“Ye would do that for me? After what I did?”
“What did ye do, Meriel?”
Meriel had the good grace to look embarrassed. Still wiping tears from her cheeks, Meriel confessed. “I entered the laird’s chamber without knocking. I did it on purpose.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to embarrass ye, I guess. Until ye came, I thought—I thought—I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought.”
“It does matter. Please tell me.”
“I thought maybe I had a chance to wed the laird. I guess I was jealous, but in truth, I’m not the only one who was disappointed.”
Ide snorted, “Every one of ye was daft to think there was any chance of that happening. Besides, ye surely must know Laird Matheson and Laird MacKenzie struck this deal. Lady Mairead likely had no say in the matter at all. Why would ye take your disappointment out on her?”
“I don’t know. What I did was thoughtless and stupid. I am sorry, my lady. Truly I am.”
“Well then, I accept your apology and we will put it behind us. As I said, I am not certain of anything, but I will see if there is a way for ye to train as a weaver.”
“Thank ye, my lady.”
“Ye are welcome. Well, if I am going to visit Eilis, I should be going.”
“I’ll walk to the keep with ye. Meriel, keep working on those pots.”
Mairead suspected Ide had something she wanted to say out of Meriel’s hearing. When they were out of the kitchen, as Mairead expected, Ide stopped for a moment.
“That was a real kindness, my lady, and not one I’m sure she deserves. Nevertheless, I will be glad to see the back of her. She hates the kitchen more than a cat hates water.”
“I would much rather have both of ye happy, but do ye know of anyone I could ask about training her as a weaver?” After all Mairead had learned, clearly it was too much to hope Oren’s wife would.
“Aye, my lady, Pol’s wife, Mae, is a weaver. She and Meriel’s mother were friends, and she might consider taking her on. Your bigger problem will be convincing Oren to let Caitlin work in the kitchens.”
Mairead smiled. “Ide, my mother always said the best way to get a man to do what ye want him to do is let him think it was his idea in the first place. I plan to discuss this with the laird, but as long as he sees the merit in the plan, I will just have to find a way to make Oren think of it himself.”
Ide chuckled. “And my mother always said men were simple. A woman only needs to know two things to keep a man happy. The first is how to fill his belly with a good meal. Clearly ye’ve learned this one yourself because ye make sure the laird’s favorites are served regularly. Perhaps if we fill Oren’s scrawny frame with his favorite dinner before ye speak with him, he’ll find it easier to think of this plan himself.”
Mairead gave her a sly grin. “Ye are probably right in that. We will plan Oren’s favorites for dinner tomorrow to soften him up a bit.” Before entering the keep, Mairead asked coyly, “Ide, what was the other thing your mother said a woman needs to know to keep a man happy?”
“My lady, ye are far too bold a lass to have ever been called a mouse, and by the satisfied look the laird wears now, I would say ye have already learned the other one, too.”
~ * ~
As they lay in each other’s arms that evening, savoring the afterglow of their lovemaking, Mairead rose on one elbow to look at her husband. The sated expression on his face caused her to chuckle.
“What do ye find so amusing, love?”
“I was just thinking of something Ide told me she learned from her mother.”
“And what was that?”
“The two skills required to keep a man happy.”
Tadhg laughed and rolled her onto her back, capturing her lips in a kiss before saying, “Ye manage quite well to keep me happy, sweetling.”
“I only plan the meals, Ide cooks them.”
“That’s not the skill I meant, and ye know it.”
Mairead laughed. “Well, Ide did say cooking was only one of them, but she was a bit vague when it came to the other one.”
“I should hope so.” He laughed. “I’m not sure I want to know the answer to this, but how did the subject of pleasing men come up with Ide?”
“Well, it is a bit of a long story.”
“I always like a good bedtime story.”
“Hmm. Well, once upon a time there was a wee lass whose mother was a talented weaver. The lass loved to watch her mother at the loom, making beautiful cloth. She thought there was something magical about it, and she longed to learn how herself someday.”
“That sounds like Oren’s Caitlin.”