Page 13 of The Highlander's Auctioned Virgin
CHAPTER 4
Elinor placedone of the boxes that had been gifted to her on her dresser and looked up at the mirror. Her hair fluttered gently in the draft. She had done what she needed to do with it today—gauge the room.
The sun had completely gone down, and the sky was beginning to darken. In an hour or so, night would fall. Then, the lairds would retire to their rooms and have a proper rest.
She walked to her window and looked down at the courtyard. She could still see a few of them mingling. She then spotted another laird talking to one of her maids.
The grey darkness couldn’t let her see much, but she could tell the maid was not comfortable speaking with the laird. Chills ran down her spine when the man reached for the maid’s backside.
A knock jolted her out of her reverie.
“M’Lady?” Thomas called out from behind the door.
“Ye may enter,” she called back.
The door creaked open, and Thomas walked in, his hands clasped behind his back. She watched him approach, his sword dangling slightly from his belt.
“Thomas, I need ye to do something for me.”
“Aye, M’Lady,” Thomas responded curtly.
“Who is the maid over there talking to that laird?” she asked, gesturing out the window.
Thomas moved closer and looked out the window. “That must be Louise.”
“Ye ken her name?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Of course ye ken her name.”
Thomas raised his hands in mock surrender. “I promise ye, she came to me on a rainy night, nae the other way round.”
“Aye. They always come to ye, do they nae?”
A broad smirk stretched across Thomas’s face. “Sometimes twice.”
Elinor shook her head. “Well, Louise over there is being harassed by that laird. I have been watching her for a while, and he willnae let her go even though she wants to. I need ye to get her away from there.”
“M’Lady, these lairds are so intense,” Thomas cautioned, his eyes flicking back to the courtyard. “I daenae ken how I’m supposed to do that without upsetting the laird. He’ll think I am– ”
“She is there against her will. All I’m asking ye to do is take her away from there.”
“I daenae ken how I’m supposed to do that without bruising the man’s ego.”
“Ye’re me man-at-arms, are ye nae? I am certain ye will come up with something.”
Thomas swallowed and, without another word, bowed his head slightly to her, then turned around and made his way towards the door.
“Thomas,” Elinor called, just as he crossed the threshold. “If ye have to tell Louise that I summoned her, do so. I daenae want her to spend one more minute with that man, do ye understand me?”
“Clearly, M’Lady,” Thomas responded.
He bowed again and then closed the door behind him, leaving her to her racing thoughts.
Tomorrow, the real test would begin. Tomorrow, she would be able to separate the worthy men from the dung of the litter. She would be able to properly choose a husband.
The man she would like to lead her clan next. A man who was the complete opposite of her late husband.
Another knock sounded at the door. This time, it was Katherine.
Elinor ushered her in and watched as the healer took a seat by the side of her bed.
