Page 92 of Claimed Highland Brides

They had always been a comfort to each other. Hostages to the whims and expectations of their parents. While their older brother reveled in the attention and adulation of being the heir, they cowered in the corners, grabbing whatever scraps they could for themselves.

He had shared his dreams of going to sea with her, of becoming a privateer, an explorer, a seeker of adventure. She had laughed at him, cried with him, lamented the fact that those dreams would likely never come true.

She was his blood and deserved his loyalty.

But what about your wife-to-be?

He pushed the thought away, focusing on listening to the conversations around him.

“Delwyn?” He whipped around, eyes wide, to see Jamesina watching him with a quizzical look on her face. For a moment, he wondered if he had given himself away somehow.

“Miss Douglass. What are you doing here?”

“I…came tae see tae our guests. Why are ye here?”

He grinned, feeling uncomfortable. “I simply wanted to observe, to see what people might be saying…”

Her brow was still furrowed with confusion and he knew she doubted his words. His shoulders slumped and he looked at her in defeat.

“No, that is a lie. I came here to…escape.”

She cocked her eyebrows in surprise. “Escape from wha’?”

He sighed deeply and glanced at her. “Your brother-in-law looks at me as if I am the mud at the bottom of his shoe. He stares at me as if he is waiting for me to run off with the family silver. It gets a little fatiguing.”

Jamesina bit her lip as if hiding a smile, her face getting redder and redder until she finally burst out laughing. The sound of her hilarity had him smiling, just to hear it. She wiped her face, still snorting occasionally as she shook her head. “That is…quite amusing. Daividh is an intimidating man I suppose but wi’ a heart of gold.”

“I do not doubt it. You clearly all respect him quite a lot, as a family. He has earned your trust and your regard.”

Jamesina took a step closer, putting a hand on his arm and looking into his eyes. “Ye will too. One day, they’ll look at ye the same.”

Delwyn squeezed her hand. “And what about you? Will you look at me the same?”

Jamesina’s eyes dipped as her face colored. “I already do.”

He felt his heart jump with the shock of her words. He opened his mouth, looking for something to say but his mind was blank. “I…do as well.” He thought he’d been lying when he said the words but when they came out, they rang true.

“We should return t’ the keep. We shouldnae be oot here on our own.”

“Alright. Lead the way.”

Jamesina smiled as she stepped in front of him.

* * *

Jamesina woke up the morning of her wedding day feeling quite exuberant and excited. Ùna didn’t even have to wake her up by bursting into her chambers and jumping on her bed. Her lady’s maid had not yet brought hot water for her morning ablutions. She crossed to the fireplace and reignited the fire before crossing to the bedside table to ring the bell.

Two minutes later, the lady’s maid appeared, heavy-laden with buckets of water.

“Guid morning my lady. Ye’re up early today.”

“Aye weel, ’tis not every day a person gets marrit.”

“Tha’s true.” She poured the water in the cauldron and then went to the table to arrange Jamesina’s combs and brushes. The cold morning air drifted into the room, and Jamesina drew her arisaid tighter as she sat back on her bed and began to undo the scarf around her head as Freya pulled the wooden tub into place, close enough to the fire for Jamesina to be warmed by it without burning. As soon as Freya upended the steaming water into the tub, Jamesina divested herself of her clothes and jumped in.