The Brickmaker's Bride by Judith Miller

Author:Judith Miller [Miller, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780764212550
Google: VFZ-BAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bethany House
Published: 2013-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

A few days later, his uncle, aunt, and Kathleen were already seated at the breakfast table when Ewan entered the dining room. The moment he crossed the threshold and sat down, Aunt Margaret rang a small bronze dinner bell she positioned beside her water goblet during each meal. Adaira rushed from the kitchen and hurried to the buffet for the silver teapot his aunt now used at every meal.

Ewan gestured to his sister and pushed away from the table. “The last I looked, my arms and legs were still working just fine, Adaira. I can serve myself. You don’t need to wait on me.”

Aunt Margaret glowered at him. “She has assigned duties, Ewan. As do Rose and Ainslee. You can’t walk in here and change my orders. I run the household, and I want our meals served to us so the family becomes accustomed to formal dining.”

“The family? My sisters are as much your family as I am. I do not object to having them help with the household chores, but I’ll not have them treated different from anyone else in this house. Uncle Hugh has already said he plans to withhold money from my wages to pay for their room and board, so they should be doing less work than Kathleen, who is not paying anything to live here.” He looked at Kathleen. “I’m sorry to bring you into this bit of disagreement, Kathleen, but I do not like what’s happening here.”

“Do I tell you how to run the brickyard?” His aunt’s scowl deepened. “Of course not. And you’ll not be telling me how to run my house.” She leaned forward and turned her frown on her husband. “Tell him, Hugh.”

“Oh, stop with your highfalutin ways, Maggie. We can all pour our own tea and fill our plates with rashers, eggs, and boxty. We do not need the girls rushing about carrying platters and serving us with that fine silver you bought. You’ve gone and started a bit of nonsense.” He leaned back and met his wife’s harsh stare. “You can quit giving me the evil eye, too. By now you should know it has no effect on me.”

Ainslee stepped into the dining room with a plate of boxty and curtsied as she offered the platter to her brother. “‘Boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan; if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man.’” She grinned at him. “You’ll have to taste my boxty and tell me if you think it’s good enough to get me a husband one day.”

He smiled and helped himself to several of the potato pancakes. “You’re too young to worry about getting a man, but I already know you make the best boxty in all of West Virginia.”

“Tell your sisters to come in here and join us for breakfast, Ainslee.” Uncle Hugh waved his fork toward the kitchen.

The girl glanced at her aunt, then looked at Ewan. She stepped from foot to foot, her misgivings evident. “Do as your uncle said.

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