Melody blinked. “It had not.Doyou like being portrayed like that?”
Callum gave a tight smile and did not answer for a moment. He drummed his fingers on the tabletop, fixing Melody with a long, straight stare.
To her credit, she did not glance away.
“Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that a gently-bred English lass would uproot herself and travel all the way to the Highlands, alone, simply to prove a point. There has to be more to it than this.”
She stared back at him for a moment, the color gradually increasing in her cheeks. It was almost mesmerizing to watch the blush skid across her face. She blushed more than any lass he’d ever met.
“My father is arranging my wedding,” she said at last, her voice tight. “I estimate that I have about a month before it takes place.”
Ah. Now this makes sense.
“A last adventure before the end of yer freedom, eh?” he murmured softly.
Melody clenched her jaw, glancing aside.
“Marriage is completely ordinary. Everybody must marry, after all.”
“Nae everybody,” he responded, leaning back in his seat. “Well, I’m glad we got to the bottom of that, at least.”
She glanced back at him and opened her mouth to speak. Whatever she was going to say was lost forever when a sharp rap came at the door, making them both flinch.
“Come in,” Callum ordered sharply.
The door inched open, and a short, stocky man of about eight-and-twenty stepped through the door.
“I was told ye were here,” the man said, gaze falling curiously on Melody.
“What is it, Lucas?” Callum sighed.
Lucas tossed back his hair—nut brown, curled, and kept ridiculously long—and embarked on what was clearly a memorized speech.
“The men of the council wish to see ye. They claim that ye have dallied too long in choosing a bride, and wish to discuss how we can all speed up the process of yer takin’ a wife. They sent me here to tell ye exactly this. So, here I am.”
“We’ve been through this before, Lucas,” Callum responded heavily. “I’ll nae marry. I was married, and now I am nae, and there’s an end to it.”
He had spoken without thinking. That was clear from the way Melody stiffened in the corner of his eye. She hadn’t known he’d been married, then.
Well, she kens now.
“That is nae an end to it, as we both ken,” Lucas sighed, slumping against the door. “The councilors want to meet with ye.”
“Then I’ll meet with them when I have time.”
Lucas nodded. His gaze slid over to Melody, and his eyes narrowed.
“Who is she?”
“Me grandmother’s guest,” Callum answered without missing a beat. “She’s here to paint me portrait.”
Lucas pursed his lips, clearly disbelieving, but said nothing. Callum knew his friend well enough to know thatthiswas the story that Lucas would spread over the Keep, and he’d simply have to tell him the real story later.
Later.
The idea was now clear in his head. Slowly, Callum rose to his feet and glanced at Melody.
“Come with me,” he ordered. “We’ll go to me study. I wish to speak to ye.”
