Page 43 of Highlander's Runaway Seductress
When she uncovered the food, there was a cup of milk sweetened with honey, freshly baked milled bread, roasted lamb slices, cheese, and a sweet fruit she had never tried before, but she ate it all. Staring at the empty platter she tried to savor the delicious taste lingering on her tongue.
This is how the rich people eat, isnae it?
She covered the empty plate and went back to the daybed. The silver light from the sun turned the snow over the castle into glistening crystals. The more she stared it, the more she felt hollow inside. The place looked empty, abandoned, alone and solemn. Not one window was open and not one guard walked the ramparts or looked over the battlements.
Is the castle empty? Is it a reflection of Laird Dolberry? Since his wife died, did a part of him die with her too?
She watched the castle until her eyes grew heavy and she eventually slipped into sleep once again. When she woke, Amelie sat up in fright, half the morning had passed. This was so unlike her and she wondered if Damien had already come back.
Hastily, she changed into one of her dresses, and slipped on her shoes to leave the room. Damien and Ben’s room was just a door away from hers and she knocked on the door. She waited, waited, and waited some more until she realized that no one was inside.
Where are they?
17
Leaving to the lower floor, Amelie saw Ben at a trestle table with a cup in his hands.
“Ben,” she greeted. “Good morn, have ye seen Damien? He took the note from me this mornin’ and left.”
“Nae yet, lass,” Ben said. “I think he might be havin’ trouble gettin’ to the first gate. If the bridge is nae lowered, he willnae get the letter to the guard there, but—oh, speak of the boy, here he comes.”
Twisting on her seat, Amelie saw Damien coming towards them, his grim expression gave her the worst fears curling in her stomach—had he failed in getting the letter to the Laird? Had the Laird found someone else?
“Damien,” Ben greeted, his face lit with expectation. “How was it? Were ye able to get the letter to the Laird?”
He sat before he answered and nodded curtly. “A wagon with provisions was passing by and I gave the letter to the driver who then gave it to the guard. I saw the guard give it back to the driver and he went up. I daenae ken if the Laird has seen it yet, but I hope he will.”
“So, we wait,” Amelie sighed.
“Aye,” Damien rubbed his face. “I dinnae get much sleep last night. I’m goin’ to lie down for a moment.”
She stood, “Damien—”
“Whatever it is, it can wait, lass,” Damien interrupted her while standing and walking off. “I am very tired.”
His snub had her retreating and Amelie sank back to her seat, downhearted and pained. Grimly, she watched him go then turned back to Ben who was looking at her sympathetically.
Bracing her elbows on the table, Amelie shook her head.
“At this point, I think it will be best for the Laird to either see me or reject me so all this stiltedness between us will end. He hasnae looked me in the eyes for two days now.”
Ben landed his warm hand over hers. “Ye have to understand, lass, he isnae doin’ this to deliberately hurt ye. Damien is doin’ it to protect himself. He doesnae have much basis to ken how to trust that others willnae hurt him, so he takes steps to protect himself against any hurt by rebuffin’ that person first.”
“But…” Amelie’s eyes flitted to the stairs, with hopelessness ringing in her voice. “I had thought that I had given him every reason to trust me.”
“Tis nae only ye, lass,” Ben said. “It’s the future also that he doesnae trust. He cannae see himself with ye, so he would rather cut off any present interaction so what might come after willnae hurt as much.”
Stunned by the revelation that Damien was only rejecting her because he was protecting himself from pain, had her emotions in a tumult. He felt something for her—that was clear from what Ben had said now, but he did not have enough trust in Amelie. He did not believe she would choose him.
Also, as he had said, he was a pauper and a thief, not the sort of man a father would want for his daughter, especially when that daughter could be the child of a Laird. Shaking her head, Amelie framed her face with her hands.
“What he fails to understand is that I daenae want another,” Amelie said. “And laird or a laird’s son will never take to a simple woman like me. I daenae ken anythin’ they do and if we get married, that man and I will be unequal.”
“Have ye tried explainin’ that to Damien?” Ben asked.
She shook her head dourly. “I tried, but never got too far; he is so hard-headed.”
A man and a lady came into the inn, he had a thick great kilt and the woman, a dainty woman the size of his arm, had a dress in the same tartan of his kilt, so Amelie supposed they were married. Her assumption was confirmed when the lady kissed his cheek and patted his arm lovingly.
