Chapter Eighteen
It was long after dark when Beth finally stopped work for the night. As the sun had set, she had lit candles around the chapel, allowing her enough light to continue removing the fallen stone with the help of the laborers.
“How bad is it?” Rory asked.
“Not as bad as I first thought. “We can reuse many of these stones. I think perhaps a guard this time though to ensure the falsework is not interfered with.”
“I doubt that will happen again now Derek is gone.”
“Nevertheless just to be sure.”
An hour later the wind began to grow. One by one the candles were snuffed out and eventually relighting them became pointless. Beth called a halt until dawn the next day.
She watched the laborers heading out of the castle to their villages. They all looked exhausted. She was not surprised. Her limbs ached as she made her way to the castle keep.
She had missed dinner, not wanting to waste any time in shoring up what was left of the roof. A few of the slate tiles had fallen but most had remained in place on the timber framework. It was only the vaulting itself that had collapsed.
She made a rough calculation of how long it would take to repair. They might have a working chapel in a month though the plastering would have to wait until the following year. The important thing was getting enough lime mortar and she would need to ask Andrew if he could afford it alongside all his other expenses.
She had already increased his building costs many times over with the work she had set in place. She was starting to realize that the job of master mason wasn’t just about the work, it required some financial acumen and tact as well in explaining why costs kept going up.
She entered the keep, closing the door behind her to keep the draft out and the heat in. The fire would have died down in the great hall but the warmth remained in the stones for many hours afterwards, heating the corridors and staircases until late into the night as long as doors were opened as little as possible.
She passed the hall, hearing the sound of snoring coming from within. Up the flight of stairs she went, heading for her room. She opened the door and walked into it, surprised to find Andrew sitting on the chair by the window, looking out into the courtyard.
“You frightened the life out of me,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “I thought etiquette meant you couldn’t be alone in the same room as an unmarried woman at night.”
“I care not for etiquette this evening,” he replied. “I thought I was going to lose you today.”
“In the collapse, you mean? You made sure I was safely out.”
“Nay, I mean I thought you were going back to your own time.”
“Oh.”
She crossed the room to the ewer of water, splashing a handful onto her face, wiping away the dust and grime of her work.
“What’s she like?” Beth asked as she turned back to face Andrew. “Duff’s daughter?”
“She will be happy enough with Gillis. I have seen them courting before now though I would never tell Duff that.”
“Is that your only reason for turning down his proposal?”
“There is another reason.”
“Which is?”
“We should not talk of that.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you wish to return to your own time and it would only complicate things for us both to discuss it now.”
“You came to my bedchamber. What did you want to discuss? The weather?”
“I wanted to discuss marrying you.”
Beth almost fell over. “What? You know I can’t.”
