It’s a wood-burning fireplace, not coal. The master of the house values ambience over convenience, apparently. Helps when you have staff to light it for you.
I can do this. I was a Girl Guide, and I go camping every year with friends. Well, I did, until I got too busy with work and had to recuse myself from the annual getaway. One year off fire making shouldn’t matter. Or is it two years? Possibly three…?
Damn it. I’ve let things slide. Let life slide. I’m going to fix that when I get back. Repair the damage before I stop getting invitations and suddenly I’m forty and wondering why no one calls me anymore.
For now, though, I’ve got this. Just start a fire.
I stare at the mess in the fireplace, all ashes and scorched wood. Then I spend the next twenty minutes cleaning the fireplace. Gray has resumed his mad scribbling, so absorbed that the only time he even glances over is when I drop the metal poker on the stone hearth.
“Less clatter would be appreciated, Catriona.”
I murmur an apology. There’s silence, and I think he’s gone back to work, but then he says, dryly, “I don’t believe you’re supposed to clean the hearth with your skirt.”
I look down. I’m wearing a uniform—a white apron over a dark blue dress. That apron is no longer white. Neither is the surrounding fabric. I could argue that he’s not one to judge—I already see ink spatter on his collar—but I suspect rejoinders are not permitted in this relationship.
I lean back on my heels. “I’m not quite myself, sir.”
“I’ve noticed.”
I take a deep breath and make a decision. A risky one.
“My memory seems to have been adversely affected by my illness, and I find myself struggling to recall mundane and ordinary tasks.”
He stares at me like I’m speaking Greek. I replay my words, but they seem fine. Suitably stilted and old-fashioned. Maybe it’s my accent? It’s thicker than his.
“I realize this is unseemly of me,” I say, “being a maid, but I must humbly request your forbearance.”
More brow wrinkling, now accompanied by what looks like suspicion.
I hurry on. “I’m not trying to weasel—I’m not asking to be excused from my tasks, sir. I understand my convalescence has been an inconvenience, upsetting the smooth operation of your household. I am simply admitting that I may require reminders, now and then, of my tasks, which I will complete forthwith.”
“Forthwith…” he repeats slowly.
Isn’t that the right word? It sounds right.
I continue, “Promptly and efficiently, with the diligence you expect of your staff.”
“I see.…” His look is bemusement bordering on bafflement. I’ve done something wrong. I just can’t tell what it is.
“Also,” I hurry on, “I beg your forbearance with any idiosyncrasies of character I might display. As I said, I do not feel myself. Which is no excuse for lackadaisical workmanship, of course.”
His look skewers me, as if I’m a body on the table, ready for dissection. Whatever his rough appearance, Dr. Gray is not a stupid man. Under that gaze, I swear I see his brain spinning faster than mine on my best days.
Here’s where I’m going wrong. Well, one of many ways I’m going wrong. I feel superior to these people. I’m from the twenty-first century. So much more enlightened than them. That’s bullshit, of course.
I have the advantages of the modern world. Thinking it makes me smarter is the polar opposite of “enlightened.” Like looking down on someone who doesn’t have a college degree because they couldn’t afford to go to college. Gray is a medical doctor withmultipledegrees. He’s as educated as one can be in this world.
Tread carefully. Do not treat these people like primitive cave dwellers. Do not think you can easily fool them because you’re from the future.
Under that piercing gaze, all I can do is get myself back to work. Hide in my chores. Speak less. Work more.
I build the fire. It may not be the way he’s accustomed to, but it does the job. Heat blazes from it, and I tidy up the hearth and then start backing out of the room. He’s eating one-handedly from his tray as he scribbles.
I’ve almost made my escape when he says, “Catriona?”
I pause.
“It may be Sunday, but I still have to work today,” he says.