Part 25 (1/2)
”Never say tha' yer grandmother's Old Woman Nora from Hurst House?”
”Yes, that's her.”
Mrs. Wallis beamed. ”If I'd only known yer grandmother was Old Woman Nora! I've always wish't to meet her but never had the privilege. She delivered two o' me granddaughters. Me Mary had a horrible time wit' the last one, but she said she knew when Old Nora arrived tha' she and the bairn would survive, no matter wha'.”
”I'm sure she'll be pleased to know she's remembered.”
Mrs. Wallis shook her head, smiling. ”To think tha' his lords.h.i.+p runs off to Londontown and ends up marryin' the granddaughter o' Old Woman Nora! 'Twas fate as brought the two o' ye together.”
Triona wished she could believe that; it would be nice to have fate in her corner. She'd alienated Hugh and she needed all of the a.s.sistance she could get, divine and otherwise. She stifled a sigh. ”I wish to write a letter to my family and shall need more ink. The well in the sitting-room desk is dry.”
”Aye, m' lady. I'll see to it right away.” Mrs. Wallis shot a glance at Triona and said, ”My, tha' was quite a storm we had the other day.”
”Wasn't it?” Triona said politely.
”Aye, it scared poor Cook nigh to death. An entire rack of knives came flyin' at her as she hid under the workbench.”
”I'm glad no one was hurt.” If someone had been, she'd have felt responsible for she'd goaded Hugh.
It was a good lesson. If she wanted a reaction out of him, anger was not a viable option. Besides, she much preferred his unbridled l.u.s.t.
They reached the sitting-room door and the housekeeper said, ”I'll bring some ink straight away.”
”Thank you, Mrs. Wallis. I appreciate your a.s.sistance.”
”Och, think nothin' o' it! Ye've been ridin' and climbin' stairs, and that's just this morning. I can tell ye've been raised in the healthy country air. Moira says ye were out of yer bed this mornin' a full hour afore me!”
Oh, Triona had been up much longer than that. She'd awakened with the dawn, cold and alone and missing being tucked against Hugh's warm, naked body. Each morning as she'd stir sleepily, he'd tease her to a pa.s.sion to match his own.
But she missed him for more than their lovemaking. Over the past few weeks, he had become a part of her life. She enjoyed their conversations over breakfast before the girls were up, about their childhoods and their expectations and even nothing at all. Added to their physical bond, it was a beginning.
If only she could convince him to unleash some of his pa.s.sion out of bed as well...but after their argument, he'd be even more determined to keep her at arm's length.
Worse, she was just beginning to realize the effect his actions had on the girls. They were resisting her not because they resented her position in the household, but because they could sense their father's reluctance and feared her influence over him. If they only knew the truth, that she not only had no influence over their father, but she'd been completely unable to engage him in any way except on a physical level. Well that, and she apparently possessed the dubious talent of stirring his temper to boiling heights.
She rubbed her arms, suddenly restless. Since Hugh had left, she'd been having the same thoughts over and over. Left alone in such a huge house and filled with regrets over her final words with her husband, was beginning to take its toll. She needed a project to keep her busy, something that would leave her good and tired when the sun sank below the horizon and the empty house suddenly seemed bigger and even emptier.
”Will there be anythin' else, m' lady?” the housekeeper asked.
”Mrs. Wallis, how many years have you been with Lord Hugh?”
”Fifteen,” she said proudly.
”So you know MacLean very well.”
Mrs. Wallis's gray eyes met hers steadily. ”Aye. Well enough to know when one o' them has lost his temper.”
”It would be difficult to miss,” Triona said dryly.
”Why did ye wish to know?”
”Because I'm of a mind to make some changes. Nothing drastic, but it would be nice if I could add something-something of myself-to Gilmerton.” Before I leave.
”That seems a fair idea. Wha' is it ye have in mind?”
”I would like to surprise his lords.h.i.+p by making the house better in some way. But everything is so well run that there's really no room for improvement.”
Mrs. Wallis beamed. ”Thank ye, m' lady. I dinna know if this is what ye had in mind, but I've thought fer several years tha' perhaps we should move the furniture. If ye keep it one way too long, it mars the wood floors as people walk just one way through the room.”
”A wonderful idea. Perhaps we can do that after lunch-”
There was a loud knock on the door, and Liam came out to open it.
Mam swept in dressed in her Sunday finest, a lavender gown with a sober gray cape, her sober brown boots peeking out from beneath the hem. Her iron gray curls were tucked beneath the largest flowered bonnet Triona had ever seen.
Leaning upon her cane, she looked Triona up and down. ”Well? Are ye goin' to offer me a drop o' tea? I traveled a whole hour to get here, and me bones are creakin' wit' a powerful thirst.”
Mrs. Wallis dipped a curtsey. ”I'll fetch ye some tea right away. By the way, Mrs. Hurst, I'm sorry I dinna know before tha' ye were Nora the Healer or I'd have thanked ye fer helpin' me bairns.”
Mam lifted an interested brow. ”Oh? An' who might yer wee ones be?”
”Mary Wallis and Lara Kirkland.”
”Och, I remember them both! How are yer bonny daughters a'doin'?”
Mrs. Wallis flushed with pleasure. She spent several minutes telling Nora about her daughters, then scurried off to fetch tea and scones.
”Don't forget the marmalade!” Mam called after her. ”I do love some nice marmalade when I'm out visitin'.” She sent a guilty glance at Triona. ”I don't like to serve it meself, as 'tis mighty dear.”
Triona laughed and hugged the old woman. ”You are just the woman I was hoping to see.”
”I figured ye might could use an ear.” Mam c.o.c.ked a silver brow as Triona escorted her into the sitting room. ”I suppose ye could say the thought came a' me in a rush.”
Triona sighed. ”The wind?”
”Aye. Tha' had to be his lords.h.i.+p and no one else.” Mam sat on the settee by the fireplace and patted the cus.h.i.+on beside her. ”Come, child, and tell me what's happened.”
Soon Triona was pouring out her heart to her grandmother. Mam listened to it all, asking shrewd questions along the way. They stopped only when Mrs. Wallis brought in a tray of scones with marmalade and tea.
Finally, long after Mrs. Wallis had departed, Triona finished.
Mam sat in silence for a moment and then tsked. ”Ye both lost yer tempers.”
”I was so frustrated.”
”I can see tha'.” Mam took a noisy sip of her tea. ”La.s.sie, wha' do ye want from MacLean?”
”I want him to fully accept me as his wife.”
”Ah. So ye wish fer a commitment of the heart.” She patted Triona's hand. ”Ye wish him to be in love wit' ye.”