Chapter Five
One week.
Brody had been at Hawkhill exactly one week and in that week, it seemed to him that he’d never known another life. Something about hard work and a pretty lass who came to visit him daily had him believing that his fortunes may have finally turned around.
The old stablemaster’s name was Angus Peele and Brody had quickly made himself indispensable to the old man. He only had two grooms working under him, men who were so low born that they could barely speak intelligently, but they were hard workers and did all the cleaning and feeding of the horses.
Brody had been taking care of grooming the horses himself and repairing their tack, which Angus tried to keep in good repair, but his fingers were twisted with a painful affliction that involved his joints which made it difficult.
Therefore, Brody took over the chore and spent his days repairing the worn harnesses and saddles, listening to Angus chatter nonstop while he chewed pieces of fat, green grass. He’d chew up one and start on another, which had turned his teeth a nice shade of green over the years.
They’d sit in the open door of the stable, watching the rain fall and speaking on any subject that struck their fancies.
Angus would tell Brody such stories as having invented the horseshoe or being personally responsible for the creation of whisky, and Brody would listen as if he believed every foolish story out of his green mouth.
He was coming to like the quirky old man.
But his focus wasn’t only on his duty. It was on Lilia, hoping for a glimpse of her as she went about her duties for Lady Currie.
No one from the house seemed to make it back into the stable block except for Lilia, and it was always with requests from Lady Currie.
The woman liked to ride her snow-white palfrey through the woods and she also demanded her carriage every night, which was prepared and then driven up to the house to collect her.
Brody had never met Laird or Lady Currie in the week he’d spent in his new position, the first week in months that he hadn’t been sleeping off too much drink in an alley and wallowing with the dregs of society. These days, he was clean, he was fed, he had a place to sleep.
And he owed it all to Lilia.
Truthfully, he was coming to feel the least bit guilty for tricking her into taking him to Hawkhill in the first place.
He’d seen an opportunity to play on her pity and he took it.
He had a better life now than he had before, but his intention to take advantage of Lilia had quickly turned into something else the very first day he knew her.
He was still trying to figure it all out, but he knew one thing – she was a lady he was growing increasingly fond of.
Even now at the dawn of a surprisingly bright morning, he was looking forward to seeing her.
She always seemed to make it back to the stable yard at some point every morning and he was planning on that.
He’d even shaved with the razor Tynan had brought him and washed his hands and hair with the remains of the savon d’alep.
It was ironic that he hadn’t felt like cleaning up since he’d arrived in Edinburgh, since leaving his shame behind.
Since leaving that life he was no longer a part of.
Brody’s breath hung in the air in foggy puffs as he left his cottage and made his way over to the stable.
There was a leggy black gelding that needed his attention, a magnificent horse that belonged to Laird Currie but was never ridden.
The horse was quite excitable and frisky, and Brody was planning on taking the animal out himself to give him some exercise.
He was an excellent horseman, or at least he had been in his past. He was nearly to the stable when he caught sight of someone moving into the stable yard.
It was Lilia.
She was far earlier than expected but he didn’t care. He couldn’t keep the grin from his face as he changed course and headed in her direction.
“Good morn tae ye, m’lady,” he said. “How may I assist ye today?”
Lilia smiled, biting her lip in a gesture that was both sweet and bashful. “Lady Currie wants tae go intae Edinburgh today,” she said. “Today is Market Day.”
Brody looked up at the sky, noting the position of the sun. “Isna it a little late tae go tae market?”
Lilia shrugged. “Not for her,” she said. “She stays up most of the night and doesna rise until noon.”
“I know,” Brody said. “I am here when the carriage comes in. It has come in nearly at dawn every morning since I’ve been here. Where do they go, anyway?”
“They?”
“Laird and Lady Currie.”
Lilia shook her head. “Laird Currie doesna go with her.”
Brody’s eyebrows lifted. “He lets his wife go out alone at night?”
“It’s not as if he has any say over it. She simply… goes.”
“Where?”
“Angus hasna told ye?”
“Told me what?”
Lilia looked around to see who might be near to overhear her. Deeming it safe, she answered. “Lady Currie seeks entertainment at the Ludus Caledonia,” she said quietly. “Have ye heard of it?”
Brody’s brow furrowed in thought. “Is that the place where men fight?”
Lilia nodded. “Aye,” she said. “It’s a secretive place in the hills south of Edinburgh. Lady Currie has been going there since I came tae Hawkhill and I’ve been tae The Cal more times than I can recall.”
“Ye’ve gone?”
“Lady Currie doesna like tae go alone,” Lilia said. “She takes me along with her and one or two of her other ladies.”
“And she watches the fights?”
Lilia sighed faintly. “Remember I told ye that if she bore a son, it wouldna be the laird’s?”
“Aye.”
“That is because she finds company with anyone else but him, and particularly at the Ludus Caledonia.” She watched surprise spread across Brody’s face.
“Lady Currie is a rich woman who can pay for the company of any man she likes. She pays a good deal of money for the company of the winners of the fights at The Cal.”
Brody frowned. “It sounds like a brothel.”
“Nay,” Lilia assured him quickly. “It’s not that, but The Cal is a place of many functions.
Visitors gamble on the fights and sometimes the winners are offered positions with armies.
I’ve seen men in the lists bid for their services.
They also teach men tae fight and I’ve heard the winners can make a lot of money.
But there are women who go there, too, and they’re not allowed tae gamble.
But they are allowed tae watch and pay for the company of the winners. Lady Currie isna the only one.”
He eyed her. “And she makes ye go with her?”
“Aye.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. He simply looked at her as thoughts rolled around his head. That was clear from the way his eyes were glimmering; there was a good deal going on behind them.
“Does she make ye…” He paused before continuing. “Do ye find company with them, too?”
Lilia’s mouth opened in outrage. Suddenly, she was pushing past him, into the stable, and Brody charged after her. She had barely made it into the dim, musty structure when he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. Furious, Lilia yanked her arm from his grasp.
“Dunna grab me,” she snapped. “And how dare ye ask such a question!”
Brody put up both hands in a soothing gesture. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… I dunna know why I did.”
Lilia wasn’t eased in the least. She jabbed a finger at him. “Ye know I’m not married, yet ye ask me if I keep… keep company with men like Lady Currie does? What kind of woman do ye think I am? I should slap the snot right out of ye!”
“Go ahead and slap me if it’ll make ye feel better.”
Whack!
Lilia did just that. It wasn’t a hard slap, but it surprised Brody. He looked at her in astonishment even though he’d told her to do it.
He was fairly certain he deserved it.
“I dunna know why I should answer ye, but I will,” Lilia said. “Of course I dunna keep company with them. Lady Currie only wants me tae keep her company for the journey tae and from The Cal, and if she thought I was interested in the men there, she wouldna take me. She’s a jealous one, she is.”
“She should be,” Brody said quietly, afraid she might slap him again if she didn’t like what he said. “Yer beauty surely outshines her.”
“How do ye know if ye havena even see her?”
“I dunna have tae see her tae know ye’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the privilege tae look upon.”
That gentle flattery cooled Lilia’s anger rapidly, like blowing out a candle. Her eyes, so recently filled with fury, now looked upon him in astonishment. Astonishment turned to pleasure, but it was tempered with doubt.
“Ye say that because I gave ye a place tae stay,” she said quietly. “Ye dunna have tae flatter me, Brody. I helped ye because ye needed it, not because I wanted ye tae praise me.”
They were standing near a stall, a half-wall that she was backed up against. Brody took a step in her direction, moving closer to her.
“Is that what ye think?” he asked softly. “That I’m flattering ye because ye helped me?”
The fact that he was moving closer didn’t escape her. “I dunna mind,” she said, taking a discreet step back for every bold step he took forward. “I dunna hear much flattery. It was nice.”
“Nice?” he repeated. By this time, she’d backed up into the wall of the stall and he was so close he could feel the heat from her body. “It wasna simply meant tae be nice, my angel. It was the truth.”
Oh, but there was a storm churning inside of Lilia and the lightning she’d come to associate with Brody was flying in all directions. His close proximity had started a firestorm and she was struggling to stay on an even keel.
Gazing up at him, she could feel his hot breath in her face as his right arm went up, casually bracing himself against the support beam of the stall over her head as he looked down upon her. The closer he loomed, the more the lightning sparked.
“I… I dunna hear it often.”
“From the men around here?”
“Never from them.”
“Then they’re fools.”
“Or mayhap they know their place.”