My dearest Grace,
I was very happy to receive your latest letter. You must stop worrying and asking, for father and I are doing just fine.
“Lady Grace, where should we place these blossoms?”
Still smiling, Grace looked at the servant hefting a tall bundle of white roses. She waved at the western wall, “Please, arrange them there.”
“Lady Grace, the foods are ready for tasting…” another girl announced, while rushing into the hall. “Cook says ye must taste the pastries afore they cool too much.” The girl face was blanched in terror.
Grace hid a smile, “Aye, please tell Maisie I’ll be there soon.”
It seemed the ability to terrify was embedded in the position. When the previous cook left to care for her ailing son, Maisie had been the natural choice. Grace was excited to try her pastries, but she would do so once she completed reading the letter.
Father insists that I should look for a bride as soon as possible. He believes a respectable man should have a wife by his side, and he thinks it is time for me to have a family of my own. To be quite honest I am not entirely convinced about that idea, but you know how I worry for father, and he is not getting any younger. I will start searching for potential brides and I would be honored if you could recommend a few names. You know that, as my sister, I value your opinion.
“Grace, dear…” Lady Fiona called. She sailed in followed by a cloud of vanilla and cinnamon. “I didnae ken ye were still here. Ye should rest.”
“I will, me lady. The decorations are almost complete.”
She glanced at the paper in Grace’s hand, “Is that a letter from yer brother? Is he well?”
“Aye, his father wishes for him to marry so he is looking for a bride soon..” She waved the letter and smiled. Lady Fiona laughed.
“Maybe we should recommend Emily.” Lady Fiona joked. “She is a feisty one and might be a challenge for him.”
“He most certainly does!” Grace laughed. “But do not underestimate him, I am sure he has the skills to transform the feistiest of women into a sweet lady”.
Grace kept smiling. Harris had left the castle soon after he’d recuperated. He was concerned about the house and asked Grace to go along. But that place was still filled with all the recent bad memories so she couldn’t accompany him.
When Duncan had asked her later that night, why she preferred having the servants deliver her things, Grace felt her throat close. But Duncan being Duncan, he would not let it go, seeing her discomfort.
All of a sudden, he’d asked, “Did something happen between ye and yer faither?”
Eventually, Grace would have to confront that horrible day, so she decided to tell him what had been weighing so heavily on heart all this time.
Rain had been falling for the previous three days.
“It’s only a little rain papa. My horses are straining for exercise,” she had said to her father.
“No, Grace. Study, if you are bored. Or prepare for the season, as other girls are.”
“The rain will not cause scarlet fever, papa. I’m not fragile.”
“I said no! And that is final! If you are seen anywhere around the stables, I will find out about it.”
“Papa!”
“And you know better than to compare yourself to your mother. You have no idea how strong she was. If she were here, you would not be this spoiled. I have failed as a father.”
Grace told Duncan her father had strode from his chambers that evening, into a waiting carriage. It was the last time she had seen him. In her heart, she’d hated him in that moment, over such a fickle matter. In Duncan’s arms, she finally allowed herself to break down over her father’s death and her last memory of him.
Harris understood her reasons and had not forced her. He was back a short while later to celebrate her wedding and brought with him her father’s original will. In it, he’d signed off her inheritance to Mr. Williams until her marriage to Ethan. Since Ethan was deceased, it was null and void. During the rest of Harris’s stay, Grace had noticed the loneliness on Harris’s face as he wandered the halls. Maybe his father had seen it too and that was why he was insisting on finding a suitable bride for him.
“Maither!” Sheena shouted from atop the stairs. She was almost concealed behind a mountain of materials. “I need a little help!”
“Oh, our bride’s in trouble.” Lady Fiona took another look around the hall and nodded with approval. “Me husband would have been proud of all ye have accomplished with Duncan.”
Grace lowered her head, allowing a moment to pass for the former laird. And as it always did, her eyes prickled.
