Boyd laughed and slapped him on the back. “Now that sounds like old times.”

They were married in the Seton family chapel at Winton Castle shortly after midday on Wednesday the twenty-sixth day of June. Less than forty-eight hours after Bruce had his great victory along the Bannock Burn, Joan was seated at the dais enjoying her own moment of happiness and triumph.

She’d done it. She’d not only done her part to help win this war by uncovering key information, she’d helped to bring Alex back into the fold right in time, and found something she’d never thought to have: a future with the man she loved.

It felt like a dream. She was happy. Truly happy for the first time in as long as she could remember.

Since arriving this morning and being swept under the very comforting and capable wing of Alex’s mother, Lady Agnes, Joan had been bathed, fed, rested (forced to take a nap, for goodness’ sake!), had her cuts tended and ribs wrapped, dressed in a beautiful gown of blue silk, and given a beautiful jeweled circlet to wear in her hair.

She hadn’t lifted a finger for any of this—which was probably a good thing, given how exhausted and weak she was. But if she ever wondered where Alex got his solid efficiency and at times overprotectiveness, she need look no further than her new mother-in-law.

Joan did not warm to people very easily—her guard had been raised for too long—but it seemed Alex and his mother were the exceptions. She had a feeling that she and Lady Agnes were going to get along very well together, although a glance down at the end of the table made her wonder whether they would be living under the same roof for long. The two fair—slightly graying—heads were bent quite closely together, and with the way Lady Agnes was smiling, she looked more like a girl than a woman of six and forty.

Alex, seated at her side, leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I would like to take credit for that smile, but it seems to be directed at my mother.”

“Who is that man she is seated with?”

Alex frowned. “Sir Alan Murray. He was one of my father’s most trusted captains and has served as the keeper of the castle for years.”

“Hmm.”

“What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

She shook her head. Men could be so blind sometimes. “Your mother is an attractive woman. I didn’t expect her to be so young.”

“She and my father were married as children. She had Chris when she was thirteen.”

Much like her own mother, Joan thought sadly. But from what Alex said, his parents had had a good marriage.

“Why?” Alex asked. “You don’t think . . . ?” He glanced down at the couple with mild horror on his face.