“I can see that. The best one since Robert was killed.”
“I am not sure how long it will last but take advantage of it. Do as you please today.”
“That would be nice.”
“Good. Then start with the man in the parlor who has patiently been waiting for you to wake.” Maude chuckled and walked back to rejoin the others.
Abbie walked into the parlor and caught Matthew having a little nap on the settee. She softly hurried to his side and gave in to impulse, kissing him on the cheek. A squeak of surprise escaped her when he grabbed her and pulled her down onto his lap.
“Done sleeping?”
“There was no need of you lingering here until I woke up. There must be things you need to do.”
“Not really. Thought to take ye for a walk. Ye need to get away from here for a while, I am thinking. Just as ye needed to rest this morning.”
“A walk would be lovely.” She wriggled out of his hold and stood up. “And it would also be best if we don’t let Mrs. Beaton see us like this.”
“Oh, I am beginning to think Mrs. Beaton is nay as . . .” He hesitated as he struggled to find the right word.
“Prissy?”
“Aye, that is good. Prissy as she was. Ye must be having some influence on her.”
“I doubt that and, in fact, it makes me sound a bit like a catchable disease.”
He laughed. “Get your coat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Abbie found her coat in the kitchen. It was dry and still a little warm from the heat of the stove. Mabel gave her some coffee and she drank it as she put her coat on. The moment she was done, she took the cup of coffee and finished it.
“Thank you, Mabel.”
“What about breakfast?”
“I will have something to eat later. Right now, I think Matthew is right and I need to get out of this house for a bit.”
“Miss Julia is a trial. I understand her hurt, but she is, well, too intense and demands a lot of work.”
“I know. I suspected she would be like that. She is actually rather fragile. See you later today.”
Abbie met Matthew in the hall. He hooked her arm in his and walked her out the door. It was still early in the morning but she could feel that it was going to be a good day, probably warm and sunny. That lifted her spirits as well. There was a nice, fresh scent in the air from the rain having washed everything clean in the night.
“It is going to be a lovely day, I believe.”
“Aye. My family is probably out and working to plant the garden. I wish I kenned what they were planting this year. Emily, my brother Iain’s wife, gets fancy now and then and we end up with a few odd things planted. Weel, odd to us.”
“At least he is nice enough to consider what she wants.”
“Maybe, although he doesnae plant it. Just marks out a space for her and says she can put her whim in there.” He grinned when she laughed.
“You miss your home.”
“I do, and it gets worse every day. Never thought it possible but I miss my wretched brothers as well. And Mrs. O’Neal who cooks and cleans for us.”
“So you hired someone to do all that woman’s work,” she teased.
“We didnae hire her. She showed up with her children after her husband was killed. She wanted to live behind our walls with her bairns. So we came to an agreement. She sees what she does as paying for the wee house we built for her and the children. It works out weel for all of us. She also raises pigs for her money. Built them a good pen near the barn.”
“That is a good arrangement for all of you. She is a very lucky woman.”
“Oh, nay, we are lucky. We were thinking of hiring a woman but now dinnae have to.”
“No, I mean lucky in that it sounds very much as if she has become a part of your family, her and her children.”
“She is, but I think I see what ye mean. Maybe that was what she was really looking for although she does admire our walls and we have seen the good use of them a few times.”
“This is a rough country.”
“Ye would have something in common with Emily. She also lost her whole family to men who attacked and burned the cabin they were in.”
“Marauders?”
“Men hired by her kinsmen to be sure her nephew wouldnae grow up to return to England and claim his inheritance.”
“Oh. They came all the way here to do that?”
“Aye. Hard to understand that kind of greed.”
“If it is a lot that can push people to do all sorts of evil things to try and get a hold of it.”
“Weel, these fools didnae count on Emily. She got her nephew out of there, through the woods and into a hiding place her brother-in-law had dug out. When my brother found it and peeked in he met a knife.”
“She stabbed him?”
“Nay, just held it at his throat and her with a bullet wound in her leg and a bullet burn on her arm. Looks like a bonnie little doll but has a spine of steel. Good wife for Iain.”
The way his fingers stroked the back of her neck made Abigail lean against him. “Sounds it. Especially in these hills. Life is not easy. Even before this war life was often a continuous struggle.”
He grunted his agreement, his eyes on the land around them. They were well hidden in this place, the trees, now getting greener every day, provided good cover for them, and his last time spent spying on where the Rebs had been camped had revealed nothing. The whole lot of them appeared to have marched away.
Deciding they were safe enough where they were, he glanced down at Abigail and shook his head. She had gone to sleep. He only briefly thought of waking her up to satisfy his hunger for her. Caring for Julia was sapping her strength. He hoped the girl regained her full senses soon. As carefully as he could he lay down and held her against his side. He watched a squirrel leaping around in the branches of a tree and decided he could do with a bit of rest himself.
*
When he woke up the sun was beginning to set and he rubbed one hand over his face. He then looked over at Abigail who was using his arm as her pillow and smiled. At least he knew now that she did not snore, he thought, and chuckled to himself. Knowing the rest of the ladies might start wondering where they were, he gently shook her to wake her up.
Abigail swatted at the hands shaking her awake and heard a soft, deep laugh. Why was Matthew in her bedroom? As she lifted her head to tell him to get out, she realized she was sleeping in a meadow. Groaning softly, she turned onto her back and stared up at Matthew. As her mind cleared she recalled why she was there. She suspected watching over a sleeping woman was not what he had in mind for the afternoon.
“Oh!” She sat up. “I forgot all about Julia.”
“I am sure she is fine or Mrs. Beaton would have sent out people to find us. And, ye havenae been asleep all that long.” He reached out a hand and helped her stand up. “I dinnae see why ye are the only one who needs to keep a watch over her.”
“She learned Robert had died, was right there when he did, and she is with child. A shock such as she has had could easily start her labor.”
“The shock was a few days ago now.”