When he did not reply, she let go of his arm abruptly, took her shopping list out of her pocket, and started to look around at the wares on offer.
Well, this hasnae started out well.Is this outing goin’ to turn out to be a disaster, after all?
However, shortly after, she began to notice the looks they were getting from the surrounding villagers. She noticed how people drew back from Edan, the men removing their hats and nodding to him out of respect for the Laird. That was to be expected, but she also saw how many of them either stared at him fearfully or lowered their eyes, seemingly too afraid to look at his scarred visage.
One small child in a woman’s arms pointed at him and burst out crying, while other children hid behind their mothers’ skirts, gawping at him with big, frightened eyes. She realized with shock that because of his disfigurement, they saw him as some sort of monster.
She looked at her husband. He stood tall next to her, looking over the heads of his people with a stern expression of disinterest.
How does it feel to be looked at like that?He seems nae to care, but ’tis nae fair to him. Nor is it good for the clan to regard their Laird as a monster.
Her heart softened towards Edan as she realized what he had to put up with. No wonder he affected nonchalance.
Wanting to do something to remedy the situation, she took hold of his arm again and beamed up at him adoringly, as any doting wife would do to her husband. “I hope ye’ll oblige me by carryin’ some things for me, husband. I warn ye, I have quite a list here,” she said in a cheerful, teasing voice, loud enough for the folks nearby to hear.
He gave her an inquiring look, and she could not tell if he guessed what she was trying to do.
Though he did not exactly smile, he answered in the same bantering tone, “Aye, I’ll be yer donkey, wife, dinnae fret. Whatever needs carryin’, I’ll carry it for ye.”
“Come along, then. We’d better get started,” she said, pulling him along by the arm, wanting to show the villagers that he was not the frightening ogre they seemed to think he was. “Let’s start with the ribbon stall.”
At the stall, the seller, a disheveled woman of middle age, smiled hesitatingly at Olivia, and though she bobbed a curtsey to Edan, she could hardly look at him.
In the same loud, cheery, housewifely voice, Olivia told her, “We’re shoppin’ for supplies for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, ye see. The Laird here wants to make it very special for everyone this year.”
She explained what she wanted, and the reels of colorful ribbon were soon laid out before them.
“Now, what do ye think of this orange one, Edan? Is it bright enough, or do ye prefer that one there?” she asked with perfect seriousness.
Edan replied good-naturedly, “Ye’re in charge, wife. Ye go ahead and choose whichever ye want. I’m nay expert when it comes tothis sort of thing. I’m only here to do the payin’ and carryin’, remember?”
“Ach, come on now. Ye must have an opinion.”
“Well, if ye really want to ken, I’d choose the brightest one. And the green one as well, and the yellow there.” He pointed at the ribbons he had selected.
“Grand. We’ll take those three reels, please,” Olivia told the seller.
To her surprise, Edan took the list from her and looked at it. Then, he smiled at the seller and said politely, “Ma’am, would ye happen to have any of that gold and silver thread as well? Me wife has set her heart on havin’ some for the decorations, and I always like to get her what she wants.”
The seller positively beamed at him this time, and Olivia noticed some approving nods from the ladies behind them.
“Och, certainly, Me Laird. I have some right here,” the seller replied, practically falling over herself to fetch the small reels of glittering thread.
By the time they had finished and Edan had paid, Olivia felt they were making some headway. It appeared that Edan was actually enjoying himself… or at least pretending to.
“Let’s go and get the material I need for the floats,” she suggested, pleased when Edan insisted on carrying the package and shopping list with one arm while keeping the other around her waist as they moved to the stall piled high with bolts of fabric.
It was a simple gesture she had not seen from him so far, which she found she liked very much. As they moved through the crowd, she made sure to smile at everyone, intending to give the impression of a wife well content with her amiable husband, scars and all.
She was pleased to see that Edan’s habitually stern expression had softened. He seemed more relaxed, though whether it was by accident or design, she could not tell. He nodded and even smiled at the shoppers as they passed, a smile she realized she had seldom glimpsed before, even during their archery lesson. She thought it a very engaging smile, one which transformed his face and outshone his scars entirely.
It spurred her efforts to put both him and the people at ease, and she made sure to keep up the lively banter between them as they slowly fulfilled the list.
While she was selecting a number of paper garlands at a particular stall, she turned to him to ask for his opinion and was surprised to find him gone.
10
Unaccountably worried about where Edan had disappeared to, Olivia hurriedly paid for the fabric and waited for it to be packaged. But by the time she turned around to go and find him, he was back at her side.
