Do you mean porridge? A grown man cannot be eating porridge all the days of his life. And he’s recovering from an illness, he needs stronger foods.
“I dinnae ken what to do,” Lady Lenicthon with her eyes down on her lap. “He needs to get better but he is eating himself ill again. He refuses me food and requests that blood-filled meat from the kitchen”
Mary felt her hands were tied. There was no sign for, perhaps you can make a compromise? So, she was forced to sit with her hand on her lap and a conflicted look on her face. Lady Lenichton gave her a commiserating gaze.
“I ken lass, I ken, it is so disheartening. Aaron was me sweetheart at a very young age. We kent each other from childhood, but he was a mean one to me then. Like all lads, he’d tease me to the point I felt like me head would splinter in pieces until he went away to train with his mentors. When he came back, he was nay the scrawny fifteen-year-old I had kent, he was a man. When he asked for me hand in marriage, I happily gave it to him and we spent thirty-six years as one. Now, I feel like a part of me is dying with him.”
Mary’s jaw tightened. Deep sorrow was in Lady Lenichton's voice and she did not how to react to it well. Her parents had never spoken of each other this way but she felt the lady truly loved her husband. How was it then that love could turn to pain?
I suppose it's logical, to love someone to the point where their pain becomes your own.
“Ye’ll find it the same way when ye find the man ye love,” Lady Lenichton said and Mary struggled to keep her cheeks from heating under the lady’s look.
The man she loved…the notion felt heavy on her chest. Did she love Leith? Her chest panged a little. She knew she cared for him but…love?
“Ah…” Lady Lenichton smiled, “is it the notion of being in love that made ye react that way or are ye already in love?”
Swallowing while shaking her head, she held up her finger, trying to indicate the first part of Lady Lenichton’s statement. She was getting flustered now and she hoped the lady would see it and release her. Her head dipped and she could feel the woman’s stare on the top of her head. The scrutiny had an intensity that she would have never expected to come from an old woman but it kept her rooted to her chair.
A small laugh came from the woman and Mary looked up. Lady Lenichton's lips were curved. “Ah, the naivety that comes with young age. I wish I could go back to those days. But I won’t keep ye for too long, Mary. I’m glad you came to me, I am very grateful for yer company.”
Relieved, Mary stood and dipped a curtsy before she ran back to the kitchen.
* * *
Leith stared at the carpenter with incredulity. Had he suddenly sprouted two heads out of one neck, Leith could not have been more surprised.
“The hell ye say…” Leith uttered. “He told ye that the English were taking control of the capital so he was the only one who ye could trust to get yer ironworks through?”
“Aye,” the man, Norton, said while dropping his hand plane and dusting wooden chips of his hands. “That’s what he told me so I dinnea question it. He said something about an English lord dying and the Englishmen taking revenge. He told us to stay away from traveling for a while, to protect our lives.”
“For mercies’ sake,” Leith ground through grit teeth, “The English came here to take the man’s body back to England. They were nay holding a siege. Cooper is making ye into people as suspicious and distrustful as he is. There was nay siege.”
Norton shrugged his meaty shoulders as he picked up a chisel, “What can I tell ye, Sir, siege or nay siege, I got what I needed and quickly too. He’s done a good job with this town like it or nay. Rounded up some of the careless boys and put them into the soldier life. The stipend they get is the lifeline of their parents.”
Leith held in his grimace. That was Cooper’s job to make the young men into soldiers, but making the people afraid of outsiders and controlling their resources was not his. But the people were not complaining.
This was the last person of the six he had spoken to and all six had not had a bad word to say about Cooper. All had sung his praises and if this was a sample of how the whole village thought, he was in for a fight when he was ready to take back his authority.
He stood and brushed his trews off before sticking out a hand. “Thank ye for telling me, Norton.”
Ducking under the low casing, he left the carpentry and went to his horse. Six people. Six people had told him that, in a summary, Cooper was their salvation and he cursed under his breath. The day was waning and he was picturing going back home to a bath, a rich meal, and Mary.
The sun was begging to set, the golden orb darkening to orange as it lowered to the horizon. Dark gray and indigo were about to creep in and overtake the shimmering gold rays but his journey took him away from it and soon enough he could feel the warmth on the back of
