The Border Lord's Bride Read Free Page A

had somehow ended up spending his last days at Lochearn.
    "Grandsire was not certain I should waste my time in learning, but he liked the old wise man. He kept the hall well entertained in the evenings with his tales," Ellen explained. "It gae…gave Bothan pleasure to teach me, and as long as I dinna…did not neglect my duties my grandsire allowed it."
    "How long was he with you?" the princess asked.
    "Until he died last year," Ellen said.
    "What of your parents?" Margaret Stewart wanted to know.
    "They died in a winter epidemic when I was two," the girl answered. "I hae…have no memories of them at all. My grandsire is all the family I have ever known."
    "And the lad you are to wed?" the king‘s aunt persisted.
    "Donald? We are cousins. Grandsire and his grandmother are brother and sister. I‘ve met him several times in my life. He is a good man."
    "Is he handsome?" Margaret Stewart asked with a small smile.
    "Oh, aye, he is. He hae…has fiery hair like I do, and the loveliest blue eyes," Ellen replied with an audible sigh.
    The other girls giggled at this.
    "Has he ever kissed you?" one girl asked mischievously.
    "Nay! I am no light-skirt!" Ellen answered indignantly.
    "What harm would there be in a kiss?" the girl said. "You are going to be wed."
    "But we are nae…not wed yet. My old nursemaid says a man will not buy the cow if he can have the cream for free."
    A burst of giggles greeted this observation, but Margaret Stewart held up her hand to silence them all. "Ellen‘s nursemaid is correct, my lasses. If you expect to make good marriages you should be mindful of your reputations. A man will not wed a lass whose character is besmirched.
    A road too well traveled holds no surprises."

    It was, Ellen realized, an entirely different world at court from the one she was used to living in at Lochearn. A clever girl, she adapted quickly. Her speech grew less rough and countrified.
    While she was not well-read—few girls her age were—she could speak passable French with the ambassador from that land, and her good manners distinguished her from many of the other young women in Margaret Stewart‘s household. She was cheerful, and others frankly enjoyed being in her company.
    Anice, however, did not adjust to life at court. She was forever complaining; she grew lazy and neglectful in her duties. When Ellen caught her in a compromising situation with a serving man, she had no other choice but to go to the princess for advice. Anice would not listen to her mistress and was even openly rude.
    "You will send her home immediately before she gets a big belly, if she does not already have one," Margaret Stewart said. "I‘ll send a messenger to your grandfather telling him that Anice is to be returned home, and asking him to send you another lass to serve you. You must have a serving woman, but this girl who came with you is sly and disobedient, Ellen. She causes strife among my servants. The man you caught her with is promised to another, and Anice flaunts her wickedness."
    "I am sorry, madam, that my servant has caused dissent in your house," Ellen apologized, and her gray-blue eyes filled with tears. "Anice‘s life has not been easy."
    "Nonsense!" Margaret Stewart said sharply. "Your grandfather took her in when she was found, you have told me, and she has been well treated."
    The messenger was dispatched that same day, and several days later Anice, weeping copiously now because she was being sent home, was returned north. Ellen had assured the princess that she was perfectly capable of caring for herself until her grandfather sent another servant for her.
    And when he did it was, to her delight, her old nursemaid, Peigi, which suited Ellen very well.
    The king had decided to keep Christmas at Sterling. Walking into the magnificent great hall for the first time, Ellen was both astounded and awed. Its walls were painted in a rich lime-gold color known as King‘s Gold. She gazed openmouthed at the roof of the chamber, which