  carse n. marsh

  cockered adj. pampered

  cruisie n. an oil lamp with a rush wick

  gey adv. very

  Holy Rude n. ‘rude’ is dialect for ‘rood’, or cross; the name of the kirk (not to be confused with Holyrood Abbey in Canongate) is still spelled this way

  pows n. marshy area south of the Forth River, named for all the streams, or pols (becoming ‘pows’), that drain it

  spital n. hospital

  EPIGRAPHS

  ‘Was ever woman in this humour wooed?

  Was ever woman in this humour won?

  I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long.’

  Richard III, Act I, scene ii, ll. 228–230

  ‘… oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

  The instruments of darkness tell us truths,

  Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s

  In deepest consequence.’

  Macbeth, Act I, scene iii, ll. 123–126

  PROLOGUE

  For this execution the gallows in the bailey of Stirling Castle would not suffice; a special one was set up in the market square so that the townsfolk would find it difficult to avoid. Huchon Allan was a traitor. He’d been caught about to ford the River Forth with more weapons than one man could reasonably use – William Wallace and Andrew Murray were gathering their Scottish rabble on the far side of the river and the English accused Huchon of intending to take the weapons to them. His hanging would serve as a warning to the Scots of Stirling that King Edward of England would not turn the other cheek.

  Johanna had never known such fear as she suffered now, nor such a debilitating guilt. She did not doubt the righteousness of her cause, to return King John Balliol to the throne that King Edward of England had stolen, but the danger for her and for her lover, Rob, had never been so real, so clear. She knew from Rob, a soldier at the castle and her unwitting informant, that the English were furious about the raiding of Inverness and Dundee by Murray and Wallace, and that they were expecting reinforcements soon. They were abandoning their earlier efforts to keep peace in the town, convinced that their generosity had simply bred rebellion.

  Johanna had much to tell Archie, the lad who carried the information she coaxed from Rob down to someone in the valley who passed it on to Murray’s and Wallace’s men. But she’d not seen the lad in days. When she’d first heard that a traitor had been caught she’d feared for Archie, or for Rob, and had been giddy with relief that it was Huchon. But her relief had not lasted, for she knew and liked Huchon and his family, and his capture brought home to her the mortal danger in which she was placing Rob. She worried even more about Archie and what kept him away of late. She’d found it difficult to trust him; in fact she’d urged Father Piers to find someone else to carry the messages. The priest had argued that there was no one else foolhardy enough to take the risk, and they needed someone small and known to be a forager, a lad folks were accustomed to seeing everywhere.

  For two days Johanna had been unable to keep anything down, so real had the danger of her activity become to her. Yet on the day of the hanging she could not stay away from the square. She arrived just in time to see Huchon’s parents, Ranald and Lilias, led from their house by soldiers. The expressions on the Allans’s faces broke Johanna’s heart. Only when they were in their designated position at the head of the small group facing the galley was their son led from the kirk at the top of the street and down towards them, paced by a mournful drumming.

  ‘His betrothed has been sent away to kin in the highlands,’ said the woman beside Johanna. ‘She should have been here.’

  ‘Hush, Mary, she’s too young to witness such a thing,’ said another woman.

  Johanna had not known Huchon was betrothed, but she did not ask to whom, trusting no one now. She said a prayer for the young woman, pitying her for such a horrible end to her betrothal.

  Peter, a young, handsome, well-spoken English soldier, read the accusations against Huchon. His manner chilled Johanna, for he read Huchon’s death sentence with indifference, as if it meant nothing to those watching.

  Suddenly several things happened at once. As the soldiers tied Huchon’s hands behind his back and covered his eyes, his mother lunged towards Peter and grabbed his hand screaming, ‘What right have you to wear that? Thief!’

  Her husband grabbed Lilias at almost the moment that Huchon dropped, his body doing a ghastly jig, his face darkening.

  Johanna fell to her knees, hiding her own face in her hands. Dear God, may he rest in peace, she whispered over and over to shut out the horrible screams of Lilias Allan.

  1

  OWLS

  Perth, end of August, 1297

  As the summer wore on the presence of King Edward of England’s army in Perth began to fray the tempers of the townsfolk. Women increasingly complained of the rude behaviour of the soldiers, and theft was rampant, the thieves aware of the backlog of more serious crimes to be presented at gaol delivery sessions than their small felonies. The walls that the army had reinforced and extended now surrounded the town on three sides, cutting off the merchants’ access to their warehouses from the ships in the canal. The English might have compensated for some of the inconvenience by allowing general access along the riverfront on the east – it would have quieted tempers and cost them little in security. Instead they restricted access from the River Tay, allowing only one ship per day to offload. Now ships might idly sit at anchor in the river for days, impeding traffic and slowing trade to almost a standstill. Even though the fighting in Dundee at the mouth of the Tay made shipmen hesitant to sail upriver, some still did, and to the townsfolk the restrictions were symbolic of the potential loss of freedom if Edward Longshanks was not defeated.

  For several mornings now the English soldiers had found breaches in the town walls, small areas where stones had been taken away. Though it was a minor rebellion they were now questioning all who lingered on the riverfront, so that the townsfolk were fearful of going abroad.

  James Comyn had watched an interrogation turn ugly the previous day – a man who loudly protested at having his person searched had been thrown to the ground and brutally beaten. That was enough to convince James that he should depart Perth while he could. As a member of the powerful Comyn clan and kinsman of the Scottish king deposed by Edward Longshanks, James was ever wary. He’d intended to leave soon in any case, for he’d been summoned to a meeting with William Wallace and Andrew Murray, the leaders of the Scots who were presently at Dundee trying to force the English troops west towards the highlands where, fearful of being lost in the mist-shrouded valleys, the English would predictably turn south.

  As he packed a few possessions an ache in his left shoulder reminded James of the night several weeks past when he had escorted Margaret Kerr to Elcho Nunnery. He’d caught an arrow in his shoulder as he stealthily rowed past Perth – apparently he’d not been stealthy enough. The ache was nothing compared with the pain he’d experienced when the arrowhead had first struck into the muscle. At the time he’d been grateful that the invisible archer on the riverbank had hit him and not his companion in the boat, the fair Margaret Kerr. He still felt the same.

  She had been much on his mind the past few weeks, ever since she’d walked away from her husband Roger, who’d been injured by the men guarding the nunnery as he tried to break in. It was not the first time the lovely young Margaret had confounded James’s expectations, but this time he was suspicious of his own feelings, of the relief he felt. He’d thought it was because he needed Margaret to continue her work in support of his kinsman, John Balliol, the deposed king. This work was one of the issues that had come between husband and wife, for Roger suppo
rted Robert Bruce for the crown of Scotland. But James found himself seeking Margaret’s companionship more and more often – how strange that he’d connived to keep her occupied without understanding he was falling in love with her.

  He wished he might ignore the summons from Wallace and Murray – he knew what his assignments were. He’d prefer to begin another journey that was critical to the cause, escorting Margaret and her friend Ada de la Haye to Stirling. He’d agreed to give Margaret a real mission. He hoped he wouldn’t curse himself for telling her that the messenger who’d been carrying information from Stirling to the farm of James’s comrades down in the valley below Stirling had grown unreliable.

  ‘In fact they’ve not seen him in a few weeks. I need someone to find out what has happened.’

  ‘You’re leaving for Stirling?’ she’d asked.

  He shook his head. ‘I can’t go. I’m known to too many of the English and the Scots in the town.’

  ‘I’ll do it,’ she said, fixing her eyes on his.

  ‘Maggie, that is not why I mentioned it. You can’t go.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘With the English holding Stirling Castle and town it’s a dangerous place. I would not risk you there.’

  ‘As a young woman unknown to anyone in Stirling I would be scrutinised no more than the other townsfolk.’

  ‘But all are scrutinised.’

  ‘That is also so in Perth.’

  James could not deny that.

  By the following day Margaret had recruited her friend Ada de la Haye, also keen to help the cause, as part of the scheme. Ada had a town house in Stirling where they might lodge. Both women were ready to depart at a day’s notice.