Page 18 of The Son of a Highland Witch
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In truth, Erica had some doubts about her proposed husband. As she readied herself for dinner, she went over again in her mind the few details she’d gleaned in their brief meeting. That Finn was quite likely right about the laird’s nephew’s state of inebriation was something she could not even allow herself to consider. Though perhaps there was a logical reason for his behavior. Given Jamie was not the true laird yet, that the laird of the Buchanans was known to be sickly and abed, would put pressure enough on any man, leaving him to resort to strong drink.
I have little choice in the matter. The marriage has been decided, and I am here. There is no going home. It would be a disgrace, and my reputation would be in ruins.
Worse, she would not likely find another who would consent to marry her. Not if she had refused a suitor so well-known. The whole thing would bring terrible shame upon her family. Lairds were scarce on the ground, and her father expected her to marry one or stay locked up at O’Donnell Castle.
But why did her dreams keep on betraying her commitment to making her parents proud and extending her family’s influence? Was she a secret strumpet who yearned to rock a man other than her husband between her thighs? Why could she not stop obsessing about Finn? The man had no clan name, for goodness’ sake! If she was not occupied with doing something during the day, Erica found herself imagining what it might be like to have Finn nibbling on her with those strangely pointed canine teeth of his… And as for her crazy nighttime dreams, they were provocative to the extreme. Sometimes, she would wake up with her arms reaching out for his phantom shadow in the night, her entire body throbbing and pulsing for his touch. Was part of her reluctance because she knew she wouldneverfeel about Jamie Buchanan like that?
Nerves, she decided finally. She was missing the obvious. Jamie had been somewhat nervous about meeting his new bride and therefore acted rudely to try and hide the fact. It was quite charming, really, that he had resorted to drinking to steady himself before her arrival. It was her own fault that he was drunk because the coach had arrived later than expected. Had she been on time, he would not have had quite so much ale to drink to give the man courage to meet her. Erica encouraged this rational line of thinking—anything to keep Finn’s phantasm out of her mind.
Maybe Jamie had a reputation for being quite courageous already and it would inspire her to feel warmer toward him? This idea was easily squelched. From what Erica knew of men, to have courage on the battlefield was not anywhere near the same kind of courage one needed to confront a lady. Had she not seen the look on her father’s face when her mother had been upset over some household matter or not?
Feeling more than a little reassured, Erica sat while Trudy did her hair, ignoring the somewhat concerned frowns upon the maid’s face and her repeated attempts at conversation. It seemed the girl had become quite smitten with Finn upon their journey and was inclined to side with him. Erica must cover up her own inclination toward their tall, silver-haired escort!
“Nonsense,” Erica finally said when she decided she had heard quite enough of Trudy praising Finn’s wild handsomeness and perfect physique. “Now, let us hurry, or I shall be late.”
She need not have worried. The meal was already in full swing when she arrived. Erica stood for a long moment from the door and stared at the great hall of the castle. The room was vast, with long trestle tables where dozens of people sat, all strangers to her. Jamie waited for her at the head table, talking and laughing with one of his men, and had not even seen her come in.
This was not an auspicious beginning.
Finn did, though. She saw him standing alone to the side, not far from the fire. His eyes met hers, his expression somber. Then he turned away, and she lost sight of him in the crowd.
Not that she had time to look, nor cared to. Jamie had seen her and was approaching, grinning and shouting out with his booming voice to any and all who would listen. “Come meet my wife, one and all!”
“Soon-to-be wife,” Erica murmured as he took her arm, but he appeared not to notice or care. Maybe it was a matter of semantics and really didn’t matter. They would be wed soon enough. And he did seem quite pleased to see her.
Trudy, trailing along behind her lady, smiled hopefully at Erica, nudging her forward when she hesitated in taking his proffered arm. He didn’t seem to notice, though, and kept up a stream of very one-sided conversation as he led her to her place at the table.
“That there is Ned, and over there is Ferrin. Tom, dinnae mind him, he be fair daft. Then Gregor, and his son, Colin…”
The names washed over her, so much meaningless noise. She would never keep them straight. Faltering only a little, Erica smiled and nodded at each, taking care to also note their ladies, though Jamie seemed less inclined to include them in the introductions. She told herself she would learn them all quickly enough and settled in to enjoy her meal.
To her surprise, her betrothed was a great deal better mannered than she had expected him to be. He was attentive during the meal and even quite pleasant, even if he had a propensity for talking much of himself.
“Have ye heard tell of the time I was fighting with the McAllister brothers…” he would begin, or with some other such name or place she had not heard of, then launch into a tale that involved much heroism on his part. Not that she felt Jamie was bragging so much as he did seem to get into a fair share of scrapping with others. Or else just liked to talk about the times he had.
It was somewhat worrying. Erica broke in more than once to ask questions about the castle and his holdings, but he lacked any true interest in the animal husbandry and had even less to say about the goods the castle produced. When she tried to turn the conversation to the sickly laird she had only heard about in whispers, he’d refused to answer at all, returning to her question about the goods the castle produced as a preferable topic.
“’Tis more the domain of the lady of the castle, would ye not agree?” he asked, and changed the subject completely by telling her about the time he had hunted a wild boar clean all the way down to the loch. Erica hoped her nostrils did not grow too large when she was barely able to restrain a gaping yawn. She lifted her hand, pretended to brush away one of her hair tendrils, and yawned as wide as she could behind her palm without giving a sign of her boredom.
He also did not ask her much about herself. Erica’s frustration grew. By meal’s end, they seemed neither to have grown closer or gained any knowledge of each other.
I suppose I shall be learning once we are wed,she thought finally.We can discover each other’s finer points over time and come to appreciate each other more as we grow into our…
Here, even Erica’s thoughts faltered.Love?The word did not fit, but she was unsure how such things worked. She looked away to consider this, not realizing for several minutes that she was seeking out Finn in the crowd and paying no attention to her intended at all.
“Shall we walk?” she asked finally, kind of desperately, as the meal ended. Perhaps it was hard getting to know someone over dinner when surrounded by one’s friends. It was easier to talk about hopes and dreams when alone. “Will ye show me the castle?”
Jamie seemed pleased by this and smiled broadly. “Aye,” he said, and rose quickly, putting out a hand to help her to her feet. “I shall be delighted.”
“Tell me something of yerself,” she asked, as he led her from the great hall and guided her through the various rooms of the castle.
He started to speak, about to launch into yet another story about his conquests, and she lifted her hand to silence him. Maybe he was still a little bit inebriated because he seemed too inclined to boast. Finn’s pronouncements troubled her for a moment, but she quickly squelched these thoughts.
“Nay, tell me of yerself. Do ye have dreams? Things ye hope for the future?”
She half held her breath as she asked this question, for they had paused outside the armory. In truth, she had hoped to stay him from this place, not wanting to hear about more battles and the like. She hoped for something…more personal. A hint as to the kind of man she would marry.
