Page 10 of A Two-Faced Laird
“I do, and I think most other young ladies do too, Mairi,” she replied. “So you are not alone.”
Mairi giggled. “A’ the maids are in love wi’ him, Mistress,” she said in a confidential voice.
Now it was Edina’s turn to laugh.
“I am sure he will be betrothed to some rich heiress soon.”
“But no’ you, Mistress?” Mairi sounded surprised.
“I have too much to do to worry about marriage yet, Mairi,” Edina told her. “I have other plans. Let me tell you about them later, and perhaps you can help me. Now I must go.”
She had just seen Lewis walking towards the room where the herbalist and healer did her work, and she ran to catch up with him.
“Lewis!” she cried as she reached him.
He turned around, saw her, and the expression on his face changed from being one of calm thoughtfulness to a sudden wariness, almost as if a shutter had come down over his face.
“Have you hurt yourself?”
She looked down at his right hand, which he was cradling in his left, and saw that it was bleeding.
“I cut it on his belt buckle,” Lewis replied carelessly. “I am going to bandage it.”
They walked in silence beside each other, but each of them prickled with awareness of the other, and by the time they arrived at the healer’s chamber, Edina felt as if she wanted toscream with frustration. Why would he not say anything? It had only been a few days, but she had known him for years, and she still loved the little boy she knew was inside him as well as the big, desirable man.
When they reached the room, they saw that it was empty, and Lewis gave a grunt of irritation. Edina looked down at the cut on his palm and saw that although it was a couple of inches long, it was not too deep. In fact, it looked much worse than it was.
“I do not think it will need much medical skill to fix this up,” she remarked. “I think I can do it myself. Come. Sit on that chair and let me see what I can do.”
“Are you sure?” he asked doubtfully. “Do you have any training?”
“No,” she replied, “but I am sure bandaging a cut does not strain the intellect too much.” Then she laughed. “We were always patching each other up like this when we were children.”
Lewis sat, and Edina took hold of his hand and gently swabbed it clean, washed it with vinegar, then wrapped it in a clean bandage. She had expected the hands of a Laird’s son to be soft, but his skin was hard and calloused, like that of a workman, and it surprised her.
When Edina had finished, she stood back to admire her handiwork, and smiled at him.
“All done.”
“Thank you,” he said, smiling as he turned his hand around to see each side. Then he looked up and was immediately lost in her smokey grey-violet eyes.
“Why were you watching my father’s men practise today?”
Edina looked at him with a strange expression that was half-smile, half frown.
“Why not? It is quite entertaining. But why are you asking me that?” she asked.
Lewis dropped his gaze to his hands again and began to inspect them minutely, then he shrugged and said nonchalantly, “I’m just curious.”
Edina laughed heartily at that.
“Are you worried about my reputation, Lewis?” she asked mischievously. “Thank you for your concern, but you have known me for a long time. It surely has not escaped your notice that I simply do not care what people think of me. I like looking at the men practising. They have good, strong bodies and are exciting to watch, and I am a young, healthy woman. If they think I am looking for admiration, well, not especially, but it is nice to have, and nice to give.”
Lewis kept silent for a few moments, and then he stood up abruptly.
“I will see you at dinner,” Lewis said flatly, and giving Edina a polite nod, he walked away.
She watched him moving down the corridor till he was out of sight, then sighed and shook her head. Would she ever understand Lewis Findlay? Somehow she did not think so. He was a complete enigma.
