Authors: Bertrice Small
“Your dinner was the best we’ve had in months!”
Murdoc said enthusiastically as he left the kitchens.
Elsbeth chuckled, pleased.
“The water is hot for washing,” Adair said.
“I’ll wash; you dry,” the older woman replied. “You don’t want your hands all roughened and unladylike.”
“It would appear I’m hardly a lady anymore,” Adair remarked softly.
“You was born a lady, you’ve been raised a lady.
You’ll always be a lady!” Elsbeth said sharply. “You’ve fallen on hard times, my chick, but times change.”
“I’ve discovered where we will sleep,” Adair said.
“There’s an alcove off the pantry with two bed spaces in the stone walls. The pallets seem clean and free of vermin, but I took them outside and shook them out nonetheless, and I’ve scrubbed the stone spaces. But there are no coverlets. We’ll have to use our cloaks tonight.”
“You wished to see me, Elsbeth?”
They both turned to see the laird standing in the kitchens behind them.
“Aye, my lord,” Elsbeth said. “Might we sit at the table? I’m not as young as I once was, and I am fair worn out tonight.”
“Of course.” He smiled at her. “That was a fine dinner you served up tonight.”
“ ’Twas not easy, my lord. The kitchen was a jumble of
everything, and all of it filthy. We cleaned what we needed, but tomorrow we have a great deal of work ahead of us to put this kitchen back in its proper order.
There is much we need. I’ll want a strong lad to chop the wood and bring it in, to draw the water, and to sharpen the knives—to run my errands. There are no foodstuffs in the pantry. No flour, or salt, or a sugar loaf. No spices.
I saw chickens in the court when we arrived. Where are they kept? I must have a daily supply of eggs, milk, butter, and cream. I’ll need a woman from that village where young Murdoc sought supplies for me today to bake bread for me each day. It’s a miracle, it is, that I was able to feed your men tonight. Where is the game for the larder? Not a deer, a rabbit, or a bird to be seen hanging.” She stopped but a second to catch her breath.
“We need soap and sand for the washing. And a broom.
We cannot clean your hall without a broom. And beeswax to polish the furniture. And there are no coverlets for our sleeping spaces either.”
While Elsbeth rattled on, Adair studied the laird from beneath her dark lashes. He was very, very tall, standing several inches over six feet. His hair was every bit as black as hers was. It was not long, but it touched the nape of his collar, and it was straight as a poker. Dark gray eyes peered from beneath eyebrows so thick that the hairs tangled themselves. He had a high forehead and a long nose. His lips were full, but not thick. His hands fascinated her—large and square, with long fingers. They were surprisingly clean, Adair noted.
“And we’ll need some kind of a tub for washing ourselves. My lady is used to bathing on a regular basis.
And I’ll need a woman to help with the washing. If I am to cook for you and your great lot, and Mistress Adair is to keep your hall clean, then we cannot be expected to do the laundry as well. Certainly your good mam, God assoil her soul, had women servants.”
“They departed shortly after she died, for my men can be rowdy at times. My mother’s presence is what
kept them tolerable,” the laird admitted. “I thought we could do without them, but I have obviously been mistaken. I will send you with my brother, Duncan, to the village tomorrow, and you can pick your own helpers.”
“That is most generous of you, my lord,” Elsbeth said.
The laird stood up. He walked into the cold larder and opened a wide cabinet, pulling forth a small round oak tub. “Where do you want it?” he asked Elsbeth.
“Before the fire, my lord. Thank you.”
He gave her a slight bow and left the kitchen.
Adair laughed. “You are truly astonishing, Nursie.
This is a whole new side of you. And I did not know you could cook so well.”
“I’ve spent my life looking after you, my chick, but Margery and I both learned to cook from our mother. I often helped the cook at Stanton when it became too much for her. She was very old, you know. But come, and let us fill the tub for you. I’ll bathe after you have finished. Let me look where he found the tub. There must be a drying cloth or two there.”
“My gown is filthy, sweat-stained, and torn,” Adair said. “How can I wear it again after I have bathed?”
“I’ll wash your chemise while you are bathing. It will be dry by morning. We’ll air your gown in the cold larder overnight, and I’ll repair it. It will have to do until I can persuade the laird to find some material from which we can make new garments,” Elsbeth said.
Together the two women filled the oak tub. Elsbeth found some large drying cloths where the tub had been stored. Adair stripped and climbed into the tub. Taking the girl’s clothes from her, Elsbeth went into the cold larder to hang her mistress’s gown, but first she stepped outside and shook it as hard as she could to free the dust.
Adair wasn’t certain who was more surprised when Conal Bruce walked back into the kitchen. She scrunched down to cover herself as much as she could,
her heart hammering nervously. His eyes widened briefly, but then he handed her a cake of soap.
“I found it in my mother’s chamber. I thought it might help,” he told her. Then, turning about, he left the kitchen without another word to her.
“Thank you,” Adair managed to squeak after him.
She brought the cake of soap to her nose and sniffed. It had the fragrance of woodbine. Dipping it in the water, she lathered herself and scrubbed with the little cloth Elsbeth had given her. The dirt began to slough from her body, and Adair began to feel better. She bent over and splashed water onto her head. She rubbed the soap into her hair.
“Where did you get the soap?” Elsbeth asked, returning into the kitchen proper.
“The laird brought it,” Adair said.
“And saw you like that? As naked as your mother made you?” Elsbeth gasped.
“I scrunched down, Nursie. He saw nothing, and he did not linger. He said the soap was his mother’s. Then he was gone. God’s wounds, this feels good! I don’t think I’ve ever been so long with a bath. Would you rinse my hair for me?”
Elsbeth poured a pitcher of warm water over the girl’s head. Adair washed her long locks a second time, and once again the older woman rinsed it for her.
“You should have clean water,” Adair told Elsbeth as she arose from the tub and was wrapped in a drying cloth.
Elsbeth shook her head. “Your water is still warm enough, and the soap will make up for the other defi-ciencies,” she said, removing her chemise and climbing into the little tub. “Take my chemise, child, and wash it out for me while I get clean.”
Wrapped in the drying cloth, Adair made her way to the stone sink where her own chemise was soaking. She added Elsbeth’s. Then she waited while Elsbeth used the soap, taking it afterward and using it on the two che
mises. She rinsed the two garments. Both women sat by the kitchen hearth, drying themselves and their hair.
“May I come down?” a voice called.
“Who is that?” Elsbeth demanded to know.
“ ’Tis me, Murdoc Bruce. The laird said you did not have coverlets for your bed spaces. I’ve brought them for you.”
“Leave them on the stairs, laddie, and thank you,”
Elsbeth called back. “We’re not garbed to receive visitors.”
Murdoc chuckled. “They’re here when you want to fetch them,” he said. They heard the door from the stairs to the hall above close.
Elsbeth went and fetched the two chemises from the sink, hanging them over a drying rack she had found near where the tub was stored. The tub would have to be emptied on the morrow. She ran halfway up the stairs to fetch the coverlets that Murdoc had brought them. Adair’s dark head was already nodding as she sat by the warm fire. “Come, my chick,” Elsbeth said, helping her mistress up. “We must get to bed.” She led Adair to one of the sleeping spaces. “Get in,” she said, and then spread one of the coverlets over the girl, who was already asleep.
Elsbeth went back into the kitchen. She moved the drying rack, setting it before the fire, to which she added several logs. It would last and not go out in the next few hours while she slept. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for both of them. She would send Adair to choose several servants for the keep while she restored the kitchen to its proper order. And it was time the laird and his men went hunting. Winter would be upon them soon enough. The cold larder needed to be filled with game. She would mention it to him once again. She couldn’t be expected to feed Conal Bruce and his great lot of men without the proper supplies. Elsbeth took up the other coverlet and lay down to sleep.
When she awoke again she could see the sky through
the larder window, dark yet, but lightening to gray with every passing moment. Elsbeth sighed. She was still very tired, but she knew she had to get up. The keep would soon be stirring, and the men would want their breakfast.
The laird was once again surprised by the meal put before him. Eggs poached in cream and dusted with parsley, warm bread, cheese, and ale. He watched as, below the high board, Adair brought his men loaves of bread, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese. She did not speak with any of the men, nor did she make eye contact.
When one of his men reached out to catch at her skirt she slapped the hand without hesitation, and gave the man a look that should have frozen him where he sat.
“Keep your paws to yourself, you border cur,” she snarled at him, and made to move on with her pitcher of ale.
There was a ripple of laughter from the man’s companions. Stung, he reached out swiftly and yanked her onto his lap. Adair never hesitated. She poured the ale over the borderer’s head, and then hit him with her pitcher as she leaped from his lap like a scalded cat and fled back to the kitchens. The man jumped up to follow her, roaring his anger.
“Sit down, Fergus,” the laird said in a cold, hard voice.
“Just so you all understand me, the wench is
mine
. She is not to be tampered with, bullied, or threatened by any of you. Do I make myself clear? As for her companion, the same rules will also apply. I do not intend to go back to burned porridge again for every meal because you men cannot control your randy cocks. And now, I suspect, you will all go without your ale, because it is unlikely the girl will venture above stairs again for a while.” Conal Bruce sat back down.
“She’s feisty,” Duncan Armstrong murmured.
“She’ll tame. All women can be tamed eventually,”
the laird said.
“You’ll need patience with this one, brother,” Duncan replied.
“I think you know that I’m not a patient man,” the laird remarked.
“She’s a real beauty,” Duncan continued. “She’s obviously bathed now. The hair is glorious, and her features are perfect. I’ve not gotten close enough yet to see what color her eyes are. Have you?”
“They’re like large violets,” the laird said quietly. “I can see now that she’s cleaner that Elsbeth has not lied.
Adair is obviously a lady.”
“You’ll have to do something about her clothing, Conal. The gown she is wearing has certainly seen far better days. I imagine the cook, Elsbeth, could also use a new garment or two. Didn’t Mam have a small storage compartment where she kept materials? I’m sure I remember that she did.”
“It’s in her bedchamber,” Murdoc spoke up.
“That’s right!” Duncan agreed.
“I will tell the women that they may take what they need from the compartment,” the laird said. “And now, brothers, I have errands for you this day. Take a cart and fetch supplies for the kitchen. There is nothing. Elsbeth will want flour, salt, a sugar block, spices, a daily supply of milk, cream, and butter. Several wheels of cheese. A broom, for she says there is none. Beeswax, soap, and sand,” the laird finished.
“She gave you quite an earful last night.” Duncan chuckled. “Was there anything else she wanted or needed of you, brother?”
“A baker; a boy to chop wood, haul water, and run errands; and perhaps a maidservant to help Adair,” Conal Bruce said. “Duncan, you choose. Make certain the women are sensible, and old enough to avoid the blan-dishments of the men, and the lad strong enough to do what he will need to do.”
“And what will you be doing, my lord,” Duncan asked, “while we are following your instructions?” He grinned at his brother mischievously.
“I’m taking the men and going hunting. Mistress Els
beth also told me the cold larder is bare and a disgrace, and she can’t feed us all if she has no meat.”
Duncan and Murdoc laughed. Then Duncan said, “It would appear for now that our new cook is running the keep, Conal.”
“As long as the meals are on time, and as tasty as the last two have been, the woman may have her way with me,” the laird told his brothers.
His brothers laughed again.
“I’ll go to the kitchens and make certain that Mistress Elsbeth needs nothing more before we start off,” Murdoc said.
“And I’ll go and harness the horses for the cart,”
Duncan replied.
In the kitchens Elsbeth assured Murdoc that for now she needed nothing more than she had asked for, and she thanked him. When he had gone she turned to Adair, saying, “I’m sorry, my chick, that you won’t get a bit of an outing today, but lord knows this kitchen will be done faster with the two of us.”
The two women set to work cleaning and organizing the kitchen. By the time Duncan Armstrong and Murdoc Bruce arrived with the supplies and three servants, Elsbeth was ready for them. There was Flora, a widow, and her young son, Jack. Flora would be doing the baking. The other woman, Grizel, would help Adair in keeping the keep clean and tidy. It wasn’t quite midday when they arrived. Murdoc and the boy lugged a side of beef into the cold larder and hung it there.
“Why, bless you!” Elsbeth said. “We’ll have several good dinners from that.”
“If you have the help you need, Nursie, I will go to the hall with Grizel to see that it is ready for the laird when he returns from hunting,” Adair said quietly. She turned to Grizel, who was an older woman. “Bring the beeswax and the broom. You sweep, and I will polish.”