A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,134
to do with illness and everything to do with demeanor.
“I ken I’m still new to your clan, so mayhap I must learn that the laird’s family isn’t held to the same high standards as the clans I’m accustomed to.” Laurel looked down her nose at Colina. Then sniffed. “Because I’m certain the wife of the laird’s little brother doesn’t issue commands to the clan’s lady.”
Colina’s back went rigid, and Laurel was certain the woman bared her teeth for a heartbeat. “You’d do well to remember how new you are.”
“And if I should forget?” Laurel taunted. She’d seen Brodie step into the passageway from the corner of her eye. He crept along the wall until he could hide within arm’s reach of the women.
“You seem accident prone, my lady,” Colina mused.
“It cannot be both accidental and intentional.”
“So you say.”
Laurel narrowed her eyes and looked questioningly at Colina, as though she tried to figure her out. “You do understand why something can’t be both, correct?”
Colina sneered, “I’m not stupid.”
“Just lazy.”
“Too good for the likes of you or this clan.”
“But you chose to marry into it.”
“Aye, well, I didn’t get everything I chose.”
“Didn’t you know you were getting the baby brother?”
“I chose a mon determined to lead. I got a milksop.”
“You chose Brodie but got Dominic?” Laurel pretended to sound confused. She was intrigued by what she might learn.
“Nay, you eejit.
Laurel furrowed her brow and looked up at the ceiling as though she was trying to work through what Colina said. “You thought Brodie was a choice. You thought he might marry you.”
“If that’s what I wanted.”
Laurel struggled not to laugh. “You knew Dominic is the younger brother. You believed you could have had the aulder brother. You were certain Dominic was the better leader of the two. Even if he were, what would it matter? You passed up the heir for the spare.”
“There’s a spare for a reason.”
Laurel kept her expression light, but she grew deadly serious. “One person’s accidental is another person’s intentional.”
“Now you understand.” Colina glared at Laurel before offering a sugary smile. “And you do seem accident prone.” Colina tried to step around Laurel, but Laurel shifted to block her.
“And if I’d like to stop being accident prone?”
“It’s not aboot what you’d like.”
“Who is it aboot?”
“Me. Are you daft? Can you not keep up?”
“It’s aboot you wanting to be Lady Campbell and not picking the right brother. You’ve had a chance to be the lady of the keep for three years, but you didn’t take it.”
“I didn’t take the job of being a servant.”
“What do you do all day?”
“What a genuine lady does.” At Laurel’s studiously blank expression, Colina huffed, “Sew.”
“Sew? Like a seamstress?” Laurel grinned.
“Hardly. I embroider.”
“Seamstresses do that too.”
“I’m through with you.” Colina tried to move again, but Laurel remained in the way.
“For today or for forever?” Laurel narrowed her eyes. “Just to be clear, since I’m such an eejit, you wish for me and the laird to die, so your husband the tánaiste becomes laird. That makes you the lady of the clan. But you didn’t want to actually be the lady while you had a three-year chance because that involved work. You merely want the title.”
“I ken you tell your husband everything. Speak of this to him, and your next accident will be sooner than you expect.”
“Like Gara’s?” Laurel tossed out. She suspected who encouraged Gara to be so hostile. The maid was a perfect scapegoat.
“Exactly,” Colina snapped.
Laurel wasn’t going to press for more. She’d learned an intriguing—or rather disturbing—number of things about her sister-by-marriage. The woman’s scorn was too genuine for her to just be testing Laurel by saying outlandish things. What concerned Laurel more than Colina’s thinly veiled threats was Dominic’s role in all of this. She decided she had one more question.
“Dominic must look forward to elevating his status. Is he as eager as you?”
“Bah. He’s content as the tánaiste. I told you, I thought I chose the better one. He’s a follower, not a leader. I was duped, but never again.”
Laurel couldn’t resist. “Why tell me this if you think I might tell the laird?”
“Because you’re not so simple that you won’t understand your role now that you know.”
Laurel moved out of Colina’s way, letting the woman descend the stairs to the main floor before nodding to Brodie. Her husband slipped from the shadows and drew her into his arms. He didn’t know what to make of what he saw and heard. He’d feared several times that Colina would shove Laurel