Read Online A Rough Wooing by Virginia Henley - Free Book Online Page A

out for marriage with a Hume.”
He squeezed her bottom. “If I can’t have you any other way, I
warrant I’ll have to offer for you. How about a foretaste? If you
are generous, I will help get your brothers released.” His hand
slipped into her décolletage and cupped her bare breast.
    Douglas raked her nails down his cheek. “Take
your lecherous hands from me, pig!”
    Two of the ladies who were sharing the
chamber with her entered. They saw the couple struggling, and
stared at the man’s bloody cheek.
    Alex Hume stepped back from Douglas, but
before he left his eyes narrowed with thwarted anger. “Since you
are a ward of the Crown, I shall speak with the king.” Hume added
another threat. “One word from my family could get your brothers
hanged if you don’t change your tune.”
    Douglas blushed as she explained to the
ladies, “His attentions are unwanted. I thank you for saving me.”
She hung up her new gown in the large wardrobe. Alex Hume had taken
the joy out of her purchase with his threat to her brothers’
safety. He may look like an effete popinjay, but he is deadly
dangerous. I must tell Jock what he is threatening. But
Douglas was loathe to leave the safety of the chamber tonight. She
removed the blue brocade gown and hung it beside the new one. I’ll tell him first thing in the morning.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    Douglas was glad she awoke at first light.
She had been having a nightmare that King James had consented to
her marriage with his Treasurer’s brother, and Alex Hume had come
to claim her. In the dream she had not dared to refuse him because
her brothers’ lives hung in the balance. She had been trapped with
no way out, and as she donned the pale green velvet, and brushed
her hair, she sent up a prayer for divine intervention.
    She hurried down to the dining hall, assuming
she would find Jock at breakfast. “Will, I must speak with my
brother, has he eaten yet?”
    “Ye just missed him. The king and the Border
Wardens are holding Court in the Great Hall. Today and tomorrow the
Carlisle prisoners will be tried and sentences pronounced.”
    “Dear God, I hope Jock gets Gavin and Rob
released before they go on trial.”
    Will made room for her at the table. “Sit
down and eat. It’ll be a long day.”
    “I couldn’t eat a thing. My stomach is
knotted with worry.” Douglas hurried in the direction of the Great
Hall. Suddenly, to her horror she saw Sir Lancelot Greystoke
striding toward her. The thunderous black look on his face, made
her step back in alarm.
    “Douglas Elliot, you are a thief and a liar.”
His accusing eyes swept her from head to foot. In the pale green
velvet, her fiery hair looked like flames, and her exquisite beauty
infuriated him. “You are a manipulative little bitch, who deserves
to be locked up with your thieving brothers. You are damned lucky I
am late to Court, but rest assured that when today’s trial is
finished, I shall find you, and lay charges against you.”
    She was trembling as Greystoke strode off,
his spurs striking sparks on the flagstone floors. The antique
mirrored pendant pinned inside her gown felt as if it were burning
a hole in her flesh. She wanted to flee to the safety of the
bedchamber, but the thought of being cooped up all day in the small
room, worrying over her brothers’ fate, and now her own, was
unbearable to Douglas. She hurried back to where she had left Will,
but when she saw that he was no longer sitting at the trestle
table, she felt faint.
    To give her courage, she drank a mug of small
ale, and took an oatcake from a huge platter. It seemed as if the
walls were closing in on her, and she found it so difficult to take
a deep breath that she felt as if she were suffocating. I must
get some fresh air!
    She found the massive oak doors to the keep
and went outside. She was stunned to see that the sun was shining
and she could smell the sweet green grass from the outer bailey.
The red sandstone castle was such a formidable stronghold,