Page 39 of The Lion

“Perhaps ye should try a different approach, be softer,” Cairn said.

With a calculating gaze, Lilia looked about the room. “I saw it in his face. Heard it in his tone. Darach has already let me go.”

“Ye should seduce a dumb sap and get married. Else the laird will send ye away and ye’ll find yerself without a sponsor.”

“Do not dare to tell me what I should do. I have plans, but first I will ruin any chance at their happiness.”

Cairn neared and grabbed her wrists, pulling her up from the bed. “See that ye do and soon. I have it from a credible source that she is not happy with him at the moment. This would be a perfect time.”

Although Isobel did not wish to go down for first meal. It would be another long day. A day when she’d have to sit next to Darach all day and play a part. If her cheeks had hurt the day before from laughter, this day there would be no such occurrence.

As she walked out of the end of the corridor, movement caught her attention. A woman came from the direction of Darach’s bedchamber and hurried toward her. Isobel turned away, went back to her own room and hesitated at the door.

With her head down, the woman hurried past. It was the same one as always, Lilia.

Obviously, he continued to have her in his bed, no matter that they were betrothed. Needing a moment to calm her emotions, Isobel went back inside the bedchamber and paced.

Blowing out breaths until she felt calm, Isobel went back out.

In the great hall, her mother and sister motioned for her to come sit with them. Just as she sat, Darach appeared and headed down the stairs. When he turned in her direction, Isobel turned to her mother.

“How did ye sleep, Mother?”

“Like the dead,” her mother replied. “It was certainly a long day. Another one awaits.”

Unlike their mother, who seemed in good spirits, Beatrice scowled down at her food. Her sister huffed. “It will not be as enjoyable today. The only competition is archery, and I can never see clearly where the arrows land when we have to sit so far in the stands.”

“There will be music and dancing,” their mother said. “That is always my favorite.”

After eating, they went back upstairs to prepare for the festival. A beautiful dark blue gown had been set out for Isobel. She recognized it as one of her mother’s.

“We’ll have to pin it a bit,” Annis said. “It is a bit too big for ye.”

“I am already dressed,” Isobel said motioning to her brown serviceable gown. “I do not wish to spend the day traipsing about in an uncomfortable frock.”

Annis slid a look to Beatrice. “Yer mother said ye were to dress nicely today, miss.”

Beatrice waved the maid’s concerns away. “My sister does not wish to be a prize today.”

To her astonishment, Beatrice also refused to change out of her morning dress. “Let us go for some fresh air, sister.”

Forgetting for the moment what lay ahead, Isobel grinned widely. “Let me grab my sketching book.”

After knocking on their mother’s door and telling her they’d meet her at the stands, the sisters hurried down a back stairwell and out the back of the keep. The hilly landscape was easy to traverse in their boots and soon they sat on a rock looking down to where the festival preparations took place.

“I spoke to him last night,” Beatrice said looking to see the simple landscape that Isobel sketched. “Told that oaf, how horrible he was.”

Isobel shook her head. “For all the good it did. Ye should not have done it.”

“It made me feel better to stand up for ye. No one should treat us like that. I will not stand for it.”

She nudged her sister’s shoulder. “I would do the same for ye. Thank ye for it.”

“He seemed to take it in. But he is still a horrible intimidating ogre.”

The picture of the woman hurrying down the corridor, a disheveled mess, came to mind. “He has a lover. Will probably continue to have one after we marry. I will speak about it when the families meet tomorrow and demand she be removed from the keep at once.”

“Did Father ever have lovers?” Beatrice asked with a pensive expression. “I know Uncle Henry had several, remember Aunt Mairi chasing that one off with a broom?”