“The lot of ye should consider what it must be like to marry so far from home with nae a single familiar face in sight. She didnae even bring a maid but I’m thinking that was a miscalculation on my part. I thought that surely Sterling staff were worthy of taking care of its mistress without an English maid being set above ye all.”
More than one face turned pale. Brodick had no pity for them. “Ye’ll be telling me the reason behind such disrespect. Was my wife…difficult?”
Some of the younger girls looked toward Bythe and Ginny for leadership. The two senior women held their tongues.
“I’ll discover the truth of this matter and I will know it today.” Scanning the line of uniformed girls who all drew pay from his coffers, he pointed at one.
“Mogen, tell me what prompted there to be no service. If ’twas by my wife’s dictate, say so.”
“That will solve nothing, my lord.”
His wife strode into the kitchen, stiff pride shining in her eyes.
“I told you to keep her in hand.” Brodick glared at his cousin, wondering just when his life had turned inside out.
Druce scowled at the sweet smile Brodrick’s wife cast toward him. He lifted his finger and pointed at her.
“She bit me.”
“Christ in heaven! Is there no one left in this castle who recalls I’m the lord here?”
“Berating your staff will not change how they truly feel, my lord.”
Brodick stared at her, a crease appearing in the middle of his forehead. “And what do ye mean by that?” He kept his voice tightly controlled but she heard his frustration straining against his control.
“I might have dressed them down myself, if that was the answer.”
His expression became guarded. “So why didn’t ye?”
Opening her hands, Anne shook her head. “It is not my way to order others to like me, my lord. I prefer to be judged by and on my own merits. Be it to the good or ill. I do assure you that I am strong enough to survive without a fire or candles. The spring sun is warm and bright and I am not so dim-witted as to not fetch my own surcoat when night falls.”
He stared at her again, admiration crossing his eyes. Seeing it on his face humbled her, but it also stiffened her resolve.
“It is not necessary to worry about me so greatly. As Agnes told you, I am healthy.”
Brodick swung around to fix Bythe with his attention once more.
“Explain yer dislike, woman.”
The cook stiffened, her eyes narrowing. “Ye said she tried to poison ye. Right at the table. Plenty heard it. Wife or no wife, ye be my lord and my loyalty is to ye.”
“Are ye daft?” Druce sounded ready to drag the cook to Bedlam himself. “She may be English but I’ve nae seen evidence of a sinister bone in her body.”
“She bit you.”
Druce shook his head before he laughed. The sound was loud, shaking the copper lids hanging on the wall between the ovens.
“That’s nae sinister. It makes me cousin a damn lucky man, to have that fire in the lass as he does.”
There was a touch of heat in Druce’s voice that made Anne stare at him. The large Scot sent her a smug look that drew a snort from Brodick. Druce shrugged at his cousin.
“Can’t blame a man for noticing. Seeing as how ye put her into me arms yerself.”
“Now don’t you start telling me what I can’t be taking offense at. I’ve got enough o’ that at the moment.”
Brodick turned his attention back to Anne. His jaw was tight as he battled the urge to deal with the maids the way he wanted to. Anne wanted none of it.
“Be at peace, my lord. There are some things that should never be ordered. I prefer to earn my loyalty. A few weeks is nothing compared to the true value of knowing that each bit of respect shown to me is truly meant.”
There was more than one gasp from the row of maids. Bythe looked confused.
“Ye said it in front of all, my lord, refusing to eat. I heard the tale from twenty different men and women.”
“She didnae try to poison me but it is possible the woman means to drive me mad.” He shook his head but raised a dark eyebrow. “She was cooking under yer own nose. Are ye telling me that ye dinnae know what’s going on in this kitchen?” He pointed to the ring of keys attached to the cook’s belt. “Are ye so careless with those that anyone might get into the herbs without yer permission?”
Bythe covered her lips with a hand that shook. Brodick scanned the rest of the maids.
“Did it nae cross any one of yer minds that there would have been witnesses a plenty to such a deed? Or am I to assume that such harmful herbs are kept unlocked?”
Blythe’s face turned red, one hand covering the ring of keys hanging from her belt. Being the cook meant she was charged with the costly herbs that served as flavoring and as ease for ailments. No one took such costly, hard to come by things without her unlocking the small drawer they were kept in. The keys were the symbol of her position at Sterling; they never left her sight. Her mouth opened but no words made it past her horrified lips. Anne turned her back on it all. More certain than ever that her guilt showed.