Free Midnight for Morgana by Shirley Martin Page B

door with a rush of cool air as he stepped inside. He joined her on the sofa, smelling of tobacco and the outdoors, his trousers hugging his muscular legs.
     
    “Ferris has ridden for the woman and her husband. I’ve noticed several things around the lodge that need to be repaired, and the hinge is loose on the stable door. So the husband can do those chores and care for the horses while his wife cooks and cleans. I shall pay them an adequate amount for their labors. Ferris and I will spend much of our time hunting, so I can’t expect him to perform these tasks. The man and his wife can use the horses from the stable to ride back and forth every day, since we lack bedchambers for them.”
     
    Morgana nodded. “That makes sense.”
     
    Nola entered the room again, sporting a green silk dress and dangling gold ear rings. Gold bracelets jingled at her wrist. The heavy scent of musk wafted around her, a constant irritation to Morgana. She gave silent thanks that the sisters all dressed differently, else she doubted Keir could tell them apart.
     
    The sister sank into an easy chair and glanced at the hourglass that rested on the parlor table. “My goodness!  It’s getting late, nearly time for supper. Morgana, what do you intend to prepare for the evening meal?”
     
    Morgana opened her mouth to reply, but Keir forestalled her. “It is not my wife’s task to cook and clean for you. If anything, it should be the other way around. But just so you know, I’ve sent Ferris to the lodge’s caretakers. He should return shortly with the woman and her husband. The woman will cook and clean, and her husband will care for the lodge and the horses.”
     
    Despite worry over her father, a glow of love for her new husband suffused Morgana, a grateful satisfaction that she had a man to share her burdens in dealing with her sisters, a man who saw through their stratagems. For too long, their father had let Nola and Alana take advantage of him, and it had been left to Morgana to counter their machinations. Soon, too, she would be free of her sisters and would not have to counteract their wheedling of their father. She hoped Papa would develop the necessary backbone to deal with the spoiled brats, but she feared her wish was in vain.
     
    Her musings segued to their father’s health and Alana’s return to Dornach. For now, she would take Nola’s word that her father’s illness was nothing serious. Still, the entire episode of Alana’s return prompted more questions than answers. She could only assume that the matter would become plainer in the coming days, yet worries about her father persisted. 
     
     
     
    * * *
     
    After a night of intermittent rain, the following day dawned bright and clear, a definite promise of summer in the air. From the wide parlor window, Morgana looked out to a gorgeous blue sky, where sea gulls soared and dived, and a light breeze fluttered the leaves of the old oak tree in the front yard. Robins chirped and hopped from limb to limb, and blue jays scolded from the hemlock.
     
    Happy she now had a woman to do household chores, she recalled yesterday’s evening meal of soup with carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables, accompanied by freshly-baked oat bread, with apple pudding for dessert. The woman–Brigid–had assured her that she would prepare a turkey dinner for this evening.  Normally, the mid-day meal was the main repast of the day, and Keir had told her his family followed the same custom. But since Keir and Ferris spent most of the day hunting, the meal sequence was reversed. Shortly after breakfast, Keir and Ferris had left for the forest, and Morgana counted the hours until her husband’s return. Yawning, she recalled last night’s lovemaking, a night filled with never-ending pleasures and fresh surprises, when Keir’s passion had left her exhausted but deeply satisfied.  Even now, a warm glow kindled within her, and she wondered how she had ever lived before meeting