A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,47
and the other men rose when she approached the table, showing her deference that normally didn’t exist. She supposed it came from her soon-to-be position as Lady Campbell, assuming she did nothing to ruin her buddy relationship with Brodie. She tensed when King Robert and Queen Elizabeth entered the gathering hall, knowing the announcement was imminent. The queen seated herself, but the king remained standing.
“We toast today to the upcoming nuptials of Laird Brodie Campbell and Lady Laurel Ross. As of this afternoon, they are betrothed to wed within a moon. May they be blessed with a prosperous marriage,” King Robert cheered as he raised his chalice.
Laurel plastered a serene expression on her face. She hadn’t missed that King Robert hadn’t wished them a long or happy marriage, merely a prosperous one. She couldn’t imagine how that was possible since she was the pauper she’d feared. Before arriving at the evening meal, Brodie and Laurel met with King Robert and Monty in the Privy Council chamber. She discovered her father included land along the coast in her dowry. Had it been on the western side of the country, it might have benefited Brodie. But on the east coast, there were few trading routes that would help his clan since they lived diagonally across the country. There was a paltry sum of coins and the wardrobe which Laurel currently owned. There were no household items, but her father’s mother bequeathed her a handful of jewels. The woman died after Laurel arrived at court, so she had no knowledge that she’d inherited them. Since nothing else would be sent from Balnagown, she didn’t hold her breath that the jewels would arrive.
Monty appeared shaken when he heard the king read her dowry, confusion flashing across his face more than once despite having read it himself earlier. Laurel watched him the entire time. She knew her brother’s expressions, so she knew he’d believed there was more. She’d wanted to tell him smugly, “I told you so,” but it would have gained her nothing, and she knew there would be little vindication in it. She wondered what their father told Monty before he departed. When the king finished reading the brief list, Laurel turned her gaze to Brodie, who’d been observing her. Shame washed over her. It had been one thing to know, in theory, that there was an insufficient dowry, but it was entirely another for her groom to hear it proven.
Brodie had leaned to whisper in Laurel’s ear, “I’ve told you I’m not marrying you for the dowry.”
“I ken. You’re marry me because the king is making you.”
“Laurie,” Brodie didn’t hide the exasperation from his voice. But he said no more, knowing Laurel struggled with the vast changes laid out before her. He would return home with a wife on his arm, but little else would change. Laurel faced meeting a new clan and a new home. She would once again have her world turned upside down. She would leave behind the life she knew, even if she didn’t like it. She would assume the duties of chatelaine for the first time in her life. And she would do all of that knowing her new clan would realize she brought little but the clothes on her back.
As they sat together in the Great Hall, Brodie slipped his hand onto Laurel’s leg, stopping it from bouncing with nervous energy. He encouraged her to eat by moving the most select cuts of meat onto her half of the trencher they now shared. But Laurel could do little but pick at it. Her stomach ached, and she felt people watching. Despite her feigned bravado, she feared she would be ill if she ate. The only time she relaxed was when she danced with Brodie and Donnan. She accepted two dances with Monty, and it wasn’t as uncomfortable as she thought. Her brother was kind to her, not mentioning anything about that day or what was to come. Instead, he offered to take her riding the next day. She accepted, eager to escape the castle, even if only for an hour. Donnan told her off-color jokes, much as he had when they were younger. She couldn’t help but giggle at several, especially the one that involved a goose’s bill and a sheep’s back end. But it was the dances with Brodie that strengthened her resolve to muster through the coming weeks. He held her closer than propriety dictated. She supposed it was a combination of lust and