Page 14 of An English Rose for the Highlander
Rose glanced over to her right, where Oskar sat next to her. He eyed her with a brow up, a smirk on his face. She looked down at her plate, where his gaze was sharply fixed, and nervous energy crawled up her spine. Had she done something wrong?
There weren’t the numerous courses or plate clearings as she might have expected. It was very possible that she had missed one of their customs, however, by making a grave mistake.
“I’m sorry,” Rose offered politely, dabbing at her mouth gently before resting her napkin back in her lap. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“At ease, me Lady,” Oskar chuckled. “I only mean that ye take such dainty bites of yer food. It’s like ye’re a bird or wee mouse. How ye arenae eaten by yer own stomach for the length of time it takes ye to clear yer plate, I daenae ken.”
Heat burst through her cheeks, undoubtedly making Rose turn bright pink. She was so embarrassed, and it struck her that she never would have considered eating politely—as she’d been taught her entire life—could be viewed as a bad thing in this particular situation.
“Oh, I…”
Rose’s words died in her throat, and she looked around the long table where she sat, realizing that everyone else around her was taking to their food heartily. In fact, it very well could have been viewed as a distaste for what she was consuming based on what she was seeing. Regret hit her, and when she looked up at the Laird, whose gaze she felt heating her skin, he looked as if he were barely restraining his annoyance.
His jaw muscles worked as he stared straight down at his plate, tearing free some of the meat—a delicious venison, in fact—and plopping it in his mouth.
Oh, blast.
At once, Rose realized that the Laird was waiting for her to stop being so prim. He glanced sidelong at her plate, that tension in his jaw flexing, and she silently cursed. She’d offended him, which was entirely the opposite of what she was trying to do here.
Correcting herself, Rose set her fork and knife down on either side of her plate, reaching for the thick piece of meat in front of her. Admittedly, it had been quite challenging to cut through the portion with her utensils, being that they were not especially sharp and had short tines. With her fingers, she ripped a bit of the venison free and ate it up.
A tiny moan escaped her at the taste now that she could properly enjoy it, and Rose began to make quick work of her food, not caring that she needed to wipe her mouth more frequently or that her fingers would be joining in where usually they remained clean.
After a moment, Rose realized that it was quiet around her, and she looked up, seeing the entire room full of people watching her enjoy the food properly. It appeared everyone needed to see her drop her pretenses and English propriety. It made sense, she supposed, so she’d give them exactly that.
Picking up the bit of venison, she held it up over her plate and sank her teeth into the delicious meat, digging into the hearty food like a proper Highlander. A chuckle erupted from Oskar next to her, and he patted her on the back, nearly launching the food out of her mouth.
“There now!” He raised his glass of ale, holding it near her hand, and Rose picked up her own. “Slàinte mhath!”
The cups clinked together in a toast, and Rose found herself smiling. It was quickly followed by short cheers of approval from those around her, and she nodded happily as the clan clapped and held up mirrored cheers.
But as the ale touched her tongue, Rose coughed, choking slightly. It was like nothing she’d had in England, so much stronger to be sure, and she was quickly caught up in coughing, her eyes watering.
“Och, here, lass. A bit of water.” Laird MacKay took the cup from Rose’s hand, replacing it with an even smaller one.
She looked down at the clear liquid, utterly shocked that he might offer her something so notoriously bad for one’s health.
“I assure ye, lass. It has been taken from only the cleanest springs. We’ve nay trouble drinking it here.”
Taking a sip of the water, Rose relished the cool, crisp liquid that eased the burn she’d experienced because of the ale, not looking at the Laird when he spoke next.
“Nor do we have much with the ale, though, apparently it is verradifferentfrom what the English make.”
Rose reeled back, casting a furious glance up at Dominik with her lips parted in shock. He was making a jest out of her lack of knowledge. She had just arrived here, knew nothing of the culture, and on her first evening, she was being met with cruel words cast at her expense.
“Are you mocking me? How dare you. To poke fun when I just—Ugh. I will not be made a fool of on the first night in the castle. Is this to be how you treat your wife for the entirety of our arrangement?”
Dominik frowned, his brows sinking low over his vibrant green eyes. “For goodness’ sake, lass. I’m nae trying to harm yer pride. It isnae surprising that ye’re nae prepared for Scottish ale.”
“Not that you provided any type of warning about the drink or dinner, for that matter. How was I to know that I would upset your people—upsetyou—by simply eating as I always have? You would do well to improve your communication skills, Laird MacKay.”
The words were far too direct. Rose knew it at once, but it was impossible to take them back. Dominik glared at her, turning in his seat as he blindly grabbed for his mug of ale and downed a healthy portion.
She’d hardly meant for their conversation to devolve in this way, but it seemed inevitable that the two of them would be at each other’s throats. From their first meeting, all they seemed to do was butt heads. Neither of them was willing to back down,and Rose knew well enough how that stubbornness of character would cause issue.
Still, she would not be talked down to. Rose had been through too much because of Lord Egerton. She would be treated with respect, or the Laird could fight for an annulment and lose the land holdings he’d only just acquired.
“I willnae be told what to learn at me own table, lass. It would do ye well to remember whose castle ye indeed reside in. And the water was to help ye. I could have let ye sit there and continue to choke.”
