“Food, cousin,” answered Ballard. “Good manners made Mrs. Sherwood offer us a meal, but I would wager my fine courting clothes that they have nae got much to offer us.”
Clover stared at the meager collection of vegetables and tiny scraps of ham that lay scattered on the workworn kitchen table and sighed. There was not enough to fill the bellies of three grown men. Even a soup would end up being more water than substance.
Fifteen minutes later, she was still struggling to think of some way to feed seven with what was barely enough for four when there was a sharp rap at the kitchen door. Clover was both curious and wary as she opened the door, for no one had come to the house since her father’s death. She stared in surprise at the plump young woman who was standing on the back stoop, and the two youths behind her with their arms full of parcels.
“Miss Clover Sherwood?” the woman asked in a brisk Irish brogue.
“Yes. May I help you?”
“Mr. MacGregor sent us to you.” She turned to the two young men. “Put that food on the table there, lads.”
Clover watched in confusion as the youths set their parcels down on her table and left. “Ma’am?” she asked as the woman entered the kitchen, hung hercloak and hat on the pegs near the door, and began to unpack the parcels, revealing a mouth-watering assortment of food.
“I am Mrs. O’Toole, a widow, but you can call me Molly. Your fine Mr. MacGregor hired me.”
“Hired you?”
“Aye. He said you would be needing time to prepare to be wed and that I should be seeing to the meal.” She faced Clover and clasped her hands in front of her crisp white apron. “He also said you might be wanting a few lessons in cooking. If you are of a mind to accept my help, he will even be taking me along with you when you leave for Kentucky.” Molly tucked a stray strand of chestnut hair under her starched white mobcap. “Now, miss, afore you answer, I would like to be saying a word or two about that.”
Clover was stunned by this gesture of Ballard’s, but she fought to keep her full attention on Molly. “Of course. Go right ahead and speak your mind.”
“Well, miss, I am of a strong inclination to go to this Kentucky. I have been working long, hard hours at the inn, with blessed little to show for it and no hope of finding meself a new man, even though I be but eight and twenty. I will be fair pleased to be teaching you all I can about kitchen and housekeeping arts, but you got no need to fear that I will be setting firm in your new home, for I will be keeping a keen eye out for a new husband.”
“Fair enough, Molly.” Clover smiled. “Do we start now, then?”
“That we do.”
Until the meal was well under way, Clover stayed with Molly, watching and learning. Then she decidedit was time to have her bath. As she and Molly dragged the heavy metal tub into the small pantry just off the kitchen, Agnes and the twins arrived, drawn by the rich aroma of food. Clover introduced everyone as she filled the tub with hot water and sprinkled a little dried lavender on top. She shut the door, shed her clothes, and was just climbing into the tub when her mother slipped into the room. Clover inwardly groaned. Her mother’s expression told her that Agnes intended to have a serious talk with her. She was not confident that she was prepared to answer the questions her mother was sure to ask.
Agnes stood next to the tub, folding her hands in front of her, and began, “Dearest, I know you are marrying him to help us, but—”
“Wait, Mama. Yes, Iammarrying Ballard MacGregor for you and the boys, but I am also doing it for myself.” She frowned at the sliver of lavenderscented soap, all that remained of her favorite, and then began to wash.
“For yourself? I fear I do not understand. You have known this Mr. MacGregor for only a few hours. How can you care for him so quickly?”
“Oh, I do not mean that. I am marrying him for my own good as well as for the good of the rest of you. When Papa died and Thomas did not come around, then continued to stay away, I began to doubt the wisdom of relying on him. I went and looked for work, Mama, any work at all. I searched for a new home for us. The more I looked, the more I realized it would be a struggle to provide you and the boys with even one shabby room and one meager meal a day. Even with the fine lace you can make andsell, and with the boys picking up some coin here and there, our prospects were frighteningly dismal.”
“It was truly that bad?”
“Yes, it was truly that bad. To be blunt, Mama, the best offer I got was from the owner of the Sly Dog.” She nodded when her mother gasped in shock. “It all became too much for me, Mama, as much as I hate to admit that. I felt crippled with the weight of responsibility. Then I met Ballard.” She started to wash her hair.
“Just how did you meet him?”
“On my way home from Thomas’s offices I was set upon by a brutish frontiersman. Ballard came to my rescue. As he escorted me home I discovered that he was looking for a wife, and courting Sarah Marsten.”
“Yet another man courting Sarah? What is it about that woman that they all want?”
“Well, sheisvery pretty, fair and fulsome, and rich. Ballard believed that the interest she showed in him was more sincere than it was. I knew Thomas was there today so I waited for Ballard to leave Sarah’s. Then I offered to be his wife. He will get a wife with all the learning and etiquette he thinks he wants, and we will get a home and a provider. It seems a fair deal to me.” Clover reached for the bucket of rinse water for her hair.
Agnes stepped forward and picked up the bucket. “I will do that for you. Close your eyes and lean your head back.”
Once Clover’s hair was rinsed, she watched her thoughtful mother a little warily. Matters would go a great deal more smoothly if her mother accepted the marriage.
“He does appear to be a good man,” Agnes murmured.
“He does,” agreed Clover as she stepped out of the tub, picked up the large cloth draped over a stool, and began to dry herself. “The bathwater is still hot.”
Agnes hesitated only a moment before undressing and stepping into the tub. “He is very good-looking too.”
