Page 34 of The Laird's Masked Passion

She dared not look at him. Had she seen approval there, it might have weakened her more than criticism. Instead, she took asmall bite of bread, as if she were perfectly at ease and not aware that half the hall had lost interest in its meal.

Murdoch leaned back. “Ye are far from Fraser land.”

“I noticed. The roads were most determined tae explain it tae me.”

“MacKenzie land isnae gentle.”

“Nor is a forced wedding, yet I survived that before breakfast.”

Silence struck. It was perhaps too much. Elspeth knew it the moment the words left her. A woman in polite society did not name humiliation aloud. She let it sit behind fans, letters, and closed doors. But the hall had spoken of her already in whispers. She would not pretend not to hear the shape of them.

Colin’s cup touched the table. That small sound somehow carried. Murdoch’s gaze flicked to him, then back to Elspeth. Whatever he saw in Colin’s face persuaded him not to answer at once.

Breac stepped in with admirable smoothness. “The road from St. Andrews is poor after rain.”

Elspeth turned to him, grateful and annoyed to be grateful. “More like an instrument of punishment disguised as geography.”

That earned a low laugh from somewhere nearby. She looked down the table. A younger man quickly lowered his eyes to his plate.

Good.

Laughter, even reluctant laughter, was better than pity.

Servants brought venison in dark sauce, oatcakes, butter, stewed leeks, roasted onions, and a dish of small fish slivered with herbs. Elspeth thought herself too tense to eat, but hunger had no respect for tragedy. She accepted what was placed before her and ate carefully, while conversations rose in cautious waves around them.

Still, the tests continued.

An older woman across the table observed, without looking directly at Elspeth. “Fraser ladies are more used tae softer halls, I imagine.”

Elspeth set down her cup. “A hall need nae be soft if its manners are.”

The woman looked up sharply. Elspeth smiled again. This one was sweeter and therefore, more dangerous.

A man farther down made another comment. “Soft manners willnae stop a blade.”

“Nay,” Elspeth replied. “But poor ones invite one.”

Breac made a sound suspiciously like surrender into his ale. Colin’s gaze rested on her profile. She felt it as surely as if he had touched her cheek. The strange thing was that he didn’t interrupt. He didn’t defend her with thunderous male authority, though she sensed he would have done so had she faltered. Instead, he let her answer. He trusted her to draw her own blood… or theirs.

The thought unsettled her almost as much as the warmth rising beneath it.

A servant refilled her cup. Elspeth thanked the girl, and the girl looked startled by the courtesy before dropping a small, nervouscurtsy. That, too, Elspeth noticed. The servants were watching differently than the councilmen. With curiosity, aye, but also hope, caution, perhaps even fear.

Elspeth softened her voice. “What is yer name?”

The girl blinked. “Mairi, me lady.”

“Thank ye, Mairi.”

It was a small thing, almost nothing, yet the girl’s face warmed before she hurried away. Then, Colin’s hand moved beneath the table. For a wild instant, Elspeth thought he meant to touch her. Instead, he reached for his knife. Still, the awareness shot through her so swiftly that her breath caught. She took another sip of wine to conceal it and cursed him silently for existing so near.

Dinner went on. Questions came wrapped as remarks. Remarks came sharpened as questions: Had she ever been this far north before? Did she find the keep grim? Did Fraser women all speak so boldly? Had her father truly not informed her? Did she understand that MacKenzie lands were not a courtly game? Did she know what enemies this clan had? To each, Elspeth returned what was required.

“As for enemies,” she replied, turning back to the table, “I married intae them before I was offered soup. I shall learn quickly.”

The hall quieted. This time the silence was different. Colin leaned back in his chair, and for the first time that evening Elspeth allowed herself to glance fully at him.

Pride.