When North Meets South

Chapter 14: Love is stupid

We are roses unfurling, becoming more clearly ourselves...

That arrogant bastard! Helen thought as another kinsman brought her a bouquet of flowers that morning.

This had been going on every morning for the past week and at first she had wondered whether it was her new hairstyle that had been drawing the attention of so many men but by the third day of brawny Scottish men spewing poetry, she was afraid and did some digging only to discover Mathan had apparently been telling the men she was in the market for a husband.

Worse still, he had been avoiding her so she had never gotten a moment alone with him so she could wring his fat neck for his stupidity.

The nerve of him!

What did he think of her?

Was she some toy to be used and passed off to the nearest eligible bachelor?

"Now lassie, there's no need to look so murderous." Duncan laughed, "It's for our good really."

She sent him a hot glare and turned away from him to glare at the High table where she noticed Mathan quickly look away from her, choking as he tried to cover it up by sipping from his cup.

She snorted and sipped her own wine thinking of all the ways she could kill a giant Scotsman but even the buzz of alcohol couldn't bury the hurt she felt.

How dare he?

After that night, she had felt...hoped even that they had grown closer and she had considered burying the thoughts that what they had was nothing more than a fling. But that was the issue with buried things. They always found a way to push out of the soil no matter how hard you wished them to stay secret.

Cursing the weakness of her tiny heart, she stood firmly setting off in the direction of Gretchen's chambers without saying goodbye to Duncan or anyone on her table, remembering she had to clear out her plates for the morning meal. Hopefully, the woman had finally eaten something.

The sight of an untouched tray greeted her as well as a grimy looking ball of depression that was Gretchen huddled under bed covers. It had been almost a week since the incident and she still hadn't gotten up from her bed and surely hadn't even bothered to clean herself up.

What exactly had Lord Alastair said to hurt her so?

A loud sigh escaped Gretchen startling Helen who had thought the other woman asleep and she watched with her heart still racing as the lump of bedclothes turned to the side.

"God!" Gretchen groaned again just as Lady Freya stepped into the room.

No. Helen mouthed to the other woman as they watched Gretchen's theatrics, she with amusement but the other with a frown and a stubborn set of her mouth that let her know trouble was brewing. Her suspicion was confirmed when the woman mouthed something to her hand maid who scurried off quickly.

"Arrggh!" Gretchen yelled suddenly sitting up and throwing off her bed covers.

"That's it!" Lady Freya complained just as her hand maid returned with a gaggle of Scotswomen holding various items.

Gretchen ignored them and glared at the far wall with a pout that soon turned into a laugh that had everyone staring at her as if she had finally lost her mind.

"Gretchen Fiona Annalisa Boyd!" Lady Freya scolded, "I've let you hide away in your chambers this past week for whatever reason but no more. Look at you! You're a mess. This is so unladylike of you."

Gretchen didn't answer although winced visibly at the woman's volume. They all did.

"What did my son do to you to make you so..." She said waving a hand over Gretchen with a look mirroring disgust and concern.