Mairead nodded her agreement. “Aye, ‘twas a very good idea.” Once again she realized how careful Tadhg was of her feelings. He didn’t overlook the smallest detail. As Elspet showed her around, she introduced her to the various servants they met along the way. Mairead tried to be friendly to the staff she met, but she sensed coolness from them. Being rather reserved herself, she did not take offense.
When they returned to the great hall after the tour of the keep, Mairead asked, “Elspet, do ye know where all the things I brought from Carraigile were put? I am sure everyone is very busy returning the keep to normal after the wedding, and this can wait until someone is available, but my harp was packed in a crate in order to transport it. I’m not sure where it was stored when we arrived, but I would like for it to be brought to the great hall and removed from its crate.”
“Truthfully, I’m not sure where everything was stored. Oren took care of all of the things that ye brought, but I’ll send for him and we can see about unpacking it.”
Elspet sent a chambermaid named Meriel to get the steward, but the lass returned without him.
“Oren said to tell ye he is very busy at the moment and unpacking will have to wait.” Meriel looked oddly smug, but Elspet looked stunned.
Mairead herself was surprised, but thought surely she had misunderstood. No servant in her father’s house would have refused to present himself if summoned by Lady MacKenzie, or any member of the family, for that matter.
Nevertheless, Mairead would give him the benefit of the doubt. She asked calmly, “Perhaps he misunderstood me?”
Meriel shook her head. “Nay, my lady, I’m sure he didn’t.”
Mairead had the unwelcome desire to slap the self-satisfied expression off Meriel’s face. She didn’t know how to handle this. She had never encountered a situation like it before, but she was not going to start a battle over this with a servant playing messenger. “Please inform him I would like to see him immediately after he completes the task he is unable to leave.”
“I suspect it will be a while.” Her flippant answer did nothing to calm Mairead’s ire. To make matters worse, the girl simply walked away, without being excused.
If anything, Elspet looked more upset than Mairead. “My lady, I don’t know what to say. Laird Matheson is not an overly demanding man, but he would have been furious if Oren had sent a similar message to him. I will go speak to Oren.”
“Thank ye, Elspet, but I will let it go for the moment. Maybe there is a good reason. I’m sure he’ll explain when I speak with him.” Wishing to change the subject, she asked, “Perhaps ye could show me Cnocreidh’s herb garden?”
“Is there something I can get ye, my lady?”
“Nay, thank ye, Elspet. I just want to see it.”
“There are two herb gardens. One is in the kitchen garden, but the only herbs growing in it are those suitable for eating and seasoning food. That one is Ide’s domain. I’m sure she’ll want to show it to ye when ye meet with her. The other one contains medicinal herbs. They are separate to avoid a potentially dangerous herb being used accidentally in food.”
Mairead nodded sagely. “That is an excellent approach, we only have one at ho—at Carraigile.” Again Mairead stopped herself from referring to Carraigile as “home.” She had to begin thinking of Cnocreidh as her home now. “My mother, or those of us she trained, were the only ones allowed to tend it and harvest herbs for the same reason. Where is the other garden?”
“It is behind the chapel, my lady. Our priest tends that garden.”
“I would very much like to see it.”
“My lady, I’m terribly sorry, but Father Keenan doesn’t like for anyone to enter the medicinal herb garden. He prefers people to ask him for any herbs they need. Again, it is to prevent someone from accidentally taking something dangerous.”
“Aye, I understand his concern. I won’t take any herbs from the garden. I just want to see what grows there.” This whole morning had taken an extremely frustrating turn.
Elspet’s brow furrowed. “I would be happy to show ye the chapel herb garden, however it is walled and locked. Father Keenan has the key. As ye know he is away at the moment, but as soon as he returns I am sure he will be delighted to show it to ye. He is rather proud of it.”
“That is disappointing. I would have liked to have seen it today.”
Elspet looked distressed at this comment. Although it wasn’t what Mairead intended, her irritation with the entire situation had seeped into her voice. Still, she certainly was not upset with Elspet. She tried to shake her frustration and gave Elspet a warm smile. “Still, I suppose it will give me something to look forward to. I will wait to see it until he returns. Perhaps there is some sewing I could do until time for the midday meal? There was always mending to be done at Carraigile.” As she said the words, it occurred to Mairead one reason for this might have been because of her very large family.
“Oh, nay, my lady.” Elspet smiled proudly. “Ye needn’t be bothered with mending and such, we have seamstresses who take care of any sewing or mending needing to be done.”
She guessed she would have to resign herself to needlework until she had the opportunity to meet with Oren. “Hmm, then perhaps ye know where my tapestry frame would have been put? It was with my things in the chamber where I stayed before the wedding. It seems none of my needlework supplies were brought to the laird’s chamber when my clothes were moved.”
“Are they not in your solar?”
“I didn’t know I had a solar.” Mairead gave a little laugh.
“Oh, my lady, I am so sorry. I assumed ye knew. It is one of the two rooms off the antechamber to your bedchamber. One leads to the laird’s study, and the other one was always the lady’s solar, although no one has used it as such for years. Laird Matheson had it freshened up and prepared for ye before ye arrived. I am sure ye will find it comfortable. Shall I show ye to it now?”
“Oh, nay, that won’t be necessary. I hadn’t actually looked into those rooms yet.” When the implication of what she had just said sunk in, Mairead blushed crimson.
Elspet just smiled indulgently. “With so much going on, and a braw new husband requiring your attention, I wouldn’t have expected ye to, my lady. I will send Oren to ye when he is available.”
“Nay,” Mairead said a little too sharply. “I—I—please, when he is available ask him to wait in the great hall and send someone for me. I will meet with him here.”
“Whatever ye prefer.”
“Thank ye, Elspet.” Mairead entered the south tower and headed up the stairs. On the second level, the sound of maids’ voices came from one of the rooms being cleaned. She would have ignored them and continued her climb, but a snippet of the conversation grabbed her attention.
“I thought those MacKenzies would never leave.”
“We are going to be cleaning for ages. There were so many of them.”
“A score and ten guests just from her family. Eleven children. Was it completely necessary for all of them to descend on us?”
Mairead froze where she stood. They were upset because her family came to her wedding? The children had been no bother. All eleven children and their nursemaids stayed in two chambers, and the nursemaids performed all the tasks required for the care and keeping of the children.
“I won’t even mention her highness.”
One of the voices laughed harshly. “They certainly did treat their little mouse like a princess, did they not?
“I can’t believe the cosseted little chit has become Lady Matheson. She can barely speak for herself.”
“At least she won’t be like the high and mighty Lady MacKenzie, stepping in and bossing everyone around.”
Her mother was nothing but polite, and she did what Tadhg asked her to do, Mairead thought indignantly. What did they expect? Is this what the Mathesons thought of her and her family? Mairead didn’t want to hear more, she ran the rest of the way to her chambers.
She shut the door of the a
ntechamber and leaned against it, wondering if the entire clan hated her. Pay no attention, Mairead, it was just two gossiping chambermaids. Still, it was hard to ignore the hurtful words. Tadhg had made her feel so wanted and valued, she hadn’t considered what the rest of the clan might think. Perhaps it would just take some time for them to get to know her better. In fairness, her family could be daunting.
She decided to let it go and explore the other two rooms. The one to the left, dominated by a large table on which rested some papers, was clearly Tadhg’s study. It had a hearth at one end, in front of which stood two upholstered chairs. The room to the right was her solar. It was a little chilly because there was no fire in the hearth, but like the bedchamber, this room had several tall windows, which let in quite a bit of light. Thick rugs were scattered on the floor, and a group of comfortable looking chairs stood near the hearth. To one side of the room was a small desk and chair and on the desk was a supply of parchment, quills, and an inkwell. Most intriguing was a large wardrobe-like cabinet. Opening it, she found shelves holding her tapestry frame, sewing supplies, and smaller musical instruments including her lute, recorder, and several wooden flutes of varying sizes.
She was thrilled to see the instruments she loved, and forgot her earlier hurt. With everything that had been going on, it had been weeks since she had played one. She removed the lute from the cabinet and took it to one of the chairs by the hearth. She lost herself in the music and wasn’t sure how long she had been playing when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Mairead thought perhaps this was someone letting her know the steward was available now.
“Enter,” she called.
A chambermaid opened the door and curtsied. “My lady, the midday meal is ready to be served.”
“Oh my, it is much later than I thought. Thank ye.” Mairead, ye need to start getting to know your new clan. “I don’t believe we have met yet, what is your name?”
The young woman smiled, appearing genuinely pleased to be asked her name. “My name is Gallia, my lady.”
“Thank ye, Gallia, I will be right down.”
“Aye, my lady.” Gallia curtsied again before leaving.
Ye see, it isn’t everyone, Mairead. She returned the lute to the cabinet and left the room, descending to the great hall feeling much better than she had earlier. Tadhg was already seated at the table, and she joined him there.
“Good afternoon, Lady Matheson. How is the rest of your life going so far?” He gave her his roguish wink, which always made her stomach flutter.
“Well enough,” she answered, deciding not to tell him of her difficulty with the steward yet, nor the gossiping chambermaids. She needed to handle these things herself. If she ran to him at the first sign of trouble, then the staff would not respect her, and he might doubt her abilities to manage his household.
This was the first meal she had eaten at Cnocreidh where she was not surrounded by family. Feeling a little unsure of herself, she remained reserved, but she had the opportunity to learn more about several of Tadhg’s men.
Mairead had already met his commander, Hamish, but had not conversed with him until today. Shorter and with a muscular, stocky build, Hamish looked to be older than Tadhg but not by much, perhaps a bit over a score and ten. His hair was reddish gold and his face and arms were freckled by the sun. He was friendly and very good-natured. Something about him reminded her of her brother Quinn. Although not as quiet, he watched people closely as if reading them. While he seemed rather young to be a commander, she decided his astute nature probably made him an extremely good leader of men.
Tadhg had three captains who reported to Hamish, and they each led a division of guardsmen and men-at-arms. Pol, a man roughly her father’s age with a deep melodious voice, was both taller and broader than Tadhg. “Are ye settling in then, my lady?”
“Aye, thank ye for asking.” Mairead, ye eejit, make conversation. “Uh…until today, I wasn’t aware of exactly how large Cnocreidh is.”
“Aye, it is a grand keep, to be sure.”
“Do ye reside in the keep?”
“Nay, not since I was a young man at least. I live in a wee house in the village with my wife, Mae, and our daughter. Mae is a weaver. I believe ye have met our daughter, Gallia. She is the lass who fetched ye downstairs just now.”
“Oh. Aye, she is lovely,” Mairead said sincerely.
“David here has lived in the keep with his daughters ever since his wife passed. They work here as maids too.”
The second of Tadhg’s captains, David, seemed quiet and serious. He looked to be just shy of two score and ten, with warm dark brown eyes and dark hair that was slightly grey at the temples.
“Do they? I wonder if I have met them.”
“My daughters are named Finola and Meriel.”
She schooled her reaction. Meriel was the maid who had been somewhat rude to her that morning, but Mairead didn’t want to make her father feel uncomfortable. “Aye, I believe I met Meriel this morning as I toured Cnocreidh, but I don’t recall having met Finola yet.”
“Finola and Meriel are both bonny lassies,” said Ian, the third and youngest of Tadhg’s captains. A tall man with thick blond hair and bright blue eyes like her brothers Cullen, Gannon, and Quinn, he looked to be perhaps a few years older than Hamish. He was outgoing and talkative. “My oldest son, Findlay, is rather smitten with both of them. He is ten and seven and is now training as a warrior. He was the laird’s squire before your brother. I keep telling him he needs to focus more on his training and less on the bonny lassies.” He laughed heartily.
“Do ye live in the village with your family, then?”
“Aye, that I do, but our middle son, Ronan, is Hamish’s squire, and he lives here in the keep. Ye may not have met my wife, Katy, yet but ye’ll have no trouble recognizing her when ye do. She is Elspet’s youngest sister and all the lasses in their family are cut from the same cloth. Sometimes it’s hard to tell one from the other.”
Pol grinned mischievously. “Katy is one of the clan’s healers and an excellent midwife. Perhaps ye’ll be needing her services in the coming months.”
Mairead blushed profusely and looked away, but Tadhg simply clasped her hand and smiled broadly. “God willing.”
“Pol’s a rogue, ignore him,” said Ian with a twinkle in his eye.
Regaining her composure, Mairead asked, “Is it just the two sons ye have, then?
Tadhg smiled, and Pol laughed his deep booming laugh. Ian scowled but then chuckled too and explained, “Nay, my lady. We have one more son. Our Duff is ten, but he can find as much trouble as six lads. He’d have ye believe things seem to break spontaneously when he is near them.”
Pol laughed even harder. “Aye, Oren breaks out in a cold sweat when he sees the lad enter the keep. Duff can be a right menace.”
Ian chuckled too as he helped himself to more venison from the platter. “Speaking of Oren, it’s not like him to miss a meal. I wonder where he is today.”
“That is odd,” agreed Tadhg. He explained to Mairead, “Oren is my steward, and I don’t know anyone who enjoys eating more than he does. By all rights, he should be huge but he is almost painfully thin. His family lives in the village, but he nearly always has his dinner here.”
“If not his breakfast and supper as well,” added Hamish. “He knees were certainly under the table this morning.”
Tadhg chuckled. “I was training with Laird Chisholm when my mother passed away, but for some reason my father gave the responsibility of planning meals to him.”
Hamish, too, piled more food on his trencher. “There is no mystery there, Laird, Oren wanted the job, that’s why your father gave it to him.”
“Well, I guess that explains it, sweetling, but now ye are here, I’m sure ye will want to assume the responsibility.”
“Aye, I would.”
“Have ye met Oren yet?” Tadhg asked.
“Not yet. I had hoped to talk a few things through with him this afternoon.”
Mairead didn’t want to accept it, but there really was no other explanation. It seemed Oren was deliberately avoiding her. Still, perhaps it was wrong to jump to such a conclusion and she didn’t want to say that until she learned more. “I understand he has been very busy today.” She left it at that. Hamish’s brow furrowed at her comment, but he said nothing.
~ * ~
When the meal was over, Tadhg and his men returned to the training field, and the servants began to clear the hall. Mairead found Elspet again and said, “I am anxious to speak with Oren, perhaps he has forgotten my earlier request?”
Elspet looked astounded. “My lady, ye don’t mean to say he hasn’t met with ye yet?”
“Nay, not yet.”
“My lady, I apologize. I spoke with him this morning and told him to send for ye as soon as he was available. I assumed he would only be delayed a few minutes. I will go get him immediately.”
“Thank ye, Elspet, I’d appreciate that.”
Mairead decided to wait in the great hall until Elspet returned and thought she would help clean up after the meal. She turned to remove the cloth from a nearby trestle table. Her mother taught her to fold the edges of a tablecloth in first, trapping the crumbs and spilled food in the cloth. Then the cloths could be shaken outside before they were laundered. This reduced the amount of food debris that collected in the rushes, helping to control vermin.
As Mairead started folding the edges in, a servant rushed over and said, “My lady, there’s no need to fold it, it will only need to be washed anyway.” The woman snatched the cloth from the table, crumbs flying everywhere.
“I was—” Mairead began to tell the servant her reason for folding the cloth first but the young woman simply walked away from her.
The servant’s rude behavior shocked Mairead yet again. She glanced around to see if anyone who had seen the interaction seemed surprised by it, but no one else seemed to have paid any attention.
She was still mulling the incident over when Elspet returned, clearly agitated. “My lady, I am so sorry, I’m not sure how Oren could have misunderstood. He should have spoken to ye before he left, but I am afraid he has gone for the day. Ide said he wasn’t feeling well and went home to rest. Apparently they planned tomorrow’s meals just after the midday meal was served.”
Highland Courage Page 7