She stood utterly dumbstruck and speechless.
Did he really want to escort her this night? Was he asking to court her?
It simply could not be.
There had to be a reasonable explanation but for the life of her she could not figure it out.
She knew not what to say.
“Are ye all right, Aishlinn?” he asked.
She looked as though she were about to faint. He had asked many a lass for such a privilege but none had looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head.
She mulled it over in her mind.
She had very strong feelings for Duncan but knew he did not feel the same for her in return.
Certain she was that Duncan deserved a finer, better and more beautiful woman than she, Aishlinn had pushed any romantic thoughts of him from her mind days ago.
At least she had tried to.
Was Black Richard sincere in what he said? She wondered if given the chance could he make her stomach tumble and her heart want to leap from her chest as it did when Duncan was near?
Just as she was ready to give Richard her answer Duncan appeared from behind them.
Aishlinn was surprised to see him here for she usually saw him only in the morning and when he came to escort her to the evening meal.
“Black Richard! Aishlinn!” he said as he squeezed his tall and muscular body in between the two of them.
“How are ye this fine and sunny day?”
He asked with a smile upon his face.
He gave Black Richard a wink and a pat on his back.
Black Richard rolled his eyes as he took a step away in order to give Duncan some room.
He had been wondering for a time now if Duncan held any feelings for Aishlinn. He had been waiting in the background to see if there were any signs that something more might be going on between the two of them.
Having not witnessed any overt actions on Duncan’s part, Black Richard felt it fine and proper to finally tell the beautiful lass of his intentions.
The fact that Duncan showed up at this very moment told him that perhaps he did have some feelings for her.
“Hello, Duncan!”
Aishlinn smiled at him.
“How was your practice this day?”
“Fine, lass, fine!”
Aishlinn noticed then that he had a quite peculiar smile upon his face as if he were forcing himself to look more cheerful than he might actually be.
“Are you all right, Duncan?”
A look of shock came about his face. What on earth, she supposed, was the matter with him?
“Me, lass? Why I be as right as rain!” he answered, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.
She did not think he was telling her the truth.
Glad to see him, she decided not to push the matter further.
She had to step around Duncan in order to see Black Richard. To Duncan she said, “Black Richard has asked if he could escort me to the evening meal.”
Black Richard cleared his throat and smiled.
Duncan stared at him. “He did, did he?”
“Aye, I did,” Black Richard told him as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Do you think that would be all right, Duncan?”
Aishlinn asked.
The two men stared at each other like two bulls ready to do battle.
“What, lass?” Duncan asked, not really focused on Aishlinn at the moment.
His mind was busy coming up with creative ways to take Black Richard’s life from him.
“Do you think that it would be all right?” she repeated,
“for Black Richard to escort me to the evening meal?”
Duncan did not take his eyes off Black Richard. The last thing he wanted was Black Richard, or anyone else for that matter, to woo Aishlinn.
Being stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place, he felt he had no choice at the moment but to smile and tell her, “Why, I see no problem with it, lass.
Black Richard is above all else a fine man who would treat a young lass such as ye with the utmost respect.
Why, he would no’ even think to make any overt advances towards an innocent young girl.
Isn’t that right, Richard?”
“Aye,” Black Richard said. “Aishlinn is a fine woman. I’d be treatin’ her in a dignified and respectable manner,” he said, still smiling.
Aishlinn could not read between the lines of their conversation and did not pick up on the subtle nuances.
But each man knew where the other stood.
Black Richard continued.
“A fine,
beautiful
lass such as Aishlinn, deserves nothin’ more than the best, wouldn’t ya say Duncan?”
“Aye, I would,” Duncan said as his jaws clenched.
They were silent for a few moments.
Aishlinn felt something was afoot but was not quite certain what it could be.
Men often confused her. Deciding she would never be able to make much sense of them she said,
“Fine then.
Black Richard, I will allow you to escort me this night.”
Black Richard smiled wryly at Duncan before walking towards Aishlinn.
He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it ever so tenderly. The gesture brought a blush to her cheeks. “
Tapadh leat,”
he said to her.
Aishlinn smiled as she said, “
Se do bheatha
.”
Quite surprised, Duncan turned to look at her. “When did ya learn the Gaelic?”
“Ya should pay closer attention, Duncan,” Black Richard said as he walked away.
“Elst ya might miss out on something special and important.”
He winked at Duncan, bowed to Aishlinn and bid her good day.
******
After Black Richard left, Aishlinn shared parts of their conversation with Duncan. She wanted a man’s perspective, as she had no experience in matters of the heart or romance.
Duncan was, after all, her foster brother.
Even though she held more than sisterly feelings for him, she felt he was the best person to go to for such things.
“You’re such a good brother to me Duncan,” she told him.
“I know you’ll be honest with me.
Do you think it only a brotherly invitation Black Richard gave, or was it something more?”
Duncan knew full well what kind of intentions Black Richard had and being her brother was not one of them.
But he did not want to share that with her.
Black Richard was a good man, not a ruffian and not one to bed any lass that would have him.
That fact made Duncan’s current predicament all the more difficult.
He wanted Aishlinn to have a rich and full life.
But he did not want it to be with anyone other than himself.
He felt quite selfish but did not care at the moment.
He knew Black Richard could quite easily sweep Aishlinn off her feet and that was a chance he was not willing to take.
“I think it be more of a friendship he be wantin’ to have with ya Aishlinn, and nothing more.”
She deflated the moment he said it and it brought a twinge of guilt to his heart.
Her punctured posture made him wonder if she had more feelings for Black Richard than she would admit to.
“Is something the matter, lass?”
She shook her head.
“Nay,” She felt like a great fool at the moment. Such a fool she was to think there might be a small chance that Black Richard, or any man for that matter, might be able to see beyond her plainness and want something more than a friendship.
She felt stupid for allowing her heart to believe such a thing possible.
He believed her not.
“I think mayhap there be somethin’ and ya be afraid to say it.”
She sighed heavily before looking at him.
“Do you promise not to laugh at me?”
“Aye, I do promise,” he said as the guilt grew.
She took a deep breath before asking, “Do you think
any
man might
ever
be wanting anything
other
than a friendship with me?”
He felt like a cad and a whoreson. Duncan knew she thought she was plain and deserved little in life.
And when a man finally showed some attention towards her, raising her self-esteem for probably the first time in her life, Duncan had broken it.
He knew there was a special place in hell for a man like him.
He held her gaze for a long moment.
“Aye, lass, I certainly do.” He was not certain if she believed him. “I think there be plenty of men here who would very much like to gain yer affections.” He could not tell her he was one of them.
“But I ask ya to be makin’ me a promise, lass.”
She did not look up at him, her eyes fixed at the ground at her feet. “What is the promise?”
“That before ya go allowin’ all these lads to be escorting ya to dinner and tryin’ to win yer affections, ye’ll come to me first?”
Duncan could see by the puzzled look on her face that she did not understand why he would make such a request of her.
“Ya see, no’
all
the men here might have
good
and decent intentions.
I know of a few off the top of me head right now who I’d warn ya against.”
His own name was first on that list.
She thought about it for a moment.
Perhaps this was the kind of thing good brothers did for their sisters.
“Do you do that for Bree as well?”
“Aye, I do.”
He knew it was only true to a certain extent.
Bree was a good judge of character and had grown up knowing everyone here and Duncan worried not that she might make a mistake.
Besides, Bree had her parents to look out for her.
He knew he was being selfish but he wanted Aishlinn for his own.
Having no experience with men or romance, Aishlinn thought perhaps it was a good idea to first confide in Duncan before making a decision on what man she would allow herself to be courted by. If
anyone
did in fact ever want that privilege.
She agreed and made the promise.
Duncan wondered if he’d ever stop acting a fool when it came to this bonny lass.
The thought of anyone else attempting to court her made his stomach seize and his heart fill with jealousy.
He had no true claim to the lass, but he would like at least to have the opportunity.
******
Duncan watched very carefully over Aishlinn that evening while keeping a more watchful eye on Black Richard.
The first sign of any romantic twinkling in the man’s eye and Duncan was ready to intervene. Although he felt quite guilty for lying to her earlier in the day, his jealousy and his need to have Aishlinn as his own far outweighed his guilt.
He noticed that Aishlinn did not look as happy as she had earlier in the day. She was merely going through the motions and it was his fault she was having a miserable time.
He knew she felt quite wounded by the lie he had told her.
The usual bright smile was gone from her face and she spoke very little to Black Richard during their meal. Although Black Richard was making a gallant attempt at being kind to her, it mattered not.
Aishlinn was convinced he wanted nothing more than a friendship.
Not being experienced when it came to men she was not picking up on the subtle cues that Black Richard was giving her.
Duncan noticed them, however; for they were the same kinds of things he would have used himself if he weren’t such a coward.