“I think I can make do. It never dawned on me that I could have a grand house in the sixteenth century. If I ever get irritated I’ll pitch the tent in the yard to remind myself how bleak that was. Now we can get down to normal life.”
“And what is normal tae do here?”
“Sex, for one, in our own bed.”
“Aye, and what else.”
“Else, hmmmm.... Yoga classes in the morning.”
“Och, in yer shift?”
“Yep, I’ll lay out a blanket for each of us and we’ll do sun salutations every morning.”
“What else?”
“For breakfast, strawberries on waffles with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. McDonald’s drive-thru, Spotify. I haven’t heard music in so long, I really miss Harry Styles. Speaking of,” I joked, “what is the WiFi password, did they tell you? I need to check instagram.”
He chuckled. “I daena ken what ye are speakin’ on but I miss it as well.”
I looked at him suspiciously. “You’ll agree with me without knowing what I’m saying?”
“Aye, I daena ken the details, but ye are talkin’ on all the things that make Florida our home, I miss them. I miss yer wee panties.”
“I’m literally naked under my skirts.”
“I ken ye are, but I verra much like disrobin’ ye, and then there is the lace at the last. Tis a welcome sight tae see more I hae tae remove.”
I smiled. “First thing we have to do is get new clothes, and by the looks of Lady Fleming’s dress, I’ll have plenty of layers for you to take off.”
We spent a whole day being measured and fitted for new clothes and I was right about the layers, I would be wearing at least four on even the most casual days. I was sick and tired of wearing the same skirts though, so I was able to get excited about the idea. At least I would look pretty again.
I purchased an assortment of fine linen smocks, luxurious, my favorite had black stitch embroidery at the wrists and the neckline. Then, over that, I would wear a petticoat in scarlet red. And over that a kirtle, a bodice dress. It was designed to be seen underneath the gown so it was made of luxurious damask. Mine was in a deep blue. It didn’t cinch my waist, but instead gave me an overall tightness, a firm foundation. I had a couple of panels for the front of my skirts, one with gold thread, the other in a pale silver.
Then my top layer was a really beautiful gown in pale grey-blue velvet. The neckline was square. Magnus bought me pearls to wear at my throat. And Lady Fleming told me I would want to wear a French hood, to match Mary of Guise, so that was the style of head covering I chose.
When I had it all on it was heavy and gave me the right form for the time — I joked with Magnus, “I look like a large wide pyramid.”
He joked back, “Tis better than a square.” He was indeed looking squarely-shaped and in almost as many layers. He was the owner now of four linen shirts, with embroidery on the edges that mimicked mine. He had long hose that covered his legs. A black doublet with the front covered in embroidered flowers. During the fitting we figured out that the tailor’s goal was to make Magnus look thick and to give him the illusion of a large belly. We put a stop to that.
And then he had trunk hose, or what I liked to call ‘puffy fancy pants’ in black with stripes of silver peaking out. The tailor tried to persuade him to wear small, high-heeled fancy shoes with this ensemble, but that was not happening. Magnus bought thigh-high, leather boots instead. But he had no choice about the ruffled collar, he had to wear it. His cloak was a deep black velvet.
I sat primly on a chair, because in all these layers prim was the only way to sit, and admired him. “I’ve never seen you quite so...”
He said, “Ridiculous?”
“No, you sir, are never ridiculous. You’ve taken those puffy fancy pants and made them downright sexy. I was going to say ‘dressed’. And now I totally get what you mean about watching me get dressed makes you want to take it all off.”
“Och, careful Kaitlyn, ye will get me started and twill take us two hours tae get undressed and re-dressed again. I am too hungry for the interruption.”