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“He shall be dealt with.”
That’s what they all said. Was McCrae any different to the rest, to all the men who cursed and ranted, hurling threats and outrage, while they essentially did nothing and left the women to deal with the mess? She took a long slow sip of half-strength ale, needing more fortification than that afforded by a weaker brew. Staring into the blue center of the candle flame, she began to relate the whole set of shocking stories while McCrae furiously wrote it all down.
It was exhausting work. She had to concentrate on remembering all the details, try to be dispassionate and accurate while her heart contracted with fury, reliving the women’s horror all over again. The candle burned long into the warm spring night. There was a heavy silent pause when she finished. McCrae flexed and extended his fingers, shaking out the writer’s cramp. Lucinda stared at her grandma’s row of remedies. So many cures in a jar. But for some things there was no remedy. Some things could never be undone.
”Is this why you run those classes?” McCrae said. If she was not so tired, she would have denied any class was going on, clutched at some reason that was plausible to explain away a room full of women with swords, but she was too tired to waste time or energy on false denial. Brutal honesty was all she had left.
“In the beginning it was more about my own desire to fence. Then after Lizzie and Maud joined our group, everything changed, and it was not about me or what I needed at all. It is hard to explain. When I was younger, I used to dress as a man and fight as a male fencer. With men it is all about winning and competing, who is better, stronger, tougher. Fighting like a woman is more about survival. I want to help these women reclaim what was taken from them. When a woman is raped, it is not only an invasion of her body, but also an attempt to steal her will, her inner strength, her very soul. That is why we must find who did this. This demon must answer for his crimes.”
“I should like to bring Rosalind to the classes, if she is willing,” he said.
“Oh! I thought you would try and shut us down.”
“I will not. I think it does no harm and has the potential to serve a worthy purpose. Though you must be careful. There are many who would be scandalized by women wielding swords.”
“Your uncle included? You will tell him I imagine.”
“You know I must. I think the notion may actually amuse him. He was quite impressed with the way you handled yourself around the shoulder incident. We are to meet him in the same room at The Star and Ram on the morrow at four after noon.”
“It is already the morrow,” she said with a yawn. She turned to go, and he caught her by the hand.
“One more thing. Once our courtship becomes public knowledge, we must convince everyone it is true. They must believe something has happened between us.”
“That will not be easy when nothing has happened between us,” she said.
He brushed her face lightly with his fingers. “Nothing has happened…yet.”
