“I scrunched down, Nursie. He saw nothing, and he did not linger. He said the soap was his mother’s. Then he was gone. God’s wounds, this feels good! I don’t think I’ve ever been so long with a bath. Would you rinse my hair for me?”
Elsbeth poured a pitcher of warm water over the girl’s head. Adair washed her long locks a second time, and once again the older woman rinsed it for her.
“You should have clean water,” Adair told Elsbeth as she arose from the tub and was wrapped in a drying cloth.
Elsbeth shook her head. “Your water is still warm enough, and the soap will make up for the other defi-ciencies,” she said, removing her chemise and climbing into the little tub. “Take my chemise, child, and wash it out for me while I get clean.”
Wrapped in the drying cloth, Adair made her way to the stone sink where her own chemise was soaking. She added Elsbeth’s. Then she waited while Elsbeth used the soap, taking it afterward and using it on the two chemises. She rinsed the two garments. Both women sat by the kitchen hearth, drying themselves and their hair.
“May I come down?” a voice called.
“Who is that?” Elsbeth demanded to know.
“ ’Tis me, Murdoc Bruce. The laird said you did not have coverlets for your bed spaces. I’ve brought them for you.”
“Leave them on the stairs, laddie, and thank you,”
Elsbeth called back. “We’re not garbed to receive visitors.”
Murdoc chuckled. “They’re here when you want to fetch them,” he said. They heard the door from the stairs to the hall above close.
Elsbeth went and fetched the two chemises from the sink, hanging them over a drying rack she had found near where the tub was stored. The tub would have to be emptied on the morrow. She ran halfway up the stairs to fetch the coverlets that Murdoc had brought them. Adair’s dark head was already nodding as she sat by the warm fire. “Come, my chick,” Elsbeth said, helping her mistress up. “We must get to bed.” She led Adair to one of the sleeping spaces. “Get in,” she said, and then spread one of the coverlets over the girl, who was already asleep.
Elsbeth went back into the kitchen. She moved the drying rack, setting it before the fire, to which she added several logs. It would last and not go out in the next few hours while she slept. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for both of them. She would send Adair to choose several servants for the keep while she restored the kitchen to its proper order. And it was time the laird and his men went hunting. Winter would be upon them soon enough. The cold larder needed to be filled with game. She would mention it to him once again. She couldn’t be expected to feed Conal Bruce and his great lot of men without the proper supplies. Elsbeth took up the other coverlet and lay down to sleep.
When she awoke again she could see the sky throughthe larder window, dark yet, but lightening to gray with every passing moment. Elsbeth sighed. She was still very tired, but she knew she had to get up. The keep would soon be stirring, and the men would want their breakfast.
The laird was once again surprised by the meal put before him. Eggs poached in cream and dusted with parsley, warm bread, cheese, and ale. He watched as, below the high board, Adair brought his men loaves of bread, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese. She did not speak with any of the men, nor did she make eye contact.
When one of his men reached out to catch at her skirt she slapped the hand without hesitation, and gave the man a look that should have frozen him where he sat.
“Keep your paws to yourself, you border cur,” she snarled at him, and made to move on with her pitcher of ale.
There was a ripple of laughter from the man’s companions. Stung, he reached out swiftly and yanked her onto his lap. Adair never hesitated. She poured the ale over the borderer’s head, and then hit him with her pitcher as she leaped from his lap like a scalded cat and fled back to the kitchens. The man jumped up to follow her, roaring his anger.
“Sit down, Fergus,” the laird said in a cold, hard voice.
“Just so you all understand me, the wench ismine. She is not to be tampered with, bullied, or threatened by any of you. Do I make myself clear? As for her companion, the same rules will also apply. I do not intend to go back to burned porridge again for every meal because you men cannot control your randy cocks. And now, I suspect, you will all go without your ale, because it is unlikely the girl will venture above stairs again for a while.” Conal Bruce sat back down.
“She’s feisty,” Duncan Armstrong murmured.
“She’ll tame. All women can be tamed eventually,”the laird said.
“You’ll need patience with this one, brother,” Duncan replied.
“I think you know that I’m not a patient man,” the laird remarked.
“She’s a real beauty,” Duncan continued. “She’s obviously bathed now. The hair is glorious, and her features are perfect. I’ve not gotten close enough yet to see what color her eyes are. Have you?”
“They’re like large violets,” the laird said quietly. “I can see now that she’s cleaner that Elsbeth has not lied.
Adair is obviously a lady.”
“You’ll have to do something about her clothing, Conal. The gown she is wearing has certainly seen far better days. I imagine the cook, Elsbeth, could also use a new garment or two. Didn’t Mam have a small storage compartment where she kept materials? I’m sure I remember that she did.”
“It’s in her bedchamber,” Murdoc spoke up.
“That’s right!” Duncan agreed.
