"We are just going to speak with cook, then have a little chat," Lady Wildwood announced when he got to his feet as if to approach them, adding firmly, "the sort of chat men are not welcome to join."
Much to Seonaid's amazement, Blake hesitated, then sank back into his chair and let them go on their way without interference. She peered at Lady Wildwood with new respect at this display of how to handle a man. Iliana's mother hadn't even raised her voice or had to make any sort of threat, and the man had behaved as beautifully as a well-trained puppy. Seonaid was impressed.
Once in the kitchen, the woman handled Elgin just as easily, greeting him with pleasure and gently flattering him until he was practically begging to do as she wished. Seonaid didn't know if she could emulate the woman's skill, but she was certainly impressed by it. Until Lady Wildwood said, "Perhaps we should see if Lord Blake has any dishes he prefers."
Seonaid scowled and suggested, "Rabbit stew."
"Hmmm. I think not."
Her tone of voice hadn't changed, but her smile had dimmed slightly. She'd obviously heard the tale of the poisoned stew. Seonaid supposed Gavin had blabbed about that to Duncan too and the tale had made its way to her father and then to Lady Wildwood. She wished it hadn't; she was suddenly feeling all squirmy inside with guilt under Lady Wildwood's solemn stare.
"I realize you were mightily offended by his delay in coming to collect you, Seonaid," Iliana's mother said gently. "And while I understand, I do not think you should take his actions to heart. After all, he did not know you, so it was not really you he was dallying over collecting, was it?"
"It wasna?"
"Nay."
"Then who was he dallyin' over collectin'?"
"You are being deliberately obtuse," she said with exasperation. "Surely you understand what I mean. Had he met you and known you before this, then you would have every right to be offended at his delay. But as he did not even know you, it is not you personally he was neglecting to collect, but your name. Your father's daughter. Now that he knows you, he is obviously pleased to marry you."
"He is?" she asked with amazement.
"Aye. Well, he did not need to chase you all over Scotland, dear. He could have gone to the king at any point after your battle at St. Simmian's and claimed he had done his part, that you were not co-operating and he wanted his freedom from the contract. In fact, the way you attacked him at the abbey would have worked to his favor in gaining his freedom had he truly wanted it."
"So, ye think he's awantin' to marry me?" Seonaid asked with interest.
"Aye. I do."
"Why?"
"Why?" she echoed with confusion.
"Why should he want to marry me? I ken nothin' about bein' a proper lady and wife. I canna sew, I canna run the servants, I--" Catching sight of Elgin edging closer and bending his ear their way to try to hear what she was saying, Seonaid scowled at the man and barked, "Get back to work on that colcannon else we'll have none fer sup."
The man leapt to it without question.
"Aye, well ..." Lady Wildwood cleared her throat. "You could learn to have a gentler hand with the servants, perhaps, but you do know how to order them. As for sewing and such, Lord Blake will have servants to do those things."
Seonaid considered her words, then sighed. "I doona even ken what a lady is supposed to know. I only ken that I doona know it."
Lady Wildwood pondered the matter briefly, then said, "Aye, but you know other things most ladies do not. For instance, I understand you and Aeldra have been to battle with the men?"
"Aye." Seonaid smiled wryly. "And we just as often have to sew 'em up afterward too."
"You do?" she asked with sudden excitement.
"Aye. They're a great lot of babies about such things, ye ken. Most of 'em whine and whinge and flinch at the very idea of stitching up a wound or having whiskey poured over it, so Giorsal taught us how to tend them."
"But that is wonderful!" Lady Wildwood enthused.
"It is?" Seonaid asked slowly. "Why?"
"Why?" Lady Wildwood echoed with surprise, then shook her head. "Because, my dear, tending the ill and wounded is one of the most valuable skills a lady can have, and you do have it."
"Oh." Seonaid considered this with relief. She had one skill at least. It was better than nothing.
"And you also have many skills most ladies do not have. And you are very pretty, my dear. And obviously intelligent. These are all very good reasons for Lord Blake to be happy to marry you." Iliana's mother tilted her head to the side. "The question is, can you see yourself being happy married to him? For I feel sure that your father would give up your dower and cancel the wedding rather than see you miserable."
Seonaid considered the question seriously. She had always known she would marry Blake Sherwell, and had gone about her business on that premise. In fact, she had lived with the idea for so long that the possibility of not marrying him was almost alien to her. And from all she had heard--well, aside from her father's ranting, which the old man seemed to be taking back now--he was an admirable man; hard-working, ambitious, strong in battle yet fair.
Then too, there was what she had seen of him since battling in the chapel at St. Simmian's. Blake didn't appear to have a cruel streak. Another man might have beaten her on catching up to her at the barn after the incident with the stew. He would have been within his rights to do so. Actually, he would have been within his rights to do a lot more than beat her, she thought with a start. Poisoning others was against the law, after all. But he hadn't beat her; he hadn't even been mean to her since then. And this after she had already pushed his patience with her constant escape attempts, including the time she'd kicked him in the groin, then used her foot to toss him over her head. The man had the patience of a saint, to her way of thinking. She probably would have plowed him one herself for such a stunt.
"Seonaid?" Lady Wildwood prompted.
"Hmm." She sighed, then listed his positives, "He's smart, reputed to be good in battle, ambitious, patient, and I like the look o' him."
"You like the look of him?" Lady Wildwood smiled slightly.
Seonaid shrugged. "He's pretty."
Iliana's mother bit her lip, but nodded. "Aye. He is very ... er ... handsome."
"Well formed too," Seonaid informed her. "He has nice muscles in his shoulders and back, nice legs too, and I like his backside."
Lady Wildwood blinked. "Excuse me?"
"His backside," Seonaid repeated. "I havena seen many, but the ones I've seen all looked rather flat and saggy, but his is nice and rounded and--" Seonaid paused to thump Lady Wildwood's back when the woman made a choking sound and suddenly began to cough. When the coughing fit stopped and the woman waved her thumping off, she asked with concern, "Are ye a'right?"
"Aye." She nodded, but her face was terribly flushed. Still, she soldiered on, "So, you like him and find him handsome and he has fine ... parts," she said delicately, then added, "I am sure I heard a but in there however?"
"Aye." Seonaid sighed, then admitted Blake's fault. "He has a huge cock."
Lady Wildwood began to choke and cough again. So did Elgin, Seonaid noticed. There must be something in the air in the kitchen, she decided, as she thumped the lady's back again.
"I am all right; you can stop that." Lady Wildwood didn't sound all right. Her voice was practically a squeak of sound as she said, "But I do not understand how this is a problem, my dear."
"Perhaps I didna explain right," Seonaid decided with a frown. "The man is abnormal huge, from what I can see."
"You have seen it?"
"Aye. When he was bathing in the river."
"And you have seen others to compare his to?" she asked carefully.
Seonaid shrugged. "One or two while travelin' with the men. They're an immodest lot."
"Ah." She was nodding, but still flushed. "And you are worried that Blake is so large?"
"Well ..." Seonaid frowned. "It seems to me with it bein' so large ... well, if a normal man hur
ts the first time as they say, then Blake willna fit at all. Truly, my lady, he's almost the size of Elgin's rolling pin there."
Lady Wildwood glanced toward the object in question, as did Elgin. His eyes were wide and he was suddenly holding the thing away from him. Lady Wildwood's eyes went wide as well. "Well, that is ..." She paused and shook her head, muttering, "And I was sorry I did not get to have this talk with Iliana the night of her wedding!"
Heaving her breath out on a sigh, Lady Wildwood took Seonaid's arm and urged her toward the door leading out into the gardens.
"Seonaid, you are blunt in your speech, so I shall be just as blunt," she said solemnly as they began to walk along the rows of herbs and vegetables. "You should not fear that Blake's ... er ... size will be a problem. You must remember that babies come out the same place he will be ..." She paused, appearing at a loss for a moment, then struggled on. "It is not the size of the man that decides the discomfort the first time."
"It isna?" Seonaid asked with interest.