Jamie stared at him. “Ye have gone completely barmy. I am nae ready—”
“Ye are four-and-twenty. ’Tis time ye thought about taking yer place on Raasay.”
“For certain, ye have gone soft in the head. Have ye nae heard the lass speak? She wishes for all the pomp of London and a refined gentleman whose idea of fighting is waving a wee bit of blunted steel around while wearing enough padding to clothe half our clan.”
“All ye have to do then is put a number of them on their arses. She will ken who is the better mon.”
“I dinnae think Mari is much impressed with fighting skills,” Jamie replied, thinking about the many times she had commented on the weapons he kept on his person.
Ian waved a hand dismissively. “’Twas the same with Jillie. Mari may nae think yer skills are important until ye have to use them. Meanwhile, mayhap ye should take her to Glenfinnan and show her about. The gypsies came through before the last snow so the shops should have new wares. Bridget told me Shauna and Fiona have both been wanting to go. Ye could take all three.”
“Escorting three women while they shop is nae a fun pastime. I would rather keep tracking Duncan.”
“I will ask Brodie to keep an eye on him while ye are gone.” Ian leaned back in his chair, a satisfied look on his face. “It willna hurt for Mari to see ye playing the part of gentleman by escorting her on the wee shopping trip.”
Jamie groaned inwardly. He’d already escorted Mari on several shopping trips—none of which had turned out well, but the less said about that, the better.
Mari had not been at all sure she wanted to go shopping in Glenfinnan. For one thing, she wanted to stay with Jillian since Ian had to ride out this morning, but Jillian insisted she was feeling much better and having both Darcy and Effie watching over her would be sufficient—if they didn’t manage to kill each other.
Secondly, Mari wasn’t at all sure Jamie wouldn’t resort to tossing her over his shoulder again if she wandered off—which pretty much meant she would have to follow hisordersto stay with the group. However, since the twins decided they wanted to come along, maybe he would have his hands full keeping track of them.
Or at least she hoped he would. She was pleasantly surprised at the size of the village. While it certainly did not compare to London or even the small towns around Newburn and Cantford, it was not the rustic clumping of a few thatched cottages she had imagined either. “I was not expecting an actual street with shops.”
“With the building of the Loch na Gaul road a few years ago it has been easier for merchants to receive wares overland,” Jamie said. ‘The gypsies especially like the road for their large wagons. I think ye will find a fair assortment of goods.”
“Ooh, look,” Caitlin—or maybe it was Caylin—said and pointed to a shopkeeper who was hanging rag dolls from a rack in the doorway. “Let’s see how much they cost.”
“Ye are too old for such frippery,” Shauna said, but she was speaking to the wind, for the twins were racing each other down the road toward the shop.
“Och, let them look,” Jamie said. “’Tis good they still want children’s toys.”
His response surprised Mari. She hadn’t thought he would notice the twins with their silly, adolescent giggling—and intermittent attempts at batting their eyes at the young lads who helped the grooms—were still very much children.
“I would be happy to purchase the dolls for them,” Mari offered.
“Thank ye, but nae. They earn their pence doing chores for Bridget. They need to decide if they wish to part with their coin on such,” Jamie said.
“You make them pay for their own toys?”
“Aye. Life in the Highlands can be harsh, lass. There is nae always enough food to be had, and having to purchase provisions takes much coin. The bairns need to ken how important that is. Survival sometimes depends on whether a laird can afford to pay what is asked.”
Since her discussion with Shauna, Mari knew Jamie was talking about therentsthe English imposed on Scots who were allowed to keep their lands after Culloden, although Jamie didn’t actually say so. Shame washed over Mari at the thought of her own people inflecting such hard rules, especially with harsh winters or poor harvests.
“That is the reason your uncle and his brother hate the English, is it not?”
Jamie grimaced. “They let hatred feed over what is past and canna be undone. But for the lasses—” he pointed toward the vendor who was letting the twins hold the ragdolls, “—’tis simply a matter of them learning to make wise decisions.”
Again, Mari was surprised. Ladies in London were given pin money by their husbands, although they had accounts in the shops—little decision-making was involved. The daughters were simply provided with what they needed—or wanted. The twins did not lack for clothing or other needs, but the idea of young girls earning shillings to pay for their own toys as a way to learn to make decisions was intriguing—and somewhat ironical, given that Jamie tried to make all her decisions for her.
A point she should mention. “You are going to allow the twins to make theirowndecisions?”
“Aye.”
“Then why not allow me the same?”
Jamie grinned, his dimple showing. “’Tis because ye do nae make wise decisions.”
Ooh, he was being impossible again. Mari looked toward his sisters for support, but Shauna was engaged in conversation with a farmer’s wife, and Fiona had moved to a stall where the merchant displayed ribbons and bolts of material. “I will have you know I am quite capable of making decisions.”
