Page 40 of The Highlander's Auctioned Bride
If ye needed a job doin’ well, dae it yerself.
He had tried to forget the look of pain in Maisie’s eyes as he had left her. But when dawn rose behind him he had convinced himself that she would understand. After all, the clan took precedence over everything else; she knew that.
The door creaked open and Harris’s bushy beard appeared round it. He looked as tired as James felt. James nodded at him, trying to make sense of the documents in front of him.
“Have ye seen Lady MacLennan this mornin’?” Harris asked.
James paused—Lady MacLennan—he had not thought of the name until now except for his mother. How well it sounded when attached to Maisie.
“Nae, I have been tryin’ to find a solution to the matter of the MacCarthy’s and the Campbells since I returned, I’ll go to her shortly.”
“That’s just it, m’laird, no one can find her.”
James looked up, a skitter of alarm in his gut.
“What?”
“Miss Foster got her ready as usual and she had her breakfast, but she has disappeared. I thought she would be with ye, but I can see she isnae.” Harris’s eyes seemed almost reproachful. “Ye didnae call in on her when ye returned then, nae?”
James’s stomach churned unpleasantly.
“Where was she last seen?”
“Her rooms. Miss Foster was changin’ the—Miss Foster was tidying things away and then she was gone.”
James heard the double meaning in his words. Jean had been clearing thesheets. Once they reached the laundry it would be all over the castle that he and Maisie had not spent the night together as a new couple should.
James growled low in his throat and Harris backed away toward the door.
“Dae ye wish me to look for her?”
“I can find me own wife!” James shouted, standing up, punching his fist into the desk, and following Harris’s retreating back.
Maisie could hear quite a lot of movement outside from her seat in the library. She had no desire to leave the warm room and find out the cause.
She had been tucked up for hours behind one of the bookshelves reading The Tempest—her favorite Shakespearean play. She had been dismayed to find it was theonlysuch book by Shakespeare in the whole place. She would have to rearrange the library, perhaps that was a task to occupy her.
She had no intention of leaving just yet, particularly if it meant having to face James. He had not even had the courtesy to speak to her when he returned. She knew he was back because the servants were rushing about all over themselves to see to the ‘laird’ as the wedding guests slowly left.
She should be seeing the household, speaking to the housekeeper, and getting to grips with her new duties as Lady MacLennan, but she was too melancholy to try at the moment. She didn’t wish to hear yet more details on how she would be spending all her time alone in this vast castle.
“Dae ye ken how many people are lookin’ for ye? ”
She peered around the corner of the shelves to find James standing ahead of her. His eyes were heavy-lidded and tired as he glowered at her. He looked truly furious, and he had no right to be considering how they had parted.
She snapped her book shut and rose, walking around the shelves. James’ eyes scanned her appreciatively, and she scowled. If he appreciated her so much, he should have shown it last night. She had on a new pale blue gown that she knew she looked good in. James, on the other hand, looked dead on his feet.
“I hope that book is of some interest, given the trouble it has just caused.”
“It is Shakespeare” she replied icily. “I would say it is of a great deal of interest, and why, may I ask, is there nae a single volume in the rest of the library?”
“Ye wish to read Shakespeare instead of carin’ for yer household?”
“Ye wish to see to yer clan instead of carin’ for yerwife,” she snapped back, but at his angry look, she deflated. He looked exhausted. “Did ye resolve it?” she asked placidly.
“Aye. Somewhat. What are ye doin’ in here?”
“What dae ye think? I am readin’! I came here after I woke up alone, ate breakfast alone, bid our guests farewell alone, andneeded some time on my own,” she answered, letting the rage infuse itself into every syllable.
