the other hand, was not beautiful, nor was she elegant … but her earthiness roused a desire in him that he found difficult to tame.
His shadow along the ground announced his arrival.
“Ambassador?” she said, squinting in the sun. “Whatever are ye doing oot in the kitchen garden?”
“Looking for you, actually.”
She wiped her hands on her pinafore. “Oh? What may I do for ye?”
Gazing down at her kneeling before him, her rosy freckles and dazzling blue eyes looking up at him, he suppressed a truthful answer. “Er …” He raced for an answer. “Salve. Mr. Slayter’s been in a brawl, and he’s suffered a few bruises. It’s nothing serious, but I was wondering if you had any remedy that would help him in that regard.”
“I see,” she said, an answer that quickly made Earlington nervous. Gabby was a woman who saw a great deal more than most, even the things he didn’t want her to see. “I’ll get Caointiorn to take him some cream of calendula.”
“Yes.” Earlington wrung his hands, his gaze bouncing around the garden.
“Will that be all, sir?”
He couldn’t look her in the eye. “I was wondering … that is, if you’re not too busy … if you would be so kind … could you talk with me awhile?”
Gabby nodded slowly. “Aye. But ye may as well make yerself useful. Take that spade and help me dig these holes.”
A bemused frown crossed Earlington’s face. He had had in mind a quiet chat over a cup of tea. But he was fascinated by the prospect of the fresh adventure, so he shrugged out of his coat and laid it on a nearby shrub. He took the spade from a milk pail full of gardening tools and began to burrow into the ground.
“Aboot four inches deep, mind, and wide enough for yer hand to fit.”
He set about digging holes in the soft, moist earth. Although his trousers grew damp at the knees, he actually found pleasure in working the cool soil with his bare hands.
Gabby was silent, and he could sense that she was waiting for him to speak. But he found it difficult to put his feeling to words.
“Er, I’m afraid I’m not very good at this.”
She handed him a different spade. “Little by little, as the cat eats the fish.”
He shook his head. “No. I mean talking with you.”
“Aye. I ken what ye mean.”
“Oh.” There it was, that feeling that she could understand well beyond that which was plain. “You see, I’ve been very concerned about the negotiations. They’re not going as I’d hoped. The factions have split, and the ones with revolutionary sympathies are taking control. The English Parliament is perfectly prepared to go to battle with Scotland, and the Scottish Council is daring them to. It seems the only one who is after peace is me.”
“Aye.”
“And now I’ve awakened a great swarm of enemies. The opposition has not only threatened my daughter, but actually accosted her. I’m afraid that any attempt to negotiate a peace with Scotland will not only endanger what’s left of my family, but will be to no avail whatsoever. I even made a promise to keep my daughter safe, a promise I’m not confident I can keep.”
“Aye.”
“And to top it all off, I’m so angry at those men for laying their hands on her. I actually started to think a spate of war might do those stubborn Scots some good. They robbed me of my impartiality and turned me against them, when all I really wanted to do was restore their faith in union and bring about goodwill on both sides.”
“Aye.”
Despite his problems, he had to chuckle at Gabby. “Do you always talk this much?”
She smiled. “Aye.” She lifted a wisp of hair from her cheek. “If the Good Lord had meant for us to be doing more bletherin’ than listening, he would hae given us two mouths instead of two ears.”
Earlington smiled. “Perhaps you’re right. However, I would appreciate even half a mouthful right now. I’d like to know your thoughts.”
“Why should a man of yer importance be after asking someone like me?”
He shrugged. “Call it seeking the wealth of wise counsel. King Solomon was widely believed to be the wisest man who ever lived, and even though he needed wise counsel the least, he wrote about its value the most.”
Gabby handed him a bowl full of peeled garlic cloves. “Drop one of these in all of the holes, then push the soil back in.”
“What’s it for?” he said, puzzling over the