Chapter Four
Beth’s mouth dried up and her heart began to pound. “I have no intention of marrying.”
“So ye’ve said.” He stood and threw a few coins on the table. “Come, lass, it grows dark and I ken yer parents will be worried.”
Still stunned from his words, she merely followed him out of the inn and to the stables where he lifted her onto her horse, threw his leg over his own horse, and led the way, expecting her to trail behind him.
Which she did.
*
Daniel had breathed a sigh of relief when he found Lady Beth in the village tavern inn. Relief was soon followed by a burst of anger, although he’d tried to hide it from her.
The lass apparently dinna understand how dangerous it was to travel by herself. Not that he was surprised, since in the very short time he’d known her, he expected her to do whatever it was that went against how other young lasses behaved.
This particular lass fascinated him. And even more so now.
After he had thrown a few coins on the table and escorted her from the inn, he placed his hand on her lower back, a true sign of possession.
Which was a good thing to do in the village inn since he saw the way other men looked at her.
Lady Beth might not belong to him yet, but if he had his way—which he generally did—she would be his.
Once they returned from the inn, he was greeted by Lady Chisholm staring pointedly at Lady Beth. “My laird, Lady Alice has been looking for ye. I believe ye offered to listen to her play the pianoforte this afternoon.”
The perfect host, Daniel said, “I am verra sorry, my lady, but other things took up my time. I will be most happy to listen to her after supper.”
Somewhat appeased, the woman smiled. “Thank ye, Laird, I ken Lady Alice was very disappointed when ye were no’ here.” She looked back and forth at him and Lady Beth as if she expected him to offer a further explanation.
He smiled at her. “Again I apologize, Lady Chrisholm, please offer my apologizes to Lady Alice and I will see you all at supper.”
Lady Beth disappeared up the stairs right after Lady Chisholm cast her a look that said she was no more than a lightskirt.
Whistling a favorite tune, he ascended the stairs to his bedchamber.
Let the battles begin.
*
Beth studied the dresses in her wardrobe, looking for the least attractive one to wear to supper.
The atmosphere in the keep didn’t necessarily lend itself to changing for supper like they were in some London fancy townhouse.
However, Lady Chisholm had insisted that they should change for supper because it was the ‘thing to do.’
A soft knock on her door drew her attention. “Aye.”
Her mam entered the room, already dressed. “Where were ye all day?” She studied her daughter, looking as though she wished at times she and her husband had been more strict with their lass.
Beth shrugged. “Out riding, enjoying the fresh air.”
She frowned. “Yer da and I were worried.”
Beth pulled a dress from the wardrobe. “I ride by myself at home all the time.” No, this dress would not do, it showed off more flesh than she wanted to present to the laird.
“Ye’re no’ at home now, and ’tis dangerous for ye to wander around by yerself. Yer da and I were so concerned we asked the laird to look for ye. Did ye see him?”
“Aye.” This dress might be a good choice. She always thought the color was too dull for her coloring but had brought it along anyway. Yes, this was the perfect dress. She was sure Lady Alice would be dressed in a very fancy dress.
Her mam moved closer as if Beth couldn’t hear her only five feet away. “Where did he find ye?”
She frowned, trying to remember the conversation they were having. “He dinna ‘find’ me because I wasna lost.”
Mam’s eyes narrowed. “Do no’ disrespect me, lass. I am yer mam.” She paused and continued, “then where did he see ye when ye weren’t lost?”
Beth pulled the dress over her head to muffle her voice. “The village inn.”
“What? I dinna hear ye.”
She sighed. “At the village inn, I went there for an ale because I was thirsty and hungry.” She turned to her mam. “They have an excellent meat pie.”
Her mam sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the second part of her statement. “He found ye at the village tavern inn? Do ye ken how bad that looks for a young, unmarried woman to be alone in an inn? Was he angry?”
“Nay, he shared an ale with me.”
Her mam stared at her for a few moments, then shook her head. “I will see ye downstairs in the great hall.”
Beth knew she wasn’t going to get away with anything strange about her appearance again, so even though she thought the dress unflattering, she still had to fix her hair in a normal manner. She cast a longing look at her brother’s shoes and slipped on her own and left the room.
As she entered the great hall, Lady Chisholm was speaking with Laird Mackenzie, actually tugging on his sleeve as if that was the only way she could be sure he heard her.
Beth walked past them and settled at the table on the dais between her mam and da.
Daniel glanced over at her and smiled. She tossed her head and glowered back which only made the fool man laugh.
It appeared whatever she did, the laird thought it was funny. Hopefully that would change his mind about choosing her for his wife.
She suffered through supper with Lady Chisholm dominating the conversation, most of it about her daughter and her accomplishments and how large her dowry was. The lass kept her head down and ignored what her mam said.
It made Beth wonder why Lady Alice remained unmarried.
She was a laird’s daughter, had a generous dowry, and was pretty in her own way.
Well, she didn’t care what the lass’s looks and manners were as long as Laird Mackenzie chose Lady Alice for his wife so Beth could return to her home and the life she found so pleasant.
Her mother’s concerns rose unbidden to her mind, which she found more annoying than disconcerting.
Who will take care of ye in yer old age?
She had enough nieces and nephews to take care of her.
They’ll be taking care of their own parents.
To shut off the voice in her head, she turned to her da. “How was yer day, Da?”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she realized he had been the one worried enough to ask Laird Mackenzie to find her.
However, to her surprise, Da gave her a lengthy speech on how he’d spent a great deal of time in the morning speaking with the laird and his cousin and second-in-command, Gregory, learning many things about the castle, the Mackenzie clan, and some of the problems they were facing.
They’d also taken a ride around the area where the laird pointed out some things to him that his clan folk were doing that was very forward-thinking.
Then, he seemed to remember he’d had to ask the man to find her. “And ’twas worried yer mam was when she learned ye hadn’t been back from yer ride, and was gone most of the day.”
“I ken.” Before he could ask her where the laird found her, she said, “It sounds as though the Mackenzie clan is doing verra well.”
He agreed and continued to talk about all the things he saw. For her da to be so fascinated, the Mackenzie clan had to be impressive.
Once supper was finished, they all moved to another room where there was a piano forte, along with several other musical instruments. Since she hadn’t spent too much time in the keep, she was surprised to see the room. “Do ye play instruments, Laird?” she asked.
Gregory snorted and after casting him a glare, Laird Daniel nodded, almost looking embarrassed in front of the men.
“Aye. Even though I was to be laird of a powerful clan, my mam thought I should learn something else besides warrior training. She also made sure I could read, write and do numbers.” He laughed.
“My da did no’ approve of the music part and he threatened me with a whipping if I told anyone. They fought about it all the time.”
“It appears yer mam won the battle?” Her mam asked.
“Aye.” He grinned. “But I must admit I haven’t done much with it since she passed away four years ago.”
Lady Chisholm perked up. “Well, Laird, ye doona have to concern yerself with music because my daughter plays the pianoforte perfectly.”
“So you’ve said,” Beth’s mam muttered, but mostly everyone heard it.
Lady Chisholm sniffed and looked in her direction. “Do ye play, Lady Beth, or do ye spend too much time on yer horse? My Alice doesn’t consider horseback riding a very good use of a lass’s time.”
Her mam straightened her back in her chair. “My daughter plays just fine, Lady Chisholm,” she said through gritted teeth.
Beth wanted to shut them all up and go to her bedchamber and read her new book, Gulliver’s Travels, that she’d brought with her.
Books were expensive and hard to come by, so she was very happy when her da had presented it to her before they left.
She couldn’t help but believe it had been a peace offering.
“Why doona we all sit down and let Lady Alice play for us?” Laird Mackenzie said with a certain amount of tension.
They took seats, and Lady Chisholm’s words were true. Lady Alice played beautifully. Her face even lit up and she looked much prettier. Beth nudged Laird Mackenzie sitting next to her—too close, she noted—and lowered her voice. “See, if ye marry Lady Alice ye can both play music in the evenings.”
He leaned even closer toward her. “When I marry, sweetheart, I have plans for my wife in the evening that doona include music. Except for the kind of music we make together.” He had the nerve to wink at her.
She looked around to make sure no one saw him. Or heard him.
After about a half hour of playing, as Lady Alice was beginning to show the strain of performing, which led Beth to believe the poor lass was not used to showing off her skills to a group, Laird Mackenzie stood. “That was lovely, Lady Alice. Thank ye so much for sharing yer music skills with us.”
The lass smiled and scurried from the instrument like a mouse escaping with a bit of a biscuit.
“Oh, but Laird Mackenzie, I was hoping ye and Lady Alice could play something together,” Lady Chisholm said, actually tittering.
Beth was wiggling in her seat by then. She was not used to sitting still for so long. She groaned when her mam said, “We should have my daughter play now.”
“Mam, I haven’t played in a long time. I could ne’er play as good as Lady Alice.” There. If Laird Mackenzie was hoping to have a musically-talented wife, even though he suggested another occupation for him and his wife in the evenings, she could be ruled out.
“Oh, no, Lady Beth. Ye must show us yer skills also.” Lady Chisholm smirked and looked over at her husband who was softly snoring.
Mam nudged her. “Go play, Beth.”
With a sigh she stepped up to the piano forte and sat.
It had been months since she had the patience to sit and play music.
She cleared her throat and decided that cracking her knuckles would send her mam over the edge.
So she wiggled her fingers and then began to play the only piece she could do from memory.
Once she started to play and sing a very famous rather nasty tavern song, her mam stood, her face red. “I think I agree with ye, Beth, perhaps ye can practice while ye’re here.”
Beth stopped playing and looked over at Laird Mackenzie who was sitting next to Gregory. Both of them were doubled up with laughter. She would love to march over and knock their heads together. The arrogant oafs.