“I’ll taste it before I send any thanks,” Robert laughed, and she bristled once more.
She did not care for the way he spoke to the maids here, as if they were nothing more than tools to make use of as he saw fit. Isla might have been a little harsh to them at first, but it was only because she wanted to make Camron’s life harder. Since they had gotten closer, though, Isla made sure she compensated for any bad behavior toward the staff.
As the maid bobbed down into a brief curtsy, Robert leered at her, letting his eyes linger on her as she left the room. Isla stole a glance at Camron out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he had noticed it, too. But if he had, he didn’t seem to react, perhaps aware that drawing attention to it would only make the situation worse.
“Well, let’s see what yer pantry has to offer,” Robert remarked, clapping his hands together and casting his gaze across the table. In front of him sat a cup of whiskey that already looked to be half-empty; the ruddiness to his cheeks spoke to how far the alcohol seemed to have already soaked into his system.
Isla wondered if that was how he consoled himself when he realized how little time anyone here had for him; by drinking so much that he could not rightly think straight, even when he should have been trying to.
“I heard the two of ye were on a ride yesterday,” Archie cut in, his eyes darting between Isla and Camron.
Camron grinned, glancing at her, and the glint in his eyes told her that the memories were just as warm for him as theywere for her. “Aye, we did. Went to one of the old fishing ponds my mother would take me to.”
“I’m glad ye had a good time with yer wife, my Laird, but we had really important things to discuss in yer absence. Robert and I have been talking about the harvest and how the farmers’ taxes should be reconsidered. Ye think fishing is more urgent than yer people?” Archie remarked sarcastically, looking at Robert, who nodded in agreement.
“Believe me, cousin, when ye find someone for yerself ye will understand. I wonder really, would yer father have taken so well to ye still being unmarried at yer age?” Camron countered. He tried to keep his tone jovial, but it was clear from the way he spoke that he didn’t much mean it.
Archie’s jaw clenched.
“That is my point, cousin,” he muttered. “Ye put a woman first, and ye cannae see what is happening in front of yer eyes.”
Camron’s shoulders tightened. Isla could, at once, feel a shift in the air. Camron might have been able to put up with a lot from this man, it seemed, but speaking ill of his mother making him doubt whatever had happened in his childhood was something else entirely. Isla reached across to touch his hand, silently promising him that she was as irritated as him and that she would not allow for such a thing to go uncommented on.
“Camron showed me a cairn the two of them built together,” she replied, keeping her tone light, trying to make it sound as though it was nothing more than a polite correction. “And a family crest she carved into the oak tree.”
“Yer father would never have allowed her to spend so much time away fae the Keep,” Robert replied, shaking his head. “He had a better handle on his woman, Camron. No doubt ye could learn a thing or two from him.”
“What do ye mean by that, sir?” Isla snapped, the frustration she had been working so hard to contain suddenly boiling over before she could take hold of it.
For an instant, Robert looked rather taken aback, surprised that she would have the nerve to speak to him in such a fashion. “That she wouldnae have spoken to a guest the way ye do,” he replied, his voice laced with accusation.
“Please dinnae mind her. She might still be dizzy from the ride. Camron, why dinnae ye tell yer wife to go have some rest and let us men talk business at last?” Archie smirked at her bitterly.
Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? She thought he was on her side. He was acting like he was… jealous of her intimacy with Camron. Could that be possible?
Camron looked over at her for a moment, his eyes locking on to Isla’s, as though he was truly considering the answer to that question. For a moment, she hesitated, praying that he would not fall on the side of Robert, no matter what kind of relationship he’d had with his father, no matter how close the two of them had been.
But, instead, Camron took Isla’s hand and lifted it to his mouth, pressing a kiss against it without taking his eyes off her. Soothing her, it seemed, was of greater importance to him than trying to make Robert feel as though he was being treated with some ill-gotten respect.
And, when he finally turned his attention to the man before them, he lifted his chin slowly and surely.
“My wife can speak for herself,” he replied. “Especially to a man who has done nothing but disrespect and talk down to her since the moment he set foot in our home.”
Robert spluttered, the redness on his face deepening. Camron lifted a hand to quiet him before he could go any further.
“And I wouldnae have her any other way.”
His words, though spoken softly enough, land with the weight of a cannonball between them. Striking not just Robert, but Archie, too. Robert rose to his feet, almost knocking over one of the cups on the table.
“Well, I have nae intention of sitting here and allowing her to speak to me in such a manner if ye’ll no’ do anything to stop it,” he blustered as he stormed towards the door.
The way he walked, it was clear that he was expecting Camron to rise to his feet and call out to him, to apologize and tell him to stay. But Camron did not move a muscle.
“If that’s how ye feel, so be it,” he replied calmly.
Robert stood there for another moment in the doorway, glaring as though he could barely contain himself, but then, he threw the door open and barged past the maid who was still lingering in the corridor beyond.
Isla’s gaze met hers for the briefest moment, and she could tell at once that the girl had heard the conversation as it had unfolded; heard the way that Camron had defended her and stood up for her when Robert had tried to turn on her. And, as she turned to make her way back to the kitchen, Isla bit her lip. Perhaps, for a change, the gossip of the Keep would not be about the scandal of their wedding but the small flickers of love that were beginning to bloom between them instead.
