Highland Courage(39)

“My lady, the laird will ask me questions about today, and I won’t lie—I will answer his questions honestly.”

“I understand, and I wouldn’t ask ye to lie,” she said quietly.

“But I guess I don’t have to offer details if he doesn’t ask.”

“That is fair enough.”

Breaking the somber mood, Jock said, “Now, my lady, can ye tell me why ye were rumored to be a mouse? Ye seem pretty tenacious to me.”

“Sweet Mother of God.” Cael put his head in his hands.

Mairead laughed. “I have always been more reserved than the rest of my family, but I was nicknamed ‘MacKenzie’s Mouse’ because all of my brothers and sisters are tall and extremely attractive. I was always so small and plain by comparison.”

“My lady, I’ll grant ye the MacKenzies are a handsome lot, but on the day of your wedding, I thought ye were the most beautiful bride I had ever seen, and I had three daughters of my own, God rest their souls. Of course maybe it is because I am such a hulking giant myself,” he said, giving her a wink, “but I have always been partial to wee lassies.”

Mairead laughed, putting the distressing news about why the clan seemed to dislike her so behind her for a bit. They continued to chat for a while until Cael said, “My lady, it is getting late. It will be time for supper soon.”

She rose and bid Jock farewell, promising to visit again soon. As they walked to the keep, Mairead thought about the things Jock had told her again. “Cael, can I ask ye a question?”

“Aye, my lady. I will answer if I can.”

“Tell me, does Oren have a daughter?”

“Aye,” said Cael wearily. “Caitlin is a lovely lass and very sweet.”

“That explains things a bit,” she said.

“Frankly, I don’t think she ever had designs on the laird. Her mother is the bigger problem,” said Cael, without explaining more. “But ye did seem to puff Oren up at dinner.”

“Ye see, there is hope.”

~ * ~

That evening Mairead was acutely aware of the aloof politeness she had ignored for days. She endeavored to meet the coolness with as much warmth and grace as possible. Maybe persistent kindness would break down the invisible barriers.

She had enjoyed each visit immensely, and she answered Tadhg’s questions readily.

“Dolan asked ye to sing for him?” Tadhg sounded shocked. “I’ve known Dolan my whole life and he can go for months without a word to anyone. He gives ‘taciturn’ a whole new meaning. It was very sweet of ye to tidy up for him.”

“It was the least I could do. Cael had it much worse when we visited Eilis. She chivied him from the cottage to chop wood.”

Tadhg laughed. “That was probably so she could talk to ye alone.”

“Aye, she wanted to hear every detail of the wedding.”

Tadhg did not seem remotely surprised to hear they spent most of the afternoon with Jock. “Jock loves to have fresh ears to hear his stories.”

“He has plenty of stories. He reminds me in some ways of my grandfather. Every chair my grandfather ever sat in was surrounded by wood chips.” Mairead signed and glanced wistfully around the hall.

“Are ye missing your family, sweetling?”

Her throat constricted uncomfortably. “A little.” However, in truth, she had never experienced the kind of loneliness that she had occasionally over the last two days.

He reached out and caressed her cheek. She leaned into his hand, taking comfort from his touch. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon.” Maybe if she said it enough she would be able to convince herself of it. However even as the words left her mouth, she didn’t believe them. She didn’t think she would ever get used to it. She had spent her life surrounded by people who loved her and for the most part the Mathesons didn’t even try to hide the fact that they disliked and resented her. Her mother taught her every detail of how to seamlessly run a castle, but she had no idea how to win over her new clansmen and women.

“I thought maybe I would feel better after a chat with your squire but he is dining elsewhere.” She glanced around the hall again but said no more. She wasn’t sure why Flan wasn’t sitting at the laird’s table, but she didn’t want to interfere if this had been Tadhg’s choice.

“I thought it odd when he chose to sit elsewhere, too. Perhaps my comment to him the other day about being his laird as well as his brother-in-law made him think he shouldn’t. I will find out tomorrow.”

Mairead was glad to hear Tadhg hadn’t banned Flan from their table.

Before they left the hall for the evening, Elspet sought Mairead out to tell her Oren had found her harp. It had been uncrated and placed in her solar.