A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) (49 page)

“
I wouldn
’
t want to intrude,
”
Muira said carefully.

“
You are family now though,
”
Bridghe continued, apparently warming to the idea. 
“
And if we leave it up to Lachlan to introduce you it might happen sometime in the next decade,
”
she snorted uncharitably. 
“
Eithne might even throw some kind of party for you,
”
Bridghe continued, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“
Party?
”
Muira croaked.  She loved feasts and balls ordinarily, but a MacRae party was something that Muira wasn
’
t quite sure that she was quite ready for yet.

“
Eithne is said to throw the best parties,
”
Bridghe nodded, although the look on her face seemed to imply that she didn
’
t care too much about gaining such labels herself. 
“
I hate to say it, but it would really help if Eithne was seen to show you such favour,
”
she added gently.

Muira nodded nervously. 
“
Your sister doesn
’
t live here at the castle?
”
she asked quietly.

“
No, her husband has a large holding of land, with its own house, a couple of miles away from Eilean Donan,
”
Bridghe explained. 
“
So, what do you say, are you going to come?
”

Muira paused thoughtfully.  It was terribly tempting, to be allowed to leave the chamber and explore a little.  Even the prospect of meeting someone new wasn
’
t wholly disagreeable.  But it was daunting, and Muira wasn
’
t entirely sure if Lachlan would approve of her going off without him.  Although, how could he object really?  She would be with his
sisters
after all.  Surely there was no harm in that?  Muira wondered fearfully if her mother-in-law might also be coming along, but Bridghe hadn
’
t said so
…
so she chose to assume not.

“
Muira?
”
Bridghe pressed, tired of waiting for an answer.

“
Oh, sorry, yes,
”
Muira blurted.  The words tumbled out of her mouth before she
’
d really finished considering them.

“
Excellent,
”
Bridghe smiled. 
“
You seem quite like Eithne,
”
she mused thoughtfully. 
“
I
’
m sure you
’
ll get along famously.
”

..ooOOoo..

I
’
m sure you
’
ll get along famously.

That wasn
’
t quite how Muira would have put it.  Eithne took after her mother, in both looks and, sadly, demeanour apparently.  She met Muira with a glacier smile and then bid her a frosty welcome to her home- a large, rather lavish, manor house.  Sorcha hadn
’
t joined them after all.  She had sent one of the maids to tell Bridghe that one of her boys had fallen ill, so she was staying at the castle to nurse him.

“
So, you
’
re the one everyone
’
s talking about?
”
Eithne asked without requiring an answer. 
“
Hmm,
”
she mused, looking Muira up and down as if she were in a cattle market. 
“
I thought you
’
d be prettier.
”

Muira scowled and opened her mouth, it was one thing to grin and bear the insults from her mother-in-law, but quite another to take them from Lachlan
’
s sister- however Bridghe spoke before she had a chance to respond.

“
Muira
’
s not been well,
”
she said. 

Bridghe
’
s voice held a little note of warning, but from the way that Eithne simply tossed her hair carelessly over her shoulder Muira doubted very much that she was taking any notice of her younger sister.  Their hostess showed them through to a pretty blue drawing room and offered them both a seat and refreshments.

“
You didn
’
t have anything too serious the matter with you though?
”
Eithne asked sweetly, looking as though she dearly hoped that the answer would be yes.

“
No, nothing serious
”
Muira replied silkily. 
“
We Camerons are a hardy bunch, you know,
”
she added innocently, stirring sugar into her tea calmly.  Bridghe shot a warning glance in her sister-in-law
’
s direction that time, while Eithne
’
s lip curled in sneer that matched her mother
’
s.

“
Well, that remains to be seen,
”
she hissed nastily.

“
Eithne, stop it,
”
Bridghe snapped. 
“
You know Graem is working towards peace between the clans and that Lachlan will uphold that peace when he becomes Laird.
”

“
If
he becomes Laird,
”
Eithne said, scowling at Muira, who scowled right back at her.

“
Well now you see, that
’
s something I thought that you might like to help our dear brother with, Eithne
”
Bridghe said, smiling widely, and helping herself to a dainty little cake off the tea tray, as if she was wholly unaware of the silent battle taking place between the other two women.

“
Help how?
”
Eithne asked suspiciously.

“
People are only so
…
resentful at the moment because they don
’
t know Muira,
”
she said simply.  Muira frowned at her the way Bridghe had phrased the point, but listened attentively nonetheless. 

“
Your point being?
”
Eithne snarled.

“
That we need to help everyone get to know Muria of course,
”
Bridghe said simply, flashing a smile in her sister-in-law
’
s direction.  Muira wanted the floor to open and swallow her. 
“
For Lachlan
’
s sake,
”
she qualified.

A muscle seemed to be twitching unpleasantly in Eithne
’
s jaw.  She was silent for a full minute.  However, her lips finally twisted into a thin, pinched smile. 
“
Well, if it
’
s for Lachlan,
”
she simpered,
“
I
’
ll see what I can do.
”
  The look she shot Muira was positively lethal.

Muira looked from Bridghe
’
s satisfied face to Eithne
’
s sinister one. 
She was a Cameron lamb being led to the MacRae slaughter
…

..ooOOoo..

Lachlan looked around the empty chamber and frowned.  He hadn
’
t told Muira to stay in their rooms, but frankly he had expected her to.  She didn
’
t really know anyone, she was still recovering from her fever and, he hated to even think it, but she probably wouldn
’
t be well received if she went wandering around the castle alone.  So where on earth
was
she?

Lachlan dropped a posy of wild winter flowers onto a table, feeling decidedly foolish for having gone to the trouble of picking them now.  He thought about finding a vase, but in a fit of pique left the little bouquet where it was to die.  He rang the bell for Liane, hoping that the maid might be able to enlighten him as to the whereabouts of his wife, but not really expecting her to be able to tell him much.

He was a little surprised therefore when Liane
was
able to tell him where Muira had gone.  Lachlan wasn
’
t sure if he was entirely comforted by the explanation however.  He was certain that Bridghe would only ever act with Muira
’
s best interests at heart, but he didn
’
t know if taking her to see their eldest sister was the wisest of moves.