"I believe you will find it quite comfortable, dear," said Eleanor to me.
A cabin? I wondered. To my mind, cabins were for slaves.
"Your honeymoon cottage," one of the grandmothers said, cackling with laughter.
"I have brought some things with me for housekeeping," I said. "And I have my servant as well."
"Your servants shall stay in the quarters," said Hamish. "We have a men's and a women's house for the unmarried servants."
I said nothing to that; but I would keep Rabbit near me.
Eleanor and Hamish led us out of the house and across the road, down a path through the trees to our new dwelling. I was dismayed to find that the cabin was only slightly different from the slave cabins at Brianag and Gillean; though it was larger, and had a porch on the front, it was built of rough logs chinked without with earth and straw, and the chimneys were of stone. I was slightly mollified when I entered; there were two rooms.
The walls were plastered smoothly inside and whitewashed, and the fireplace in the main room was large. In the bedroom was a very large bed with colorful quilts and heavy damask draperies, and another fireplace.
"You will spend most of your time at the big house, in any case," said Hamish. "This will be your sleeping quarters."
"Thank you; it is quite adequate," I said. "I am sure that we shall be quite comfortable here."
Eleanor smiled at me.
I instructed Rabbit to begin unpacking the trunks and we went out onto the porch.
Darkness had fallen; Hamish and Eleanor said good night. Robbie stood beside me as they walked away, back through the trees toward the big house.
"I shall require Rabbit near me," I said.
"Of course Rabbit shall stay with you," he said.
I felt somewhat relieved of my trepidation. We stood quietly for a few moments and then he said, "You will wish to retire. I will leave you now."
I said, confused, "Where will you go?"
"I will visit with my uncles for awhile longer," he said, "and perhaps have a whisky."
I watched him go down the steps, then went inside. I felt lost and afraid. I longed for Brianag so fiercely that I felt pain squeeze in my chest. Two years! Could I really live so far from Brianag for so long, in a cabin fit for servants, among strangers? I longed for the airy rooms of Brianag, or even the comfort of Grant's Hill! I wished to feel Catherine's welcoming arms around me, to see her smile! Two years! Could my heart bear the exile?