Caelan nodded slowly, the way he nodded when he had decided not to argue because the argument had already been won.
“And the whiskey ye brought?” he asked pleasantly.
Aaron’s brows drew into a small frown. “The whiskey was purely incidental.”
“Incidental?”
“Aye.” He looked up from his papers. “What else was I meant to bring?”
“I daenae ken. Water?”
Aaron stared at him. “For a picnic?”
Caelan covered his mouth, laughing. “Ye truly are hopeless.”
“The whiskey was practical.”
“Of course it was. But the servants seem to disagree. The housekeeper and maids have decided ye are courting her properly now.”
Aaron narrowed his eyes. “The housekeeper also believes she can predict what suits me taste.”
His sarcasm was not lost on Caelan.
“Aye, but she isnae alone.” He shrugged. “Half the castle has decided yer betrothal is real.”
Aaron rubbed a hand across his jaw. “The betrothalisreal.”
“Ye ken what I mean.”
He did not answer. In truth, that had been the entire purpose of the arrangement. The council wanted him to take a wife, and all he wanted was to be left alone in peace.
But why has the betrothal brought more troubles to me mind in the past few days than peace?
“One of the field hands swore ye looked happy.”
“Happy,” Aaron repeated flatly.
“Aye.” Caelan’s expression remained entirely innocent. “His words, nae mine.”
“Then perhaps he should get his eyes checked.”
“His eyes function perfectly.” Caelan tilted his head slightly. “Described ye in great detail. And yer loud laugh.”
Aaron’s jaw hardened. “I wasnae laughing.”
“Ye were.”
“I wasnae—” Aaron stopped, aware of exactly where this was going and equally aware that denying it further was only going to make it worse. He reached for the report with deliberate calm. “The field hand must have misheard.”
“Aye,” Caelan said. “A laugh. He misheard a laugh.”
He was clearly enjoying this.
Aaron ignored him, flipping to another page of the report and studying it with more seriousness than it demanded.
“Pray tell, me Laird,” Caelan continued, sitting in the chair opposite him. “Will yer next outing be soon?”
Aaron shook his head slightly. “Edith has her lesson with the healer,” he said, biting off the last word.
