Page 10 of A Forbidden Night with a Scot
“The king has already forced ye tae wed Emmeline tae that beast!” Samuel roared, slamming his hands on the desk, unable to control his temper any longer. The pitcher of wine rattled and some ink spilled out of the inkwell with the force of the blow, staining a piece of paper. “Dae ye wish fer Alicia tae have the same fate?”
“O’ course I dinnae!” shouted Gavin in a rare display of rage, before he breathed deeply and sank back in his seat. “O’ course Idinnae. I wish I could let her wed whoever she wanted, but how will I refuse when the king himself has decreed it? What will I say tae him?”
Samuel had no good response to that. As much as he wanted to save another one of Gavin’s daughters from this fate, he didn’t know how he could possibly do so. He thought perhaps they could claim she was already betrothed to someone else, but that, too, left a bitter taste in the back of his mouth, in a way he didn’t want to examine too closely, fearful of what he would find lurking in his mind. There was the matter of her betrothed, too—where would they find someone suitable who could play this part in such short notice?
The two of them fell into a tense silence, neither man knowing what to say. Samuel sipped at his wine, trying to find some sort of solution to keep this wedding from ever taking place, but each scenario was more impossible than the last.
“Does Alicia ken about this?” he asked eventually, breaking the silence.
Gavin shook his head. “Nay. Nay, I didnae wish tae tell her afore I made a decision. Let her have some more days without worries.”
“Ye speak as though ye have already made yer decision,” Samuel pointed out. “Gavin, ye cannae agree. She cannae have her sister’s fate.”
“I never wished...”
Gavin’s voice broke as he spoke, the last word coming out choked. He shook his head and took a deep breath, and Samuel wished there was something he could do to comfort his friend.
“I never wished fer Emmeline tae wed that man,” he said once he had composed himself. His voice was still strained, though, still coming out in barely a whisper. “If I could have done somethin’, anythin’ tae keep him away from her, I would have. But I couldnae save her an’ now I cannae save Alicia, either.”
Samuel didn’t want to believe that. He had to hold onto the hope that there was still something to be done, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to bear it. Gavin, though, seemed to have already lost all hope, as if he had accepted the fact that there was nothing to be done at all.
“An’ after everythin’ she’s been through,” said Gavin with a shake of his head. “Losin’ her maither, losin’ her sister tae that man… Dae ye ken she still blames herself fer Maud’s death? She’s told me. She’s told me, Samuel. She believes she killed Maud. An’ there was naething I could tell her that would change her mind.”
A heavy sigh tumbled past Samuel’s lips. Of course, Alicia would be blaming herself for her mother’s death, he thought, when there was nothing, she could have done to save her. She was just like that—always feeling responsible for others ever since she was a young child.
And now this, Samuel thought.
Well… nae if I have somethin’ tae say about it.
“We’ll find a way tae stop this,” he said. “I swear it, Gavin. I willnae let this weddin’ happen.”
Slowly, Gavin nodded, giving Samuel a tentative smile—one that said he didn’t quite believe that he could.
When Alicia woke up that morning, the events of the previous night seemed to her like a distant dream, though they had only taken place a few hours prior. When the maid opened her door and drew the curtains back, letting the sunshine in, she blinked her eyes open, trying to rub the sleep away with little success. After returning home so late at night, and after the excitement of everything that had happened, she had barely managed to get any sleep and was now paying the price.
Her presence was requited at breakfast, though, since they had a guest that day.
The moment Alicia remembered that Samuel was there, she buried her face in her pillow with a groan, reluctant to get up and dress. The maid, Fiona, an aging woman who had been working in the castle before Alicia was even born, laughed good-naturedly at her and pulled the covers back to force her out of bed.
“It is time, me lady,” Fiona said, her dark brown eyes peering at her from under a pair of thick, greying eyebrows. “Come, let us choose yer dress fer the day.”
Alicia could hardly tell her that she wasn’t merely eager to sleep more, but had another important reason to stay in bed. With great effort, she pushed herself up and out of bed, standing defeated in the middle of the room as Fiona pulled one of her dresses out for her. It was a pretty thing, a deep forest green trimmed with lace and decorated with golden thread, and Alicia couldn’t help but feel like it was a little too formal for the occasion.
“Fiona, is this really appropriate?” she asked, frowning at the dress.
“Ye cannae appear in front o’ a guest in anythin’ less than yer best garments,” said Fiona sternly. She had been like this ever since Alicia was a child, always insisting she had to dress well, even when there was no occasion for it. “Come now. Wear it. Ye’re already late fer breakfast.”
With an all-suffering sigh, Alicia snatched the dress from Fiona’s hands and put it on with her assistance, grumbling the entire time about the unfairness of it all. Fiona listened in silence, the only indication that she heard any of it the harsh tightening of the laces on Alicia’s back.
“There,” Fiona said, a pleased smile on her lips. “All done.”
Alicia turned a half-hearted glare at Fiona, who only smiled pleasantly at her, knowing Alicia wasn’t nearly as irritated by all this as she appeared to be. Still, she had to admit her mood was sour. Thinking about what—or rather who—awaited her at the breakfast table put her on edge and she wished she could simply skip breakfast and let Katherine take over the role of the hostess, which had fallen onto her shoulders ever since their mother’s death and her older sister’s marriage.
Fiona would never allow it, though. She could not miss it.
Begrudgingly, although she secretly felt a twinge of excitement, Alicia made her way to the drawing room, where the servants had already served the breakfast. As she had expected, Katherine and Samuel were already there, though her father was nowhere to be seen.
“Good mornin’,” she said as she took her seat at the head of the table, like every time her father was absent. “Where is Faither?”
