Page 24 of A Second Chance for Carys
While they talked and drank the fragrant tea sweetened with honey, Eirwen hovered by the table where dozens of plants had been piled up, ready to be sorted before being dried. By the time the tea had been drunk and they were ready to go, the table looked very different.
Instead of taking exception to Eirwen’s meddling, as some people might have, the healer arched a brow. “Does your daughter know about plants?” she asked, surveying the arrangement. “She’s not only made neat piles and gotten rid of the less than perfect leaves, but she’s organized them according to the properties they possess. Look, here are the ones used for stomach complaints, there are the ones that can combat fever, and so on. I cannot believe she placed them thus at random.”
Carys frowned.WasEirwen knowledgeable about plants? She’d certainly never hinted at an interest in healing. Intrigued herself, she translated the question. Her daughter reddened and nodded, as if admitting to a guilty secret.
“Apparently, she does,” Carys told the healer, amazed and proud all at once.
“She must do, because she’s done exactly what I would have done, and even started to remove the leaves from the stalks in preparation for drying. This is most helpful.”
After that, the woman had asked them to come back another day to see if Eirwen was as knowledgeable about plants as she suspected she was. As it happened, with the growing populationin the village, she had been hoping to get some help. Carys had been only too glad to agree. It would be wonderful if, thanks to her unsuspected skill, her daughter could make a difference in the community and get to know people. Her knowledge of English would also improve that way. At the moment, she was barely able to communicate with people other than her and Branwen. Mistress Ivy did not seem concerned, however, when Carys pointed the potential problem out.
“We’ll find a way to understand one another. It seems to me she doesn’t need much guidance anyway,” she’s added, nodding toward the table. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Then, of course we’ll come back.”
Eirwen, when consulted, nodded enthusiastically.
Carys had left the hut feeling ten times lighter. This was just what Eirwen needed, a new friend, a way to fit in her new environment. It seemed both her daughters would find their happily ever after in England. Who would have thought? Blessed be Matthew Hunter, who was responsible for this turn of events.
Heat invaded her, because it was not only Branwen and Eirwen’s life he had changed. He was also responsible for her meeting with James. And the steward might potentially beherhappily ever after.
“Did you need anything?” she asked Richard, who was still waiting, an expectant look on his face.
Before he could answer, she reached out for her embroidery basket. An idea had just popped into her head. She would decorate a blanket with ivy leaves to thank the kind healer for her offer to tutor Eirwen, and she wanted to start immediately. As it happened, she had just purchased new threads and so had the perfect colors for what she wanted to do, different hues of green.
“Yes, a word with you, if I may.” Richard walked over to her. Carys stilled. There seemed to be a new intensity about himtoday, one that unsettled her. “You know, I’m so glad we’re able to understand each other at last.”
Her heart started to flutter in her chest. They had been able to understand one another for months. Why was he coming to her now?
“Are you?” she croaked, placing the embroidery basket back in its place. It was obvious she wouldn’t be making any blankets right now. Her discussion with Richard would require all her powers of concentration.
“Yes. And I think you might know why.”
Yes, unfortunately, she thought she might know why. She had not missed the looks he’d thrown her as they had traveled from Wales to England together. He had been smitten with her. But just like it had been with James, they had been prevented from getting to know one another by the language barrier. She had thought he might come to speak about his feelings for her as soon as she was able to communicate in English. Then, when months had passed and he had kept silent, she had allowed herself to relax and hope she had been mistaken. Perhaps not being able to understand him had made her imagine things, or he had found someone else who piqued his interest here at Sheridan Manor and forgotten about her.
Well, evidently, she’d not been mistaken and he’d only been biding his time, becoming her friend. It was clear that he was about to open his heart to her. Her own heart sank in her chest because, although she thought him perfectly amiable, her feelings for him would never be more than friendship and she hated the idea of causing him pain.
Thinking it preferable to stop him before he could open up, she started. “Richard, forgive me, but I?—”
“Please, let me speak first,” he cut in, coming a step closer. “Yesterday, when my son and his wife announced they were to have a child, I realized that a new chapter was opening in my life,one that would be different from the one I lived as a young man. Seeing Branwen becoming a mother will have made you think the same, I think.”
Carys could only nod. It was true that hearing the announcement had made her feel life had suddenly changed pace. And shehadstarted to ask herself questions about what she wanted. But none of the answers had involved Richard.
Hearing no protest, he pushed on. “You and I are of an age and like each other. We already live in the same place. I think we could find a way of ending our days together.”
At any time, Carys would have found it hard to hear such a declaration. With the memory of the kiss she and James had shared the day before, it was excruciating. For a moment she had hoped to have a future withhim. But then she’d ruined it all by reminding him of his losses and forcing him to explain why he would never consider being with a woman again.
Still, perhaps the damage was not irreparable. Perhaps she could make him see that she was someone with whom he need not fear anything. She would have to find a way to convince him, bare her own pain if necessary. For now, though, she had a more pressing problem to deal with.
Richard.
She looked at him, utterly at a loss. How could she respond to his offer without letting her dismay show? Because she was about to refuse, of that she had no doubt. It was not only the fact that she had no real feelings for him that guided her decision. The nature of his offer grated. He sounded as if she had no other option but to accept him on pain of ending up all alone and unhappy, he seemed to suggest that no one else would want her, he made her feel like a woman past her best, with little left to hope for before death finally claimed her.
If he wanted to woo her, he was going about it the wrong way.
Really, the contrast between the two men was shocking. Richard had not even touched her while he talked of a future together, James had not promised her anything but he had kissed her as if his life depended on it. Richard was appealing to her reason, seeing her as a companion with whom to share his old age, James had attacked her senses, treated her like a woman still at the height of her beauty, and made her body explode in pleasure.
She took a step backward and felt the wall against her shoulders, blocking her retreat. The lord have mercy on her. How would she get out of this without hurting Richard’s feelings? He was not a bad man, but he was not the man for her, she had never been more certain of anything.
