He had finally stopped calling her Mistress the fourth time she’d given him permission to do so. Of all the things that were different, not being called ‘lady’ was one she’d noticed. And by using a different name, she sometimes would not realise someone was speaking to her until they repeated it twice or even thrice. The people in Glenlui were going to think her hard of hearing if she did not pay heed. Dougal took a half-step closer and began to lean in slowly.
Puzzled, Sorcha watched as he neared and then stepped back away. Surely he had not been about to kiss her? She met his stare then and he seemed surprised by the action, too.
‘Good night to you,’ he said softly before calling it out a bit louder. ‘Clara. Jamie. Good night.’
Jamie came to the doorway now and Sorcha knew that whatever impulse had caused Dougal to even consider such a thing was done and gone. They watched as he made his way from the cottage towards the centre of the village. When he faded into the shadows, Sorcha walked inside with Jamie only a pace or two behind her. Clara stood waiting for them just inside. As the door closed, Clara untied her apron and tossed it on the table.
‘What do you think, Jamie?’ she asked. Sorcha looked over her shoulder, sidestepping to get out of their way.
‘Aye, love,’ he said, nodding at Sorcha. ‘He is wooing her.’
Of any words she could have heard, these were astounding and unbelievable. She was a stranger here. Worse, she was a deceitful stranger, telling everyone in this place a concocted story that had so little truth to it, it counted for nothing. Sorcha shook her head at both of them.
‘You are mistaken,’ she said forcefully. ‘He is being nice to me. As you have been. As Alan...as everyone here has been. Nothing more.’ Her words must have been strong for both Clara and Jamie blinked several times before responding.
‘Lady,’ Jamie began, using a courtesy that so few knew applied to her, ‘I have seen men woo women and that boy, that young man, is wooing you.’
‘Sorcha,’ Clara whispered as she reached out and took her hand, ‘I fear you have little experience in this. Your father had chosen a man to wed you and that man knew you would be his. Or he would have shown up at Castle Sween and made some overtures to you. As a man who wishes to marry a woman does.’
‘As Dougal is doing,’ Jamie repeated. ‘Watching and waiting for you to arrive or to walk past. Escorting you where you need to go. Talking about all manner of nonsense and things. Coming to supper with your family. ’Tis how it is done in most places by most people.’
Her mouth dropped lower with each of Jamie’s examples. She had not noticed or realised the implications of Dougal’s acts, but now, it was quite apparent—he was wooing her. Even while acknowledging this as a fact, something within her wanted it to be Alan who pursued her. Alan who...wooed her.
‘But I am going to the convent.’ She shrugged and shook her head. ‘He knows that. Everyone knows that.’
‘Aye. Everyone knows. But you are not at the convent yet, are you?’ Clara asked. ‘His actions are respectful. Well, they were until just now.’
‘Just now?’ she asked. She touched her fingers to her lips and understood that Clara had witnessed his attempt at a kiss. ‘’Twas nothing. A misstep.’
‘He almost kissed you.’
From her tone and the glint in her eyes, Sorcha could not tell if Clara was happy or shocked by Dougal’s attempt. No man had ever even considered such an act with her. For the first time in her life, she was exposed to men who were not kin and not approved by her father. Yet, in a way, she was complimented by his action. Or, rather, his almost-action. For he did it based only on what he knew of her during her time here.
‘I am certain that he did not mean such a thing,’ she assured Clara while not quite believing her own words. ‘He does not know me enough to want to kiss me.’
Jamie burst out laughing and Clara shushed him, but Sorcha saw the smile on her cousin’s face. She believed it.
‘You have no idea of your appeal, Lady,’ Jamie said. He walked closer and moved a stool for her to sit as he did. Clara stood at his back, her hands caressing his broad shoulders. ‘Part of it is that you are new here. Part of it is your beauty.’ Sorcha could feel the heat of a blush rise in her cheeks at his words. ‘And part of it is your plan to enter the convent.’
‘But why would that appeal to anyone? I am going to serve God.’
‘Aye, but to most men, that is a challenge they cannot resist. Oh, a God-fearing man will give pause, but he will still take it as a challenge to turn you to more earthly pursuits.’
Sorcha gasped then, comprehending how that could be.
‘Then there are your manners, Lady. Nothing about you makes a man think you are a common villager. Though you can hide your name, you cannot hide the way you walk and talk and even the way you eat,’ Jamie explained. ‘Your hands. Your hair. Your complexion. They all give away that you have not spent your life working as we have.’
He gentled and lowered his voice then. ‘I ken you have been trying your best. ’Tis clear to me that you cannot hide what you truly are for very long. And Dougal, or most unmarried men here, would have no chance of attracting Lady Sorcha’s attention. They would not even attempt such a thing.’ Jamie motioned to her. ‘But as Mistress Saraid MacPherson, widow, with intentions of leaving the world behind, well, they have a chance with her. And more than Dougal have enquired with me about your situation.’
Sorcha felt as if someone had knocked the very breath from her body with those words. She sank on the stool, absorbing his words and trying to understand what she could do.
‘So, I should leave now for the convent.’ She shook her head, pushing her kerchief off her hair. ‘I did not mean to...mislead anyone or lead anyone to false hopes or conclusions. I just wanted to hide until I could make my way to Skye.’ It was not the best way to begin a life of service to God.
‘Sor... Saraid,’ Clara said, glancing at the door leading to the bairns’ room. ‘You could not come here and announce who you were. I agreed to hide you and thought that hiding in plain sight would be easiest. I still do.’
‘As do I,’ Jamie added, covering Clara’s hands with his own. ‘Other than hiding in a barn or a cave, this is the best way.’
‘And rushing into a decision that could just make things worse for you is not the thing either,’ Clara added. ‘You were and still are grieving, Cousin. I just wanted to give you a place to rest and get strong enough to make your choice.’
