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'Meg, it is the most wonderful thing that I could hear right now!' Elsie says, coming closer to me with a malicious smile in her big beautiful eyes. I also start smiling, as I sit down again.
'Elsie, what made you so happy?' I cannot stop asking, as her smile is a broad and happy one. 'What can we do about it?' I ask her. I love the powerful flight of my sister's mind when it comes to solving issues.
She comes and sits down next to me. 'If you are promised to that Laird, then you will marry him, instead of our uncle. And it means that our uncle will have no chances.'
'Elsie, but how can I marry the Laird? He probably does not even remember,' I say, shrugging. 'If we send by post, what if it reaches him too late? Until he comes, our uncle will have got married to me and taken all our property to himself. Also, maybe the Laird will not care anymore,' I add, becoming sad again.
'Of course, we will not send by post,' Elsie says. 'It will be too late. We will run away from home without letting uncle know,' she adds by a whisper.
The calmness and determination in her whisper is a bit frightening. I feel chills go down my spine. The act itself, the runaway from home is quite scary to me. It needs thorough planning. But where will we go afterwards? There is a small idea in the back of my mind, which sounds too bold to me, but Elsie says it out loud for me.
'We will go to Domhnall Castle, to that Laird of yours,' the victorious smile on her face makes my face light up.
A feeling of happiness falls over me like a waterfall when I hear her say those words. I can feel my heart pounding harder and stronger, as I can see that there is a light in the end of the tunnel. I nod, bursting into a broad smile with my sister, at the same time trying to keep our voices down, in case our uncle has decided to come and eavesdrop. I hug Elsie, happy that at last we found the solution to the worst problem in our lives.
'Elsie, but when are we going to go there? And how?' I ask her, after the initial wave of happiness is gone. There are many things to think through.
'I do not know. Whenever we want to,' she shrugs.
'I want to go right now, but there might be problems,' I say. 'It will be better if we leave in the middle of the night, when everyone is sleeping. I will talk to the coachman, and he will get the carriage ready. I will make sure that he will not tell anyone,' I add hastily when I see Elsie's face expression change. She smiles and nods.
'And I will get some food ready for the long way. Ainslee will help me. I will make sure she does not tell anyone, as well,' she adds, smiling.
We nod and hug each other again, eager for the night to arrive quickly, wondering how we are ever going to survive during the day, knowing that we are leaving at night.
Chapter 2
Megan
It is time for breakfast. I and Elsie go to the dining room to see what is for breakfast. Ainslee is there, preparing the table for us. She looks at me and smiles sweetly, like she always does when she sees us. I smile back and think how I am going to miss her. I am going to miss dear Ainslee and my beautiful house. Even though the house is old and could be better, for me it is the most beautiful house in the world. I feel sad for Ainslee that she will stay here without us, as we are her happiness. She has always become happy by seeing me and my sister.
As we sit down at the table, she finishes her work in the kitchen and turns to go. On the way outside, she asks me:
'Is everything all right, Megan? Did you speak with your uncle?'
'Yes, yes, everything is fine,' I say, smiling, though I do not feel like smiling after that question. But we must not tell her anything, so I end the conversation at that point.
There are only me and Elsie in the kitchen, trying to eat breakfast hurriedly and to return to our bedrooms, as we do not want to see our uncle today. But we are not lucky, as the door opens, and he enters.
'Oh, you are already having breakfast,' he says, coming and sitting down together with us at the table. 'And I am so hungry, I am almost starving. You could at least call me to have breakfast with you.'
'We do not want to see you,' Elsie snaps before I can say anything. 'And you should know that. Anyways, we have almost finished eating, so you will stay here alone,' Elsie gets up, taking her bread with her.
