doing okay at the moment. Of course, she knew that probably wouldn’t last long. Still, she’d done all right last night with Conran. Although they hadn’t really walked anywhere, and he’d done all the work, she supposed.
“Oh, good,” Saidh said cheerfully. “Just tell us if ye weary and one o’ the boys can carry ye.”
Evina snorted at the suggestion. There was no way she’d ever be so weak that she’d willingly allow a man to carry her. Well, not unless it was Conran. He’d already carried her around a few places. But she wasn’t going to look weak in front of his brothers unless she was gushing blood, or on death’s door, she decided as they moved away from her door.
“How is me nephew doing, Murine?” Saidh asked suddenly as they started along the hall. Turning to Evina, she quickly explained, “Murine and Edith both have one child each. Both are little boys.”
“Really?” Evina asked, glancing at Murine.
“Aye, we named our boy Beathan after me father,” the woman murmured with a smile, and then glanced to Saidh and added, “And he’s very well. Gaining weight every day.”
“Did ye bring him with ye?” Evina asked with interest.
“Nay. He’s only three months old. Far too young to travel. His nursemaid is watching him until we return. Fortunately, I have two cousins at Carmichael who gave birth around the same time as me, and they are taking turns breast-feeding him with their own babies while I am gone.”
Evina nodded. She knew a lot of nobles shunned breast-feeding, seeing it as inconvenient. They usually had a woman in waiting who had recently given birth and could take over the chore, but Evina herself thought she’d rather feed her own child as well, so was glad these women seemed to agree with it.
“This is the first time I’ve been away from Beathan since he was born,” Murine blurted suddenly, her tone fretful.
“He’ll be fine,” Jo said, patting her arm soothingly. “It’s hard to leave them when they’re so young. But ’tis better he’s safe at home rather than traveling through rain and mud and perhaps growing ill from it.”
“Aye.” Murine managed a smile and then paused to open the door to the room she and Dougall shared.
“Do ye think Edith and Niels will bring young Ronny?” Jetta asked as all but the men followed Murine into the room.
The men took up a position on either side of the door in the hall, Evina noticed as she pushed the door closed. It seemed she had watchdogs.
“Oh, nay,” Saidh said at once. “He’s barely a month old.”
“Ronny is Edith’s son?” Evina asked with curiosity, moving to stand by the fireplace to make room for the other women who had clustered by the door.
“Aye,” Jo agreed, moving farther into the room too. “I suspect that’s why it’s taken her and Niels so long to get here. Edith wouldn’t trust just anyone with the baby after everything she went through with her aunt.”
“Aye,” Murine agreed solemnly, moving to a chest by the bed. “Fortunately, I wasn’t betrayed by a Carmichael, so have no’ issues with being able to trust them.”
Here was another couple of stories she thought she might like to hear eventually, Evina thought as they waited for Murine to find her tincture.
“I thought ye had stopped needing the tincture to keep from fainting?” Jo said suddenly as Murine found what she was looking for.
“I did,” she admitted with a wry smile. “Unfortunately, I was so sick while carrying Beathan I couldn’t keep food down and started in fainting again. Dougall insisted I return to taking the tincture, and made me promise to take it for six months after the babe was born to ensure everything was all right before I stop again.”
“Ah.” Jo nodded, not seeming surprised.
Evina didn’t have to ask what they were talking about. Saidh had told her a little bit about each of the women presently in the room and one of the tidbits she’d told her about Murine was that when they’d all first met her, the woman had a terrible habit of fainting at the drop of a cap. In the end, it seemed this had been a result of her not eating enough out of grief over the deaths of several family members one after the other. But it was a situation that had eventually cleared up when the Buchanan brothers had taken her under their care and made her eat more. Evina could understand how the morning sickness many women