“Och, but ye are like a porcelain statue!” cried Stel MacDonald, Steafan’s mother, and reached out to touch Elspeth’s cheek.
“Dinna grope her,” Ismay scolded and slapped Stel’s hand away.
“What happened to her hair?” Joan Cameron, mother of Jamie, asked, giving Elspeth’s scalp all her attention.
“In the places I lived,” Elspeth spoke for herself, “there were no combs or brushes. My hair knotted beyond repair. This was the fifth time I cut it off, and hopefully my last. My dear husband gave me a beautiful comb inlaid with gold and abalone and a mirror to match.”
“Aye,” Joan and Stel agreed, “Logan has always been so thoughtful!”
Elspeth smiled and nodded. After that, they were nicer to her. In fact, they surrounded her like a herd of elephants—Ismay, her new mother, in the lead. She barely let anyone near her.
A few times when she was being introduced to another member of the clan, Elspeth thought she saw Logan hovering in the shadows, smiling with pride. It made her want to giggle.
“Does anyone know if Lynette the seamstress is in the castle today?” Ismay didn’t wait for an answer but made a sharp right and led the way to a large wooden door. She pushed it open andsmiled when she saw Lynette sitting at a table covered in a pile of fabrics.
“Och, Lynette!” Ismay cooed, going to her. “Stop what ye are doing and meet Logan’s wife, Elspeth. Please make some pretty skirts and whatever else she needs. I know ye have a schedule to keep, other things ye need to see to. I will pay ye with the job title, Lady of the Sewing Room. On top of that, I will make ye my own personal seamstress. What do ye think?”
They all waited for Lynette’s answer. Then Elspeth stepped forward and grasped the Lochiel’s wife by the arm. A collective gasp went out around the hall.
“I just wanted to lend my hand to Lynette, if she would accept it. I can sew and I am quick! I can have three skirts with voluminous folds done in an hour.”
Lynette looked hopeful. Ismay gave Elspeth a curious look and then nodded. “Well then, I’ll let ye get to work. Come, ladies.” She called out to Joan and Stel.
“Should we not stay with her?” Joan asked.
“I think we should,” Stel agreed.
“Elspeth, dearest,” Ismay turned to her. “Do ye want us to stay here with ye?”
“Nae, Mother,” Elspeth called out, sitting at the table. “Please go about yer day.”
When the herd was gone, Lynette pointed to the pile of fabric. “Take whatever ye like.”
Elspeth chose light blue wool first. She sewed all day and had a visit from May and two of her cousins during her afternoon break. One cousin was called Scout, sister of Jamie. The other was Margaret, sister of Steafan. They teased Elspeth mercilessly about being the wife of a man like Logan, until May, sickened by their desire for her brother, their cousin, admonished them and threw them out of the room.
“Fergive them.”
Elspeth smiled. “Of course.”
May walked around the table and lifted the olive skirts with the emerald velvet borders. “This is lovely. Who taught ye how to sew like this?”
“The elder ser—folks who I lived with taught me.” She wasn’t certain if Logan had told his sister about her. Mayhap Ealar or Ismay told her. Elspeth didn’t care if May knew. She didn’t want to call them servants because the women who had taught her were more than servants.
“Hmm,” May Cameron lifted her elegant fingers to her chin and looked up, as if she were waiting for some divine revelation. “I know my brother willna want his wife to be a seamstress in his castle.” She leaned in and her eyes opened wider. “Let us make a bargain. I would like skirts like this one.” She held up the green. “Ye will choose the colors fer me.” She held up yellow fabric and posed, blinking her lashes. Then, the blue wool for which she scooped up her orange tresses and puckered up her lips.
She tested every color, making Elspeth laugh until her eyes watered. She hadn’t laughed like that in a long time.
“I know which I will choose,” Elspeth let her know with a smile. “Ye did say I would choose fer ye, did ye not?”
“Aye,” May said with excitement sparking her eyes behind her springy curls. “Tell me!”
Elspeth shook her head. “Nae. Return here tomorrow and find out.”
“Tomorrow? You can make something that quickly?”
Elspeth held up her three skirts so far.
“All right, then!” May clapped and laughed. “Tomorrow! Och, but what about our bargain?”
