Page 11 of Highlander's Secret Heiress
She could never imagine sitting around a table talking about the blacksmith’s daughter who became pregnant out of wedlock, or how handsome the minister’s son was. She looked forward to mealtimes, to the laughter, gossip and teasing; now she knew why servants’ gossip travelled so fast!
As well as that, she had never known how much fun it was to laugh at yourself, and have others laugh with you. If she had not been in the home of her deadliest enemy, she could actually say she was enjoying herself, but these moments of self-deprecating fun could not be allowed to divert her attention from her mission.
Her heart was pounding when she walked into the dining room and placed the food in its covered dishes on the table in front of them. Laird Carrick was sitting at the head of the table, and Davina was on his right. She had her little hand resting on his big one and was looking up at him with a soft smile on her face. Alyth had heard the deep rumble of the Laird’s voice just before she walked into the room, and although she could not make out his words, his tone was tender and affectionate. Hewas smiling down at Davina when Alyth walked in, but the smile disappeared as soon as he saw her.
“Is there anything else you need, M’Laird?” she asked politely.
“No, thank you,” he answered.
Alyth turned to leave, and he reached out to the meat pie to dish up for Davina, but she shook her head and tugged Alyth’s sleeve.
Surprised, Alyth turned to her. “Yes, Milady?” she said, smiling.
Davina, of course, said nothing, but she took the serving spoon from Lachlan’s hand and pointed to the pie. For a moment, Alyth hesitated, then she glanced at the Laird, who nodded.
She carefully cut a small slice of the pie for Davina, then lifted it with the spoon and put it on her plate. After that, she had to do the same with the green vegetables and cut a slice of bread for her. Alyth’s reward was a beaming smile from the little girl, and she returned it, her heart warming.
When she tried to leave the room for a second time, though, Alyth felt her sleeve being tugged yet again. She turned to see Davina holding up the book she had been reading the previous day.
She smiled. “We did not finish it, did we?” she asked. “Would you like me to read the rest of it to you before you go to bed?”
Davina nodded eagerly, and Alyth glanced up at the Laird for approval, but he was glaring at her suspiciously. Then Davina put her hands on her father’s again and looked up into his face. She said one word, “Please.”
Lachlan continued to frown at her for a moment, then he looked down at Davina, smiled and kissed her forehead. Alyth felt as though she was invading a private conversation, so she turned and walked out. Davina looked after her, smiling, andLachlan thought it was the happiest he had seen her since her mother died.
An hour later, one of the other maids showed Alyth to Davina’s bedroom, and she stood outside the door for a while, trying to gather the courage to go inside. At last, she turned the handle and entered.
Davina was lying in bed already, clutching a rag doll, and the Laird was sitting beside the bed on a sturdy chair, but as soon as the maid entered he kissed Davina, then stood up and walked past her to leave the room.
She was very relieved; she found that when she was in the same room with him, it became hard to breathe. She hated him, yet somewhere deep down in her being she felt sorry for him, and she had no idea why. However, his presence made any room he was sitting in feel smaller, and Alyth felt a sensation of being suffocated.
Alyth sat down in the chair that the Laird had just vacated, then pulled Davina’s blankets up over her shoulders.
“To keep you cosy,” she said, smiling. “I can never sleep when I am cold.” She opened the book. “Now, where did we stop? Oh yes, the prince was just about to climb the castle wall so that he could rescue the princess from the dragon…”
She began to read, and mimed some of the expressions of the characters as she read the story. Presently, she felt Davina’s little hand stealing out from under the blanket to grasp hers. The little girl could say very few words, so she expressed herself with her hands and her smiles, and an occasional soft peal of laughter.
Alyth’s heart went out to her, while wishing that she herself had a child to love. This was a thought that had never occurred to her before, since she had no siblings of her own, and it astonished her.
Alyth came to the end of the book and saw that Davina had merrily gone to sleep. She gazed at the little girl for awhile, loving her innocent beauty; her long golden eyelashes and eyebrows, tiny nose, cupid’s bow lips, all of which were completely relaxed in sleep. She was adorable.
She hoped that Davina never had the kind of nightmares that she had about her mother’s death, she would not wish those on a child. Her father, though? That was a different matter; she had no problem wishing nightmares on him at all!
Alyth stood up, tucked the blankets more securely around Davina, then kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, little one,” she whispered. She put the book back in the little bookcase and took a last look at Davina before opening the bedroom door.
Then she jumped, startled, as the Laird, who had been leaning against the doorpost, seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of her.
He gave her a grim smile and said, “I must talk with you.”
Laird MacAdams had sent out search parties far and wide when he realised that Alyth was missing, but so far, there had been neither hair nor hide of her seen. He swore that he would not give up, but the strain of not knowing what had happened to his precious daughter was too emotionally taxing. He was finding it hard to sleep, and had to resist the temptation to drown his sorrows in whisky; he had seen too many men take that route and be destroyed by it.
He had read and reread Alyth’s note till he could almost recite it by heart, and as he sat at his desk trying to concentrate on his estate management work he found himself reading it again.
“Da,”it read. He laughed at her pet name for him, which she had been calling him since she could only utter a syllable or two.
I need to leave you for a while. Please do not fret, I promise not to put myself in any danger. If for any reason danger comes to me, you know how well I can defend myself, thanks to you. I need to find the answer to some questions, and I cannot do that while sitting inside the castle doing nothing. I will soon be back, and hopefully with your blessing, no longer Laird Robertson’s intended.
Your ever-loving daughter,
