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Scotland,” she commented as she waited for him to swallow before offering more. “It took hardly any time at all for them to pack and make ready.”
    Kade smiled wryly around the mug she held to his lips, knowing they’d had little enough to pack. They’d arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs after three years in their prison and left with little more. They would ride to Stewart with the message of his well-being, then stop to collect his chest from his uncle’s on the way back to Mortagne.
    “Cook packed them some food to take for the journey,” Averill commented as she raised the broth to his lips again. “She said they were very polite for Scots.”
    Kade nearly burst out laughing at the—he was sure—unintended insult, but his mouth was full of broth, and he caught himself at the last moment to keep from spitting it all over her.
    “I am sorry,” Averill murmured, seeming to realize what she’d said. “I just meant…well, most Scots are a short, taciturn bunch, a-and—”
    “’Tis all right,” he said quickly, catching the slight stammer and trying to ease her discomfort. “Most Scots are a rude lot…But Domnall, Ian, Angus, and I were all raised and trained by Ian’s da, me uncle Simon. While he’s a lowlander, hiswife was English and ’twas from her we learned our manners.”
    “Oh.” She smiled uncertainly, then cleared her throat, and asked, “How is your stomach? Could you manage any solid food, do you think?”
    Kade glanced to the bowl, surprised to see that it was now empty. He lay still for a moment, paying attention to his stomach as she set the bowl aside and turned back to await his answer. While the broth he’d had that morning had left him feeling full and even a touch queasy, this time he felt fine. A bit full, but without the queasiness, so he murmured, “I’m thinkin’ I could manage some solid food.”
    Averill smiled and reached for the cheese and bread on the tray. This, too, she fed to him, breaking off a bit of cheese, slipping it between his lips, then offering him a drink of mead in between it and a bit of bread. While he wanted to eat it all and rush his healing along, he managed only half the small bit of bread and cheese she’d brought before he professed himself too full to eat more. He was disappointed that he’d eaten so little, but she seemed to think he’d done well and assured him he’d be back to normal in no time at that rate.
    “Shall I read to you now?” Averill asked several moments later as she closed the chamber door behind the maid she’d called to remove the tray.
    “Aye,” Kade said at once, then commented curiously, “In Scotland, ’tis rare fer a woman to ken how to read.”
    “’Tis rare in England as well,” she acknowledged. “However, Will was my only friend as a child, and I followed him everywhere, even into the classroom. When his teacher decided I was a quick learner with a fine mind, he stopped protesting my presence and set about teaching me as well.” She smiled wryly, and added, “When Will left to train in swordplay and such at Lord Latham’s, I think father kept our teacher on just to keep me busy. I continued my lessons for several more years and am proficient in English, Latin, French, and Spanish, as well as sums.”
    She settled back in her seat beside the bed and picked up an old, worn book he hadn’t noticed lying on the chest, then admitted on a small sigh, “Unfortunately, intelligence is another strike against me in my father’s hunt for a husband. I have been warned repeatedly to keep my learning to myself.”
    Though he knew what she said was true, Kade shook his head at the stupidity of it. He would think it a fine thing indeed to have an intelligent wife. His mother had been educated as a girl, and it had come in quite handy when she’d been forced to take over the running of Stewart from his father. That man had a problem with drink and was quite often too deep in his cups to manage