Page 19 of A Nameless Highland Laird
“Aye,” Alastair answered, covering for Cameron’s lack of social skills. “The Laird and I were just discussing his lands and what he plans to do with them. Have ye had a chance to tour the grounds yet?”
She shook her head and shifted on her feet. The small movement had Cameron realizing that they all three were still standing, carrying on a conversation, instead of sitting at the table, eating their breakfast as they spoke. He felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. And now, she was in the middle of answering a question. It would be even more rude for him to interrupt her to invite her to sit. That was the last thing he wanted to do. So he bided his time, doing his best to listen to her intently while also waiting for the perfect moment to usher them all back to their meal.
“Unfortunately, I have nae. My journey here yesterday took longer than I had anticipated and we did nae arrive until an hour before the evening meal. By the time we had finished eating, I was too weary to entertain any explorations. I am hopeful that I will get to see more of the castle and the grounds today, though.”
Alastair looked pointedly at him, a bushy eyebrow raised as if he was trying to say something. For once, Cameron knew what his advisor was hinting at—Alastair wanted Cameron to offer to take Charlotte for a tour of the grounds. But Cameron would give no such offer. He hardly knew the place well enough himself. It would only raise questions if he got them both lost on his grand tour. Not to mention he wouldn’t be able to hide his lack of manners for any extended period of time. Not yet, at least. So he stayed silent, letting the moment pass, and then he cleared his throat.
“I am sure we can arrange that with the housekeeper. She is most knowledgeable about the castle’s history. I will see to it after breakfast. Would ye care to join us, in the meantime?”
He did his best to keep his eyes focused on Charlotte, ignoring Alastair’s disappointed expression. It was a look that Cameron often found himself on the receiving end of.
“Aye. Thank ye.”
She crossed the room to get closer to the table, but moved hesitantly. From the way her eyes darted from seat to seat, he could tell that she had no idea where she was supposed to sit. While he didn’t know what decorum called for, he knew what he wanted.
Stepping away from his own chair, Cameron stood behind the seat to his right and pulled it out, motioning for her to sit there. It left Alastair alone on the other side of the table, but Cameron doubted that he would be able to survive the meal if he had both of them staring him down. At least this way, he wouldn’t be tempted to spend the rest of the morning watching her instead of what he was doing.
Her shoulders relaxed just a hair as she walked to the spot he had offered her. Without looking up at him, she eased into the chair, gathering her skirts as she sat. He pushed the chair in behind her and made sure she was completely settled before he went back to his own seat.
Cameron could feel Alastair’s watchful eye taking in their every interaction. They both knew what was at stake with Charlotte. They both knew that Cameron needed to make sure this marriage went ahead without any problems. He could only hope that inviting her to sit next to him was the first step in the right direction.
“Ye said yer journey was long,” Alastair began, after they all saw to their plates. “Did ye run into any trouble on the road?”
Cameron’s eyes slammed shut in shame. That was the first thing he should have asked her when she had arrived at the castle yesterday. Instead, he had berated her for scaring him and then made demands of her.
He swallowed the curse that had boiled into his mouth. In some ways, he supposed he could blame Alastair. His advisor had promised to be there when Charlotte had arrived. Alastair was supposed to have been the buffer, nudging Cameron towards their end goal. But he hadn’t made it back, leaving Cameron to stumble through their first meeting alone. Though, in reality, Cameron knew he only had himself to blame. He had never taken an interest in learning manners or any social graces, mostly because he never thought he would need them. It was just one more difference he could cling to between him and his father. Cameron might have been the illiterate, untaught orphan who had scraped his way through life, but he never wanted to be the needlessly cruel aristocrat his father had been.
“Nay, nay trouble at all, thankfully. I suspect it was because my father insisted I ride in the carriage rather than on a horse like the rest of the guard that slowed us down. But I ken he was only thinking of my safety.”
Cameron watched in silence as she and Alastair continued their conversation about her trip without any hang ups. Without him in the way, there seemed to be no awkward pauses, no lulls in their discussion. Just an easy politeness to it all.
He hated being able to see so clearly that his advisor had all the manners and social graces that Cameron so desperately lacked. He was sure that Charlotte could already tell the monumental difference between the Laird and his advisor. It only made Cameron question the entire arrangement again.
“Laird Knox.” Alastair’s voice cut into Cameron’s disparaging train of thought. “Might I suggest that ye refrain from eating anything more? Ye have a training in less than an hour and anymore might weigh ye down.”
It was the first time that Cameron had paid any attention to what he had been doing. He had been too preoccupied with watching their conversation to notice that he had all but made a mess of himself. The bread he had managed well enough, though there were still crumbs littered across his chest and lap. But everything else had been close to disastrous. Charlotte had been in the room with them for less than half an hour and he had already made an utter fool of himself.
Heeding Alastair’s covert advice, Cameron pushed his plate away. With the unused napkin still sitting on the table, he wiped off the crumbs and the corners of his mouth, for good measure. And then he made a mental note to figure out how to eat in a more civilized manner before consuming any food in front of Charlotte again.
With his lips tight, he offered his guests a slight smile as he reached for his mug, knowing the liquid was all he was going to get for the foreseeable future.
