Page 3 of The Highlander's Auctioned Bride
She wondered what might happen if she tried to set something on fire as a distraction. There were many torches about the place and far too many petticoats. She could use the smoke as a screen and run away, lost forever to the Scottish hills beyond.
Mrs. Guthrie bustled through the milling bodies of the guests with the self-assurance of a woman who was accustomed to such occasions. With her husband as a senior member of the council, Maisie could well imagine the status she held. She walked with an air of authority Maisie had rarely seen in women of her age.
Maisie was wrenched away from her thoughts when she almost collided with another girl who suddenly walked into her path. Maisie stepped back, halting Mrs. Guthrie as she attempted to barrel through another group of attendees, and Maisie ran her eye over the woman she had almost flattened.
She was petite—the only way Maisie could think to describe her was neat. Everything about her was in proportion and tidy. She looked elegant in her pale blue gown, which complemented her brown eyes beautifully. She was pretty, with long blond hair, much longer than Maisie’s, and wide eyes that gave her a demure expression.
“Miss Lillian Guthrie, this is Miss Maisie Brown from Manor Larkhill,” Mrs. Guthrie said turning to Maisie with a proud smile. “This is my niece, Miss Brown, who is also here today to see if she can win the laird’s hand.”
What kind of man pits women against each other like this? It is absurd.
“Hello, Miss Guthrie, I’m most pleased to meet you,” Maisie said as they bowed to one another. Lillian’s eyes swept over her in the same appraising way as her aunt's.
“A pleasure to meet ye, Miss Brown,” Lillian said. She had a lilting voice that was a little too quiet for her surroundings, but her eyes were sharp and assessing. “Yer dress looks bonnie.”
“Thank ye,” Maisie said with a smile. “As does yers.”
“Uncle Marcus got it for me in Glasgow. He said it cost a fortune.”
Maisie nodded, thinking of all the wealth they had lost at the bottom of the Firth in Glasgow’s port. “It’s stunning.”
“I have kent Laird MacLennan for a long time. Have ye e’er met him before?” Lillian asked, her small hand holding her glass of fruit cordial just so.
“Nae,” she conceded. “I havenae met him.”
Both women glanced at her quizzically, and Maisie realized she had not adapted her tone sufficiently to keep the resentment out of her voice.
“But I am most excited to dae so,” she said quickly.
Lillian’s smile never faltered, and she and her aunt exchanged a quick look that Maisie did not like.
“It will be quite an eventful evening, I am sure,” Lillian said. “Laird MacLennan is so committed to his people and everyone around him. He will make someone a wonderful husband.”
Why has the laird nae just wed this woman?Maisie thought.She is bonnie, and he has kent her all his life. Why this charade?
The heat she had felt in her cheeks had returned, and her stomach was clenching unpleasantly as she looked about her. Her head was suddenly spinning. Colors danced across her vision in a dizzying whirlwind.
“If ye will excuse me, Mrs. Guthrie, Miss Guthrie, I must return to my father for a moment,” she said swiftly, turning away and walking back the way they had come. She was aware she was being rude, but the world was closing in all about her.
She looked about frantically for a place to hide and compose herself. She took in a deep breath as the heat in her cheeks seemed to intensify.
Dinnae faint, dinnae faint, find somewhere to sit where ye can rest.
She repeated it like a vow, terrified that she would lose the battle and find herself unconscious in a courtyard full of people.
Finally, as her gaze skirted the edges of the courtyard, her salvation appeared before her. There was a small archway at the far end of the wall across from her. It looked like the entrance to an orchard of some kind, blissfully empty of people.
She made her way hurriedly toward it, hoping her father was not pursuing her.
She kept her composure all the way there, trying her best not to look as though she were in distress. But as she passed beneath the wall, she darted sideways to remain out of sight.
As she did so, she heard an exclamation of surprise. An instant later, she collided violently with a wall of muscle as she tripped over her feet and fell heavily to the ground.
Maisie looked up to find out who it was she had assaulted and was greeted with the darkest blue eyes she had ever seen, a chiseled jaw, and impossibly long, sturdy legs.
The man wastall,taller than almost anyone she’d ever met. His black hair was loosely tied back, and he had an intense gaze that made Maisie’s stomach curl up. His broad shoulders were strong, his hands large and imposing.
She swallowed, scrambling to her feet, trying to ignore the world swaying about her as she did so. He came forward to assist her, and she backed away, feeling horribly embarrassed.
