She marched over to the man holding her horse and grabbed the reins from him. Waving off his attempt to help her up, she mounted and set off down the road at a gallop.
Let them catch up to her if they could. She had dallied long enough. Her son was waiting for her.
Chapter Twenty-eight
William was beside her almost before she reached the road. Soon after, she heard the other horses following at a safe distance behind. William’s men were brave soldiers, but they would let him face this kind of trouble alone.
He tried to speak to her, but she fixed her eyes on the road before her and ignored him. Eventually, he ceased to try.
At some point during the long ride, she resolved not to let her anger and resentment toward William spoil her homecoming. She had waited too long for this. When Ross Castle came into sight at long last, she thought her heart would burst. She leaned forward and spurred her horse into a full gallop.
“Is it wise to ride so hard in your condition?” William called out as he raced beside her.
She did not spare him a glance. She would be damned if she would walk her horse the last mile home. A figure on the wall next to the gatehouse jumped up and down, waving. It had to be Stephen. She waved back.
A surge of emotion had her weeping as she rode through the open gate. All the household was running across the bailey to meet her. Stephen flew down the stairs from the wall and reached her first.
She pulled her horse up and almost fell into his arms.
“I missed you so much!” She stepped back to look at him. “Why, you’ve grown half a foot! And you are even more handsome than before.”
Stephen’s face turned crimson in embarrassed pleasure.
“Where is Jamie—”
“Mother!”
She turned to see Jamie running toward her and dropped to one knee to catch him in her arms. The force of his greeting nearly toppled her. When he buried his face in her neck and clung to her, she knew Marged was right. Her son had not forgotten her.
All evening, they fussed over her. Alys insisted she sit close to the hearth and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Thomas put a stool under her feet. Others brought her cakes and hot spiced wine. Tears stung Catherine’s eyes; she was so grateful to be home and among her own household.
While the servants ministered to her, William stood close by, silent and watchful. After a time, he signaled for them to leave, saying, “Lady Catherine is tired from her journey.”
At his words, she felt the weight of her exhaustion. She held her arms out to Jamie. He crawled into her lap and soon was fast asleep against her chest.
He felt so good against her. As she watched his sweet face, slack with sleep, she saw it had lost some of its plumpness in her absence. His hair was longer and darker, too. She brushed it back and sighed for all she had missed.
Still, she had her son in her arms now. She was home.
She must have dozed, for she awoke with a start when William touched her arm.
“The two of you should be in bed,” he said, lifting the sleeping boy from her lap.
A rush of cool air replaced the warm weight, and she felt the loss acutely. Looking up, she saw that William had Jamie on one shoulder. He was holding his other hand out to her. She took it and let him help her up.
As they climbed the stairs, he squeezed her hand and said, “When you were gone, I would carry Jamie up to bed and imagine you were with us, just like this.”
He was trying to make up to her, but she was not yet ready. They continued up the stairs in silence, past their own rooms, to Jamie’s. After William laid Jamie on his bed, she pulled the bedclothes up and kissed her son good night.
“Father,” Jamie called in a sleepy voice as he stretched out his arms to William.
William embraced the boy and kissed his cheek. Jamie was asleep before they slipped outside his chamber door.
“Jamie started calling me that some weeks ago,” William said, sounding defensive. “I saw no reason he should not.”
“I would never criticize you for that.”
In truth, the warm bond between Jamie and William made her wish she could forgive William his other transgressions. Her anger had dulled, but she was a long way from forgetting. The disappointment of learning he thought so little of her left her with an ache in her chest.