Page 134 of Tempted
When Heath returned with the caravan, he would not believe them when they told him that Ram was still alive. When they gently lifted him inside the painted wagon and he saw for himself that Ram’s rib cage lifted slightly in an uneven rhythm, he wondered if Valentina had somehow resurrected him from the dead. As he watched them together, the poignancy was tangible. How bittersweet that Ram had lasted long enough to die in his wife’s arms!
Angus was totally undone, and Ada gave all her attention to the sobbing old earl who showed his vulnerability for the first time in his life. They traveled in slow stages, one day at a time, and it took them five days to reach the Castle at Douglas.
Ramsay had remained unconscious on the journey. Angus, Heath, Ada, and Mr. Burque knew this was a bad sign. Tina only thought how merciful it was that he could not feel the jarring of the caravan as it crawled along through the rough cut tracks of the borders. She knew she was taking him home to die.
Chapter 41
Black is the color of my true love’s hair,
His eyes are wondrous fair,
Warm are his lips and strong his hands,
I love the ground whereon he stands.
Valentina was most grateful that they carried Ram upstairs and laid him gently in his own bed, but she washed his body with her own hands, and they left her alone with her husband. She had no idea what would happen to her, or to Castle Douglas, or even to Scotland now that they had been defeated by England, but she did know what would happen to Ram when he died. She would assert her authority. She was Lady Douglas. She would not allow them to cut out his heart and place it in a casket, as Douglas tradition demanded. His heart belonged to her, and she would see that he was buried intact. She knew there was nothing more she could do for him Very gently she lay down beside him and took his hand.
Ironically it was not the wound Ram sustained in the battle that had brought him to death’s door. At least not directly, for the lance that pierced clean through his flesh, pinning him to the earth, had destroyed no vital organ. It had chipped bone, torn muscle, and severed blood vessels. He was close to death because too much of his lifeblood had leaked away. He had lain for three days unable to move while his blood had dripped slowly from his body into Flodden Field. Miraculously, now that the flow of blood had been stanched, his body gradually began to gain strength.
Tina must have slept, even though she had been determined to keep vigil. It was still pitch dark when she opened her eyes in panic. Dear God, Ram must have slipped away into death while she slept. He had closed his fingers about hers, and they had stiffened in death to a grip she could not break.
A sob escaped from her throat, and as her eyes became accustomed to the dark, she fancied that he lay watching her. She caught her breath, not even daring to hope. Her throat closed as she struggled to speak. “Ram?” she managed to whisper at last. She did not see his lips move, but she knew he was alive and that he would recover because he answered her. Vixen! He had whispered the word vixen, and it was the loveliest sound she had ever heard.
As she pried his fingers from hers, her tears fell upon his face and mingled with his. She eased from the bed and ran to tell the world that Black Ram Douglas was still master of his own castle.
In an amazingly short time, Ram was on his feet. As Tina entered their bedchamber, she cried out in alarm when she saw him struggling into his clothes.
“Dear God, what are you about? ‘Tis not three weeks since you lay on the battlefield near death.”
“The English couldn’t kill me, but by Christ, ye and Ada and Mr. Burque might accomplish what the enemy could not, if I lie here one more day!”
“Whatever do you mean?” demanded Tina, thoroughly offended after all the tender ministrations she had lavished upon him.
“If ye change my dressing one more time, I’ll strangle ye with the bandage, and if Mr. Burque fetches me one more bowl of broth, I’ll crack his bloody French skull wi’ it!”
“We’ve done our utmost to nurse you back to health. The servants have tiptoed about so they wouldn’t disturb you. I’ve kept visitors away so they wouldn’t upset you with their horror stories of the war. I’ve sat with you for hours playing chess so you wouldn’t be bored. I swear, men make the very worst invalids!”
“Invalid?” His pewter eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’m no’ an invalid, and I’m no’ a bairn. I’m a man, Tina. And while we’re on that subject, I don’t need a nurse, I need a bloody woman! Sometimes I could swear ye don’t want me at my full strength again because ye like giving the orders. Well, as of today, Lady Douglas, ye will start fulfilling the vows ye made when ye married me Ye pledged tae love, honor, and obey me. So now ye can start doing as yer told. Don’t shrug that saucy shoulder at me, Vixen!” he warned as he fastened his belt and pulled on his boots. “I heard Angus ride in, so I’m going down tae talk man tae man. Ye will occupy yerself moving yer things back tae this chamber.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you,” she protested quietly.
“Well, ye do disturb me, every time I hear yer voice, or smell yer fragrance, or see yer breasts when ye bend over me tae feed me that bloody broth!”
The corners of Tina’s mouth lifted for the first time since her wedding. If his sex drive was asserting itself, he must indeed be almost recovered.
By the time Ram arrived in the hall, Angus and his men were on their third whisky. Angus came toward him and walked about him in a circle. “Yer lookin’ a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw ye, laddie.”
Ram stifled the urge to take Angus in his arms. Archibald had aged all of a sudden, and Ram could see his years were numbered. Any affection on his part, however, would be considered pity, so Ram decided the kindest thing he could do for Angus was insult him.
“I wish I could say the same fer ye, but ye look like hell, man. Are things that bad, Angus? Is doomsday upon us?”
Angus drained his whisky and poured himself another. The thought of downplaying the situation because of Ram’s health never occurred to the toughened earl, and Ram knew he’d get the bald truth from him.
“I won’t deny we suffered a massive defeat at Flodden. The clans lost thousands James was a fool, but he’s dead and we won’t speak ill of him Even the English were impressed by his reckless valor, according to the chronicle I got my hands on. It said, “O what a noble and triumphant courage was this for a king to fight in a battle as a mean soldier.”
“So what happens now that Argyll, Lennox, Bothwell, and all the other earls are dead?” asked Ram.
“Believe it or not, we go on much as we did before. There is a new Earl of Argyll to lead the Campbells, a new Lennox to lead the Stewarts. Fortunately every earl had a son tae take his place. Ye underestimated Margaret Tudor, but I did not. She won’t allow her brother Henry tae swallow her kingdom, whether he won the battle or no’ She’ll see that her son rules Scotland, not her brother. We’ve a new king, James V, and until he’s old enough tae rule, there’ll be a regency council consisting of Margaret, Douglas, Arran, and Huntly.”
