A knock at the door interrupted his brooding.
“Come,” he called, expecting Elliot with some new complaint about his punishment.
But it was Caitlin who poked her head in, her usual smile in place. “Beggin’ yer pardon, me Laird, but I thought ye should ken, Miss Harris has finished Esther’s afternoon lessons. The wee lass is nappin’ now.”
“Thank ye, Caitlin.” Noah set down the correspondence he’d been pretending to read. “How is Miss Harris settlin’ in? Is she comfortable in her chambers?”
“Oh, aye! She keeps sayin’ the room’s too fine for her, but she’s settlin’ in lovely.” Caitlin’s eyes sparkled with barely suppressed mischief. “She asks after ye, sometimes. Wants to ken if yer arm is healin’ well.”
Noah’s pulse jumped. “Does she?”
“Aye. Quite concerned, she is. Very... attentive to yer wellbein’.” Caitlin’s smile widened.
Christ. Not her, too.
“That’ll be all, Caitlin,” Noah said firmly, but he could feel heat creeping up his neck.
“As ye say, me Laird!” She bobbed a curtsy and disappeared, leaving Noah alone with his thoughts once more.
Ava asked about him. Worried about his arm.
Noah leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He realized his heart was racing at the thought of spending time with her, even if it was for the purpose of speaking about Esther’s education.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“And this one is rosemary. Smell it, go on, give it a good rub.”
Ava watched as Esther carefully rubbed the herb between her small fingers, then brought it to her nose.
The child’s face scrunched up in concentration, then brightened.
“It... it smells like... like...” Esther struggled to find the words.
“Like the kitchen when Mrs. MacTavish is roastin’ lamb?” Ava supplied gently.
“Aye!” Esther’s face lit up. “That’s it exactly!”
They’d been walking through the castle gardens for over an hour now, and Ava had pointed out every plant, flower, and herb she could identify.
Some she knew from her time at the orphanage. Mrs. Crawford had maintained a small medicinal garden, and Ava had learned which plants could soothe a fever or calm an upset stomach. Others she was discovering for the first time, reading their names from the small wooden markers placed throughout the beds.
The gardens were truly breathtaking. Much more elaborate than anything Ava had ever seen. Carefully maintained paths winding through flower beds, herb gardens arranged in tidy rows, and even a small orchard visible in the distance.
It must take an army of gardeners to maintain all this.
“Can... can we see the roses?” Esther asked, tugging on Ava’s hand. “I... I like roses.”
Esther’s voice was soft, as if she were trying not to offend her by asking for something so simple.
“Of course we can. Though we’ll need to be careful of the thorns, aye?”
They headed to the rose garden, where late summer blooms still clung to their bushes in shades of red, pink, and white.
Esther was enchanted, moving from plant to plant with the kind of focused wonder only children could manage. But Ava noticed the way Esther’s steps were slowing, the way she’d started rubbing her eyes.
“Ye’re tired, sweetheart,” Ava observed. “We’ve been walkin’ for quite a while.”
“I’m nae tired,” Esther protested, even as she yawned.
