Page 12 of The Highlander's Inconvenient Wife
“Aye, I may have done the same; kilts are frightful pieces of garments at the best of times,” Martha said and stood. “I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation lass. I hope ye willnae leave us too soon; I would very much like to have more conversations with ye. It can get awfully lonely up here on the cliffs with the same faces to talk to, day after day,” she commented as she took a few steps toward Joan and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Joan felt sorry for the woman who was so obviously desperate for company.
“I always wanted a daughter, but God saw fit to bless me with a son instead. Daenae get me wrong, I love me son, dearly, but he’s nae much of a conversationalist, not since…” Her eyes seemed sad as her voice trailed off. “Look at me blatherin’.” She covered her sadness with a smile. “I’ll leave ye to it, an’ let ye eat. The maids will be up with yer bath in a bit.”
Joan watched her leave the room and shut the door behind her back. There was something in the woman’s eyes that made her wonder about the Beastly Laird and why he acted the way he did.
Was there something terrible in his past that he was trying to outrun just as she was?
* * *
Joan sat in her hot tub of water as the steam drifted into the air. It felt good to ease her sore muscles after such a lengthy ordeal. Martha had brought her a second tray of food consisting of soup and ale to slake her hunger and thirst. The food had done her good as she now felt sated and well.
She liked the older lady and her humorous ways. She seemed far too young to Joan to have such an unpleasant son like Jasper, not that his unpleasantness had anything to do with his mother’s age. He could have had an ancient mother and probably turned out just as grumpy and unpleasant as he was now.
An owl hooted outside her bedroom window, drawing her attention to the full moon and beautiful view. The back of the castle overlooked a beautiful pond with stunning lilies that floated on the surface.
She wondered if she would be allowed to explore at any point before Avery and Darragh came to her rescue or if she would be kept inside the room for days on end.
The violent sound of someone chopping a piece of wood startled her as she jerked in the tub, making ripples on the surface of the scented water. A smile spread over her lips when she realized that Gregg was sound asleep outside her bedroom door. She was sure that his wife never got any sleep if he had a wife. The man seemed solely devoted to the laird and his castle.
Deciding that she was clean and fully relaxed, Joan pushed herself up and stood in the tub, reaching for a towel that had been placed beside her on a chair. She dried her body with the soft cotton and pulled on her undergarments. The thought of having to sleep wasn’t appealing to her at present; she looked at the door and waited to hear if Gregg was still sound asleep in his chair before reaching for one of the dresses Martha had provided her with.
Tiptoeing across the room once her shoes were on, she suddenly remembered the compromising position her guards’ legs had been in earlier. Not wanting to see the family jewels, she grabbed a dry towel and gently opened the door, holding the towel up in front of her face and carefully walking forward so that his decency, or lack thereof, would be hidden.
Triumphantly placing the towel over his legs, she backed away and turned down the hall once she was certain that he hadn’t awoken. The snoring commenced as if nothing had changed.
Joan let out a breath as she leaned against the banister at the head of the landing.
“Out for an evening stroll?” someone suddenly asked.
She jumped and clutched at her chest when she realized that Martha had snuck up behind her.
“Daenae fuss, lass; ye are nae committing any crimes,” the woman said cheerfully. “I daenae blame ye for nae wanting to stay in yer room. ’Tis a lovely evening with a warm breeze.” She took a deep breath as if she could smell the flowers in the air. “’Tis my favorite time of year when the lilies are blooming.”
“I didn’t think I could sleep yet,” Joan explained when her heart returned to normal; she was sure that Jasper had crept up behind her. “There was a lovely view from my window, so I thought I could explore a bit.”
“Ye daenae have to explain yerself; ye’re nae a prisoner here,” Martha said with a shake of her head.
“But…” Joan began to explain that her son had said she was indeed a prisoner.
“I daenae care what he says; sixteen hours of labor has given me certain rights in life, an’ I will be sticking to them,” she said with a wink. “Go out the front door an’ take a left; ye will find the beautiful view ye saw from yer bedchamber.”
“Thank you,” Joan mouthed. “There’s one other thing,” she said when Martha began to leave.
“Aye?” the older woman shot her a questioning glance.
“I left my guard asleep outside my bedroom door,” she admitted sheepishly.
Martha frowned as she took a step back and glanced down the hall. Shaking her head in slow motion with her eyes shut, she sighed. “The walls of this castle can come down around that man, an’ he’ll still be asleep. Was it ye that covered him with a towel?”
“Yes, he was… uh… indecent…” She sought for the words to describe her predicament in a ladylike manner.
“Ye mean his eggs an’ bannock were on display for all the world to see?” Her direct words made Joan choke. “Well, each to his own, I guess,” Martha said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’ll have to have a word with Jasper about providing adequate undergarments for his men,” she decided. “We cannae have their swords swinging about as they charge into battle. Can ye imagine if it were to get caught…”
“I think I’ll be taking that walk now,” Joan interrupted quickly as she attempted to end the conversation. The state of the men’s ‘swords’ was not something she relished discussing, no matter how cheerful she found the woman to be.
“Suit yerself dear,” Martha said happily as she walked back up the hall, leaving Joan to escape and go on her way.
