“Ah, two Englishmen,” Alistair remarked. The audience burst into laughter.
Jane did not find it the least bit funny.
Finally, once the laird had sentenced that the land would be split between the two to their great disappointment, the announcer stated that the laird would be retiring. Everyone stood up, and Jane joined in. Alistair then walked back the same way he had come. The crowd began to disperse. Jane caught a full-body glance of the woman who had been in front of her for the duration of the hearing. She was more than presentable; she was pretty.
“Can we go and see him now?” Jane looked away from the stranger to say.
“Now?” Catrina said and began to make her way out of the room. Jane followed behind. “Nay. But he will be at tonight’s feast. Come, let us return. We have done most of the preparations, but there are things which always come up last minute. Have ye ever organized a feast in England, Jane?”
“Not really,” Jane said.
“Ah,” Catrina said, “yer maither, then?”
“My mother has been dead for the same number of years as I have been alive.”
Catrina’s face fell. “I am sorry,” she said.
Jane smiled sadly. “It is quite all right. I have learned to deal with not having a mother.
“Yer faither must be an exemplary man, tae stand as both faither and maither.”
Jane smiled but said nothing.
CHAPTERTEN
Later that day, Jane had the option of returning to her room, but she asked Catrina if she could keep her company instead. Catrina said yes and added, “But I will be everywhere. Dinner, the servants can handle, but when there are decisions tae make, I am the one tae make them!”
“Do you enjoy this?” Jane asked.
“What?” asked Catrina.
“This,” Jane said. “Running the castle, essentially. As a laird’s wife would.”
“Nay,” Catrina said frankly. They were approaching the kitchen, and the temperature was becoming hotter.
“No?” Jane aid incredulously.
“Nay,” Catrina said frankly. They entered the kitchen. It was a vast space with many things going on at once. “Wait here,” Catrina instructed, and then she heaved a breath and entered. The smoke from the inside made Jane begin to cough, and she stood away from the door. Two servants, who were carrying a hefty, cooked lamb on a skewer, looked at Jane curiously as they passed her. In that moment, Jane was struck by the oddity of the situation. What was she doing hanging around a Scottish castle’s kitchen when she should be-
A mental image of Commander Pierce pawing her body flashed in her mind. She shook her head to dispel the image. She would rather enter a thousand Scottish pots. Catrina emerged, seemingly unruffled by the smoke. She patted down her dress. “Did ye see the lamb that was just carried out of here?” she asked Jane.
“Why, yes, I-”
“That was nae the one I picked fer the laird’s table. They think I am blind. And Fiona, the good woman, she is efficient, but she needs at least six more eyes and ten more arms to supervise them efficiently. Come away” She took Jane’s hand and led her to a balcony that overlooked the west wing. “I heard you cough. Are ye all right?”
“Yes,” replied Jane. “Thank you.”
“I ken I said ye could keep me company, but I am afraid that will nae work. I am needed downstairs. It would be better if you went back tae yer room and prepared fer the feast. I have nay idea what English festivities look like, but I am sure that tonight will top them all.” She smiled.
“Of course,” Jane said. “Before I go, why did you say you did not like playing matriarch?”
“Playing matriarch, that is a good way to put it. And maybe the most fitting. The laird’s mother died before his father did, you see. An exceptional woman. Her kind appears perhaps two times in ten generations. When she was alive, this castle shone. She was close friends with me maither. Now that she has died, Alistair has nay sisters and nay female cousins. Tasgall was two or perhaps three when it happened. Alistair’s father, who was still the laird then, swore that he would not remarry. Alistair requested that Douglas and I move into the castle, and we did. I couldnae stand it, seeing what the castle was becoming. I kent it would have broken the lady’s heart, were she to have seen it. And so, I started tae make things right the best I could. Eight years later, and I am still trying. But it is wearing me out. I would rather watch Tasgall grow. He has only a few years left as a child, and I would like tae spend them tending tae him. His faither doesnae understand, of course.” She chuckled wryly. “He might have understood if it was Mildred.”
“Mildred?”
Catrina chuckled. “Mildred, his first wife. They were married a year only. Had him feeding from the palm of her hand, she did. But then she died, and he needed someone tae take care of his home and I was all too happy tae dae it.”
“Oh,” Jane said.
