“Sure thing, Aunt Jane, but don’t worry, I’m not upset with you. Everything’s okay now.”
With that, he took off around the corner, pulling Orick with as much force as he could manage. I threw Orick a sympathetic glance, but he just smiled in return. I could tell that regardless of Cooper’s endless energy, Orick enjoyed having a child around.
With Cooper unavailable for at least the next few hours, I thought I’d go drop in on Isobel, though I wasn’t sure that she’d be up until I ran into Gregor at the end of the hallway.
“Jane, how are ye this morning?”
I nearly went into how little sleep I’d gotten, but then took one glance at Gregor’s tired eyes and his tight jaw and realized how inappropriate the ridiculous lamentation would be. Gregor probably didn’t remember the last time he had a good night’s sleep, and it was starting to show. If something didn’t change soon, he was going to wind up just as sick as Isobel, which was the very last thing she would ever want for him.
“I’m fine. Is Isobel awake, Gregor?”
“Aye, she slept well and woke early. She was just getting out of a bath when I left her.”
I reached out to squeeze his arm. “I think I’ll go visit with her for awhile if that’s all right. Will you do something for me, Gregor?”
“O’course lass, she’ll be pleased to see ye. Aye, what do ye need?”
I pointed down the hallway to the last bedchamber on the right. “You see that room down the hall? I’m pretty sure no one is staying in there. I want you to go inside, close the door, and sleep the day away. You’re dead on your feet, Gregor. Isobel is feeling better right now. Gather your strength for when she does need you.”
He started to protest but his exhaustion must have won out, for instead, he simply nodded and gave me a kind smile. “Thank ye, Jane. I might allow myself to rest for a brief while this morning. Let her know that’s where I am.”
“I will, but she’ll be fine. Get some rest.”
He walked away slowly. I stood waiting, only turning toward Isobel’s room after I saw Gregor was securely inside the other. I imagined he’d be snoring even before I made it to her door.
When I did make it to her room, I found her draped in a warm robe, sitting in the window and looking out at the snow. She looked happier than I’d ever seen her. For that brief moment, I couldn’t even tell she was ill.
She saw me as soon as I stepped inside, smiling and waving me toward her excitedly.
“Jane, come here and look at wee Cooper. What is the ornery lad doing?”
I couldn’t begin to guess, but I did as she said, peering out into the snow to find him moving rather hurriedly about in the snow, feeling his way along the outside of the castle. He only did it for a moment before stopping suddenly and taking off in the opposite direction, waving Orick along as he chased after him in the snow.
“I have no idea. It almost looked as if he was searching for something, didn’t it? Perhaps, he dropped a glove. He’s always losing his socks.”
“Aye, ’tis true of all young boys, I think.”
She scooted, and I sat down next to her in the window.
“How are you feeling, Isobel?”
“I canna explain it, but today I feel like I did before the coughing began. It pleases me more than I can say, but I think it worries Gregor.”
“What worries him?” I suspected he feared the same thing that I did, but I didn’t wish to make such a presumption or share my worry with her.
“He thinks that these brief moments of relief have given me false hope of healing, but I am no so foolish as to believe that. I know that I am still as ill as I have ever been, but that doesna mean that I canna be grateful and happy on the days when I doona feel so bad. This journey and Adwen’s kindness at arranging it have made me realize something.”
“What?”
She shifted so that her gaze was no longer out the window but straight at me.
“Until now, I’ve no only let the sickness make my body ill but my mind as well. I have let fear and dread make me sad and weak. I should relish in all the time I have left.”
I took her hands in mine and rubbed her ever-cold fingers as I spoke. “I’ve never once thought of you as sad or weak, Isobel. You are the strongest woman I’ve ever known.”
“I try to appear strong for Gregor, but ye’ve heard me cry more than once. I know ye have. When I’m alone, I canna stay so strong, but I see there is no sense in such grief now. I shouldna behave as if I’m dead until I am.”
I swallowed hard, unsure of what to say in response to such bluntness.
“Doona worry, ye needn’t say anything. I know such talk makes ye uncomfortable, as it does Gregor.”
“No.” I squeezed at her hand, glancing out at the snow so I wouldn’t cry. “Not uncomfortable. It just makes me very sad.”
“Would ye like to know what makes me verra sad, Jane?”