“Me father is going to be the death of me,” Beatrice groaned, folding herself down onto a stone bench and pressing a hand against her cheek. “The way he talks and chides me about every little thing drives me mad.”
“Is he still going on about the rumors?” Eloise shook her head. “If there’s anyone talkin’ about ye, they’re nae talkin’ to anyone who matters.”
“Do ye think the rumors are true, though?” Beatrice asked.
Eloise froze in a pensive pose, but before she could say anything, a child’s voice called out from the courtyard, startling them.
“Bea! Bea!”
“What in God’s name is that?” Eloise turned towards the garden’s entrance. “Is something wrong? Is someone hurt?”
“Bea! Bea!”
“Nay, everything’s all right,” Beatrice laughed.
Effie, calm down. Ye’re giving us a fright in here.
Moments later, Effie burst into the garden. Her expression went from troubled and searching to exhilarated upon seeing Bea. She rushed towards her and then halted when she spotted Eloise.
“Bea, I was looking for ye,” she said, though her eyes kept drifting to the woman she had never seen before. “I went to the Great Hall, and they said ye had eaten and gone already.”
“Aye, we had, but ye found us.”
“I found ye,” Effie repeated, her tone turning shy.
Beatrice crouched next to her. “Effie, this is me cousin Eloise. She’s here for the betrothal ceilidh.”
“How do ye do, Effie?” Eloise offered.
“How do ye do?” Effie returned. “Do ye live at Whitmore Manor as well?”
“Nay, I live in MacAllister Castle.”
Effie’s eyes widened in delighted surprise. “Och, aye? I would want to visit there one day. If I’m allowed to.”
“Why wouldnae ye be allowed to?” Eloise asked.
“It is another castle,” Effie explained.
Beatrice could not help but laugh at her small child’s voice speaking so matter-of-factly.
“Well, if ye and yer father came to MacAllister Castle, I would host a big cèilidh for ye.”
Effie turned back to Beatrice, her lips pressed into an uneven line. “Have ye been to MacAllister Castle, Bea?”
“Only once,” Beatrice replied.
“And did ye like it?”
“Aye, very much so. But I will tell ye that it isnae as beautiful as MacSween Castle.”
Eloise muffled a snort, which made both Beatrice and Effie laugh into their hands.
“After ye marry me father, maybe we can go down to MacAllister and visit yer cousin,” Effie suggested.
Beatrice hid her dismay at this question, uncertain of the future and unwilling to lie.
“Effie, why daenae ye show us around the garden?” Eloise asked, tapping the girl’s shoulder and changing the subject. “Do ye ken all the names of the plants here?”
