Page 3 of To Wed a Laird
He gave her a brief nod before turning to Nell. “Come and see me in my study after the evening meal tonight, Nell. I need to talk over a few things with you.”
“Yes, M’Laird,” Nell replied.
“Any other questions?” he asked, pinning his gaze on Rose again.
Rose shook her head. “No, My Laird,” she answered. “Thank you.”
The Laird’s gaze lingered on her for a moment, and Rose felt that she was being examined as if she were an animal being sold at a marketplace before he gave her a brief nod and turned away.
Rose let out a long, quivering sigh of relief and her body sagged with the release of tension as she watched the Laird mount a staircase two steps at a time and disappear from her sight.
Nell watched her and saw Rose’s obvious distress. “I know how ye feel, lass,” she said gently, her voice loaded with sympathy. “He has that effect on most folk that meet him for the first time, but he isnae as fierce as he looks, hen. He has been through a lot. Dae ye know much about him?”
“Very little,” Rose admitted. “I know he is a widower, and his wife was killed in an attack of some sort.” She sighed again and rubbed her hand across her forehead.
“Are ye a’ right, hen?” Nell was concerned, and looked into Rose’s dark eyes with sympathy. “Ye dinnae look well at a’.”
“I have a headache,” Rose replied. “I think it was all the shaking about in the carriage. It is not a comfortable way to travel at all.”
“Indeed it isnae,” Nell agreed, frowning. “But somethin’ else is wrong, is it no’?”
“I have a splitting headache,” Rose told her. “Too much shaking about in the carriage, and I am very hungry.”
“We can dae somethin’ about that!” Nell smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. “I will bring ye some food fae the kitchen, an’ some willow bark tea. The cook has some on hand for the guards who drink too much ale after their shifts!”
Rose had no idea about guards, and shifts were the garments she wore underneath her dress. Clearly, she had a lot to learn about life in a castle!
“Tell me what ‘shifts’ are, please, Nell,” she asked. “Guards work in shifts? You mean… petticoats?”
For a moment, Nell stared at her in disbelief, and Rose blushed with embarrassment.
“Petticoats?” Nell asked, and there was a pause before light dawned. “Oh, I see! No, hen. Shifts are the hours a guard works before he goes tae rest. Some work fae morning tae night, some work fae night tae mornin’, but I can see how ye were mixed up.” Then she laughed. “I will never be able tae look at them in the same way now, though. A’ they big men dressed in frilly shifts!”
Rose laughed at the hilarious image, realising that there were so many new words, habits, and customs that she would have to become accustomed to. “I have so much to learn,” she observed, shaking her head.
Nell looked at Rose’s profile, thinking what a beautiful young woman she was, with her bright chestnut-coloured hair and deep brown eyes. She had already seen some of the guards eyeing her with appreciation, and knew that she would have to warn them off. Nothing must distract Rose from taking care of her charge because this task was simply too important, as the welfare of the Laird’s daughter depended upon it.
She led Rose to a side passage, which in turn led to a narrow stairwell, and they climbed what felt like a hundred stairs to a corridor in the attic. It was dark and freezing cold in the windowless space, and she shivered as she looked around her. A row of doors ran along each side of it, and Rose guessed that this was the servants’ quarters.
She had never been in this part of her own house, and had no idea what she would find inside the chamber to which she had been assigned, but she had a feeling that it would be tiny, cramped, and dull.
Nell opened the door to a room near the stairs and led Rose inside, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not atall what she had expected. It was, of course, much smaller than her own bedroom at home, but it was warm, due to the cheerful fire that was already burning. The window was not big, which was just as well, because this part of the castle bore the brunt of the wind and storms that blew in from the sea.
The bed looked comfortable, and was covered in a thick, brightly patterned quilt. Beside it was a small table and chair, and there was a chest of drawers for her clothes. All in all, she thought, it looked neat and cosy, and best of all, private.
She moved to the window. There was not much to look at, since she was facing the other towers of the castle, but she reasoned that the small chamber was the best she could hope for under the circumstances.
She looked around and smiled at Nell. “Well, this is very pleasant,” she said, trying to sound genuinely pleased.
Nell was not fooled, but she returned the smile. She felt infinitely sorry for this young woman who had arrived in a strange country, knowing no one, and being thrust into a whole world about which she knew nothing. But Nell would be her teacher and guide, the one who would show her the way and correct her mistakes.
“I am glad ye like it, hen,” Nell said fondly.
“Why do you keep calling me ‘hen?’” Rose asked, frowning in puzzlement.
Nell laughed softly. “I forgot… There are many words ye willnae know, Rose. That is just somethin’ ye say tae a woman or a girl. It is just a way tae talk tae her. I cannae explain it any better than that.”
“I see,” Rose said thoughtfully, then sighed. “I really do have a lot to learn, don’t I?” She sighed.
