Highland Hellion (Highland Weddings #3)(44)

Katherine shivered at the feeling of his breath against her skin, and he reached out and stroked the gooseflesh that rose along her neck. She felt her eyes widen as she locked gazes with him, lost in some sort of connection that made everything around them disappear.

A loud burst of laughter broke the spell. Duncan Lindsey was out of his chair and pounding on the tabletop with his fist.

“The lass is finished eating, Rolfe!” Duncan declared in a voice that shook the rafters. “Only a fool would argue with her about lingering at the table!”

The hall erupted into merriment. Men tipped their heads back as they laughed, and women shot her knowing looks. A few of them were downright catty as they cast longing glances toward Rolfe, making it plain they envied her.

“Off to bed with ye!” Duncan declared with a raised mug.

Katherine felt her eyes widen at the blunt mention of what her night would include, but she had little time to linger over it as her chair was pulled back and she was lifted right out of it. The Lindsey retainers never let her feet touch the floor, hoisting her high above their heads and carrying her toward the passageway, to the delight of the Lindseys watching.

But she was happy enough to go, because the suggestions being called out set her cheeks on fire more than the fact that she was being taken abovestairs to consummate her vows.

The Lindsey women weren’t going to be left out of the fun, either. They flooded the chamber, taking delight in kicking the men out before they turned on her.

“Let’s get ye out of that dress.”

“Aye, ’twould be a terrible shame if it were to be torn.”

“No man knows how a fine dress like that is laced.”

“It would be damaged for certain.”

“And ye do nae need it anymore.”

Katherine twisted and turned, but they still managed to get at the lacing that went down the back of the dress. They laughed at her as they lifted the bodice away, and Katherine felt hands on the hooks that secured the waistband.

“I really can tend to myself,” she implored them.

“Nonsense,” an older woman said from where she stood supervising the entire madness. “A dress like that, well now, it’s a noble one. Ladies do nae do anything themselves.”

“English ones,” someone added as the overskirt came free and was taken across the chamber.

“My stepmother ran the house,” Katherine said.

Some of the women stilled, fixing her with critical looks.

Katherine merely shrugged. “From what I recall, she kept the books and oversaw the kitchens and social events as well as keeping up with correspondence.”

“Sounds as though she set a decent example for ye,” the woman in front of her offered before she snapped her fingers and pointed at the underskirt. “But did she tell ye what yer duties are as a wife?”

There was more than one giggle in response as the women took away the underskirt and Katherine’s farthingale puddled around her ankles when the drawstring was released. Her hip roll was next, leaving her in her corset, smock, and stockings.

“I know what…well…how it all fits together.”

There was a fresh round of amusement at her expense as the women took to pulling every last hairpin from her hair.

“If a lass is lucky, it fits together very nicely.”

“I’d enjoy having Rolfe McTavish fit his parts to mine, and that’s a fact.”

“All right then.” The woman in front of Katherine raised her voice, and there was the unmistakable ring of authority in her tone. “Enough of that. Ye’ve had yer fun. Off with ye.”

There were sounds of disappointment, but the chamber began to empty, making Katherine realize how tightly she was clenching her fists. Her fingernails had pressed deep into the skin of her palms.

The older woman waited until the rest of the Lindsey women were gone. She offered a kindly smile before she picked up a comb from the dressing table and came toward Katherine.

“There is no shame in admitting ye do nae know what is to come tonight.” She was pulling the comb through Katherine’s hair, sparking a memory from a time when her own mother had once done so for her.

So very long ago.

“I know,” Katherine said softly, not wanting to break the spell of the moment. “The MacPhersons allowed me to train, and, well…”

“Ye think ye heard everything there is to know?” The woman continued to comb. “Mind ye, if yer groom treats ye as men talk in the yard, I’ll have the laundress pour salt in his washing.”

“Salt?” Katherine turned a questioning look toward her.

The woman offered her a knowing smirk as she extended the comb. “Makes the fabric itch, especially on the tender spots beneath a man’s arms and at the back of the neck. A gentle reminder that while a man is master of his house, only a woman can make it into a home.”

She moved behind Katherine and began to work at the lace holding the corset tight. “Little wonder ye were finished eating. I have no idea why ladies wear these. If you’re fortunate, you won’t be able to fit in it come summer’s end.”

The woman eased the corset down Katherine’s arms and knelt to untie one garter and then another. Her stockings slipped down as soon as they were free.

She hadn’t thought about children.

Of course that was a duty of a wife, but she had not truly contemplated what it would mean to force her blood onto a child.