Page 42 of The Highlander's Auctioned Wife
“Pardon?” Anna murmured, struggling to sit up. “What do ye mean?”
He brushed his thumb across his lower lip. “Ye asked what had changed between now and then.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh…”
That…
Heat rushed into her cheeks, adding a simmering layer to her already feverish skin, as she looked into his cool, gray eye and fought not to drop her gaze.
She was about to ask what “that” meant, exactly, when a loud knock at the door startled her out of her skin. She leaped forward, off the desk, hurrying to straighten her ruffled skirts and adjust the askew neckline of her gown. After all, this was just a betrothal period; she didn’t want anyone to take one look at her and think her compromised.
“Come in,” Gordon said, turning his back to Anna, wandering to the open window as if nothing had happened.
The door swung wide as Anna threw herself into the nearest chair, unfurling the piece of crumpled paper she still held in her hand. Making what she hoped was a half-decent attempt at pretending to read what turned out to be a letter from a nearby clan, commending Gordon on the quality of his potatoes, she didn’t look up to see who had walked in.
“Thank goodness!” Sophia chirped. “I thought I’d never find ye.”
Anna slowly raised her gaze, hoping her cheeks had cooled a little. “Ye were lookin’ for me?”
“Me faither told me I should let me cousin tend to ye, but I couldnae bear the thought of ye bein’ upset,” Sophia replied, glancing over at Gordon. A frown furrowed her brow.
Anna cleared her throat. “I wasnae upset. I was seein’ to some of me belongings.”
“Aye, of course ye were. And I was thinkin’ I might learn how to ride a horse standin’ on me head this afternoon.” Sophia’s expression softened back into a smile, her manner and her turn of phrase reminding Anna even more of Elinor. “Anyway, if ye’re nae averse, and ye’ve got all yer ‘creases’ out, I thought I might show ye around the castle?”
Expelling a relieved breath, certain Sophia suspected nothing, Anna nodded and set the potato letter down on the chair. “I’d like that very much.”
After all, it clearly wasn’t wise to spend another moment alone with her betrothed. Not if she still wanted to have a choice by the end of these five weeks.
CHAPTER 20
“I cannae imaginehow ye must be feelin’,” Sophia said, leading Anna through the maze of drafty hallways, pointing out an endless multitude of rooms and halls and chambers and passageways. “I had nay notion that there was such a legacy surroundin’ the lasses of yer family. And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about yer sister.”
Anna smiled. “So am I.” She hesitated. “I remember the night it happened so vividly. Me maither screamin’, me leapin’ out of bed thinkin’ we were under attack, me faither behavin’ as if it wasnae a problem, and nae a single soul doin’ anythin’ to remedy Elinor’s fate. Naeoneguard went after her. Sometimes, I’m angrier about that than I am about the actual grabbin’.”
“If I had a sister, I would be too,” Sophia agreed, furrowing her brow. “I daenae think me cousin would let that happen to me. Me faither certainly wouldnae. The pair of ‘em would be ridin’ out the moment they realized I was gone.”
Anna glanced at the pretty young woman and nodded slowly. “I can believe that.”
“Sorry,” Sophia mumbled, blushing a little. “I’m puttin’ me foot in me mouth again. Ye daenae want to hear things like that.”
“On the contrary.” Anna held onto Sophia’s arm tighter. “It delights me to see it—to ken that there are at least some households in the Highlands where lasses would be avenged if they were stolen away. I love me faither, but I think he was just glad he dinnae have to go to the bother of arrangin’ a marriage for Elinor.”
Sophia’s eyes widened. “Do ye truly believe that?”
“Sometimes.” Anna gave a small shrug. “He’s never quite kenned what to make of his daughters. I think we’re a mystery to him. And, considerin’ how he ended up married to me maither, I suppose he thinks it’s… normal. Ye only ken what ye ken, and he was never raised to ken any better.”
Curiosity made Sophia lean in a little more, as if the two women were in a conspiracy. “Did yer faither ‘grab’ yer maither, then?”
“Aye, but it wasnae the same as what happened to Elinor,” Anna replied, after a moment’s pause, as the pair turned right down a narrow passage that barely allowed them to walk side-by-side. “Me maither and faither were aware of each other. They’d met at two or three gatherings, just in passin’. I daenae think they exchanged any words or danced or aught, but they kenned of each other.”
Sophia nodded in understand. “Yer faither wasnae a complete stranger to yer maither when he stole her from her bed, ye mean?”
“Exactly.” Anna swallowed uncomfortably. “But Elinor had never even seen Laird Dalmorglen. Most only ken him by his reputation. When she realized who it was who had taken her, she must have been… terrified.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sophia repeated, shaking her head. “That is just awful. Did the same happen to yer other sister?”
Anna sighed, thinking of Moira—always the luckiest of the three sisters. “She had a marriage arranged for her, and though it was a cold beginnin’ for them—mercy, the weddin’ was the most awkward occasion I’ve ever attended—they couldnae be happier now. They have two children, a wee lassie and a wee laddie, and she’s with child again, soshecertainly has the blessin’ of fertility.”
