Love Wild and Fair by Bertrice Small Page B

capon, artichokes in vinegar, and some pastries of rabbit and of venison. There was bread, hot from the oven, and sweet butter. A tart of pears, apples, nuts, and spices and a fine cheese finished off the meal. Their goblets had been filled repeatedly with a good red wine.
    Belching delicately, the abbot commented, “Ye’ll nae go hungry wi Catriona in yer house, nephew. She sets a good table.”
    “Provided I can get her into my house to start with,” the earl said ruefully.
    The afternoon was long, and the abbot retired to his room to sleep and to make his devotions. Restless, Patrick found his cloak and went out into the city. The gray February cold was bitter, and he could smell on the wind the snow that would begin falling by evening. He walked without thinking. He walked to calm the feelings that raged through him. Suddenly he caught sight of a small jewelry shop and went inside. The owner, recognizing wealth when he saw it, came forward.
    “Do ye hae any rings for sale?”
    “Yes, my lord. If my lord would be seated.” He signaled an apprentice, who hurried forward with a chair.
    Patrick sat down. “A lady’s ring,” he clarified.
    “Ahhhh,” smiled the jeweler. “His lordship wishes something for a good friend.” He snapped his fingers at a second apprentice, who came forward with a tray.
    Patrick scornfully eyed the contents. “Lord, mon! Is this the best ye can do? I’m buying a ring for my wife, not for my whore.” A second tray was presented. Patrick smiled. “This is more like it, mon!”
    Four rings nestled on the pale-blue velvet; a diamond teardrop, a ruby heart, a round sapphire, and a square-cut emerald. Each was set in heavy gold. Carefully he examined each, asking its price. At last, picking up the heart-shaped ruby ring, he said, “I’ll take this one, but only on one condition.”
    “And that is, my lord?”
    “Send one of yer apprentices to the Kiras in Gold-smith’s Lane. Tell them the Earl of Glenkirk wishes an appraisal immediately.”
    The jeweler bowed and bade one of his lads go. His prices were honest, and for that he thanked God. Getting a customer like the Earl of Glenkirk was a feather in his cap. If the earl took the ring, the jeweler thought, his wife could have the new cloak she’d been hounding him for all winter, and his mistress would get the lace cap she wanted. The apprentice reappeared soon, bringing a man with him.
    “Benjamin!” The earl stood and grasped the newcomer’s hand warmly.
    “My lord, it is good to see you. When did you arrive in Edinburgh?”
    “Just today. My Uncle Charles has accompanied me. We stay at my brother’s house off High Street.”
    “Yes,” said Benjamin Kira. “I know the house. I spoke with Lord Adam and his wife before they left for France.” He smiled at the earl. “So you’re buying jewelry?”
    “For my lady Catriona.”
    “Ahh,” said Benjamin Kira. He knew most of the story, but was far too polite to say so. “The ring, master jeweler.” Slipping a small loop on his eye, he held up the ruby. “Ahhhhh. Yes. Hummm. Yes. Good. Very good!” He handed the ring to Patrick, and turned to the merchant “Well, Master Adie, it’s a beautiful stone. Well cut, nicely set. Your price?” The jeweler named it. “Very fair,” pronounced Benjamin Kira. “In fact, you’re getting a bargain, my lord. Let me see the other rings you showed the earl.” He turned back to the jeweler. He examined the diamond, the sapphire, and the emerald, and then asked the price of each. “Too low, Master Adie,” he told the surprised jeweler. “Raise the price on the emerald by twenty percent, and on the diamond and sapphire by ten percent.”
    Patrick directed Benjamin Kira to see that the jeweler was paid. Thanking him for his appraisal, the earl bid him and the jeweler good day. A blue-gray dusk lit the city, and snow was beginning to drift down in large, fat, sticky flakes. Briskly he walked back to his brother’s house. Sally