Page 4 of An English Rose for the Highlander
Too perceptive of her.
Without thinking, Rose frowned, her brow crinkling as she shunted her gaze away from him and fixed it on the carpet beneath her feet. While it was likely in vain that she pretended the man did not notice her staring, Rose would commit to that truth regardless.
“Lord and Lady Fernside,” the butler announced, “might I introduce you to Dominik Kane, Laird MacKay, and his man-at-arms, Oskar Donelly.”
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Laird MacKay,” Horatia offered quietly, but still carrying her usual tone of polite regard. “We are exceedingly grateful that you have come all this way to meet with us, especially our daughter, Rose.”
At that, Rose lifted her eyes one, bowing her head as she remained planted in her seat, afraid that she might tumble to the floor should she attempt to stand.
“A pleasure to meet you,” she spoke quietly, her voice not as strong as she would have liked.
“Aye. We’ve much to discuss then.” It was all the Laird offered in return. As Rose glanced at her father, waiting for Baldwin to move forward with the customary pleasantries, she could see him struggling to find the words, fumbling over himself as he flicked his stare between the Laird and the floor.
“Umm, yes, you are most welcome to our home,” her father stuttered out. “Please do have a seat, gentlemen.”
Moving so that it shook the entire house, the Laird and his man sat in the two chairs provided for them, each placed before the fire so that they would have the warmest places in the room.
Rose waited with bated breath for her father to continue. If they were to move the discussions along, he would need to direct the conversation and ensure that they were able to do so in privacy. For too long, though, the man stared, his brows raised up to his hairline. Rose fought the urge to sigh, squeezing her hands together in her lap.
Hours. I have spent hours working with him to prepare the man for this conversation with the Laird.
“Right-o, I suppose then we shall begin,” Baldwin mumbled out, and Rose was forced to clear her throat, gesturing discreetly at the butler and two servants who remained standing at the wall near the door. “Ah, yes, though we shall require our privacy. You are dismissed.”
Bowing appropriately, the butler led the servants out of the room, closing the door behind them. It was one of the first rules of discussing business in the home to remove the servants, and her father had still forgotten it even though she spent so much time coaching him on what to do.
Baldwin narrowed his eyes, a discreet request to confirm that he might begin, and Rose did her best to nod back at him without appearing overly helpful.
“We are so glad that you have come from Scotland to discuss this marriage arrangement that will benefit both of us. The dowry of the aforementioned plot of land stands, upon completion of the wedding ceremony,of course.”
It took everything inside her, every stalwart fiber of resolve that she had cultivated over the years not to scoff when her father added, “of course.” It would never slip her mind nor leave her memory that this very error had been made with her previous engagement, and that was what had landed them all in this situation.
The Highlander listened without expression on his face, his man across from him upholding a somewhat bored countenance as he sat nearby. Rose was wrapped up by the tight line of the Laird’s jaw, the muscles working ever so slightly, and the way his massive hands curled over his knees as he remained focused on her father.
“…So, as you can see, the land provides quite an advantageous location and resources for your…clan,” Baldwin declared, leaning back into his seat as he finished presenting the dowry papers. “We have the preliminary draft of the dowry and marriage contract for you to look over, and we all look forward to sealing this bountiful arrangement in the church.”
A pregnant pause hung in the air as Rose’s father left the floor open for the Laird to comment. Her spine tingled, rigid and uncomfortable, as the man studying them all, his shrewd gaze penetrating each of them. At last, the Laird MacKay leaned forward in his seat, planting his elbow on his knees, which was nearly another scandal as the fabric of his kilt shifted.
“I’ve heard of the land yer daughter holds by her grandparents’ grant.” The Laird’s voice commanded the attention of the entire room, low and blunt, cutting through the pleasantries of the conversation and landing directly on the matter at hand. “I mean to claim it by marriage, aye.”
Rose’s father swallowed hard, the gulp audible to her even as she sat a few feet away. He bobbed his head, the nervous energy ringing through him as plain as day.
“Yes, yes. Quite so, Laird MacKay, but surely there are other…details we might?—”
“The land, aye. I daenae wish to be forgetting my due from the dowry,” Laird MacKay interrupted. “But nae just that. Ye hold a port nearby as well. I wish to include a deal in the contract for this marriage that states I shall be permitted to trade me clan’s goods abroad using the port.”
Rose’s lips parted in shock, and she looked at her father, whose skin had gone pale and clammy. As she watched, her fingers clenched and her thighs tightened as she rested on the edge of her seat. Baldwin’s lips moved, but no sound passed them. He stumbled for one second and then two, and when Rose lookedto Laird MacKay, it was clear that he was quite finished with her father’s inability to carry on a conversation.
She glanced at her father once more, his eyes frantically searching hers, and as Rose returned her attention to the Laird, his face contorted into a look of discernment. There was no way he had missed how her father continued to turn to her for guidance, needing confirmation after each of his sentences.
Tension turned the air thicker than molasses, and Rose stiffened, squirming slightly in her chair. Laird MacKay’s eyes narrowed, and when he spoke, his voice was thick with suspicion and upset.
“What is this? Are ye mocking me? A guest ye invited to yer home. Do ye think I rode all this way for ajest? Did ye expect me to come unprepared with me own terms?”
Horatia gasped, paling even more than her husband as she turned to him, desperately seeking a solution she would not find with Baldwin. All he could do was stammer, and Rose’s stomach clenched, churning the contents of her tea and pastries from earlier in the day.
There was no way forward with her remaining silent. While it would be customary in any other situation, it appeared that, yet again, Rose would be forced to take matters into her own hands. Either that, or the one chance she stood of helping her family to avoid poverty would slip through their fingers.
“Father,” she announced, keeping her voice as strong and level as she could muster, “Mother, if you will allow me to speak with Laird MacKay in private. I am certain after such a long journey here, it would behoove us all were I to be allowed this time with him.”
