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Keir grinned at them. “Well, then lead the way.” As the girl dashed away, Keir placed a gentle kiss upon Sarah’s cheek. “I’ll see ye later.” Then he nodded to Kate and hurried after the girls down the corridor.
Looking after Keir, Sarah felt deliriously happy. This was precisely what she had always dreamed of. This ease. This natural closeness. To look into Keir’s eyes and know precisely what he saw when he looked at her. To know his heart. To have faith in him and in them together. Indeed, all her dreams seemed to come true.
“Will you go for a walk with me?” Sarah asked Kate, feeling the sudden need to move, to explore the castle and its grounds. “It seems to be a beautiful day.”
The distracted look upon Kate’s face vanished as she seemed to force a smile. Then she nodded, settling Frederica more comfortably in her arm. “Yes, I… I suppose that would be nice.”
As Kate turned to go, Sarah reached out and grasped her arm. “Are you all right?” She stepped closer, seeking her sister’s eyes. “You seem… unsettled somehow. Did something happen?”
Again, that forced smile appeared on Kate’s face. “No, I’m perfectly fine. Don’t worry.” Then she strode away quickly, as though wishing to outrun Sarah.
Concerned, Sarah hurried after her sister, wondering what had happened. She knew Kate had been worried from the start that Keir’s people would not accept her. Strangely enough, Sarah had felt quite the same way. Now, though, she knew better, and with time, perhaps that feeling deep down that still had doubts—irrational as they were!—would change and turn into something wonderful. Perhaps it was no more than that that also plagued Kate.
The sun shone brightly overhead as they stepped out into the courtyard. People were bustling everywhere. Everyone seemed to be busy tending to one task or another. Still, many looked up from whatever they were doing and turned in their direction. Sarah felt herself tense, an old instinct taking over. Then, however, she realized people were smiling at her, nodding their heads in greeting. Some even called out to her, joy upon their faces, their words clearly suggesting that the news of her betrothal to Keir had already spread through the clan.
“Never thought he’d ever find a lass special enough.”
“Ye stole his heart. Finally!”
“’Tis right there in his eyes.”
Sarah felt warmed by their words, the smile upon her own face no longer strained. Yet when she looked at her sister, Sarah paused. “Kate, please, you’re clearly not all right. What is the matter?”
Kate merely shrugged. “It is nothing. I’m simply… cold. We should’ve brought our coats.” A slight shiver shook her before she turned away and headed back inside.
Sarah could not deny her sister’s reasoning. It was cold this early in the year, and not even the sun managed to warm her sufficiently. Still, Sarah knew that there was something else on Kate’s mind, something that upset her deeply. If only she knew what that was.
Suddenly very aware of the cold, Sarah followed her sister’s footsteps, returning inside the castle. She stepped into the great hall and was just about to approach the stairs when someone called out to her. She turned and found Keir’s mother moving toward her, a wide smile upon her face and her gentle eyes warm and welcoming.
Sarah instantly felt better.
“Do ye have a moment, my dear?” Heather inquired, looping her arm through Sarah’s and pulling her along. “As ye are to be my son’s wife, I believe we should spend a little more time together. Would ye mind?”
Sarah shook her head. Still, a chill chased down her back at the thought of being weighed and measured. What if Keir’s mother found her wanting?
Up the stairs they went and then down a long corridor. For a moment, Sarah was confused where they were headed. Then, however, she remembered this part of the castle from the night before. Shrouded in darkness with only torches to light their way, it had looked different somehow.
A moment later, they stepped into Keir’s grandmother’s salon, where a warming fire burned in the grate. Its flickering flames danced softly, their orange glow mingling with the golden rays of the sun streaming in through the windows. Not unlike Grandma Edie, Keir’s grandmother was settled in an upholstered armchair, a blanket upon her lap. In that moment, Sarah wished she could see the two women side by side.
“Ah, good morning, Dearest,” Keir’s grandmother exclaimed, gesturing toward one of the chairs opposite her. “Do sit down. Heather, do you mind tending to the tea?”
Keir’s mother smiled at Sarah, then released her arm and moved over to the tea cart. “Dunna be nervous,” she told Sarah with a look over her shoulder. “We have no intention of devouring ye. We simply wish to talk and get to know ye a little better.”
Sarah exhaled a deep breath as she settled herself across from Keir’s grandmother, still uncertain where to look and what to say.
“Tell me, Dearest,” Keir’s grandmother inquired, leaning forward in her chair as she gazed at Sarah curiously, “did you ever learn Edie’s true reason for calling Keir to England?”
Sarah frowned. “True reason?”
Handing Sarah a cup of tea, Heather settled down beside her, amusement twinkling in her eyes as she looked at her mother-in-law and then back at Sarah. “Aye, we canna help but wonder after all the stories Addie told us.”
Still confused, Sarah looked from one woman to the other. “I’m afraid I do not know what you speak of.”
Adele chuckled. “Are you not aware of my dear old friend’s reputation for being the most… what shall we call it?… persistent matchmaker in known history?”
Adele and Heather laughed, exchanging another one of those glances. “Truth be told,” Adele went on, the shrewd look in her eyes reminding Sarah of Grandma Edie, “I suspected something the moment I received her letter.”
Sarah stilled when a sudden memory returned to her. Not long before leaving for her sister’s estate, she had sat in her chamber with Christina, her oldest friend and one of Grandma Edie’s granddaughters. At the time, Sarah had been distracted by the thought of having to bid Keir farewell for good. Yet remembering that moment now, she recalled Christina mentioning something. “My friend,” Sarah began tentatively, “told me that, at first, they believed Grandma Edie had called Keir to England because she sought to match him with Juliet, one of her granddaughters.”
