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Jamie thrust the pitchfork into the pile of hay with enough force to get the tines stuck in the wood beneath. With a quiet curse under his breath he yanked it free and tried again. Brimstone whinnied in her stall. She was a relatively docile creature except when it came to delays with her food.
What must Mistress Beauchamp think of him? She must think he was a foolish and lusting lad––certainly not a man like she would want... and like she deserved. She found him amusing and seemed to like him well enough but she would never take him seriously in that way.
He finished with the hay and stabbed the pitchfork into the pile once more, no longer caring that it would be difficult to dislodge it later.
Even if she did think about him that way––which she wouldn't––all she would need to know was how little he had to support them, how small the chances of clearing his name were, how little the chance she'd ever be Lady Broch Tuarach in more than just name. She didn't seem to hold his status as an outlaw against him now, but it would be quite a different thing to tie her fate to his in such a way.
Jamie emerged from the stable with the harnesses he and Alec would need for working the horses and found Murtagh leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a dour look on his face.
"I take it someat happened wi' you and the lass from the great hall," Murtagh stated with raised brows. "I warned ye, ye ought not to ha' interfered wi' matters like that... bad enough to make a scene in front of everyone wi' yer uncles both there but now..." he muttered disapprovingly.
"I dinna want to talk about it," Jamie replied, brushing past his godfather impatiently.
The older man wouldn't be brushed off so easily. "I dinna care how ye feel about the lass––I think I ken well enough where yer affections lie," Murtagh added as he followed Jamie on his way to the paddock where the younger horses needed breaking. "What matters most is what the lass thinks and what her father might do should he find out––ye showed off wi' the last beating but ye'll no get off so easy if it comes before Himself agin. Mistress Beauchamp willna say anything further about what she saw––"
"Ye spoke to her about it?!" Jamie exclaimed with fresh embarrassment.
"I'm trying to be sure yer arse is covered, lad. Ye'd best be grateful Mistress Beauchamp is the only one it seems as saw ye wi' the lass. She's fond of ye and doesna wish to see ye in an awkward place wi' Laoghaire."
Jamie scoffed but hearing Murtagh put it that way helped to cool his embarrassment and redirect his thoughts to Mistress Beauchamp's supposed good opinion of him.
"So long as ye stay clear of the lass and dinna do more that might grow ideas in her head," Murtagh continued, "then ye'll keep yerself free to go for the heart ye truly want."
Jamie frowned at Murtagh. "And what makes ye think I'd be able to sway the heart I want?"
"It may no be so far from swayin' yer way as ye suppose," Murtagh insisted stubbornly. "Why is it ye think she was after ye like that today? Women get to makin' mischief like that for one reason."
"I can think of a few more that have nothing to do––"
"Ye didna see her face when ye'd left and I talked wi' her," Murtagh interrupted. "I'd no be giving up entirely were I you, lad. But I'd also be steering clear of that foolish lass as well." His tone swung back to scolding his godson. "Ye might succeed in making Mistress Beauchamp jealous but ye'll saddle yerself with another beating––or worse––if ye dinna mind what ye're about, aye?"
Murtagh waited until Jamie had nodded his understanding before turning to return to the castle.
"Murtagh... Do ye really think... about Mistress Beauchamp..."
"Dinna wait too long lad," Murtagh advised somberly. "Better to have it out in the open and know for certain than miss yer chance and see her run off wi' another."
Jamie let Murtagh go and turned back to his chores but continued turning over the question of what to do about Mistress Beauchamp––Claire.
Colum would have his bard perform in the great hall again in a few days' time...
Jamie resolved to find a way to sit with Mistress Beauchamp again––without Laoghaire this time.