The Magnificent Rogue Read Free

been ordered to bring her many such secret reports on various gentlemen during the past three years, but something about the earl of Craighdhu had caught her interest. He could not understand her obsession with this Scot. Robert MacDarren held no power in James’s court in Scotland, nor in Elizabeth’s in England. Of course, the possibility existed that his pirating of Spanish ships had won her approval. Elizabeth had always expressed a fondness towardher buccaneers, but Robert MacDarren did not fly under her flag.
    “Well?” she prompted.
    He tried to ignore his own dislike of the fellow and give her what she wanted. “Intelligent.”
    “Brilliant,” she corrected.
    He inclined his head. “Perhaps.”
    “Don’t quibble. He took four of Philip’s galleons in six months.”
    “Which may mean he has excellent warrior instincts. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s—”
    “Brilliant,” she reiterated.
    “May I remind Your Majesty, he also took one of your ships?”
    “I believe he had a purpose in that.”
    “Gold.”
    She gazed at him thoughtfully. “He’s raised your hackles. You bristle when you speak of him. Why?”
    Percy hesitated. “He … annoys me.”
    She was silent, waiting.
    “I do not like these wild Highlanders.”
    “Particularly
this
wild Highlander?”
    “He’s nothing but an outlandish rogue,” he burst out. “He has the tongue of a viper, no respect for any authority but his own, and … he laughs too much.”
    She raised her brow. “Laughs?”
    “He finds humor in the most inappropriate subjects.”
    “Such as?”
    He was not about to confess how MacDarren had mocked the turned-up toes of his fashionable puce-colored shoes. “Anything that is out of his realm of barbarism,” he said tartly.
    “Why won’t you …” She trailed off, studying him for a moment, her gaze traveling from his scarlet-feathered velvet cap to the white doublet puffed to almost feminine fullness at his hips and then down to hisfine purple hose and silver-embroidered garters. She suddenly chuckled. “He made fun of your attire?”
    He flushed. Elizabeth’s instinct was uncanny, and she never hesitated to tear aside barriers best left intact. “I did not say that.”
    “But a brilliant man who has been left without weapons would probe until he found a suitable one.”
    “Are you saying you find my attire—”
    “Entirely suitable,” she said soothingly. “You’re the envy of all my courtiers, and I like a bit of gaud. But as you say, a man of MacDarren’s barbarian upbringing would not appreciate the niceties of court dress.” She changed the subject. “He was alone when you took him?”
    “A chief of a clan is seldom alone. The clan demands a henchman to accompany the chief at all times for his protection. We were forced to take his cousin, Gavin Gordon, as well.” He shrugged. “The man was surprisingly inadequate at his duty. My captain of the guard said it was MacDarren who was forced to protect both himself and the henchman. Gordon was wounded in the fray.”
    “But he lives?”
    “He lost a good deal of blood, but he’s on the mend.”
    “Good. We may be able to use him.”
    “For what?”
    “Even rogues have loyalties, and from what you’ve reported, the earl is prone to be as extravagant with his friends as he is with his enemies.” She stood up with a flurry of amber velvet skirts and adjusted the stiff pleated ruff that framed her throat. “As we shall soon see. Let’s get to it. You shall accompany me to the Tower.”
    “Now?” His eyes widened in surprise. “But it is nearly midnight, Your Majesty.”
    “All the better. I do not want my visit to beshouted from every street corner in London. Go tell them to summon my barge.”
    “Would not tomorrow do as well?”
    “No, it would not,” she snapped. “Thanks to your laggardness, time has almost run out. Do as I bade you.”
    Percy’s lids lowered to hide his anger. By God, it went against the grain to