Page 13 of A Two-Faced Laird
This prompted a chorus of agreement, and before long Edina was telling stories of her girlhood that had all the children in giggles. They simply could not imagine a big, strong man like Lewis Findlay as a little boy. To them, adults were adults, and always had been.
Edina thoroughly enjoyed the company of the children, and it was with some regret that she stood up to go, but she was gratified to see that the feeling was mutual. She almost had to fight her way out, and they all looked so sad to see her go that she almost turned back.
However, as she began to walk down the street with two guards at her side towards her horse, the old lady who had mistaken Lewis for Aidan crossed her path. Edina smiled at her, and she returned it.
“Hello, Mistress,” she said politely. “Fine day.”
“Indeed,” Edina agreed. “I hope it stays this way.”
“I wanted tae apologise for startling ye the other day,” she said, frowning. “They are that like each other, an’ I was surprised because I hadnae heard Aidan was back.”
“It was an honest mistake,” Edina told her. “And Lewis tells me it happens quite a lot. Do not worry, he is not offended. What is your name? I am Edina.”
“I know your name, Mistress,” the woman told her. “We a’ dae. My name is Nan.”
The woman fell into step beside Edina and started talking quietly, pleading with Edina to keep the conversation between them.
“Master Lewis doesnae come intae the village much any more,” she confided. “I think it has somethin’ tae dae wi’ that brother o’ his.”
“You sound as if you don’t like Aidan very much.” Edina frowned. “Why not? You can tell me, I will not be angry.”
Nan gave an angry sigh. “They both were such nice boys till they got tae about sixteen or seventeen,” she went on, shaking her head. “Then, the drink took them. He and Lewis spent too much o’ their time in the tavern there. Then, Aidan would fight wi’ some o’ the village boys nearly every night. Sorry, mistress.”
Edina was shocked. This was not what she had expected to hear at all. “No, tell me more,” she said quietly.
“Lewis wasnae around for a couple o’ months,” Nan went on. “An’ then, we heard that Aidan was sent to the seas, and we were a’ very glad about it. I’m sure he was the bad influence because when Master Lewis appeared again, he was a better man!”
Edina was speechless for a moment. “That is very sad,” she said at last.
Poor boys. How cruel to separate them that way. What had happened to make the Laird make such a decision? She remembered that Lewis had refused to enter the Fatted Calf. Perhaps there were horrible memories in the place.
“Funny, though,” Nan went on, frowning. “A lot o’ the staff left then as well. The Laird gave the younger ones parcels o’ land an’ pensioned the older ones off. Only a few o’ them stayed.”
“No doubt he had his reasons,” Edina remarked, although she too thought it sounded extremely strange.
She made a mental note to go inside the Fatted Calf with her guards next time she entered the village. Perhaps she could find some more information in there.
The conversation with Nan went on for a few more moments about other, more mundane subjects before Edina rode home, more puzzled than ever.
5
Lewis had tried in vain to wipe away the memory of Edina finding him in that state, but he could not. He was a man, for god’s sake, but he had been caught behaving like a blubbering baby. What must she think of him? No doubt Edina was laughing at him even as he thought about it.
He was too restless to sleep well, and after a night of tossing and turning, he decided to get out of bed when the sun was only beginning to rise. Lewis could see the day stretching endlessly before him, since it was one of the Laird’s and Roy McCarthy’s days for poring over the estate’s finances. He hated the job, so he decided to make himself scarce. As well as that, of course, he did not wish to encounter Edina. Since he was dodging his clerical duties with his father and Roy, there would be hell to pay later, he knew, but he was willing to endure it. He needed to be away from the castle.
He suddenly thought about his brother and all the childhood punishments they had endured together. He laughed softly before the usual ache of sadness overtook him. Where was his brother now?
He shook his mind free of his melancholic thoughts and dressed quickly, pausing for a quick wash before going to join the men of the guard. Lewis loved the fact that they all regarded him as one of their own. He might have been brought up in a privileged background, but he loved the company of ordinary people, and they felt the same about him.
When he emerged into the hall where the guards ate, they welcomed him eagerly.
“Ale, Master?” one of them asked as he poured Lewis a cupful.
“Geordie, how many times have I asked you not to call me that?” Lewis asked, exasperated. “I might have to put a gag on you!”
The men laughed. This was a joke between them because Lewis was the only Laird’s son they had ever met who did not stand on ceremony and address them as if they were his inferiors. He even looked like one of them today because his hair was uncombed, he had not shaved, and the shabby clothes he was wearing looked as though they had been slept in. The only thing that made him different from them was his upper-class accent, although he was perfectly capable of dropping into the Scots language if the need arose.
Lewis shook his head and tucked into his breakfast. The guards ate well; indeed, they had to because theirs was a hard, physical job, and they had to be well-nourished in order to carry it out properly. He ate black pudding, fried eggs and three bannocks washed down with two cups of ale before he was satisfied, by which time the guards were saddling their horses.
