Maitland found herself being pulled into a rather large merchant stall. In fact, the stall was at least four times the size of a normal stall– there was a stall section in the middle, and on both ends, and then it stretched back away from the street, and the entire place was loaded with more merchandise than Maitland had ever seen. Thomas marched right up to a man who appeared to work there, as he wore expensive clothing and an elaborate cloth around his head.
“Is this your establishment?” Thomas asked.
The man turned to look at him, a very big knight with expensive clothing, expensive protection, and a very expensive sword. He perked right up.
“Aye, my lord,” he said. “What do you have need for?”
Thomas pulled Maitland forward. “Her,” he said. “Do you have garments you can sell her? Things she can wear today?”
As Maitland gasped and shook her head, the man nodded. “I do,” he said. “Let me bring my wife. She sells pre-made garments to some of the finest ladies in the north. I am sure she has something to suit your… your…”
“Wife,” Thomas said without hesitation, digging into the purse on his belt. “Give her at least three or four things she can wear. They must be durable and well-made, and pretty, but not too elaborate. She serves the church in a capacity and it would not do for her to wear something gaudy. Is that clear?”
As the man looked rather confused, Thomas put a gold coin in his palm, a truly princely sum. The man’s eyes widened and he quickly nodded his head.
“Aye, my lord,” he said, suddenly darting away, calling for his wife. “Leave your lady in my hands, my lord. She will be properly clad!”
As he rushed off, yelling for his wife, Maitland turned to Thomas. “You know I cannot wear what has not been given to me by the church,” she said. “I cannot…”
“Iam donating the clothing to you,” he said. “Mae, you are a beautiful woman. You deserve to wear something other than these sacks and rags that you have on. I am not trying to hurt your feelings, but a durable dress that is somewhat better fitting would be much better than what you have on, don’t you think?”
Maitland was both horrified and interested. She’d had nice clothing, once, but it had been too elaborate for her charity work with the church. Beguines didn’t wear silks and damask, so when Henry had died, she’d given her finery away in lieu of more appropriate clothing. But, God help her, she missed wearing something soft and figure-fitting. Perhaps it was vain of her, but she missed it nonetheless.
“Well,” she said reluctantly. “I suppose it would be all right if the garments were not too elaborate.”
Thomas held up his hands as if to ease her. “You may pick anything you wish,” he said. “You will choose what you shall wear, but please let me do this for you. You deserve everything I can provide for you, Mae.”
Maitland looked at him, realizing that her eyes were stinging with tears.I can give you everything but my name, he’d said once.Perhaps he’d really meant it. Perhaps he was actually a man of his word in a world that saw little of that. Now, he was trying to take care of her–her.
Not the charity, not the children, but her.
It had been so long since anyone had taken care of her and, at that moment, Maitland realized how much she had missed it. It was wrong to be so weak; oh, so very wrong. She was allowing him to buy her things and to call her his wife when she wasn’t. She swore that she would never carry on with a married man, but as Thomas pointed out, he wasn’t married– yet.
Yet.
Perhaps she was simply living in a fool’s paradise.
But Maitland didn’t say anything more as the merchant and his wife rushed towards her, both of them very eager to help the lady, and Thomas stood off to the side and grinned as the pair fussed over Maitland and discussed what would be best for her. She seemed uneasy, and uncertain, and she kept looking at Thomas as if to seek reassurance that this was the right thing to do. He nodded at her, encouragingly, and then she simply seemed resigned. As the wife dragged Maitland back into the rear of the stall, Thomas’ attention found the jewelry cases that the man had against the wall.
The cases were literally that– locked boxes that contained precious items. Thomas knew this because he’d seen enough merchants in his travels to and from The Levant to know howthey transported their fine gems and gold. Curious, he called the merchant over to unlock them, and the man did, presenting Thomas with a multitude of beautiful gold and silver jewelry.
“I have many things from the lands of The Levant and beyond,” the merchant told him, knowing he had a customer with a lot of money on his hands. “See these golden earrings? They are from Greece, my lord. Can you see the shape? They are bees. They would look beautiful on the lady.”
Thomas wasn’t interested in earrings although he had to admit that they were lovely. He looked at the fine necklaces, bracelets, and rings, an entire variety of them– purple stones, blue stones, Mother of Pearl, and more. The merchant had quite a selection. But then he came to something that caught his attention; it was a small, gold ring with a gemstone in the middle of it, in a gold setting, and he lifted it up to look at it. Turning it about in the light, he realized that it was the exact color of Maitland’s eyes– that light brown color that had a hint of red in it. An astonishing color he’d never seen before, now in a gemstone on a ring. He handed it to the merchant.
“What kind of stone is that?” he asked.
The merchant held it up. “It is calledkrustallos,” he said, inspecting the stone. “It is a stone that comes in many colors– yellow, brown, sometimes even blue or pink. The ancient Greeks believed it was a very powerful amulet. It is meant for protection.”
Thomas rather liked that idea. “I will take it,” he said. “Now, can you have shoes made for the lady?”
The man nodded eagerly. “I can, my lord,” he said. “I work with a fine tanner because sometimes my customers want boots or slippers. What do you need?”
Thomas could see the man’s eyes lighting up with the thought of coins, mayhap even multiple coins, hoping for a great sale. He fought off a smile.
“Shoes for the lady, so make sure you mark the size of her feet,” he said. “Something durable, I should think. Not slippers, but boots.”
“Aye, my lord.”
