It was the tomb of a noble lady, her name surmounted by the carving of a grinning skullvery like the one beneath the Dutchwomans apron. Beneath the skull was her motto:
Hodie mihi cras tibisic transit gloria mundi.My turn todayyours tomorrow. Thus passes the glory of the world.
3
KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE
WE RETURNED TO FRASERS RIDGE just before sunset the next day, to discover a visitor waiting. Major Donald MacDonald, late of His Majestys army, and even more lately of Governor Tryons personal light-horse guard, was sitting on the front stoop, my cat in his lap and a jug of beer beside him.
Mrs. Fraser! Your servant, mum, he called genially, seeing me approach. He tried to stand up, but then let out a gasp as Adso, objecting to the loss of his cozy nest, dug his claws into the Majors thighs.
Do sit, Major, I said, waving him hastily back. He subsided with a grimace, but nobly refrained from flinging Adso into the bushes. I came up onto the stoop beside him and sat down, sighing with relief.
My husband is just seeing to the horses; hell be down directly. I see that someones made you welcome? I nodded at the beer, which he promptly offered to me with a courtly gesture, wiping the neck of the jug on his sleeve.
Oh, yes, mum, he assured me. Mrs. Bug has been most assiduous of my welfare.
Not to seem uncordial, I accepted the beer, which in all truth went down very well. Jamie had been anxious to get back, and wed been in the saddle since dawn, with only a brief break for refreshment at midday.
It is a most excellent brew, the Major said, smiling as I exhaled after swallowing, my eyes half-closing. Your own making, perhaps?
I shook my head and took another swallow, before handing the jug back to him. No, its Lizzies. Lizzie Wemyss.
Oh, your bondmaid; yes, of course. Will you give her my compliments?
Isnt she here? I glanced toward the open door behind him, rather surprised. At this time of day, I would have expected Lizzie to be in the kitchen, making supper, but she would surely have heard our arrival and come out. There was no smell of cooking, now that I noticed. She wouldnt have known when to expect us, of course, but
Mm, no. She is The Major knitted his brows in the effort of recall, and I wondered how full the jug had been before he got at it; there were no more than a couple of inches left now. Ah, yes. She went to the McGillivrays with her father, Mrs. Bug said. To visit her affianced, I believe?
Yes, shes engaged to Manfred McGillivray. But Mrs. Bug
is in the springhoose, he said, with a nod up the hill toward the small shed. A matter of cheese, I believe she said. An omelette was most graciously proposed for my supper.
Ah I relaxed a bit more, the dust of the ride settling with the beer. It was wonderful to come home, though my sense of peace was uneasy, tainted by the memory of the burned cabin.
I supposed that Mrs. Bug would have told him our errand, but he made no reference to itnor to whatever had brought him up to the Ridge. Naturally not; all business would wait appropriately for Jamie. Being female, I would get impeccable courtesy and small bits of social gossip in the meantime.
I could do social gossip, but needed to be prepared for it; I hadnt a natural knack.
Ah Your relations with my cat seem somewhat improved, I hazarded. I glanced involuntarily at his head, but his wig had been expertly mended.
It is an accepted principle of politics, I believe, he said, ruffling his fingers through the thick silver fur on Adsos belly. Keep your friends closebut your enemies closer.
Very sound, I said, smiling. Er I hope you havent been waiting long?
He shrugged, intimating that any wait was irrelevantwhich it generally was. The mountains had their own time, and a wise man did not try to hurry them. MacDonald was a seasoned soldier, and well-traveledbut he had been born in Pitlochry, close enough to the Highland peaks to know their ways.
I came this morning, he said. From New Bern.
Small warning bells went off in the back of my mind. It would have taken him a good ten days to travel from New Bern, if he had come directlyand the state of his creased and mud-stained uniform suggested that he had.
New Bern was where the new royal governor of the colony, Josiah Martin, had taken up his residence. And for MacDonald to have said, From New Bern, rather than mentioning some later stop on his journey, made it reasonably plain to me that whatever business had impelled this visit, it had originated in New Bern. I was wary
of governors.
I glanced toward the path that led to the paddock, but Jamie wasnt visible yet. Mrs. Bug was, emerging from the springhouse; I waved to her and she gestured enthusiastically in welcome, though hampered by a pail of milk in one hand, a bucket of eggs in the other, a crock of butter under one arm, and a large chunk of cheese tucked neatly underneath her chin. She negotiated the steep descent with success, and disappeared round the back of the house, toward the kitchen.