"Do you? Will she be simple minded?"
He ignored her sarcasm and pulled off his other shoe. "She will be very wise. She will smile often, gladly let me hold her and she will have a laugh that warms my heart."
"Then you will adore either Kenna or Julie. They smile often, they long to be in the arms of a man and they giggle constantly."
"Do they have red hair?"
"Nay, their hair is yellow."
"Good, maybe I will like them after all." Blair got up, grabbed his shoes and headed into the cottage.
Bridget felt a little wounded for some odd reason.
*
A third laird came; Kenna rejected him and rushed off to spend the day with Julie, who now also had red hair.
Julie moaned, "You can tell me why you constantly go to the Keep. I will not tell, I promise."
"Aye, but I promised not to tell you. Would you have me break my promise?"
"Nay, I guess not."
"I wish he would come back." Kenna began to stroll down the northern most path for the fifth time that day.
"Laird Ferguson?"
"Aye. I saw him only briefly at the gathering and we did not speak at all. Now my mother does not intend to visit with her brother again for a month. I am certain I will die if I have to wait that long."
Julie wrinkled her brow, "You love this lad?"
"He makes my heart flutter when I see him. I do not know if that is love or not? Do you know?"
Kenna rarely asked her anything and sadly Julie didn't have the answer. "Nay, my heart has never fluttered."
"I once thought I preferred Duff, but now..." She heard the long, slow whistle signaling a new arrival and held her breath. Then she let it out. It was probably another too thin, too old, or too ugly laird wanting to marry Charlet. She was getting tired of the whole mess.
*
Charlet was still sitting on the rock, her shoes were only a couple of feet away and Blair was out of sight. Her chance had finally arrived. Casual, that's how she would act. She got up, picked up her shoes and began to wander along the rocky bank of the loch. She stopped, put her shoes on, enjoyed the view and wandered a little farther. Then she skipped a small stone across the water and paused to watch a bird soar through the air.
She was so busy ignoring where Blair might be, she wasn't aware of the eyes that watched her from behind a large rock. Closer and closer she walked, climbing up on rocks and then jumping down, all the time wondering where Blair put her horse. She glanced toward the trees, but looked away before she realized Blair was there motioning for her to come to him. She glanced again and this time his bow was loaded and he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was watching something not far from her.