The Highlander's Destiny (Highland Rogues #2) - Mary Wine Page 0,56
a plan.
*
“This is a fine chamber,” Brynna declared.
Cora had a stiff neck. She watched as Brynna made her way around the room, opening the shutters to allow the light in. The day was gray, with the scent of snow on the breeze.
“Still,” Brynna mused. “I wonder if things might have seemed warmer at the towers.”
The girl looked back at Cora to see what she’d make of the bold comment. Cora slowly smiled. Brynna turned to face her completely.
“I’m bold,” Brynna said. “I thought to confess it straight away before I get too accustomed to the fine bed I was afforded last night. It’s much harder to go without comforts once ye’ve had a taste of them.”
It was a lot harder to think about leaving now that you’ve tasted Faolan’s kiss…
A headache was developing to combine with the crick in her neck. But Brynna was serious and watching Cora for her reaction. The girl didn’t cower, though.
“Ye have courage,” Cora commented as Brynna continued to look straight at her.
Brynna nodded. “It’s nae popular.”
Cora smiled. “With me, it is. I have no stomach for simpering and lowering in me personal chamber.”
Brynna had picked up the hairbrush and replaced it on the vanity. Cora picked it up and began to pull it through her hair.
Brynna pulled the chair out, which sat in front of the vanity. “Let me arrange yer hair.”
Cora shook her head. “I was never one for such things.”
Brynna fluttered her eyelashes. “If ye want to get this house in order, best to make it plain ye are the mistress. Else Orla will never yield even a half step to ye. The new laird seems to think ye can nae manage the Head-of-House, but I’ve seen enough of ye to believe otherwise.”
Cora sat down before she drew another breath. A smile lifted Brynna’s lips as she took the brush and began to part Cora’s hair into sections.
“Do nae think I will be so easy to manage,” Cora groused at the girl.
“I rather thought of it as sharing the same boat.” Brynna began to work on putting Cora’s hair into an upswept style. The vanity had been prepared with all the things a lady might need for her morning preparations. There was a small wooden box with hairpins and another with small pads to help create the shape of the hairstyle. The vanity was an expensive item, for it had a small mirror. Such a costly thing was very rare in the Highlands.
“Orla has no love for ye.” Cora suddenly thought to question the obvious skill Brynna was displaying.
“So, where did I learn to do hair?” Brynna questioned.
“It is a learned art,” Cora remarked.
“Orla will likely delight in telling ye of me less than respectable origins,” Brynna continued with a smooth and steady voice. “Me mother was the mistress of a McLeod captain. When he died in a raid, his wife made sure to have her driven off McLeod land because she didn’t want to dower me. She was a McKay but only a kept woman. Me father acknowledged me, but that wasn’t enough to outweigh the position of his widow once he was gone.”
“I’m sorry,” Cora spoke softly.
Brynna didn’t appear disturbed at all. “Me life is not pitiful. I have seen those who need yer sympathies. Me mother had always lived a good life, so when she was left to her own resources, she still had skills she might use to earn a slightly better life than those who were truly without means. My mother took a position in a well-established brothel, where she served as a head maid to the courtesans. The men expected superior women.”
“Yet, you ended up here.” Cora nudged her for more when she fell silent.
Brynna’s eyes narrowed. “My mother died last season. Orla’s son convinced me to return here and wed him. That I might hide only so long in a brothel before I ended up sold to the highest bidder. Virgins go for small fortunes in such places, even if I am no great beauty.”
“Do ye love him?”
“Even if I did, I will never seek his company again since he has forsaken me. I am not worthless, and no man is going to convince me I am fit only for the gutter.”
Brynna looked up to see what Cora made of her confession. They locked gazes in the mirror, and Cora sent her a smile of approval.
“Ye deserve better,” Cora assured her.
Brynna finished Cora’s hair off with a few last tucks and a look of gratitude.