Page 12 of A Highlander's Bride

Her mam sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the second part of her statement. “He found ye at the villagetaverninn? Do ye ken how bad that looks for a young, unmarried woman to be alone in an inn? Was he angry?”

“Nay, he shared an ale with me.”

Her mam stared at her for a few moments, then shook her head. “Iwill see ye downstairs in the great hall.”

Beth knew she wasn’t going to get away with anything strange about her appearance again, so even though she thought the dress unflattering, she still had to fix her hair in a normal manner. She cast a longing look at her brother’s shoes and slipped on her own and left the room.

As she entered the great hall, Lady Chisholm was speaking with Laird Mackenzie, actually tugging on his sleeve as if that was the only way she could be sure he heard her. Beth walked past them and settled at the table on the dais between her mam and da. Daniel glanced over at her and smiled. She tossed her head and glowered back which only made the fool man laugh.

It appeared whatever she did, the laird thought it was funny. Hopefully that would change his mind about choosing her for his wife.

She suffered through supper with Lady Chisholm dominating the conversation, most of it about her daughter and her accomplishments and how large her dowry was. The lass kept her head down and ignored what her mam said.

It made Beth wonder why Lady Alice remained unmarried. She was a laird’s daughter, had a generous dowry, and was pretty in her own way. Well, she didn’t care what the lass’s looks and manners were as long as Laird Mackenzie chose Lady Alice for his wife so Beth could return to her home and the life she found so pleasant.

Her mother’s concerns rose unbidden to her mind, which she found more annoying than disconcerting.

Who will take care of ye in yer old age?

She had enough nieces and nephews to take care of her.

They’ll be taking care of their own parents.

To shut off the voice in her head, she turned to her da. “How was yer day, Da?”

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she realized he had been the one worried enough to ask Laird Mackenzie to find her. However, to her surprise, Da gave her a lengthy speech on how he’dspent a great deal of time in the morning speaking with the laird and his cousin and second-in-command, Gregory, learning many things about the castle, the Mackenzie clan, and some of the problems they were facing.

They’d also taken a ride around the area where the laird pointed out some things to him that his clan folk were doing that was very forward-thinking.

Then, he seemed to remember he’d had to ask the man to find her. “And ’twas worried yer mam was when she learned ye hadn’t been back from yer ride, and was gone most of the day.”

“I ken.” Before he could ask her where the laird found her, she said, “It sounds as though the Mackenzie clan is doing verra well.”

He agreed and continued to talk about all the things he saw. For her da to be so fascinated, the Mackenzie clan had to be impressive.

Once supper was finished, they all moved to another room where there was a piano forte, along with several other musical instruments. Since she hadn’t spent too much time in the keep, she was surprised to see the room. “Do ye play instruments, Laird?” she asked.

Gregory snorted and after casting him a glare, Laird Daniel nodded, almost looking embarrassed in front of the men. “Aye. Even though I was to be laird of a powerful clan, my mam thought I should learn something else besides warrior training. She also made sure I could read, write and do numbers.” He laughed. “My da did no’ approve of the music part and he threatened me with a whipping if I told anyone. They fought about it all the time.”

“It appears yer mam won the battle?” Her mam asked.

“Aye.” He grinned. “But I must admit I haven’t done much with it since she passed away four years ago.”

Lady Chisholm perked up. “Well, Laird, ye doona have to concern yerself with music because my daughter plays the pianoforte perfectly.”

“So you’ve said,” Beth’s mam muttered, but mostly everyone heard it.

Lady Chisholm sniffed and looked in her direction. “Do ye play, Lady Beth, or do ye spend too much time on yer horse? My Alice doesn’t consider horseback riding a very good use of a lass’s time.”

Her mam straightened her back in her chair. “My daughter plays just fine, Lady Chisholm,” she said through gritted teeth.

Beth wanted to shut them all up and go to her bedchamber and read her new book,Gulliver’s Travels,that she’d brought with her. Books were expensive and hard to come by, so she was very happy when her da had presented it to her before they left. She couldn’t help but believe it had been a peace offering.

“Why doona we all sit down and let Lady Alice play for us?” Laird Mackenzie said with a certain amount of tension.

They took seats, and Lady Chisholm’s words were true. Lady Alice played beautifully. Her face even lit up and she looked much prettier. Beth nudged Laird Mackenzie sitting next to her—too close, she noted—and lowered her voice. “See, if ye marry Lady Alice ye can both play music in the evenings.”

He leaned even closer toward her. “When I marry, sweetheart, I have plans for my wife in the evening that doona include music. Except for the kind of music we make together.” He had the nerve to wink at her.