Page 36 of The Shadow of a Laird
“That is truly a lovely dress, Elspeth,” he remarked, hoping that she would not notice the insincerity of his words or his smile. “Pink is obviously your favourite colour, and it suits you.”
Elspeth looked delighted. “Thank you, Gavin,” she said happily. “Pink is indeed my favourite colour.”
He smiled, picked up her hands and kissed the knuckles. Elspeth’s cheeks turned pink and her eyes shone. “It has been a very long time since you were last here, so would you like to see some of your favourite places again?”
“I would,” Gavin replied with genuine enthusiasm.
He loved Ardneuk Castle, with its tiers of crenellated battlements and elaborate pointed towers at each corner. It was an elegant, beautiful building, but the rows of cannons on the lowest level of the turrets and the massive portcullis at the gate showed that it was also a mighty fortress. It had withstood a longsiege by the English a hundred years before, and the garrison had sent them home with their tails between their legs.
“Could we go right to the top?” he asked.
There were seventy steps up to the highest battlements, and Elspeth looked down doubtfully at her elaborate dress. Then she smiled at Gavin brightly.
“Of course,” she replied. “But you will have to make allowances for my slowness. This dress?—”
“If you are really struggling, I will carry you,” Gavin promised.
Elspeth raised her eyebrows. “Hm, I may struggle deliberately,” she said coyly.
Gavin laughed and flexed the muscles of his arms. “I will be ready, Milady,” he assured her.
In the end, Elspeth managed the climb with no help from him, and as they stood on the top of the turrets, Gavin looked over the bare winter landscape below them. It resembled a drawing done in charcoal as opposed to the brightly coloured paintings of summer, but it was no less beautiful for that. Snow had begun to fall, and the countryside was slowly being buried in a blanket of white.
Elspeth started to shiver, and Gavin took off his jacket to drape it over her shoulders, then she leaned into him with a grateful sigh.
“Should we not go down again?” Gavin suggested. “It’s too cold for you.”
“We can keep each other warm,” Elspeth answered. “Do you remember the time you stood on top of this wall and nearly fell off?”
Gavin shuddered. “Indeed I do,” he replied. “I think I was trying to impress you, but I nearly killed myself,” he laughed.
“Good thing that guard was there to pull you down,” Maura said thankfully. “I was sure you were going to fall.”
“What about the time your wee puppy fell in the loch?” Gavin asked, laughing.
“How was I to know that puppies were able to swim from birth?” Elspeth asked indignantly, then she began to giggle. She had waded in after the little creature, only to find it swimming back to the shore. They were both fine, but her dress was ruined.
They spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon chatting and laughing about times gone by, and Gavin began to think that marriage to Elspeth might not be so bad after all. Perhaps he could make the best of it.
“You said that you met some interesting people while you were away,” Elspeth said, smiling as she ran a hand over his. “In the tavern you lived in. what was its name again?”
“TheGoose and Gander,” he replied. “Yes. The landlord, Brian Hislop, is an interesting character. I have never met anyone who spent almost every hour of every day drunk—I never had a sensible conversation with him the whole time I was there.”
“You mentioned his niece, Maura,” Elspeth went on. “What is she like?”
“She is really the one who runs the place,” Gavin replied, visualising Maura’s face before him. He was not aware that he was smiling. “She is clever with numbers, so she is never cheated, and good at handling people. No one ever gets the better of her, and she feeds and looks after some village orphans.”
“She sounds like an angel,” Elspeth remarked. “Is she pretty?”
“Very pretty,” Gavin replied, then immediately realised that he had said the wrong thing and quickly corrected himself. “In fact, she is the second-prettiest lady I know.”
“Who is the first?” Elspeth asked, smirking and pretending not to know the answer.
“Elspeth Jamieson, of course,” Gavin replied. “Who else?”
Elspeth giggled, blushed and gave him a pretend slap on his chest. “You certainly know how to flatter a lady!”
They had just enjoyed a delicious dinner, and were now seated in one of the smaller parlours. A bright fire was burning, and Gavin and Elspeth were sitting in front of it, soaking up the warmth. The Laird had gone to see a friend and was not expected back until the morning, and Elspeth had taken the opportunity to cuddle up beside Gavin on the sofa without any of his disapproving glares. He was not averse to having a warm woman next to him, but he would have preferred it to be Maura.
