“I will tell the women that they may take what they need from the compartment,” the laird said. “And now, brothers, I have errands for you this day. Take a cart and fetch supplies for the kitchen. There is nothing. Elsbeth will want flour, salt, a sugar block, spices, a daily supply of milk, cream, and butter. Several wheels of cheese. A broom, for she says there is none. Beeswax, soap, and sand,” the laird finished.
“She gave you quite an earful last night.” Duncan chuckled. “Was there anything else she wanted or needed of you, brother?”
“A baker; a boy to chop wood, haul water, and run errands; and perhaps a maidservant to help Adair,” Conal Bruce said. “Duncan, you choose. Make certain the women are sensible, and old enough to avoid the blan-dishments of the men, and the lad strong enough to do what he will need to do.”
“And what will you be doing, my lord,” Duncan asked, “while we are following your instructions?” He grinned at his brother mischievously.
“I’m taking the men and going hunting. Mistress Elsbeth also told me the cold larder is bare and a disgrace, and she can’t feed us all if she has no meat.”
Duncan and Murdoc laughed. Then Duncan said, “It would appear for now that our new cook is running the keep, Conal.”
“As long as the meals are on time, and as tasty as the last two have been, the woman may have her way with me,” the laird told his brothers.
His brothers laughed again.
“I’ll go to the kitchens and make certain that Mistress Elsbeth needs nothing more before we start off,” Murdoc said.
“And I’ll go and harness the horses for the cart,”
Duncan replied.
In the kitchens Elsbeth assured Murdoc that for now she needed nothing more than she had asked for, and she thanked him. When he had gone she turned to Adair, saying, “I’m sorry, my chick, that you won’t get a bit of an outing today, but lord knows this kitchen will be done faster with the two of us.”
The two women set to work cleaning and organizing the kitchen. By the time Duncan Armstrong and Murdoc Bruce arrived with the supplies and three servants, Elsbeth was ready for them. There was Flora, a widow, and her young son, Jack. Flora would be doing the baking. The other woman, Grizel, would help Adair in keeping the keep clean and tidy. It wasn’t quite midday when they arrived. Murdoc and the boy lugged a side of beef into the cold larder and hung it there.
“Why, bless you!” Elsbeth said. “We’ll have several good dinners from that.”
“If you have the help you need, Nursie, I will go to the hall with Grizel to see that it is ready for the laird when he returns from hunting,” Adair said quietly. She turned to Grizel, who was an older woman. “Bring the beeswax and the broom. You sweep, and I will polish.”
Grizel wielded the broom with vigor, and soon thestone floor of the hall was swept clean. “Will there be rushes?” she asked Adair.
“Nay. There were none before, and I don’t particularly like them. They attract vermin, and the dogs feel comfortable peeing in them. The hall will only stink. Go down to the kitchens and see if you can help Elsbeth. I will finish the table myself. ’Tis almost done,” Adair told her. Then she set about polishing the last end of the table. When she had finished she stepped back and smiled. The high board looked quite nice. It was old, and it had seen many a supper upon it, but it had been previously well cared for, she noted.
“I have not seen the board look as well since our mother died,” she heard the laird’s voice say. “If you are a lady, how is it you know how to polish a table so well?”
“Even England’s queen knows how to polish a table and cook a meal,” Adair replied as she turned to face him.
He moved closer to her. “How would you knowthat?” he said.
“Because she is my half sister, and I spent ten years—from the time I was six until I returned to Stanton—in the royal nursery with her, my lord,” Adair answered him.
He moved closer. “Are you telling me the truth, Adair, or is this just some flight of fancy you have concocted?”
She drew herself up and looked him straight in the eye. “I do not prevaricate, my lord. Until I was six the only father I knew was John Radcliffe, the Earl of Stanton. When our home was attacked by the Lancastrians I was sent away with Elsbeth, and only then told that King Edward was my natural father. The title of Stanton devolved upon me. I was the Countess of Stanton in my own right. Both my husbands gained the earldom through me. Andrew, my second husband, as I have previously said, was killed with King Richard. I do not lieabout who I am. It is not in my nature to lie, my lord.”
There were tears in her eyes now, but she never looked away from him, even when a single tear rolled down her pale cheek.
He stopped the tear with his finger. “You have eyes like wet violets,” he told her in his deep, husky voice. He had never met a woman like Adair before. She was so brave that it almost hurt his heart to look at her, but he would not be the first to break their gaze.
Adair swallowed back a rush of misery. “I will go and tell Elsbeth you are back, my lord,” she said in a tremulous voice. She would not cry. Not before him. Not ever again. She would not cry! She turned to leave him, but he put a hand on her shoulder. She froze. “Please, my lord, I must return to the kitchens.” She would not face him.
“You know that I want you,” he said quietly.
She shook her head wordlessly. She could not answer him.
“When I saw you among Willie Douglas’s captives your defiance burned bright. It was like a beacon beckoning me onward, and I followed. I have probably been a fool to bring you into my keep. Eventually your beauty and spirit will cause me difficulties, and I am a man who prefers peace and quiet above all things.”
She whirled about. “Then let me go! Help Elsbeth and me to return to Stanton!”
