Page 12 of In Love With the Wrong Highland Sister
“It’s me!” It was her mother’s voice, and Laria was about to invite her in, but Margaret MacLean had already invited herself. Now she moved across the room and sat in a padded chair facing Laria. She was nursing a glass of wine and seemed to be trying to say something without quite knowing how to say it.
“How are you, Laria?” she asked gently. “I have been a little worried about you lately.”
“I am well, Mother,” Laria replied, puzzled. “As I always am. Are you?”
“Never mind me,” Margaret said impatiently. “I am fine. But I saw you and James Elliott outside practicing together this morning.”
“Yes, we seem to have a shared interest in keeping fit,” Laria replied. “What of it?”
Margaret sighed and took another sip of her wine, then frowned. “I am drinking too much of this these days.” She stood up, then walked to the window and back again in an agitated fashion. “I have seen the way you and James are with each other, and when I saw you this morning, I have not seen you so free and happy for a long time. You were laughing—actually laughing!”
Laria smiled and shrugged. “Why?” she asked. “Does it worry you?”
“Yes and no,” Margaret answered. “Yes, because it is good to see you laughing again, but remember that James is here for Eloisa. She is the one he is meant for.”
“Mother!” Laria was outraged. She stood up suddenly, splashing great torrents of water all over the carpet, the furniture, and her mother. “I told you I have no interest in pursuing a relationship with any other man, and I meant it. Men do not want me anymore, and I certainly do not want any of them, and that includes James Elliott. But we can talk to each other and laugh together like fellow human beings. Agreed?”
Margaret nodded, drinking more wine. “I am glad to hear it,” she remarked. “He seems to be a good man, and I think he could make Eloisa happy.”
She took up a towel and began to dry her daughter, noticing the suppleness and firmness of her flesh.Any man would be glad to make her his wife,she thought. It was such a pity that she had set herself so firmly against another heartbreak because she had so much love to give, and she could never put up a wall strong enough to stop herself from being hurt. After all, death came to everyone.
After she had dressed and her mother had left her, Laria lay down on her bed, hoping to close her eyes for a short nap. Her heart was pierced with guilt. Why had she even contemplated being with another man when she was still so much in love with her husband?
“I am so sorry, Robbie,” she whispered, “I betrayed you.” Somehow, though, she could not feel as heartbroken as before. The days when she would wake up expecting him to be there were gone, and there were whole hours when she did not think about him. Perhaps time was indeed healing her.
* * *
“This color really becomes you,” Laria said fondly as she helped her sister into the pale lilac dress she would be wearing to the ceilidh they were hosting that night at the castle. “I am sure James will fall in love with you when he sees you if he has not already.” She pulled the laces on the back of the dress to tighten it and emphasize her sister’s narrow waist, then stood back to admire the results.
Eloisa looked enchanting. The dress was modest yet very womanly. Eloisa’s fair, almost golden hair had been pinned into a chignon behind her head, and loose tendrils of hair framed her face as if they had been allowed to escape accidentally. She wore a pair of plain gold earrings and a heart-shaped gold locket, and that was the extent of her jewelry. The very simplicity of her outfit made Eloisa herself shine more brightly, and Laria could see that her young sister was no longer a girl but a young woman who was ready to become a wife.
“It will be good to see you out and about again,” Eloisa said suddenly. “Perhaps you will soon be ready to face the world again. I know how much you are still going through, but I have also seen the way James’s eyes follow you around. All of us have.”
Laria groaned. “Oh God, Eloisa,” she said painfully. “I never wanted this to happen. You know that I am still grieving for Robbie, even after all this time. I look at James because he is a very attractive man, and I admire his handsomeness, but that does not mean that I want him in the way I wanted Robbie. I know that you said you did not want to marry, but he is obviously a fine man, so take him if you wish. It is not my place, or my desire, to interfere.”
Eloisa went up to her sister and gripped her arms then looked her squarely in the eyes. “Laria, I have known you all my life. You mean everything to me. Now tell me: Do you want me to marry this man?”
“It is not up to me to give you orders,” she answered. “Do what your heart tells you to.” Then she smiled at her sister. “Now, I must dress.”
“What are you wearing?” Eloisa asked, as they went into Laria’s bedroom, which adjoined hers.
Laria moved over to her armoire and peered inside at the rows of black, brown, gray, and deep purple dresses.
“They are all mourning colors!” Eloisa cried, horrified. “Laria! You cannot wear any of these. You have nothing suitable for a ceilidh at all. Why did you not have a dress made?”
Laria sighed. “To be honest, Ellie, I never thought of it.” She ran her hands over the row of dresses and pulled out a purple one. “Here. Half mourning. Will that do? Or what about the red one I wore before? Oh, no. I forgot. I tore it.”
“No, none of them will do.” Eloisa shook her head vehemently. “You must borrow one of mine.”
“They are all too small,” Laria pointed out. “I am two inches taller than you and two inches bigger around my waist.”
“What about one of Mother’s?” Eloisa sounded desperate.
“Mother is the same size as you are,” Laria replied. “Do not worry, Ellie. No one will be looking at me anyway. You will be the center of attention, and rightly so.”
Eloisa huffed. “That is not true. You know that gentlemen have been calling on you since the mourning period was over, Laria. They only stopped coming because you sent every one of them away without seeing them. I am sure that once you start to appear in public again, their interest will be piqued once more.” She took a deep breath. “My dear sister, is it not time that you stopped mourning and moved on?”
Laria rounded on her sister, her eyes blazing with fury. “Move on? Find someone else, you mean?” She clenched her hands into fists and began to pace the room. “How dare you? You know nothing of what I am feeling! Robbie was everything to me. He was the love of my life and always will be.”
