“If I had such a lass,” he queried, “how would I disappoint her?”
“By marrying another,” she told him.
“I will never wed,” he said quietly.
“Why not?” Elizabeth demanded of him.
“Because I have naught to offer a wife,” he responded.
“You are wrong,” Elizabeth said, “but I will not argue the point with you now.”
“I am relieved to hear it.” He chuckled.
“Do you know why we shear our sheep later than most?” she asked him, changing the subject completely and quickly.
“Aye, but tell me again.” He was relieved to be off an uncomfortable topic.
“The fleece is thicker, the hairs longer and stronger,” she answered him. “This allows the fabric to be woven tighter, which makes it warmer and more resistant to the rain. Our fabric is prized in northern Europe.”
“Do I not recall Tom saying you regulate the production of the Friarsgate blue?” he asked her.
“Aye. It’s a better blue than anyone else makes, and much in demand. We keep the price of it higher by making just a little each year. So far no one has been able to match the color. I’m thinking of trying the same process by which we get the blue with green and possibly a golden color as well,” Elizabeth told him.
“Your eyes sparkle when you speak of your wool,” he told her.
Elizabeth laughed. “Now you understand why a gentleman of the court would have made a disastrous husband for me. I must be involved in my work. Oh, I will give my husband children, and gladly. But I will never sit passively by a fire.”
“It will take a rare man to live with you, Elizabeth Meredith,” he said.
“It will take a brave man to live with me,” she admitted.
“Aye,” he agreed, laughing, “it will indeed.”
She left him at the shearing sheds to watch the process, and rode back to the house. TheBold Venturewas due back from northern Europe soon, and Elizabeth was anxious to learn how the market had gone this season. She spent much of the rest of the day in her library working on her books. Now that Edmund was unable to do it the task must fall to her.
The old man was showing small signs of improvement this day. His voice was stronger, and no longer strained. The paralysis in his left hand had disappeared, but his right hand was still crippled like a bird’s claw. Father Mata had carried Edmund to the hall and settled him in a chair. William Smythe had brought the game table forth and now sat playing Hare and Hounds with Edmund. Maybel, who had been up all night, was catching up on her sleep. She was not young either anymore.
Lord Cambridge popped his head into Elizabeth’s library. “Where is the Scot, dear girl? I thought you would not let him out of your sight,” he teased her.
“He’s learning about the shearing,” she replied.
“Do you think it will help him when he decides to shear you?” Tom Bolton chuckled wickedly.
“I think it far more likely I will shear him first,” Elizabeth told her delighted relative. “He is a man of strong loyalties, and I will have to seduce him before he will see reason, Uncle. I am certain to shock him, as he does not think virgins should resort to such tactics. But I have a mother who brought her lover into this house, and I have two older sisters who are wed. I have gained enough knowledge to know something of what I am doing, Uncle.”
“Indeed,” Thomas Bolton murmured. “And would you like to share your plans with me, dear Elizabeth? Or am I and the rest of your family to be surprised?”
“Do you not enjoy surprises, Uncle?” she teased him mischievously. “I know for a fact that you do, and so I shall keep my strategies to myself.”
“God’s blood, I believe the poor man has no idea of what a scheming wench you are, dear girl.” Lord Cambridge chuckled. “But do not be overconfident. He is a clever fellow, and could outmaneuver you if you are not careful.”
“Nay,” Elizabeth said softly. “His heart is too pure, Uncle.”
Thomas Bolton smiled knowingly. “Why, Elizabeth, dear girl, I believe you have fallen in love with that big, bonny Scot.”
“Perhaps I have,” she replied. “Now leave me be, Uncle. I have a page of sums to enter into my ledgers before I am free to come into the hall. How Edmund did it all I will never know. I thought myself hard-working, but he has done so much more than I could have imagined, and made it look easy.”
Lord Cambridge nodded, and, blowing her a kiss, left her.
