Of course, there was the fact that Lord James said he was poor. That's why he had undertaken this employment. But how could someone with a t.i.tle be poor? Besides, he had many rich relatives who were very willing to help him. She'd seen that when he'd sent messages to those relatives and they'd quickly sent men with armor and weapons to protect the Maidenhall wagons.

Compared to her other prospects, James Montgomery was wealthy all right. He was rich, and it looked as though he were the only man she was going to meet. Too bad he was so handsome. Frances had found that the uglier the man, the easier he was to enthrall.

Frances looked up at Axia, then her eyes narrowed and she set herself a goal. By the time this journey ended, she was going to be the wife of James Montgomery. Whatever she had to do; however it could be accomplished, she was going to do it. And someday Axia would thank her.

Axia was rearranging the contents of one of those horrible, uncomfortable wagons. If the Queen of England could travel around England freely, why couldn't the Maidenhall heiress? The answer of course was that Perkin Maidenhall was too tight to pay for sufficient guards so his only child was forced to travel like some anonymous merchant's daughter. But then Axia seemed to be having the time of her life with all her low-cla.s.s bartering. Just like her father, she loved to make money.

Standing, Frances dusted off her gown. She, on the other hand, hated traveling in these wagons. When she was Lady Frances Montgomery, she'd have a coach with velvet-covered seats and a dozen footmen. She'd have- "What are you planning?"

Frances jumped at that whisper in her ear. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Tode, that odious little man.

"I think I may save Axia from herself," she replied, then put her nose in the air and walked away from him. Let him think on that, she thought. Let him sit with his beloved Axia and try to figure out what I have in mind. Smiling, she walked over to Jamie.

"Would you like to walk with me?" Jamie asked Frances, holding out his arm for her to take. "It is such a beautiful night."

Wrapping her fingers about his arm, Frances walked with Jamie down the little road where they had made their camp.

Trying his best to make conversation, he said, "In a few days we shall stay in a house," he said. "With beds."

Frances smiled. "I should like that. I should like something besides just what can be cooked over a campfire," she said with a grimace.

"Axia does well, does she not? I have never known almonds to taste so good," Jamie said, smiling in memory.

Frances looked up at him through her lashes, the fading daylight making her look especially beautiful. "Will you walk with me and talk of another woman?"

"Why, no, I guess not," Jamie said, then had no idea what else to say.

They walked in silence for a few moments, then abruptly, Frances burst out laughing.

Puzzled, Jamie turned to her, a smile ready.

"We are alike, are we not?" she said companionably.

"I am sure we are, but how are we alike?"

"Tell me, James Montgomery, have you ever had to court a woman? I mean, have you ever had to work to get a woman to pay attention to you? Flowers? Poems?"

Jamie ducked his head. "Actually..." He hesitated.

"Nor have I," Frances said. "All I have ever had to do was sit still and they came to me. I have had men fight each other over the privilege of sitting next to me. Boys fall over themselves to be allowed to hand me a cup of sweet cider." She looked up at him. "And no doubt it has been the same with you."

With a chuckle, he looked down at her. "I admit that I have had an easy time until... lately."

Frowning, Frances looked up at him. "I think it is time you and I discussed business."

But Jamie's mind was on the "lately." Had there ever been a time when he had not known Axia? There was the first day with her body under his, the time he'd turned her over his knee, when she'd attacked him and blackened his eye, the painted wagon, Axia asleep in front of him in the saddle, later with her head on his lap and- "... and make plans for the marriage. Perhaps it should be secret and later we will tell my father and-"

"Marriage?" Jamie said blankly, not having heard the first of what she was saying.

Frances batted her long lashes at him. "I thought you wanted the Maidenhall gold. My inheritance."

"I..." He didn't like to hear the case stated so bluntly.

"It is all right," she said, pressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his arm, then seeing his mind was elsewhere, she suddenly released him, and putting her hands over her face, she began to cry. "Oh, James, you do not know what awaits me. My father has chosen a horrible man for me. I will never have love and children, I know it. I have been a prisoner since I was three weeks old and I will continue to be a prisoner after I am married. Oh, how can I bear it?"

Jamie did what he always did with crying women: he pulled her into his arms and held her, stroking her back to calm her.

"I know Axia meant to be mean and hateful when she told me that you hoped to marry me, but it was the answer to my prayers. I have dreamed that my father would send someone handsome and charming to me and that we might-No, I daren't say it out loud."

"Tell me," he whispered, fearing he already knew the answer.

"That this man would save me from this horrible marriage that I know will be worse than the prison that I have already lived my life in."

"Your father has placed great trust in me. He-" Jamie began.

"What of your family?" Frances argued. "Are they as poor as Axia's? Are they warm in the winter? What is their food like?"

Jamie swallowed, remembering Berengaria's description of moldy lentils, her dream of warmth. Lately, his time with Axia had made him begin to forget his duties and responsibilities, but now Frances was bringing him back to reality.

Frances, her hands gripping Jamie's arms, looked up at him pleadingly. "We could be married secretly. If we are already married, there is nothing my father can do about it. He cannot dissolve our marriage."

"But..." Jamie didn't want to say anything, but what if Maidenhall was so angry, he disinherited her?

Smiling as though she could read his mind, Frances said, "People are so enchanted with my father's wealth that they forget that my mother was the only daughter of a very wealthy man. If my father gives me nothing, I have my grandfather's estate of land, houses, a castle or two. I have considerable income of my own." She smiled at him. "And I do not believe my merchant father will be disappointed that I have married an earl bearing the ancient name of Montgomery."

"Probably not," Jamie said distractedly.

She looked up at him, tears just about to spill over her bottom lashes. "You will rescue me, will you not? For me? For your family?"

Firmly, Jamie gripped her shoulders and held her at arms' length. "I will do my best to-to rescue you, but my honor forces me to ask your father's permission. I cannot do this in secret. He must give his approval."

Frances looked away to prevent him from seeing her face. Above all, she could not allow knowledge of their marriage to reach Axia's father. "What do I care for his approval? He has imprisoned me all my life. He will sell me to any man who has the gold. Do I not deserve happiness like everyone else?"

"Do not speak of your father so. Do not-" Jamie knew that what was wrong with him was that he could not seem to think. Marriage was a major decision, and it could not be taken lightly. If he enraged someone as rich as Maidenhall, what would happen to his family? He must think of them. "I will-"

"You do not like me," Frances said, her lower lip stuck out in a pretty pout. "You do not like me at all."

"But of course I like you," Jamie said, but even he knew there was no conviction in his voice. Truthfully, he hadn't thought much about Frances one way or the other.

"I believe I understand," Frances said coldly. "It has often been this way. I am, after all, the Maidenhall heiress, and that tends to frighten men. No man can love me for who I am. It is only the money they want. It is Axia who inspires men to love her. Look at Tode, horrid thing that he is. He loves her. Your man Rhys cannot take his eyes off her. He is courting her. Even your Thomas has thoughts of her. It is only me men cannot see for my gold. Axia is right: I am not human, I am my father's gold."

With that she turned back toward the camp, but Jamie caught her arm. Joby had always said that a woman had only to tell Jamie a sad story and he turned softer than rainwater.

"Frances," he said softly, "it is not so. You are a very sweet woman. Any man would be happy to have you for his wife."

"Oh, Jamie," she said and threw her arms around his neck. "I knew you loved me. I knew it. I will make you the best of wives. And your family will have warmth and food and all the best that the Maidenhall money can buy. You shall see. You will be the happiest man on earth."

Pulling away from him, she took his hand. "Come, let us tell the others." Her eyes lit as an idea came to her. "Yes, and you must write my father. I will write him too. We will put our letters together and send them by the same messenger. I am sure my father will agree, as he will love having a daughter called by the t.i.tle of lady. Come, come, do not hesitate." Pausing, she looked at him. "Is something amiss? Is not this what you wanted? You are going to be married to the Maidenhall heiress. Please tell me now if this is not what you wanted."

"Yes," he murmured. "This is what I must do. It is what my family needs."

Stretching out her arms, Frances twirled about. "I am the happiest woman on earth. And you? Are you not also happy?"

"Oh yes," he said, "very, very happy. Truly happy." But there was only the sound of sad resignation in his voice. "Come," he said slowly, "we must return to the others."

"Yes, we must tell them," Frances said happily, then paused. "But, Jamie, dear, let us not tell about the letters to my father. Axia will... Well, you know what she is like. We will just say that we are to be married secretly. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes, of course," he said, then with a great sigh, Jamie followed her down the path back to the camp.

My dearest sisters, All your dreams may come true. It seems that I may be married to the Maidenhall heiress. No, do not think it is a love match, it is not. Frances is in need of rescuing. She needs protection and we need a new roof. Is that not how all the best marriages are arranged?

However, I do not believe this marriage will take place as I am insisting on begging her father's permission. As he has already contracted for his daughter's marriage, I cannot see how he will agree. But Frances thinks he will give his permission; then we must be married immediately.

I will let you know what comes of this.

Do you remember Axia who I told you about? She is proving herself to be quite useful, as she buys and sells wherever we go. Although she told outrageous, but highly amusing, lies to make the sale, she sold an entire wagonload of cloth for coins and animals. Then she traded some of the animals to a country merchant for a hundred pairs of shoes, and she used the coins to buy a thousand b.u.t.tons from a widow walking back from her husband's funeral. Afterward, she put all of us, except the heiress of course, to sewing the b.u.t.tons on the shoes and the next day sold them for twice what she'd paid for them.

Rhys says that in one week she has tripled the value of the original cloth, and he laughs that in a month she will be able to buy a house. But I fear that Rhys may be in love with her. And Thomas too.

However, due to Axia's bargaining, I have not spent any from the Maidenhall purse for days now.

We will be staying at Lachlan Teversham's house for a few days while we await the arrival of the Maidenhall wagons and the letter from Frances's father, so you may write me there.

I send you both my love and my prayers.

Your loving brother, James PS. I am sorry, but that purple silk doublet was ruined when Axia set fire to it and to me, but do not worry, for the burns healed quickly.

"Well?" Joby asked her sister. "What do you think now? He is going to marry the Maidenhall heiress, I am sure of it. I am sure Perkin Maidenhall will be delighted for his daughter to marry Jamie. After all, he is an earl."

"I am not so sure," Berengaria said as she breathed deeply of the aroma of the flowers that grew in the tiny garden behind the old castle. "Do you think if this rich man had offered his daughter to Jamie, our brother would have refused the Maidenhall heiress? Would any man? So there must be hidden reasons that he offers her to a rich merchant's son, as there are many impoverished t.i.tled men who would have taken her."

"True," Joby said thoughtfully but not wanting to think about that. "What do you think of this Axia?"

Berengaria hesitated before answering. "I think she is the most interesting person I have ever heard of."

"Interesting? I would imagine that woman walking back from her husband's funeral did not find her 'interesting'. It is a wonder someone did not put this Axia in a dunking stool."

"On the other hand, what was the woman going to do with a thousand b.u.t.tons? Perhaps she was grateful for someone stupid enough to want to buy them."

Joby stopped walking and looked at Berengaria. For some reason, their roles seemed to have reversed. Usually, it was Joby who was cynical and disbelieving, but now Berengaria was the one putting grief on a monetary level. For some reason, there was something about this Axia that Joby did not like.

"Oh, Joby," Berengaria said with a sigh, "are you never romantic? You are afraid that our dear brother, who is very romantic, will fall in love with this impoverished Axia and we will never have enough to eat."

"According to you, he already is in love with her," Joby muttered. "But what do you mean that our dear brother is romantic? Was it romance that has made him such a good soldier?"

"Of course."

"You are crazy! What is romantic about killing and maiming?"

"You know very well that Jamie hates all that. What he loves is the feeling of honor and justice and fighting for good over evil."

"True," Joby said slowly, "but what does that have to do with this Axia? I think she is making our brother demented. He says she has set fire to him." She narrowed her eyes. "I would like to set fire to her. "

Berengaria looked sightlessly into the distance. "Will you gather me some of those cherry blossoms? By the smell of them we will have a good crop this year."

Taking her dagger from her side, Joby cut some branches off the nearest cherry tree. "What shall we write to our brother?"

"You mean, what can we write to him to make him truly fall in love with this rich woman who he says he might marry but admits that all he wants from her is a new roof?"

"Exactly. You do not think Jamie's sense of honor would extend to love in a marriage, do you? We are too poor to think of love."

"And he has too many burdens," Berengaria said with bitterness.

"Mother and I are-"

"And me," Joby said. "I want to be like the queen and never marry!"

"Well, I want to be like a queen bee and have a thousand children, all of them pulling on my skirts and wrapping their arms about me."

Joby gave a little smile. "There's always Henry Oliver. He'll give you-"

"I'll get you for that," Berengaria said and reached for her little sister.

Chapter 13.

It had been raining heavily for several days. The streams were swollen, and the roads, already bad, were quagmires, sucking at the horses' feet, ama.s.sing on the wagon wheels so that they would hardly turn.

Jamie knew that he was feeling sorry for himself as he tried to direct the moving of the wagons through the mud. When had he become responsible for merchant wagons and quarreling civilians? He had always been a soldier, a younger brother who was not to inherit the t.i.tle and the estate so he had to make his own way in the world in his chosen profession of the military.

But there was no estate, was there? he thought as pulled his horse to stop once again. The rain was coming down so hard that he could barely see, could hear nothing over the pelting of the heavy stream onto the ground.

Dismounting, he stalked through the mud to the wagon where it was once again stuck. The mud was up to his ankles, and it seemed as though he was covered with the cold, wet slime. Of course, even as he made his way through the muck, he knew that his real problem was not the rain, but Axia. Sometimes it seemed that before he met her he'd never had a problem in his life. What was the struggle between life and death compared to what he had been through since he'd met her?

Just when he'd thought they were becoming friends, everything had changed in an instant. Before he could stop her, Frances had run back to the campfire and loudly announced that she and Jamie were to be married. Jamie didn't think he'd ever forget the look on Axia's face.

Betrayal, hurt, disbelief, all registered in her eyes for just an instant before she turned away and stopped speaking to him altogether. Since then, twice he had tried to talk to her, tried to explain that he was not a free man, that, for him, marriage was business and he could not follow his heart. For if he did follow his heart... But Axia would not listen to him. Each time, she'd jerked away from his grasp and refused to speak to him. And later, when he thought about his heart and his duty to his impoverished family, he thought that perhaps it was better that Axia wasn't speaking to him. But two days later when she informed the others that there had been an accident and the rest of that wheel of cheese had somehow rolled from the wagon, he felt like weeping.

But his mood had reversed when this morning Axia had presented Rhys with a little pillow stuffed with the goose down that she had been saving for Jamie.

So now, in a few hours, G.o.d willing, they would be at the house of his friend and former comrade-in-arms, Lachlan Teversham, and there would be dry beds and hot food and perhaps they would all feel better.

Through the rain, Jamie could just see the dragon wagon, as everyone insisted on calling it, as it made its way down the road ahead of them. On Jamie's orders, the two women were in that wagon, as it was lighter and had a better chance of getting through the mud. This wagon, fully loaded down with tents and what furniture they had, tended to get stuck often.