Page 19 of A Two-Faced Laird
Edina sighed. “I know, Agnes, but if I wait any longer, I will be going home in the dark.” Then she thought of something. “You used to work for the Laird, did you not?”
The old woman nodded and smiled. “Aye, I did,” she said warmly. “Such a kind man he is. I worked for his family for forty years, an’ when he saw I was gettin’ old, he gave me a wee bit ofcoin tae live on every week an’ a cottage tae share wi’ some other old ones like masel’. Now I can see my family whenever I like, an’ rest my old bones when I need tae. An’ I wasnae the only one. Many o’ the old staff were let go, but none o’ us need tae worry about a roof over our heads or havin’ enough tae eat for the rest o’ our lives.”
Her faded blue eyes were shining, and Edina could not help but feel proud of the man who was her uncle in all but name.
“He is a wonderful man,” she agreed. “Do you happen to know his sons too?”
The old woman looked troubled. “Aye, they were both good boys, but I think that the younger one had some problems wi’ the drink, Mistress.” She shook her head. “The guards had tae drag him hame absolutely steamin’ sometimes.”
“I believe he became friends with a few criminals who led him astray.” Edina said. “As the Laird’s son, he would have been an easy mark for unscrupulous people.”
“I dinnae know, Mistress.” The old woman sounded sad. “But some people can take or leave the drink, an’ some just cannae dae withoot it. He was one o’ them, unlike his brother, Master Lewis, who recovered from it, thankfully. Poor sowel, Master Aidan.”
Agnes looked as though she were about to cry, and Edina put her arm around her old shoulders.
“Thank you for telling me this,” she said warmly.
She had gleaned no more new information about Aidan, but it was clear that the servants were not well informed. If there was any deeper truth to be found, it was not going to be from them.
Aidan was coming home! Now Edina could start to plan her feast. She knew she was going to arrive home soaking wet, but she felt warm inside. She had some good news, and soon she could tell everyone about it. Only one thing troubled her—Lewis.
And as luck would have it, he was the first person she bumped into as she crossed the courtyard.
“Lewis! I must speak to you!” she called happily.
For once, Lewis had a genuine reason not to talk to her.
“It will have to wait till later,” he told her. “I have business with my father. Excuse me.”
Then he marched away.
Lewis was obsessing about Edina.Their kiss the previous evening had affected him just as much as it had her. He knew, though, he could not afford to indulge in thoughts of her full red lips and fascinating violet eyes while he was attending a council meeting with his father’s friends and business associates were there.
He was not as yet privy to his father’s plans for any future marriage for him, but he had always been a dutiful son and obeyed his father before. However, that was before a very luscious temptation had arrived in the shape of Edina McCarthy.
Lewis was consumed by her. She occupied his thoughts constantly, and he knew that their kiss the previous evening had made matters infinitely worse. He sighed as he sat down at the table between two of his father’s friends—two big, beefy men with the florid faces of habitual drinkers.
When one of them offered him a glass of wine, Lewis politely declined, and the man, a wool merchant called Colin Galbraith, laughed.
“I have never seen a Laird’s son refusing a glass of the hard stuff before!” he cried in disbelief.
Lewis kept a straight face, even though he felt like punching the man very hard in his big, blue-veined nose.
“Well, now you have,” he replied grimly. “I drink wine at dinner, but for important meetings like this I prefer to keep a clear head.”
Across the table, the Laird caught his eye and gave him a warning glare. He needed all his business associates to focus on the matters at hand, but Lewis and Colin Galbraith were breaking their concentration.
Colin shook his head, still laughing, while pouring a glass full to the brim with red wine. He tossed it back and filled another one, while Lewis turned away, disgusted.
Usually, he found the meetings interesting, and came away with new knowledge that he had not had before, but even though he tried with all his might to follow the proceedings, thoughts of Edina kept intruding. Should he speak to her about what was worrying him, or should he keep quiet? He was completely confused and could not keep his attention on the business at hand.
However, his ears pricked up when he heard himself being discussed.
“Is it not about time you got yourself married, young man?” asked one of his father’s closest friends and allies, Laird Blair Anderson. “You are not getting any younger!”
He laughed at his own joke, since he was by far the youngest man there, and many of the men in the room were old enough to be his grandfather.
Lewis knew why he was asking. His daughter Fenella was of marriageable age, and their union would bind the clans together even more tightly.
