Page 51 of The Scottish Island Wedding

‘See? At this time of crisis, Matthew, all they can do is be catty! Does no one understand the pressure I’m under?’ Elizabeth turned to her son, her voice getting more and more shrill until she was shouting.

‘Mum. Please. It’s okay.’ Matty approached his mother and took her hand, gingerly. ‘Come on. Let’s get you somewhere quiet.’ He spoke to her as if she was a skittish horse, then he turned to Heather. ‘Seriously, Heather. Can’t you just all get on? Can you just make an effort to be nice to Mum? We talked about this.’

Heather was so taken aback that she didn’t know what to say.

‘Excuse me? This is not Heather’s fault.’ Violet spoke for her. ‘Your mother is being a little much. That’s all there is to it.’

‘See?’ Elizabeth turned to her son and covered her face with her hands. ‘See how they talk to me?’

‘Vi—’ Heather protested.

‘Oh, come on. As if that woman can cry,’ Violet snorted. ‘She’s just hiding her dry eyes under those perfectly manicured claws of hers.’

‘Vi. That’s enough,’ Heather repeated. ‘Come on.’

‘Mum. Please. Come on. Let’s go.’ Matty held Elizabeth’s arm gently. ‘I’ll see you later, Heather.’ He guided his mother to the door; she shook off his arm and swept regally from the room.

TWENTY-THREE

THURSDAY 23 DECEMBER

When she walked into the formal dining room at the castle the next evening, Heather realised that the rehearsal dinner was going to be a very different vibe to the cosy dinner she’d had at the Inn with her family.

Heather and Catriona hadn’t actually organised a formal rehearsal dinner at all, but it had been one of the things on Elizabeth’s list, and, given that she’d had to refuse so many other things, Heather had felt bad and agreed to let her organise it. They were only two nights away from the wedding now, and, although Heather would have preferred to have a night putting her feet up, she still wanted to placate Elizabeth.

Also, Heather was still worried about the day before when Matty had gone off with his mother. He’d knocked on her bedroom door, later in the evening, and said goodnight, but he’d seemed out of sorts. Heather had asked if Elizabeth was all right, and Matty had said yes, but Heather knew there was more he wasn’t saying.

Tonight, Matty was on edge, and so was she.

Everyone was in evening dress. Heather didn’t really see the point; the wedding was her big day, and she would have much rather had a simple dinner in some comfy clothes and then gone to bed. But Elizabeth had sent everyone one of her monogrammed cards, written in her spiky handwriting.

You are cordially invited to the rehearsal dinner for

Heather Balhennie and Matthew Campbell

Formal dining room, Balhennie Castle

Thursday 23 December, 8 p.m.

Black tie/Evening dress

Heather had rolled her eyes when she’d been handed the card by one of Elizabeth’s assistants, but here they all were.

‘Please find your place card,’ Elizabeth trilled as everyone arrived. ‘Ah, Lady Balhennie, you’re sitting by Arthur, and I’m sitting by the Laird.’

‘Did that woman just tell James where he can sit… in his own castle?’ Primrose said in an undertone to Heather, who fought the desire to smirk.

‘You wouldn’t think that was someone who almost drowned in the Sound of Raasay a few days ago,’ Catriona added. ‘She made it look like she was about to die, flying in that exclusive doctor, and all… and now, here she is, bossing us around over place cards.’

Heather dearly wished she could reply to Elizabeth with something acerbic, but Matty was standing next to her, and she didn’t want to upset him.

‘Well, let’s get this over with.’ Aunt Joan lowered herself into the closest chair, ignoring the place cards. Elizabeth tip-tapped her way over to her and examined the card in front of her on the table.

‘Oh, no, Joan. Your place is over there.’ Elizabeth pointed to a seat on the other side of the table. ‘This is Clara’s seat.’

‘Oh, is it?’ Aunt Joan took the place name card from between Elizabeth’s fingers and held it out to Violet, who was standing next to her. ‘Violet, dear. Swap this one with the one over there, would you?’ She shot a challenging stare at Elizabeth, whose mouth formed a perfect O for a moment.

‘Yes, Auntie.’ Violet took the card and swapped it over, and then sat down next to Aunt Joan. ‘Blue, swap with me. I’m going to sit here.’ She handed another card to her sister.