The Border Vixen by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page A

from the plate, Fingal Stewart spoke.
    Fingal explained all to Archie, concluding, “So, Archie, we are leaving Edinburgh and settling down with a wife, and a real home, and probably a covey of bairns eventually. Do ye think yer ready for such an existence?” Lord Stewart chuckled.
    “I am!” his manservant said without a moment’s hesitation. “ ’Tis a blessing, it is, my lord, to have been given such a bounty. We’re not getting any younger, either of us.”
    As big as his master was, Archie was a wee bit of a man, short and wiry with stone gray hair and sharp blue eyes. His family had served the Stewarts of Torra for many years, and but for his master, he was alone in the world now.
    “Perhaps we’ll find ye a nice plump lass to warm yer bed on those cold border nights,” Fin teased, and he laughed aloud.
    Archie laughed with him. “Aye, my lord, ’twould please me greatly if we did.”
    “My cousin, Lady Janet, has given me a purse, and the king has supplied us with twelve men-at-arms to go with us. They will be here shortly to escort us into the Borders, Archie. Ye had best hurry and pack us up now,” Fingal Stewart said with a smile. “Can we leave within an hour or two? And shall I send for Agent Boyle and rent the house?”
    “Nay, keep the house empty for now, my lord. What if ye want to bring yer lady to court once we have a queen? There’s never any room at court for unimportant folk.”
    “The king prefers Linlithgow Palace to Edinburgh Castle,” his master replied. “But yer right. I should not be hasty. Still send for Boyle and see what he says. We’ll need the house watched so nothing is stolen while I am in the Borders.”
    Archie hurried from the hall, and opening the front door of the house, gestured to one of the lads always about the small street. “Go and fetch Agent Boyle to Lord Stewart. He must come immediately,” Archie said. “There’s a copper in it for you when you return with him.”
    The boy pulled at his forelock and ran off. The rain was beginning to fall more heavily. Archie then went about the business of packing up what they would take. Less than half an hour had passed when a hammering came upon the front door. Archie ran to open it, admitting the house agent. He flipped the lad his copper while ushering Boyle inside. He led the man to the hall where Lord Stewart was packing up his weapons.
    “Boyle’s here, my lord,” he announced.
    Fingal Stewart looked up, beckoning the man to a seat by the fire. “Sit down, Boyle,” he said. “Sit down. Archie, a dram of whiskey for Master Boyle.”
    “Thank ye, my lord, thank ye. ’Tis damp outside.” He accepted the dram cup, and swallowed down its contents. Then he looked to Lord Stewart. “How may I serve you, my lord?” he asked politely.
    “I have to leave Edinburgh for some months,” Lord Stewart began. “I will need you to find someone to watch over the house so it not be burgled. Someone reliable who will not sell off my few possessions while I am gone,” he told the house agent.
    “Ye don’t want to rent, my lord?” Boyle inquired.
    Fingal Stewart shook his head in the negative. “What if I return before I anticipate? If I have no house, where can I lay my head and stable my horses?”
    “I was nae considering a rental to a family, my lord. Men of importance come to Edinburgh, wealthy merchants, those high up in the church, among others. They are nae asked to the castle. They do not choose to house themselves at some inn. Their stays are brief. A few days, a few weeks, a month. And they pay well for their privacy and the discretion that a house like this can provide them, my lord. They bring their own servants and require naught but a secure shelter.”
    “And how much commission would you want for providing such a service, Master Boyle?” Lord Stewart inquired.
    “But ten percent of the rental fee, my lord,” Boyle answered him.
    “I will want a woman in to clean before any come, and after