Page 39 of My Highland Rogue
She understood, in a sense. Adaire Hall was isolated, one of the jewels of the Highlands, but not a place that a young man might wish to spend all his time. Yet even after Harrison returned with news that he was to be married his behavior hadn’t changed. After the wedding he’d simply deposited Lauren here and gone off to live the life he’d established in London.
Now his wife needed him and he was nowhere to be found.
“Are you angry about something?”
She turned to see Gordon standing there, one hand on the back of the bench.
“Do I look angry?”
He came around the bench and sat. “As a matter of fact, you do. You’re glaring at the loch.”
“I am angry,” she confessed. “About Harrison.”
He didn’t say anything, which she appreciated. He never tried to talk her out of feeling what she was feeling or offering her a rational explanationwhen she was feeling emotional. She’d always been able to be herself with him.
“Lauren needs him and he isn’t here.”
He still didn’t say anything.
She glanced at him with a smile. “You’ve learned tact in the past five years, Gordon. The young man I knew would have launched into a speech about how selfish Harrison had always been.”
He shrugged. “Why say something twice when it’s already been said?”
She shook her head, her smile disappearing. “At least my mother isn’t here to see his behavior. It would have disappointed her greatly.”
He squeezed her hand. “Perhaps he’s been delayed for some reason. His carriage could’ve lost a wheel. He could have missed the train.”
“He could have been set upon by pirates. Or robbers. Perhaps his trunks were set afire and he had no clothes.”
They smiled at each other.
“Perhaps he’ll shock us both,” he said, taking her hand and turning it over to inspect the palm.
What did he see? It was the hand of a woman who often forgot to use the lemon-scented cream on her vanity.
“The last time I heard from him he was annoyed, but then he often is with me. I did something to anger him.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him to be a better husband. Evidently, I’m not to ever criticize Harrison.”
“Or spend too much time with me. That always set him off.”
He curled her fingers toward the palm and then covered them with his hand.
“You were my best friend, Gordon. I was just thinking how many times I came here in the past five years and wished I had you to talk to.” She stole a glance at him. “I have so much to learn about those missing five years.”
“And I have so much to tell you. Is it just Harrison that has you upset?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been banished from the birthing room because I’m single. Unmarried. Therefore, I am too innocent to view my niece’s or nephew’s birth. Mrs. Farmer evidently believes that I would run screaming from the room.”
“Who’s Mrs. Farmer?”
“A very interfering midwife Lauren’s father hired from Edinburgh. The woman does not tolerate any disobedience, from Lauren or me, for that matter. Lauren should have one member of the family with her. If Harrison could not be bothered, there is always me. However, Mrs. Farmer refuses to allow me admittance. God forbid I should discover how babies are born.” She looked up at the sky. “Does the woman not realize that Adaire Hall has a great many horses, cows, pigs, and sheep?”
“But Harrison wouldn’t be in the birthing room, either.”
She nodded. “You have a point. But the woman doesn’t have to be so annoying.”
