“I remember ye, Lady Sienna,” Keira said with a smile.
Sienna beamed, looking even more radiant, and Violet felt the black mood overtake her completely. She took a few steps backward, so slowly that no one noticed how she had removed herself from the competition.
She couldn’t muster a smile as tears pricked her eyes.
“I want to dance with ye, Violet,” Keira announced, stepping into their circle to take her hand.
“Ye can dance with Violet later,” Ruaridh told her. “I wish to introduce her to some more people.”
“Ye can do that later, Da,” Keira insisted with a pout, before turning away. “Come now, Violet. The next dance is starting.”
Violet let herself be pulled away, even though her heart was still heavy. She wondered if the girl had perhaps seen how anxious she had gotten. Nonetheless, she was grateful for Keira’s presence.
The next dance was about to start, and with the opening strains the musicians were playing, she knew she was not going to have much trouble following the vigorous steps she had seen earlier.
“’Tis called Dashing White Sergeant,” Keira informed her. “I daenae ken the steps, but we will copy the others, alright?”
“Alright,” Violet answered with a smile.
Keira took her other hand, and they spun in circles at the edge of the crowd on the makeshift dance floor so that neither of them would be hurt in the foray.
“Yer castle looks as beautiful as ever, Laird McLeod,” Laird McTominay commented, raising his goblet. “Ye’re doing a fine job as a laird.”
Ruaridh had been speaking with him and Lairds McCain and McIntyre, who had been friends with his father. The two men nodded in agreement.
“Yer faither would be pleased with what ye have achieved,” Laird McCain praised.
“’Tis good to see ye continuing the traditions he started,” Laird McIntyre added.
Ruaridh nodded, trying to focus on the conversation, but his eyes kept straying to Keira and Violet as they twirled around the dance floor.
They had been dancing for a while and had earned more than a few stares, although no one judged them harshly. He found himself smiling as Keira laughed and Violet’s teeth flashed in a wide grin.
“I am glad to hear ye are considerin’ getting married again,” Laird McTominay continued. “When do ye think the wedding will be?”
“We havenae decided on a date just yet, but I will make sure to invite ye,” Ruaridh answered with a firm nod.
He would not tell the man that his infuriating bride insisted on completing an inane list, which he had quickly realized would never find an end. He had not given her any reason to fear a match to him, but she seemed intent on enjoying her independence.
He couldn’t fault her thinking, not when she had barely just escaped a match she didn’t want.
He couldn’t begin to complain now, though. He had promised to wait, and he would give her as much time as he could, but ifany disturbing reports came from England again, he wouldn’t be able to wait any longer.
“I look forward to it,” Laird McTominay answered.
Ruaridh nodded and looked for the lass again. He spotted Callum and Sienna watching the duo as well and frowned when he saw Callum walk up to Violet as the next dance was about to begin.
He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists as he watched her smile and accept his hands. They were a handsome pair as they moved, graceful as well, and the thought made him frown harder.
He itched to move forward when he saw the man’s hand wrap around Violet’s waist, but caught himself.
Wasn’t this her wish? To dance with someone handsome?
It was one of the items on her list, and while he hadn’t pondered it too deeply before, the thought that she found Callum handsome stirred a bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach that he didn’t understand.
She smiled again at Callum, and his lips thinned.
Why is she readily smiling at him when it has taken me so long to earn it?
