Page 49 of A Two-Faced Laird
“No, Mistress,” Mairi replied.
She did not want to talk about the uncomfortable subject any more. She cleared away the plates and began to wash them in the kitchen so that she would not have to speak any more, then excused herself and went to bed, pleading tiredness.
Edina sat in front of the fire for a while, furious. Aidan was not wasting any time at all in wiping any trace of her out of his life. She stood up and tore the letter into a hundred pieces, then threw it into the fire, watching it disappear into nothing before she went to bed.
When she woke up, she made sure that her day was filled with frenetic activity. She went to the school and taught the children for a few hours, then treated both her and her maid to a drink in the tavern. This was something that was so uncommon that even Mairi was amazed, but she said nothing. All day long,her mistress had been tense and uncommunicative, behaving in a way that was quite unlike her usual lively and carefree self.
Hoping to cheer her up, Mairi asked, “Are ye goin’ tae the ceilidh, tonight, Mistress?”
Edina’s eyes lit up. Here was the perfect distraction; the church hall would be full of happy, noisy dancers and music. She could lose herself in the revellers and go home laughing.
“I certainly am, Mairi!” she answered, smiling.
“An’ will ye wear your ball gown?” Mairi asked eagerly.
Edina laughed. “If I wore that creation, with its hundred petticoats, nobody else would be able to get into the room!”
Mairi giggled. “The women would faint wi’ jealousy!”
“Come, we will go through our wardrobes.”
Edina finished her glass of ale and gave a tip to the barmaid, then the two women left, watched by all the patrons in the bar.
“Good woman, that one,” Bonnie said to Ina.
“Aye, we’ll see how well she dances!” one of the customers said, laughing. “That’s the sign o’ a really good woman!”
Aidan had a plan.He was heading towards the Anderson estate, but he was taking a detour around the village of Drumnaird, which was at least two miles out of his way. He had seen a lot of Fenella, since she had been invited to Achnabreck Castle more times than he had cared to count. Now, though, he wanted to see the love of his life one last time before she was unattainable.
Fenella was personable and polite, and did her best to please him in all things, but she had none of the qualities that had attracted him to Edina. She was obedient, sedate, laughed at all his jokes and agreed with everything he said. None of thesewords could be applied to Edina, who spoke her mind freely and would disagree with him whenever she felt like it.
Only one thing about her had really upset him, and they had the closest thing to an argument they had ever had about it. One morning at the breakfast table, Fenella looked at the Laird and said, “May I ask a favour, M’Laird?”
Laird Anderson smiled at her. He was very fond of Fenella. He had for a while seriously considered marrying his son to Edina, but she was a step down the social ladder, and she and her family were extraordinarily privileged to be so close to the Laird and Lady of Achnabreck.
As well as that, she had a streak of wildness in her, and instead of taming it, living in Inverness seemed to have exacerbated it. Edina would never have made a suitable daughter-in-law; she was not exactly tactful, and he knew that on occasion she would embarrass them thoroughly.
“I have quite a big circle of friends and I need a parlour where we can all be together and enjoy the things we like to do,” she announced. “I have looked around this part of the castle and the most suitable room seems to be Miss Edina’s old chamber. After all, she will not be using it any more.”
Aidan thumped the table with his fist, and a resoundingbangechoed through the room, startling everyone and making the crockery and glassware rattle. He was seething, and the expression on his face was thunderous.
“No.”
“Why not?” Fenella asked.
She looked genuinely puzzled, and for once, Aidan was speechless, because he really could not think of a reason at all, or not one he could share with anyone. Like his brother’s room, he wanted to keep it sacrosanct so that he could go in there and remember Edina. He dropped his gaze to his hands for amoment, and when he looked up, Fenella was glaring at him furiously, and so was his father.
The Laird interrupted. “I see no reason why not,” he stated. “After all, it is empty, and Edina took most of her possessions with her. The rest are in storage, so there is no reason why Fenella cannot use it.”
That was true, and short of declaring his love for Edina, there was no argument he could put forward to the contrary that would make any sense to anyone else. He nodded slowly, and his mother started up an awkward conversation with Fenella, who looked extremely relieved.
Aidan had lost his appetite, but he somehow managed to swallow the rest of his food and excused himself as fast as he could after the meal was over.
The Laird was not finished with him, however, and cornered Aidan as soon as he left the room, then took him by the arm and dragged him to his study.
“If you are still holding a torch for Edina, then put it out!” he yelled furiously. “You are marrying Fenella, and that is all there is to it. Edina’s bedroom is not a shrine. Now, get out of my sight!”
He turned away and Aidan left. His father was right. They had kept his brother’s room just as he had left it, and Aidan often went there to remember him, and he would have done the same with Edina’s.
