AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Do you think such pursuits are above me, Orla, as I am such an uneducated brute? We welcome all comers here, and men rub shoulders with their peers and those far beneath them in a free exchange of ideas.’
‘Aside from women, for I see very few apart from her,’ said Orla indicating the whore draped over the young man.
Her voice had risen to a shout, and now they were garnering stares from all corners of the coffee house, and Orla stood out like a sore thumb in her riding habit, with her wild hair in disarray.
Wolfric narrowed his eyes. ‘Aye, that irks you, I suppose. But a man must have some refuge from women.’
‘Must he now? I know what you are about, Wolfric. My father is a womaniser, and the last thing I want is to be wed to the same low kind of dog.’
‘And that is what you think I am, is it?’
‘Aye, for I just saw Elva in the market square.’ She gave him a vicious smile.
‘Did you speak to her?’ he said in alarm.
‘No. She ran away from me. Now, why would she do that, and why did you both disappear at the same time? Tell me. I am all ears.’
‘Leave it,’ he growled. ‘Do not insert yourself and your opinions into something you do not understand.’
Orla crossed her arms, and her face turned red. ‘Why don’t you enlighten me? If you’ve nothing to be ashamed of, where have you been all this time?’
‘No business of yours.’
‘I have a right to know.’
‘My comings and goings are of no concern to you since you are no kind of wife to me, nor will you ever be, Orla.’
Her face fell. ‘I am trying,’ she croaked.
‘Not nearly hard enough, lass.’ For a moment, Wolfric thought she might actually cry, though he doubted she had it in her.
‘Well, you do not make it easy, Wolfric. You have not been home for days, with no word of your whereabouts, and now I find you hiding out in Inverness with all manner of low-lives - whores and drunkards and ne’er do wells.’
‘What do you know about whores and drunkards, lass?’
‘I know you want to enjoy their company and not mine, even though we are wed and stuck with each other.’
‘Aye, wed. The damned thing is done, and there is no undoing it, is there? Unless one of us dies, and it could be you, harpy, if you keep assaulting my ears with your shrieking.’
‘I am not shrieking. I am angry.’
Wolfric stood up. ‘Well, so am I,’ he shouted, pushing his face into hers. He was not surprised when it received a resounding slap.
‘Right, that’s it,’ he hissed, taking hold of Orla and heaving her over his shoulder. She beat at his back, but he hardly felt it as he marched outside, followed by a hoard of eager onlookers, and plunged Orla straight into a nearby horse trough.
‘Cool your heels in there a while, and come and find me when you are minded to be civil.’
Wolfric walked away trembling with anger, and when he looked back, Orla had clambered out, hair flattened to her head and her dress soaked through. A grubby woman was rushing up to her aid. He would not turn back and help her for, wet or not, the lass had the gumption to find her way home without his or anyone else’s help.
Behind him, several patrons of the coffee house had their noses pressed up to the windows, steaming up the glass.
Wolfric rushed off in a fury. Down a back alley, he flung open a door and took a narrow creaking staircase up to his rooms over a milliner’s shop. When he entered, she was standing before the window looking out on the street below. The sun streamed in, silhouetting her bulging belly.
Elva turned to him with a worried expression.
‘You were seen,’ he said.
‘Forgive me. I know I was supposed to stay hidden, but I craved fresh air, and the day was so fine and bright.’
