Page 81 of The Last Debutante
“How long has he been there?”
“That, he wouldna say. He was no’ the welcoming sort, aye?”
An Englishman who kept to himself. Jamie thought of Hamish and his claims of befriending an English earl. Was it possible? When his guests had left, he’d ride over and have a look himself.
“And what of the Brodies, lad? What do you intend to do about their offer?” Duff eyed Jamie closely as he awaited his answer.
But Jamie didn’t have an answer for him. He felt as if he’d left something unfinished in the hothouse today. It wasn’t the physical satisfaction, although he had felt that rather keenly. No, it was something else, and Jamie was at a loss to understand it. He looked away. “I’ll call on Isabella on the morrow, aye?”
That seemed to satisfy Duff.
It did not satisfy Jamie, however. He couldn’t shake the restlessness in him. Later, in the throne room, as he listened to the complaints of his clan, that feeling of something missing grew, pushing against his thoughts. As Gwain Campbell presented the latest complaint—his neighbor had stolen a goose—Jamie stared at the rafters, trying to find his bearings.
“Well then, Laird?” Gwain demanded. “What say you?”
The two men stood below him, waiting.
Jamie looked at the both of them. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think that this is an awful lot of bother for a goose.”
The two men exchanged a look of surprise.
“Let us delay judgment until next week, lads. I’ve no patience for it now.” He came off the laird’s seat and walked through the small crowd, ignoring their looks of astonishment.
He didn’t realize Geordie was hurrying after him until his brother caught him by the shoulder and forced him around. He held up his slate.Il?
“Ill? No,” Jamie said.
Geordie wiped the slate and wrote,Mad?
Everyone waited for his words, and yet Jamie couldn’t find them. He knew only that the words he needed to say, tohear,were missing.
IN HONOR OFthe English guests—or, as Robbie said to Aileen, to keep an eye on them—supper was served in the formal dining room.
“I am waiting for King Arthur to sweep in with his mighty sword at any moment,” Charity said wryly. She and Daria, along with Mackenzie, were seated across from Robbie and Aileen Campbell and some other Campbells Daria had not met before tonight. Geordie, Hamish, and Duff flanked Jamie at the head of the table. The laird was looking a little glum, Daria thought.
“It’s positively medieval,” Charity muttered.
Daria made herself look away from Jamie and to the room. The people gathered to dine were laughing loudly, eating game, and drinking barley-bree and beer. “I find it interesting,” Daria said with a shrug. “It’s not as stuffy as a formal supper in England.”
Charity gave her a look. “It’s easy to see why you are an Original here. You are the most beautiful woman here.”
“No,m’annaschd,you are,” Mackenzie said. He leaned around Charity and smiled at Daria. “You, lass, are the only one who might compare,” he added smoothly.
Daria rolled her eyes at him. The gown Charity had brought her was stunning—a summer-green silk with an overlay of a sheer silver silk. When she walked, she looked as if she were moving in water.
“You should have seen the laird’s face when you walked in,” Charity whispered. “You could not see him, as every man in this room was standing before him, eyeing you like a sweetmeat.”
“They were eyeingyou.” Charity was dressed in a simple white silk, but with diamonds glittering at her throat and her ears, she looked as elegant as a queen.
“No, you silly goose, it was you. Think of it, someday you will be seated in a grand ballroom—yourownballroom, darling—surrounded by fine things. You will think of this old castle in the wilds of Scotland and be thankful you escaped.”
“Will I?” Daria sighed. “I rather think I shall miss it.”
“At first you will,” Charity agreed. “But the memory will fade away once you are back where you belong. I know; I have experienced something quite similar.”
A young footman placed a large platter of fish and potatoes before them, then bowed low before hurrying off. Mackenzie graciously took Charity’s plate and filled it, then Daria’s.
“Look there, aye?” Mackenzie said, nodding up at the dais. Geordie was scribbling something on his slate, handing it to Jamie. “I saw him earlier today, scratching on that thing. Was he born mute?”
