Page 17 of To Serve a Laird
Claire was furious. Now he was playing with her. “If I planned to do that, do you think I would tell you, my Laird?” she asked sourly.
She was aware that her tone was disrespectful in the extreme, but at this moment she no longer cared.
“Very well,” he said, “If you wish to buy yourself out of my service, you can pay me this amount.”
He went to his desk, took out a piece of parchment, then wrote a number on it. Unknown to Claire, it was half what he had paid for her, but it was still a fortune.
She looked at the number on the parchment and her eyes widened with alarm before the iron rod of her determination hardened inside her. She would not be beaten. She would not remain a servant of any man, no matter how handsome. No matter how long it took, she would earn it, even if it took years.
“I accept the price,” she answered. “And I will pay it.”
“Have you finished the books yet?” he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Only one,” she replied. “As you know, my Laird, I do not have much time for my own pursuits. If you wish to have them back, I will give them to you, of course.”
“No rush,” he replied. “Take as long as you need to. Which one are you reading?”
“A History of Scotland,” Claire replied. “I wanted to know a little about the place I now live in.” Her tone was still bitter with rage.
“Good thinking,” Iain said, smiling.
Claire curtsied and said, “Goodnight, my Laird.”
She turned towards the door, but once more Iain’s voice halted her.
“Take these,” he said, holding out a quill, bottle of ink and parchment. “Do not waste them, and when you want more, come and ask me. There is no need to come sneaking in here.”
“I was not—” Claire replied, then she stopped abruptly. “I apologise for that, my Laird. I thought you would refuse my request. Thank you for these.”
“You must think me very cruel,” he said, looking sad.
Claire immediately realised she had made a mistake. “Not at all, my Laird,” she said hastily. “I have been mistakenly comparing all men to my father. Forgive me, and goodnight. Sleep well.”
“Goodnight.” Iain nodded and followed Claire’s progress down the corridor until she rounded a corner and disappeared from his sight. He wished he could follow her, scoop her up in his arms and take her to his bed.
He wondered if she has been with a man before. He would love to be the man who introduced her to the magic of physical pleasure. He wanted to be her first, teach her everything. However, he could not afford to love any woman, since the elders had been pressuring him to marry Lady… Hell, he could not even remember her name!
Iain went back and poured himself another glass of wine, then threw it down in one gulp. Maybe it would help him to sleep, he thought, for he knew that otherwise he would be tossing and turning all night.
8
Claire hastily undressed and put on her nightgown, but her mind was more restless than it had ever been before. She knew that she was going to be thinking about Iain Ross for the rest of the night, but at least she had something to do now to take her mind off him.
She counted the sheets of parchment. Four—enough for two letters, she thought, one for Rose and one for Amanda, if she kept her script small. Claire thought for a long moment, composing the letter in her mind before she put the quill to parchment.
Even so, she hesitated. If she spilled any of the ink or made mistakes, the results could be catastrophic. Then she chided herself for being stupid. She had been given a chance, and she would not waste it.
Accordingly, she sat down on her narrow cot and began to write, but she found that the words did not come easily.
Dear Rose,
I am sorry it has taken me so long to write this to you, but I was not in a position to get hold of pen and paper till a short time ago. I am not sure what Father told you about my circumstances, but I am working in a place called Glengar Castle, not far from Dundee. It is a mighty, fortified place, the same kind of place as the one you live in.
I have done my best to fit in, but whether it is because of my Englishness, or the fact that I am utterly hopeless at just about everything, I am not well-liked here.
Unlike you, I was not fortunate enough to become a governess, but on the bright side, if I ever have to do without any maids, I will not be helpless! Now I know how to scrub floors, clean windows, polish silver, do laundry, and finally, how to iron clothes. This last one was the hardest to learn, since I had to practise on my own dress before I was let loose on anything else, and it now bears a few burn marks!
It was too big for me at first, so I spent days and days taking it in. The strangest thing is that when I was finished, I could not throw away the extra fabric I had cut off.
