gathered had leapt out into the open space, hastily forming two lines, men on one side, and women on the other.
Cormack had risen and gallantly offered his hand to Birdie in invitation to join him for the dance. She’d placed her hand in his, letting him lead her out toward the others.
Of course, some small, withered seed of rationality told Gregor that she couldn’t refuse—not with her father and Laird Gunn watching all the while.
The amicability between the two Lairds was thin as parchment, and just as delicate. They’d managed to get through yesterday’s initial meeting without descending into another row, and had survived the entire feast with no more than a few awkward silences and tense moments.
The one area of conversation they could both agree upon, and speak on at length, was the topic of the merits, virtues, and fine qualities of their respective first-borns.
Though no official engagement had been settled upon yet, they were clearly vetting the possibility. And after the fine show Birdie and Cormack were putting on, it seemed the obvious, and mayhap only, next step.
And now, she danced with him. They moved together and apart, then together again. Birdie stepped into Cormack’s open arms and he spun her in a swirl of crimson skirts.
She wore a gown he hadn’t seen before, of a red so deep that it made her exposed skin look like freshly churned cream. The neckline was square, and cut low enough to reveal the tantalizing shadow of her cleavage. Her ever-present necklace dropped enticingly between her breasts, the topaz gemstone barely concealed within the crushed velvet bodice.
When Cormack’s hands closed around her waist to guide her around the couple beside them, Gregor actually growled. Thankfully, the musicians’ song and the stomping and clapping of the onlookers obscured the sound.
He should have simply left—gone down to the kyle, or up to his chamber—to save himself this anguish. Yet some twisted part of him needed to see this with his own eyes. He felt compelled to watch over her, to make sure he would be there should the Gunn lad make one wrong move or overstep his bounds.
And if he were being honest, he also required this painful reminder that Birdie wasn’t his.
In the privacy of his own thoughts, Gregor could grudgingly admit that Cormack didn’t seem evil. He’d been naught but polite and attentive, to both Birdie and Tessa, who currently stood to the side, watching the dancers.
Mayhap the reason Gregor hated him so much was because the man was everything he was not. Refined. Handsome.
And meant for Birdie.
If these wee trials and exhibitions of courtship were to continue for another two days until Samhain, Gregor wouldn’t survive it. Nay, he’d have to leave Castle Bharraich before seeing Birdie engaged to Cormack. His army needed building. And his heart couldn’t take much more of this.
His gaze fell on Tessa once more. She was tapping her foot along with the tune, and her eyes were riveted on the flow of the dance, her face filled with longing.
Instead of standing around like an oaf stewing in his own jealousy, he should ask the lass to dance. It would please Birdie if her sister were happy, and Tessa clearly wanted to join the others. Though she still seemed a bit nervous of Gregor, mayhap her desire to dance would overcome her apprehension around him.
Gregor nudged his way through those gathered, but just as he reached Tessa, the song concluded with a few extra flourishes from the piper. The dancers spun to a stop, clapping and laughing.
Birdie and Cormack had come to a halt only a few paces away. After bowing and curtsying to each other, they moved toward the edge of the open space, where Tessa and now Gregor stood.
“That was well done,” Tessa said to them as they approached. “Ye two make a fine pair.”
“I’m afraid I can barely keep up with ye, my lord,” Birdie said to Cormack, though she didn’t seem winded in the least.
Just then, the musicians launched into another song, this one a bit slower.
“Please, I must beg off another dance,” Birdie exclaimed even before Cormack could ask. “But…” Her gaze shifted to Tessa, who was nigh bouncing on her toes to join in. “…Willnae ye dance with my sister instead? Ye’ll find she is a far more adept partner than I.”
Tessa’s hazel eyes rounded and a flush lit up her face. “Och, nay, ye dinnae have to,” she said to Cormack, though her gaze darted over everything but him.
“It