Page 38 of A Two-Faced Laird
Mick nodded, then smiled understandingly.
“Trouble wi’ a lassie, is it?” he asked, looking at him keenly.
Aidan tensed, then lied, “Of course not. Trouble with my father, as always.”
Mick said nothing. He knew the truth, but he reasoned that it was better to keep his own counsel at times like this.
Edina had wokenup with the bedsheets tangled around her so tightly that she almost had to fight her way out of them. She had been having nightmares about Aidan getting on a ship and sailing away into the sunset, but she knew, as soon as she opened her eyes, what her dreams had been about. She was so scared of losing Aidan that she imagined him leaving the same way as his brother had.
Then a wave of grim determination swept over her.
Not while I can still do something about it!
After she had dressed, Edina went down to the school in the village, but the children could see how distracted she was.
“What is wrong, Mistress?” Two of the little girls came to see her as she was sitting staring into space. “Are ye well?”
“Of course I am!”
Edina came out of her reverie at once, her conscience pricking her at the sight of their sad little faces, then she went to play with them as she usually did before she left.
She was preoccupied with thoughts of Aidan all the way home and wondered what she would do when she saw him. It would likely be very awkward, and she only hoped that she could handle the situation without giving anything away.
By the time she arrived back at the castle, Edina’s head was throbbing painfully with the stress of worrying about him, but little did she know that he was feeling exactly the same way.
I have to put a stop to this,she thought wearily.
She had drunk a cup of willow bark tree for her headache, but it was not working, and she knew that nothing would take the pain away unless she addressed the problem. The only way to do that was to get it out in the open, and she realised that she had to speak to her father, who was closest to the Laird. It was not a prospect she relished.
Accordingly, she went to the small office he usually worked in. It was mainly used for keeping the ledgers and accounts for the estate, and was much smaller than Laird Findlay’s, as befitted her father’s lesser status. He and Laird Findlay may have been close, but they were still employer and employee. However, it was a cosy space, and Edina much preferred it to the Laird’s cold and spartan study.
Now, however, as she stood outside the door, she almost changed her mind since she had no idea what the next few minutes were going to be like. Would her father be pleased to hear what she had to say or not? There was only one way to find out.
Go in, Edina, you coward,she told herself.The worst he can do is shout at you.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, then, when she heard her father’s voice bidding her enter, she went in.
“Edina!” He smiled, looking pleased to see her, if a little puzzled. “You never come to see me at this hour of the day. To what do I owe the honour?”
“Can I not come and visit my dear father when I wish?” Edina asked.
She tried for a carefree smile but failed, and her voice sounded over-bright even to her own ears.
Roy frowned at her. “Of course you can,” he answered. “But somehow, I think that this is more than a social call. Is something worrying you?”
Edina sighed with relief and let her mask drop.
“Yes, Father,” she confessed. “I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me? Edina, you are frightening me,” he said fearfully. “Is it serious?”
“I love Lewis,” she blurted out, avoiding his eyes. “And he loves me, Father. I know it is not what Laird and Lady Findlay wish to hear, but we cannot help how we feel.”
“I was afraid this might happen.”
Roy ran his hand over his thick tawny hair and said, “Edina, you cannot be with Lewis. His family and ours—well, we are not on the same level of society, and never will be.”
“If I hear that one more time, I will scream,” Edina yelled. “Father, neither of us cares about those silly rules! All that matters is that we love each other and want to be together.”
