Page 88 of Everything But the Earl
“I’ll keep your secret, as long as you no longer keep secrets from me.”
“I won’t ever again.”
“I believe you.”
“I did spend some money on the cottage, although I buy my pottery supplies with my own money from the sales of my work.”
“That’s all right. I told you to furnish it.”
“I sometimes spend a full day at the cottage. Any food I left behind will have rotted in the many weeks I’ve been away, but I was keeping some there. There’s a kiln in the backyard. And I furnished the bedroom. I wanted a bed. Before I grew too large to operate the wheel, I sometimes got tired and needed to nap. Making a baby is hard work.”
“Indeed, it must be!”
“Hopefully you will not think I’ve wasted your money.”
“Impossible. I’ve seen the ledgers. You did spend money, but you were also more frugal than I expected you to be.”
“I suppose that is good news.”
They arrived at the cottage. Owen wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. The main room was styled as a sitting room, with three large chairs and a low table. The pottery studio was in the sunny room overlooking the sea, at the back of the house. There were several cabinets and shelves lined with finished objects.
“I was teaching some of the locals how to make pottery, but Catrin was my only regular student. The bowls on that shelf? Those are hers. I don’t think I have much else finished here. I stopped being able to make vases some months ago and sold what I had to the store in Penmaenmawr.”
“How long does it take you to make one of those vases?”
“The whole process takes a few days. Usually I sketch it out first, then I need a couple of hours to shape a vase on the wheel, then I leave it overnight to dry. The next day, I do the detail work and fix any errors and let it dry again. The day after that, I apply glaze, which can be time consuming if I decide to paint a design instead of glazingeverything white. Then I set up the kiln and bake the clay. Usually by then, the item is finished, but sometimes I do some additional painting.”
“So it’s an involved process. I had no idea.”
“I’ll show you how sometime.”
Owen shook his head. “I’ve no talent for anything artistic. But I’d love to watch you.”
Grace had to smile at that. “My favorite part is the sea. If we stepped outside, we could smell it.”
“I know. It’s why I bought the cottage.”
“I hope you do not mind that I have taken it over.”
Owen looked around. “I do not. It feels…homey. Lived in. You’ve made the space useful. That’s true of the estate, too. So many nobles feel their homes must be perfect all the time, but I think that makes the home feel like a museum and not a space where people live, with all their messiness.”
Grace smiled. “I agree. My parents’ home was always spotless. I sometimes felt as if I couldn’t touch anything.”
“You must tend to this place yourself.”
“I do try. It’s…it’s a sanctuary, for me.”
“It’s yours,” Owen said.
“Yes, I suppose it is. But it’s yours, too. I wanted to bring you here to show it to you.”
Owen understood that it was technically true that he owned the cottage, but this was clearly Grace’s space. He also understood, therefore, that it was a gift that she was showing it to him. “It’s lovely,” he told her.
“Thank you. Let me show you the other rooms.”
There weren’t many, but Owen let Grace take her on a tour of what was there. The pottery studio. The small kitchen in which all remaining food had indeed rotted. And finally the bedroom. The bedroom was fully furnished, with a proper bed, several chests ofdrawers, and a trunk. This room also felt homey.
“This is nice,” Owen said, then moved toward the door, figuring they’d leave soon.
