Page 32 of To Wed a Laird
Rose pretended to be cowed, but a moment later they both burst out laughing. This caused the other patrons to look at them in curiosity, and a buzz of conversation began.
It looked as though their Laird was courting again!
If Rose sensed the villagers’ interest, she said nothing, but gazed into the fire, smiling in contentment.
Presently, the landlord of the inn arrived bearing a tray with two glasses of amber liquid on it. Cormac thanked him and gave him a few coins. “For the staff,” he said.
The man smiled at him and said, “Thank ye, M’laird,” then hurried away to share the coins amongst his workers.
For the second time that day, Rose was astonished by his generosity. “You are very kind to everyone,” she said.
Cormac shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “Without all the people who work for me, I would have a great deal less than I have now. It is only fair that I should give a little back.”
Rose stared at him in wonder. With all the misfortune he had suffered, she would have expected him to be a bitter and twisted man, but he was exactly the opposite.
“Try the whisky,” Cormac said, interrupting her reverie. “In fact, why do we not drink a toast? To Elspeth, Nell and Rose.”
“And Cormac,” Rose supplied.
“And him too,” Cormac said with a sigh. “Sláinte Mhath!”
Rose frowned. “Sláinte Mhath!” she said uncertainly, then took a sip.
The whisky burned a fiery path down her throat and she coughed, but after a moment its aromatic aftertaste came through.
“Mmm! This is lovely. I have to admit, I was truthful when I said I was not keen on this spirit, but this is lovely.” She took another sip.
“Thank you,” Cormac said. “We distil here on the estate from our own barley. We sell most of it, but quite a bit of it is kept for our own use. The MacTavish name means something special around here, so next time you see a bottle, you will know where it comes from.”
He took another sip of his whisky, and Rose watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed. The differences between her body and a man’s had always fascinated her, but she had never experienced a surge of desire before as she observed a man drinking!
“Tell me about your home, Rose,” Cormac said suddenly. “I believe you have two sisters?”
Rose’s heart lurched. This was the subject she least wanted to talk about, in case it led to her revealing secrets she did not want him to know. She pasted a smile on her face, however.
“Yes,” she replied. “Claire and Amanda.” She laughed. “They could not be more unlike each other. Claire has a wild sense of humour and can light up a room just by walking into it. Amanda is so gentle that everyone goes to her with their problems because she is not a talker, but a listener. I love them both so much, and I miss them terribly, but it is because of them that I’m here.”
Cormac frowned. “When I met your father,” he said, “I had gone to buy some livestock in the north of England and I met him there. He was selling some cattle. He told me that you wanted to train to be a governess, and I said I needed someone to look after Elspeth. It seemed like fate.”
Rose sighed. She had tried to keep her father’s true nature and motives secret, but now she knew that she could trust this fine man, she decided to tell him everything.
“My sisters are the reason I am here,” she told him, then she launched into the story of her father’s devastation after the death of her mother, his descent into depravity and dissolution, and finally, she told him the real reason she was working for him.
“He became a selfish tyrant,” she said. “So here I am. I need to earn some money to send back to the family, and you pay very generously. It was not the life I had envisaged for myself, and definitely not what I would have chosen, but I am so glad that things turned out this way because I feel as though I am helping someone.”
“Are you happy here?” Cormac asked, smiling tenderly.
“Yes, I am,” Rose replied. “I am glad to have met Elspeth, and Nell, and you, of course, and this is such a lovely place.”
They finished their meal and Cormac poured them another glass of whisky. Rose laughed softly. “Are you trying to make me drunk?”
“No, Rose,” Cormac replied. Then he said wickedly, “But if you don’t want it, I can dispose of it for you.”
“No more after this, then,” she said, laughing.
Cormac looked at her empty plate with a bemused expression. “Haggis is not safe around you, is it?” he asked.
“No, indeed it is not!” Rose replied. “It’s the most delicious thing I have ever tasted.” Then something occurred to her. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?”
