“Well, do ye?
“Nay, my lady. Maybe if I was better at it I would, but I hate it. I think if I have to spend the rest of my life weaving I will go mad.”
Caitlin’s honesty surprised Mairead. She supposed it would be very hard to be trained to do something your whole life that ye never wanted to do. Like marrying a stranger and running his household? She smiled to herself. “Is there something ye like to do at which ye have more skill?”
“Not really, I suppose.” The wistful tone in her voice told Mairead that the opposite was more likely true.
“Now why do I think there really is something else ye would like to do.”
Caitlin smiled bashfully. “Well, I like to cook but I’m just learning how. My Da loves to eat, and I like to make things for him.”
“Is that why ye were visiting Ide?”
“Aye that, and well, sometimes it is easier to talk to her than to my mother.”
“Hmm. I see.” Mairead considered this for a minute. “Would ye like to work in the kitchens and learn more? Perhaps it can be arranged?”
“Oh, my lady, I would love to learn from Ide, but my mother thinks…well, it’s not important.”
“Aye, it is important. What does your mother think?”
Caitlin looked even more embarrassed. She looked away, not meeting Mairead’s eyes. “She thinks kitchen work is beneath me, what with her being a fine weaver and Da being the steward and all.”
“Oh, I understand.” Mairead remembered what Cael had said about her mother being a problem. “But ye would want to work in the kitchens if ye had the opportunity?”
“Aye, I would, but I don’t want to upset my parents.”
“I’m sure ye don’t and I wouldn’t want to, either. But perhaps there is a way this can be arranged. I can’t make any promises, but leave it with me for a bit.”
“Oh, my lady, do ye really think it is possible?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. But it absolutely isn’t possible if we don’t at least try.”
~ * ~
The next morning, when Mairead met with Ide, she brought up the subject of Caitlin’s desire to learn to cook.
“Caitlin is a fine lass, my lady. Aye, I would love to have her working here.”
Meriel was in one corner scrubbing burnt porridge from the bottom of a large pot, and she gave a derisive snort. “Clearly, my lady, ye can see Meriel doesn’t understand why anyone would want to work here, but I suspect Caitlin wouldn’t have let the porridge burn in the first place. As I was saying, I would love to have her here, but I doubt her parents would allow it.”
“But she is so unhappy working with the weavers and by her own admission, she isn’t very good at it. Surely her parents can see that?” Another snort came from Meriel.
“Meriel, is there something ye would like to say?” asked Mairead.
Meriel shrugged and huffed. “Ye don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
“Keep a civil tongue in your head, lass, or ye will lose this job too,” warned Ide.
Mairead gently touched Ide’s arm, shook her head slightly. “Meriel, I do want to hear what ye have to say.”
“Do ye? Well, then, it is beyond me why anyone would want to work in the kitchens.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I hate it, but my father makes me stay here. Why should Caitlin be different?”
“And ye loved being a chambermaid, lass?” asked Ide sarcastically.
“Nay, but it was better than this. Why would someone who has the opportunity to learn a skill like weaving throw it away to work in the kitchens?”
Mairead considered Meriel’s words for a moment. “Would ye like to learn to weave?”
“Why do ye care? Ye are the reason I am here anyway.” Meriel’s eyes filled with tears.
“Meriel, ye are here because of your own actions,” scolded Ide.
Mairead quietly but firmly repeated her question. “I asked if ye would like to learn to be a weaver.”
“Aye. I would, but I will never get the chance. My mother was a weaver and apparently a very good one, too. I remember watching her and thinking it was magic the way she turned thread into beautiful fabric. But she died when I was a little girl, and there is no one to teach me the skill. Caitlin should count her blessings, but instead she wants this.” Meriel motioned to the pots to be washed.
“If there was someone who was willing to train ye, would ye put your heart into it?”
Meriel’s chin quivered; the tears spilled down her cheek, and she dashed them away with the back of one hand. “Aye. But that isn’t likely, is it?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. But I’m willing to consider it. If it is what ye truly want to do and ye are willing to put in the effort to learn, maybe we can find a way.”