Page 38 of Highlander's Caged Rose
She made her way downstairs and into the reception room where they were all sitting. She saw Beitris before the other woman turned to see her, so Glennie had a few moments to size her up.
Beitris was tall and willowy, with light-brown hair that was piled on top of her head in an elaborate crown of curls. Her eyes were a dark blue, and her features were regular and pleasing, with high cheekbones and a cute, slightly turned-up nose.
She might have been beautiful, Glennie thought, had it not been for the near-constant expression of slight disdain she wore. It disappeared when she smiled, but Glennie had the feeling that the expression was false, and that she assumed it to appear pleasant to everyone else while she secretly looked down on all of them.
Glennie took a deep breath and stepped into the room, and Beitris looked up and saw her. The two women smiled and curtsied to each other, then Glennie said, “It is so good to see you again.”
Beitris looked baffled. “Have we met before?” she asked.
“Yes,” Glennie replied. She was furious inside, but kept her voice calm with a great effort of will. “At Janice’s wedding?”
Beitris stared at her for a moment. “I am so sorry, perhaps I had one too many glasses of wine that evening, but I don’t remember you at all. Forgive me.”
However, Glennie could tell she was lying in order to make her look small. She sat down and glanced across at her brother, who was seated across the room with a totally blank expression on his face, and she got the impression that he was trying to look as if he was not there at all.
As he had walked as slowly as he could towards the meeting with his bride-to-be, Niall’s mood had changed from one of anger to one of depression and impending doom, and he wished he could turn and run away—anywhere, just so that he could avoid the destiny that awaited him. However, he could not; his fate was sealed, and there was nothing he could do but face it.
He stood just behind the doorway for a moment to compose himself, then took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and went inside. When Beitris looked up and saw him, her face broke into a smile of genuine pleasure. Niall bent down to kiss her hand and said, “A pleasure to see you, My Lady. Did you have a good journey?”
He despised all the meaningless pleasantries, but they had to be endured for propriety’s sake.
Beitris beamed at him. “Indeed I did, My Laird, and thank you for asking.”
Niall stretched his face into a smile and sat down with an inward sigh. He looked at his betrothed and felt nothing—absolutely nothing. She was an attractive enough woman, he supposed. Perhaps he could lie in the marriage bed with her and be fairly satisfied; they might even have children, and he was sure he would love them, but they would not be his and Moira’s children. He and Beitris would never have what he and Moira had shared the night before. He could not imagine in a million years that the woman opposite him would play the kind of silly game they had just indulged in.
“May I ask what you do for amusement around the estate, My Laird?” Beitris asked.
“Hunting and fishing, mainly,” Niall replied, trying to keep the boredom out of his voice. “But of course, the tenants take up a lot of my time.”
Beitris frowned. “Do you not have a steward to do that kind of work for you?” She sounded shocked.
Niall poured out some wine while he composed himself enough to give her a civil answer. He despised this kind of snobbery. “I do,” he replied, then took a sip from his glass. “But my tenants like to see and talk to their Laird. They know they can come to me with their problems, and they know I will always help them.”
Beitris stared at him for a few seconds, and Niall could see what was going on in her mind. She had already judged him and found him wanting because he had committed the heinous crime of mixing with and giving assistance to people she considered to be on the bottom rung of the social ladder.
Niall knew that this attitude was not uncommon among his peers, but it was one he despised. He changed the subject abruptly.
“Glennie and I both like to fish,” he said, smiling at his sister. “We often bring home trout and other fish for the table, and our cook has some excellent recipes.”
Beitris looked as though there was a bad smell under her nose. “A woman fishing?” she almost glared at Glennie. “I have never heard of such a thing before!”
Glennie bristled, then managed a tense smile. “You have now,” she said. “It is a very productive way to spend time. After all, what can be better than providing your own food?”
She shot Beitris a challenging look, and Beitris shrugged, trying not to look disgusted.
“I am sure you’re right,” she conceded, although the expression on her face said that she did not agree at all.
“What do you like to do in your spare time?” Glennie asked her.
“Needlework, a little drawing, that kind of thing.” Beitris replied. “And I spend a lot of time in our chapel praying for those less fortunate than myself.”
Glennie was so angry that she felt every hair on her body stand on end. She was about to cry out what a sanctimonious idiot she thought Beitris was, but she heard Niall clearing his throat, and she saw him give an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
She backed down reluctantly, unclenching her fists and letting out a long slow breath to calm down. The thought that she would have to live in the same home as this complete hypocrite was unbearable.
Moira lay on her bed for a long while, then looked outside. The carriage had obviously been taken into the stables, and there was no one in the courtyard but the guards. She sat down on the bed, then thought for a moment.
She decided that it would console her a little to know that Niall was marrying a worthy woman. And despite the fact that the sight of Beitris Maxwell was going to hurt her heart even more, Moira was eaten up with curiosity. She dithered for a moment, then changed her clothes and crept downstairs.
