Devil of the Highlands Page 0,33

snooping in her husband's chests, she knew, but there might be something in there she might wear; one of her husband's shirts, say. 'Twould be better than standing around wrapped in a linen.

Moving to the largest chest, she knelt to open it, eyes widening as she peered over the contents. It was filled with dresses. If this was her husband's chest, he had some odd customs, indeed, Evelinde thought, and smiled faintly as she recalled trying to explain that Cullen had ripped her gown while trying to get it off himself and Mildrede asking if he'd been wearing it. Her maid would be amused at the sight of all these gowns, she thought, and felt a pang for the woman who had been her lady's maid most of her life. She was going to miss Mildrede terribly.

Sighing, Evelinde reached for a gown lying on top. She lifted it out and stood to hold it up for inspection. It was a lovely dark blue gown with a fitted bodice and pale blue panels in the pleats of the skirt that would only show when walking.

Heart lifting at her discovery, Evelinde carried the dress to the bed and laid it out, then returned to the chest in search of a chemise.

She found one quickly and slipped it over her head while standing beside the chest, wrinkling her nose at the stale smell to the garment as it slid over her face. 'Twas obvious the shift had been packed away for some time. The clothes probably belonged to Cullen's first wife and had simply never been removed after her death.

The thought, made her pause as Evelinde fretted that he might resent her donning his dead wife's clothes. She almost took the chemise off, but the prospect of being trapped, naked, in the bedroom was not an attractive one and made anger rise within her. If the man had shown the good sense to ensure she had alternate clothing, she would not have to wear these, Evelinde told herself, shoulders straightening.

Satisfied that she should wear it, Evelinde glanced down at the chemise she wore. It was rather large on her. Cullen's first wife had obviously been much taller, not to mention more buxom, she thought, noting the roomy bodice and gaping neckline. 'Twas obvious she would have to take in the gowns if she planned to wear them, but for now it would have to do. She would start working on the gowns by the fire that night. However, at the moment she wished to see her new home.

Moving to the bed, Evelinde donned the gown, biting her lip when she found the bodice of the dress gaped as much as the chemise. It also pooled around her feet. She tried gathering the material of the gown at her back to see if that improved matters. Finding it did, Evelinde then glanced around for some way to pin it there, but she didn't see anything useful. Finally, she knelt back at the chest and dug through the contents. When that didn't turn up anything, she moved on to the two smaller chests. The first held her husband's clothes; plaids and white shirts. The last chest, however, held an odd assortment of items, some that made absolutely no sense.

Evelinde lifted out an arrow with alternating white and dark feathers in the fletch, grimacing when she noted that they were tinged with dried blood. Most of it had flaked off over time and lay in a powdery residue on the bottom of the chest. Even more of it fell away as she shifted it aside to peer through the other items. Evelinde was most relieved when she found a large broach among the rest of the items. It was similar to the one her husband used to fasten his plaid over his shoulder.

She let the chest lid drop closed, set the pin on it, then quickly regathered the material of the gown at her back and—with a bit of effort—managed to fasten the pin through it.

Satisfied, Evelinde glanced around, her thoughts on a brush to fix her hair, but of course, she didn't have one of those either. She knelt to Cullen's chest again and dug through the small knives and other contents in search of a brush, but could not find one.

Evelinde sat back on her haunches with exasperation, then closed the chest again. Truly, she was glad to be away from Edda, but—

But nothing, she told herself. Everything would be fine. She would take