Page 38 of The Highlander's Auctioned Wife
Matthew nodded, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. “It’s true. There’s a mark on a wall somewhere that shows me height whenI was five-and-twenty. I’m shorter than it now, at this ripe age of two-and-fifty.” He smiled. “Did ye rest well, Lady Anna?”
“I did, thank ye,” Anna lied, hoping the dark circles under her eyes wouldn’t betray her. “But I’d like to request a slingshot, if I may?”
Gordon perked up at that, frowning, but it was Matthew who asked the question, “Why would ye want a slingshot, lass?”
“To take me revenge on the gulls that saw fit to wake me before the sun had even peeked above the horizon,” Anna replied, rewarded immediately by the sweet, comforting sound of laughter.
Apparently, the affliction of being unable to smile or laugh was isolated only to Gordon. His uncle and cousin chuckled heartily, as did the other man at the table who Anna still didn’t know. Even the maids who were serving laughed behind their hands.
“I’ll show ye how to frighten them off,” Sophia promised, urging Anna to sit.
The unknown man smirked. “Aye, but then she’ll be woken at dawn byyescreamin’ instead, or we’ll all be woken byherscreamin’.”
“It works, I swear it,” Sophia protested. “And once they ken yer mettle, they daenae bother ye again. They fly off to shriek at someone else’s window.”
“And the cycle begins again,” the man said, breaking off a piece of bread.
“That’s David,” Sophia explained, smiling. “Me cousin’s m an-at-a rms. Doesnae have much between his ears, but there’s nay one better other than me cousin himself if ye’re in need of protectin’.”
“I heard that,” David said, laughing.
Sophia threw a grin back at him. “I meant ye to.”
For a moment, Anna wondered if there was something… amorous between the beautiful young woman and the handsome, tall, robust m an-at-a rms, but as they continued to throw a few quips across the table, she recognized the rapport. They were more like Anna and Jackson than secret lovers, squabbling like siblings.
Indeed, now that she thought about it, Sophia reminded her a great deal of someone else.
“Ye’re so very like Elinor,” Anna said, almost to herself.
Sophia reached for a pewter pitcher, pouring something red into two cups. “Elinor?”
Elinor was the cheeriest of the three Lane sisters—or had been, before she was stolen by Laird Dalmorglen. She had always had a ready smile for everyone, more beloved by the castle residentsthan even Anna, and would go out of her way to put any newcomers at ease.
But she had been gloriously funny, too, bringing to Anna’s mind a wave of precious memories of Lane family breakfasts: Ewan crying tears of laughter over something Elinor had said; Elinor and Jackson firing jests across the table, outdoing one another; Elinor putting the best piece of meat or the most buttery eggs or the juiciest fruits or the softest slice of bread on Anna’s plate; Elinor and Moira gossiping with the maids, Elinor scooping Anna into the conversation even though she was the youngest, so she wouldn’t feel left out.
Goodness, how I miss her…
“Me sister,” Anna replied thickly. “One of them, at least.”
The compliment seemed to please Sophia, who pushed one of the cups toward Anna. “Will she be comin’ to the weddin’?”
“Ifthere’s a weddin’,” Anna corrected, with a cursory glance at Gordon, “I’ll invite her, but… I’m nae certain she’ll come.”
“Oh, why nae?” Sophia frowned. “Have ye had a fallin’ out?”
“What? Nay, nothin’ of the sort. I adore her. I’d see her every day if I could,” Anna hurried to reply, her heart weighing heavier in her chest. “But I havenae seen her in three years. She writes, but the letters are… nae written as freely as I’d like.”
Every paragraph reeked of her husband’s watchful eye, Elinor’s words filtered through his permission, her merry voice stolen away along with the rest of her joy and liberty. Over the years, the sisters had tried to come up with secret codes, but they rarely lasted more than a few months before Elinor’s husband figured them out and they ceased appearing in Elinor’s letters.
“Three years!” Sophia gasped. “Does she live far away? Even so, if ye wanted to see each other, there’s nay distance that could stop a person.”
Nay distance could, but it’s nae that simple.
Anna took hold of the cup and sipped, surprised by the delicious, tart taste of sugared raspberries on her tongue. “It’s her husband who doesnae want us seein’ each other,” she said, swallowing. “Ye see, she was taken. Taken because of?—”
She stopped herself abruptly, forgetting where she was. This wasn’t the sort of thing she could talk about in front of relative strangers, no matter how lovely and welcoming most of them were. Nor did she know if they would see the issue, considering why she was there.
“Because of what?” Gordon’s voice cut through the hall, though he still didn’t raise his gaze to her.
