Page 11 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Hellion (Auctioned Highland Brides #4)

“Good morning, my lady!”

Lydia blinked open her eyes as the curtains around her bed were drawn back, and she looked up at a total stranger.

Her maid, Hannah, was unrecognizable from the scared girl who had accompanied her. She was now windswept with a beaming smile on her face that Lydia had never seen before. She was holding long stems of lavender in her arms.

“Look what I found on the hills, my lady, won’t they look beautiful in here?”

She walked to the mantelpiece where a vase was awaiting the stems, and began arranging them.

Lydia sat up, smiling in bewilderment. Hannah was humming to herself, her hair loose down her back from her walk, and a bronze tint to her skin. She looked like a different person from the sullen, quiet maid she had known in London.

“You seem to be warming to Scotland,” Lydia said as she hooked her legs over the side of the bed.

“Oh, it is so beautiful. I have never seen such forests and hills in my life. I grew up on a tiny street with just my mother and three brothers. They will not believe the views we wake up to here, my lady.”

Lydia went to look at the view in question through the window.

The slope of the Highlands undulated into the distance, the bright lake reflecting the sun’s rays as the trees bent in the wind.

It really is beautiful here, if only I could feel as settled with my new husband as I do with the landscape.

“Is everything well, my lady?” Hannah asked suddenly, sounding startled.

Lydia looked back to see that she was standing beside the bowl of water at the basin, where the blood from Callum’s wound had seeped into the liquid, dyeing it a faint pink.

“Oh yes, do not concern yourself with that. It is not my blood.”

“ Whose blood is it?” Hannah asked, looking alarmed.

“The Laird’s. It seems someone attacked him, but he would not tell me who or for what reason.” There was a bitter edge to her voice as she tugged her dressing gown more tightly around her.

“I see,” Hannah murmured.

Lydia looked down at the beautifully embroidered sleeve between her fingers and turned to her maid.

“Do you know where my dresses came from, and this nightgown?” Lydia asked. “I discovered them last night, but I wondered where you found them.”

“They were ready for you when we arrived, my lady. Do you not like them?”

“On the contrary. They are the most exquisite gowns I have ever owned. Perhaps… perhaps they belonged to another lady of the house.”

The thought turned her stomach. She did not like the idea of wearing another woman’s clothing—particularly not if it belonged to the girls’ mother and she had passed away.

“I do not know, but I could find out for you. But either way, we should get you dressed. I could hear them preparing breakfast when I returned.”

They both moved into the adjoining room where the same dresses were laid out upon the bed.

“What time did you wake?” Lydia asked, amused.

“Oh, at dawn, my lady. These hills are made for walking!”

Lydia laughed as Hannah began to prepare her for the day, humming constantly as she did so.

Callum was not used to giggling at the breakfast table.

The two little brown heads on either side of him were particularly noisy today. The girls couldn’t sit still.

Where do these wee bairns get their energy?

Not only did he have to contend with children at mealtimes, but his body was also flooded with nerves he couldn’t shake.

He refused to believe it was in anticipation of Lydia coming to join them for the first time.

I am nae interested in sharin’ me meals with anyone, least of all me wife-to-be.

“Would you stop yer squallin’?” he grunted as two pairs of bright blue eyes fixed on him.

Eilis held his gaze for longer than Amy, and he did his best to frown at them.

His father had once told him that children needed authority, and that was the only thing Callum felt confident that he could give them. He wasn’t an affectionate man, but he would care for them in his own way and ensure they were safe.

His glare did not have the desired effect, however, and the giggling continued as Callum rolled his eyes.

“What exactly is so funny?” he asked. But neither little girl would answer him.

There was a part of Callum that was desperate to get to know the girls.

He wanted to grasp anything connected to Angus with both hands. These children were the only thing left of his brother now, and no matter how they had parted, they were the only family he had left.

Callum swore, jolting back in his seat as something sharp dug into his leg. Pushing his chair back, he glowered down at the black ball of soot that was shimmying up his shin.

The kitten’s eyes were as pale as lichen on the castle walls and too big for its head, staring up at him with quiet determination.

It reached his knee, scrambling up over the hem of his kilt and perched there looking around with interest.

“What is this thing doin’ at me table?” Callum asked, picking the kitten up by the scruff of the neck and frowning at it. The little thing dangled from his massive fingers and mewed mournfully as Eilis jumped up to rescue it.

“She is greetin’ ye,” she said reprovingly. “Ye told us we had to nae let her out of our sight.”

Callum handed the kitten carefully down to the child.

“That is nae ‘she’, Eilis,” he said gently. “Ye have a tomcat there. Plain as day.”

The two girls looked at the cat in confusion.

“It’s a boy?” Amy asked, sounding excited. “We can use him to catch the mice in our room!”

The two girls clapped their hands together as Callum rolled his eyes. There was something very endearing about them, especially when they were working together on something.

Then the door to the room opened, and all other thoughts were expelled from his head.

Lydia entered wearing a beautiful scarlet dress, the work Kristen had done complementing her figure perfectly. Her dark hair was tied back with a matching ribbon looped in neat plaits behind her head.

Callum ran his eyes over her appreciatively before looking down at his plate to ensure he wasn’t caught staring.

A familiar throb of heat built between his legs, and he grimaced, infuriated by his body’s reaction to the woman.

What is it about her that sets me skin alight?

Lydia smiled warmly at the girls as she sat down, and Eilis returned to her seat with the kitten in her lap.

“Girls. I dinnae believe ye have been properly introduced. This is Lady Lydia Turner, she is to be me wife,” Callum murmured.

“We know!” Eilis said merrily.

“The girls are very polite young ladies.”

Amy beamed at her, and Callum snorted, getting an irritated glance from Eilis for his trouble.

“What is that you have there?” Lydia asked, and Eilis held up the little ball of fluff for her to see.

“Her name is Raven.”

“Uncle Callum just told you it was a boy,” Amy protested.

“ His name is Raven, then,” Eilis said. “We found him, and we’re going to care for him. Uncle Callum said we could.”

Lydia’s eyes moved to his; they were wide and curious.

“Do you like cats?” she asked.

“Nay,” he replied, and the girls started giggling again. “But the wee ones have decided Raven stays, so he stays. But he isnae to go missin’ and if he does, then it isnae me who will be lookin’ for him.”

He glanced up at Lydia, irritated to find that she was smiling at him as if he had said something very funny indeed.

“Are you sure you don’t like cats? My father hates them and wouldn’t allow one at the breakfast table if he had a choice.”

“Our mother didnae like cats either,” Eilis piped up, and Callum stiffened, wondering what else she might say.

The table fell silent, Lydia glancing at him warily, but she didn’t ask any other questions.

Amy was looking at Lydia, her little mouth working as she curled her long hair behind her ear.

“I am glad ye chose that dress,” she said. “Ye look very pretty.”

Lydia brushed at one of the intricate sleeves.

“Thank you for helping me choose it; I love it. I am very grateful to whoever lent it to me. The embroidery is exquisite.”

“It is yers,” Callum growled, taking a large bite of his eggs.

“Mine?”

“Aye.”

“You mean, it has been gifted to me?” Lydia asked.

“Nay. It has been made for ye. I asked a seamstress in the village to ensure ye had the right clothin’ for this weather. It may be spring, but it can be mighty cold in this big drafty castle. Wind howls along the corridors like a monster some nights.”

“It broke a window once!” Amy said cheerfully as she pulled a boiled egg onto her plate.

The kitten jumped up onto the surface, sniffing eagerly as Eilis placed a few pieces of her own egg down for it.

“As I say,” Callum continued. “Those slim little dresses ye had in London might be fine for promenadin’ in the park, or whatever it is ye get up to down south, but here, ye need layers to survive.”

Lydia was still touching the fabric, and his eyes were drawn to her long, delicate fingers.

She has cool hands. They felt good against me skin last night.

“Thank you,” Lydia said softly. “I have never had such fine things.”

“Yer faither never bought ye dresses?” he asked gruffly. “I thought that’s all women did in London.”

She gave him an arched look. “Is that what you thought? Well, my father never bought me anything he was not forced to buy. He didn’t like spending money on anyone but himself. I do not know how much this dress cost, but I am very grateful. I shall treasure it.”

Then she turned back to her plate, pulling bread, eggs, and pieces of ham onto it and beginning to slice them up into perfect little squares with her knife.

Callum watched her, surprised by the sincerity in her words.

He had asked Kristen to make the dresses out of necessity, never imagining Lydia would be so touched by their appearance.

I should buy her some more. How many dresses does a woman need… fifty? One hundred?

“How is your shoulder?” Lydia asked suddenly.

“Dinnae trouble yerself with that,” he growled. “It’s healin’.”

She fell silent as the girls stared up at them both, exchanging a look between them that Callum couldn’t read.

Since he had arrived at the castle, he had noticed that the twins could communicate without speech, often knowing what the other was thinking or feeling without any effort.

His chest tightened. It had once been the same with Angus—they could practically read one another’s minds on the battlefield. If there were ever a crisis, Callum would know instinctively what was needed before Angus even asked.

“So,” Lydia said, a little too brightly. “What are you two girls doing today?”

“We are going to take Raven around the castle and show him everythin’ he needs to ken, so he doesnae get lost.”

“Well, that sounds like a very good idea,” Lydia said, tucking into her toast. “You know, my brother would have loved a cat. He was always bringing in stray creatures from the gardens.”

“Like what?” Amy asked.

“Oh, lots of things. Once, he brought in a toad.”

“A toad!”

“We have those by the lake,” Eilis said. “Ye can hear them callin’ to each other in the night.”

“And minnows. There’s a big fish in the lake, big enough to eat a man!” Amy said confidently.

“And where did ye hear nonsense like that?” Callum asked her.

Amy recoiled a little, but Lydia was nodding her head knowingly, her green eyes spearing him across the table.

“Do not doubt it. Children see things we miss all the time.”

The two girls were grinning now, and Callum realized, belatedly, that Lydia was trying to put them at ease.

In fact, they seemed more relaxed in her presence than they had since he’d arrived.

He tamped down his instinct to contradict Amy’s statement. He knew perfectly well there was nothing in the lake except trout and minnows.

“Well then,” he said, pointing his knife at Amy. “When did ye see this great fish?”

“We went down with faither, and it leaped out of the water! He told me it was a pike and was big enough to swallow me whole.”

Callum’s lips twitched as a small smile broke over his face.

“Well then,” Lydia said, whispering to the girls behind her hand as if Callum couldn’t hear her. “You must make sure you never go to the lakeside alone in case it jumps out of the water and gobbles you up.”

The girls let out peals of laughter at that as they continued chatting merrily with Lydia about the size of the fish and how many teeth it had.

It was some minutes later when Callum looked down at his plate to find that it was clear and he had finished eating a while before.

He would normally have left the table by now, never one to hang around when there was nothing left to consume.

But he found himself reluctant to do so. Something about Lydia was making the girls more talkative.

It is nice to hear laughter in these halls again.

The urge to remain was overwhelming, and although his mind screamed at him to move and go about his day, he didn’t rise from his seat. Lydia continued to tell tales of her brother’s antics, and the girls were enraptured.

He was relieved when the door opened, and Alexander strode into the room with a sense of intense purpose.

“Good mornin’, M’Laird, may I speak with ye for a moment?”

Callum nodded, rising to his feet and following him out, relieved that something had forced him to move, or he might have sat there all day.