Fixated on her lips, thinking how good it would feel to kiss them, Edan felt himself starting to lean towards her. Then, a door slammed loudly somewhere below, and the spell was broken.
His mask snapped back into place. “Good. I’ll let ye ken the time,” he heard himself say matter-of-factly, as though concluding a business deal.
She nodded, still smiling sweetly. “Aye, all right.”
“Good, then.”
He forced himself to turn around and leave her standing there, but he knew she was watching him as he walked down the hallway. It had never seemed so long in his life.
“I’m so excited, Megan,” Olivia told her maid a couple of days later. “I cannae wait to find out what Edan has planned for our first outing.”
The pair were in Olivia’s chambers, and Megan was helping her look her best because Edan had sent word that he would be coming to collect her at three o’clock that afternoon.
“Well, if ye dinnae stand still and let me button up yer gown, then ye may never find out,” Megan replied testily as she struggled with the row of tiny pearl buttons at the back of Olivia’s dress.
“Sorry, but me nerves are all ajangle,” Olivia told her apologetically, doing her best to stay still. “I feel like a bairnwaitin’ for Yule to arrive. He’s organized it all by himself, and ’tis goin’ to be a big surprise.”
“Hmm, I’m nae too fond of surprises. They can too easily turn into disasters. There, that’s the last button, thank the Lord,” the maid said, turning Olivia around so they could look at her reflection in the full-length mirror.
“Och, dinnae spoil me fun. I’m already nervous enough, and ye’re nae exactly helpin’,” Olivia chided gently. “What’s wrong with ye today? Ye seem out of sorts.”
“Ach, if I tell ye, ye’ll only laugh at me,” the maid said, adjusting Olivia’s sleeves.
“I promise I willnae laugh.”
“Well, all right then. If ye promise. ’Tis just that earlier today, when I was comin’ back from the laundry, I saw a wee bird fly into a window.”
Olivia waited for her to elaborate, but Megan seemed to feel she had said enough.
“I see. What has that got to do with anythin’?” Olivia asked eventually, mystified.
“’Tis a bad omen, that’s what,” the maid replied. “It means somethin’ bad is about to happen.”
Olivia sighed. “Och, Lord, Megan, nae that superstitious nonsense again.”
“There, I kenned I shouldnae have told ye.”
“How can a bird with a poor sense of direction mean bad luck?”
“It just does, that’s all, whether ye believe it or nae,” Megan said stubbornly.
“If ye say so,” Olivia muttered, dismissing the matter, determined not to allow anything to dampen her enthusiasm for the outing.
Despite their differences, she was looking forward to finally having Edan all to herself and getting to know him better. Agreeing to her wish meant more to her than he would ever know, especially since he was such a difficult man to get along with. She secretly hoped it would mean fewer arguments, and fewer nerve-wracking moments when she was unsure of what he was going to do next.
“So, how do I look?” She looked in the mirror and was rather pleased with what she saw.
“Perfect, of course. Like ye always do, thanks to me,” Megan replied cheekily, recovering her good humor as quickly as always.
“Aye, thanks to ye. I love me hair.”
Megan had plaited her hair and pinned the plaits up to form a pretty crown, which she had dressed with some sprigs of purple heather.
“Well, I thought this style would be both practical and pretty,” Megan explained. “Yer hair willnae be flyin’ all over the place and gettin’ in a mess.”
“Good thinkin’,” Olivia praised. “I’m grateful for yer forethought. And the heather is almost the same shade as me dress.”
The dress was made of fine deep, heathery blue wool. It was quite modest in design, she thought, although the neck revealed just enough cleavage to be fashionable.
