26. Chapter 26 - Kaitlyn
CHAPTER 26 - KAITLYN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - 1775
I lay in bed while Magnus was getting dressed. “I’m hungry but I don’t want to get dressed. I’m depressed.”
He said, “Ye canna stay in bed, mo reul-iuil, and get fed. We ought tae get up and go out.”
I watched him button his breeches.
“Why? We got word out, maybe I just lie here until we get rescued.”
“Because our rescuer could be looking for us, perhaps they daena ken where we are, but also, if Lady Mairead has seen where we are, tis likely Asgall kens where we are. He might come looking for us.”
“Then, hiding is good?”
“I daena hide. I need tae go out and see what is happening. I am not goin’ tae wait for a knock on the door.”
“Yeah, that’s got all the worst parts of hide-n-seek, waiting for someone to find you. I am not a fan.” I threw the covers off. “Fine, I will get dressed, I will meet you in the dining room in oh… about two hours.”
“Dost ye want me tae help ye dress? Or send one of the maids in?”
“It ought to be a maid because you, Master Magnus, can never get through the dressing without embarking on an undressing.”
“Tis true, tis my great failing.” He bowed from the room. “I will see ye downstairs, mo reul-iuil.”
A maid helped me bathe and dress. She had a pretty smile and laughed in a sing-song voice when I said, “If it gets much hotter than this, we are going to melt into a puddle on the floor.”
A blush crawled up her cheeks. “Where are you from, my lady?”
I said, “Scotland, by way of other parts of um… Europe.”
She said, “Oh,” and tightened the apron on my dress extra tight. “You look beautiful, my lady.”
I went to meet my husband downstairs, where we had a cup of watered down coffee and some toast points for breakfast. “This is a really nice inn.”
“Aye, tis one of the finest we hae visited, Auld Tommy knew his business.”
I laughed. “Auld Tommy… he’s like our age, what are we, thirty?”
“I am thirty, as the crow flies, ye are thirty-one, I think.” I batted his shoulder. He said, “I am lookin’ around and thinkin’ I ought tae hae powdered hair. Dost ye like the fashion?”
I glanced around the room. “You should, or better, one of those powdered wigs, it would be so sexy on you, almost as sexy as your arse and thighs in those?—”
“I ken, m’wife has a thing for breeches.”
“It is so true, I’m slayed by the little buckle by your knee. What do we do next?”
“I think ye need a new dress or somethin’ tae lighten yer mood.”
I ate a bite of toast with marmalade. “Ah, the way to my heart, colonial shopping.”
“Aye, ye will tuck intae a store, make the arrangements, I will stand on the streets and look bored but I will truly be watchin’ for trouble. Tis the perfect activity for the day, I daena ken what we will do on the morrow.”
“If we’re here for much longer we’ll need to rent a wall that you can go pace on in the night.”
“Tis true, if I canna do that I will need tae offer my services tae the local night watch, or I will grow bored.”
He sipped from his tea, then put the cup down in the saucer. “I hae been thinkin’, mo reul-iuil.”
“While I dressed?”
“Aye, twas somethin’ ye said about the night on the deck after Ben’s birthday celebration, twas a verra good night. I made a good speech, Fraoch loved it — it comes tae me that the best chance we hae at a do-over is tae begin then.”
My eyes wide, I said, “That’s a big do-over.”
“Tis before everythin’ bad happened, the Campbell family was at peace.”
“Here I was trying to think of small do-overs that wouldn’t affect anything much, an hour before you went to Kippen, the day before you went to Stirling, the afternoon before you went to Riaghalbane, and now you want to do everything over?”
“Aye, If we are goin’ tae do it we ought tae be bold.”
“The problem with that date is Lochinvar hasn’t even met Ash yet.”
He nodded. “Twould be a tragedy, but I hae done it before with Hayley, ye ken, I told her about Fraoch and sent her back. She had tae do-over. For Lochinvar twill be even easier, he likes Ash, he wants tae meet her, he will ask us tae meet her and it will be redone.”
I sipped my tea and then bit a toast point. “Sounds easy enough. How do we set the do-over in motion?” I chewed, thinking, then swallowed. How about this... we could get a message to ourselves right before that, ‘don’t go to the Palace,’ and instead, ‘Go to war with Asgall instead and then go to the Palace and introduce Lochinvar to Ash,’ That might do it.”
“Aye, it might work.”
“But how would we get a message to ourselves? We were all there.”
“Except Lady Mairead, once again an entire plan hinges upon m’mother.”
I chuckled. “Well, at least we have a plan.”
Having finished my breakfast, I pushed the plate aside. “Thank you for this, Magnus, it gives me hope. I needed that. Unleash the do-over shenanigans!”
He smiled. “I thought ye would like it, now we just need tae get rescued so we can set our plan in motion.”
I said, “And until then we go shopping?”
We walked through the crowds on the busy thoroughfare with my arm wrapped around my husband’s elbow, my skirts flowing around my ankles. The road was cobblestone, the shops in orderly rows. It was warm out and sweltering in my layers, but the bonnet gave my face some shade.
A wealthy woman walked by in a dress of luxurious brocade. I turned to watch her pass and whispered, “Can we afford something like that?”
He had a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. “Of course, mo reul-iuil, we need tae look like American royalty. Tis imperative. Especially if we get called tae speak tae Washington.”
“Good point, I need to look fabulous. We also need something new for you, too.”
“For me? Nae one cares what an auld husband looks like.”
“I saw how that woman admired you as she walked by, even in our poor farm clothes she suspected you were a king.”
“The royal seeps out in m’sweat.” He pretended to sniff his armpits. “Och nae, we are verra royal on this day.”
“Is that the royal we?”
“Aye, I am includin’ m’bonny wife, she is resplendent with royal aroma.”
I laughed and joked, “Och nae, and I bathed with the little washrag in the pitcher of water in the room. Lord knows why that wouldn’t be good enough in high eighty degrees.”
We came to the shop and Magnus walked me in. There were two other women shopping and the tailor sitting on a stool behind a counter. The walls were covered in ribbons and laces. Shelves held baskets of buttons and bolts of fabric. There were a few fine dresses ‘on the rack’ and some undergarments and aprons ready-made for sale.
I clapped my hands. “Fun!”
He said, “I will withdraw for my own fun.”
“Standing on the street.”
“Aye, tis one of my favorite pastimes.
I picked out fabric and ordered a new dress, then my husband came in and opened an account and placed the order. Our address was at the inn. After we had made the arrangements, we walked out into the bright sun, and in a flash I saw someone familiar down the street.
He was wearing colonial-style clothes and a powdered wig. I pointed. “Do you see him, it’s Tyler — I mean Archie — Magnus, right there!” The man disappeared into the crowd.
Magnus squinted his eyes. “Nae, where?”
“Down there, I swear,” I stood on tiptoes craning to see. “I looked right at him in the eyes, it was … He was totally familiar but... why wouldn’t he…?”
“It must not hae been him.” His eyes swept up and down the road. “But it reminds us not tae get too comfortable, we could hae visitors, friend or foe, any moment now. Our next stop is the blacksmith for a sword.”