Chapter Fourteen
Winnifred shifted the basket higher over her bent elbow and rapped on the cottage door. She smoothed her hand down her velvet skirts, hoping the fine fabric would help her to feel more like a marchioness. Her new position came with duties, and she wanted to perform them ably.
Wanted to make Sinclair proud.
A woman pulled the door open, a toddler resting on her hip. “Oh! Lady Dunkeld.” She tried to dip into a curtsy, wobbled, clutched the babe tighter.
The child pulled his mother’s hair, giggling.
Winnifred put out a steadying hand. “Good morning, Mrs. Fraser. How do you do?”
“Well enough. And please, call me Maura. Everyone aboot here does.” She pulled the child’s hands away from the basket handle. “That’s nae yours, child.”
Winnifred laughed. “Actually, it is. Well, for your family. Another shipment of food has arrived at Kenmore, and Jock, the footman, and I are driving about the neighborhood making deliveries.” She pointed behind her to the cart laden with goods and the young man standing beside it.
Footsteps sounded, and Maura was nudged aside by her husband, Gavin. “Milady.” His broad face broke into a grin. “It’s right lovely to see ye again. Yer alone?”
“Yes, my husband is kept occupied on repairs to a canal wall.” She rolled up onto her toes and bounced, a flush of excitement running through her body. She’d said the word ‘husband’ many times before. But it had never made her feel so settled before.
So safe.
Until last night, she’d never realized the freedom that came with marriage to the right man. He was stuck with her for the next fifty years or so, through good or bad. As long as … She bit her lip. She didn’t think her husband was the kind of man to abuse his power over her. Who’d send her away even if she began acting erratically. She was truly beginning to believe she could trust him, and for that, he’d forever have her gratitude.
“Aye, well it was good of ye to come alone.” Gavin caressed his son’s bald head and stepped outside. “I’m glad yer here. I’ve been meaning to talk to ye. Dunkeld sent me a cart full of peas, beans, and even some clover. Told me to try this nitrogen idea of yers. I dug a trench out back where the plants are rotting away as we speak.”
A moment of breathlessness took her. “You want my advice?”
“Aye. Yer husband thought ye wouldn’t mind guiding me in this. Besides, it’s yer idea.” He smiled. “I figure you’ll deserve a share of the blame if all I get is a field that stinks to high heaven.”
Winnifred pressed a hand to her chest, her heart feeling full to bursting. Sinclair had set this in motion? He couldn’t know that not having her experiments was a constant ache of loss. Couldn’t know how happy he’d just made her. She tipped up her chin. “As long as I get some of the credit when your barley grows taller than you.”
He chuckled. “That you will, milady.” He turned to his wife. “Maura, can ye see what we need from the cart and direct the footman where to put it?”
“Of course.” Hefting the child higher, she bustled to the cart.
“Milady, the rotting vegetables are this way.” He shook his head. “I still cannae believe we’re letting good food go to waste. Bless Dunkeld for having the means to make this happen, and for feeding the lot of us while we wait for the sun.”
Winnifred followed him behind a small shed. “I know it’s difficult, but experiments such as these can lead to providing more food to people than we ever have before.” She waited impatiently as Gavin pulled wood boards off a long, narrow trench that ran the length of the shed.
Gavin rested the make-shift lids on the wall behind him. He spread his hand, indicating the mess in the trench. “Well? Am I doing this right? When do I take this lot oot to spread on the soil?”
She knelt and scooped up a handful of the muck. “I’d give it another day or two. Mr. Fraser, would you be willing to run a true experiment? One where we control for variables?”
He scratched his head. “I’ll do anything that may help. What do ye mean?”
Winnifred watched the plant material sprinkle through her fingers back down into the trench. She stood, brushing her hands together. “It would be most helpful if you could divide each field into three parts. The first part, plant and sow your seeds as you normally would, using manure as your supplement. The second section, use these legumes instead of the manure. And the third, use both. I think we’ll be best able to observe whether the legumes actually do release nitrogen into the soil from a topical application if we test it in this manner.”
“Manure. Rotting vegetables. Manure and rotting vegetables.” Gavin raised a finger with each phrase. “That I can do.”
“Splendid.” She clasped her hands together, her basket pressed against her side. “And you won’t mind if I return periodically to observe the results?”
“Nae, yer welcome any time. And bring that husband of yours, He doesnae come around nearly enough.” He replaced to planks over the trench and they turned for the cottage.
“I will tell him so.” Winnifred paused on the drive and gazed over the open fields. “For everyone’s sake, I hope we derive some benefit from this experiment. It’s a risk not spreading manure on some of the land.”
“My da used to say t’was better to risk a little if the reward was large.” He took her basket and placed it on the seat of the cart.
“Oh, there’s strawberries and cream in that basket for your family.” She reached for it, but Gavin stilled her hands.
