Page 51 of Ghost of the Ton

“Ah, Maisie, will ye admonish me later, as only ye know how?”

Maisie’s blush deepened and she swatted Rory on the arm.

“Forgive me, Yer Ladyship,” he said. “I’ll hang this grouse up then I’ll be going.”

“Och no ye dinnae,” Maisie said. “We’ve a house to clean and we’re in need of a big brute to help us.”

“Someone strong in the arm and thick in the head, aye?” Rory said good-naturedly. “Ye like me strong and thick.” Maisie swatted him again, and he blushed and nodded to Mia. “Forgive me, lass,” he said, glancing about the room. “This is a very comfortable cottage. Are ye intending to live here?”

“Until I return to England, yes,” Mia said.

“Aye, that’s a rare shame,” he said. “I told Master Hamish—” He broke off as Maisie frowned. “Well, we’ll make it comfortable for ye. It’ll be good and quiet, tucked away. What do ye intend to do here, if ye dinnae mind my asking?”

“I have some understanding of medicine,” Mia said. “I can treat the sick and injured. Before I fell ill myself, I’d hoped I might train to become a doctor.”

“Were ye sick?” Rory asked.

“Rory!” Maisie nudged him again, and he shifted from one foot to the other in the manner of an admonished child.

“Och, forgive me, lass. Of course ye were ill,” he said. “I was at the wedding. I-I’m sorry for ye, but it’s a good thing ye survived, aye?”

“Not everyone here agrees with you,” Mia said.

“Ye needn’t take notice of them,” Rory replied with a smile, “and if ye intend to heal the sick, ye’d be welcome. We’ve no doctor here, though Maisie has some skill, dinnae ye Maisie, lass?”

Mia looked at her new friend. “Do you?”

“Only a little,” Maisie said. “I can tie a bandage and have helped to deliver a bairn…well, for folk that’ll let me near them.”

“Maisie could assist ye, ma’am,” Rory said. “She’s better doing that than…” Maisie again frowned at him and he shook his head. “Never mind, Maisie, love. Ye can do what ye wish.”

“I could do with some help,” Mia said. “I’ve much to do to get everything ready. I brought some medicines with me that Dr. McIver was kind enough to let me have, but as to ointments and lotions, I’ll need to begin again, assuming the herbs I’d need grow here. I think I saw some calendula flowers yesterday.”

“Calendula?” Rory said. “I’ve not heard the name.”

“They’re like large gold daisies,” Mia said.

“Do ye perhaps mean Mary’s Gold?” Maisie said.

Mia nodded.

“There’s plenty in the gardens around the castle,” Maisie continued. “I think Mrs. McBride uses them in her soups. I’m sure she’d let ye take some. Do ye use them for a tea?”

“Yes, and a salve,” Mia said. “I could show you how to make it if you wanted to help?”

“Ye’d like that, wouldnae ye, Maisie?” Rory said. “Haven’t I always said that—”

“Ye say too much, Rory MacLennan,” Maisie hissed. “Is this what ye want? To tell me what to do all the time?”

Rory glanced at Mia. “No, lass, but perhaps ye could learn a thing or two from Her Ladyship. Then ye could consider—”

“Rory, please,” Maisie said. “Ye dinnae own me and ye never will.”

“Aye,” Rory said. “Ye belong to all the—”

“I belong to nobody,” Maisie said, the moisture in her eyes belying the hardness in her voice.

Rory colored and nodded to the bird. “Best get this hung,” he said. “I’ll cook yer fish for supper when we’re done. I can show ye how to gut it, if ye’d like.”