Not in the slightest reassured by the story of collapse, I hoped Mother Faa would be more encouraging.
“Up on the cairn,” she ordered. “That"s the place. Start at the top.”
“And from there it"s all downhill.” Ebeneezer chuckled. “I still see my daughter, though.”
That simple statement appalled me. I had not considered having children, and outside wedlock too. “She would be illegitimate!” I said in horror.
“And none the less welcome for that.” Ebeneezer revealed a humanity I found surprising in one so rough.
Mr. Kemp gave me his slow smile. “The question of children is something that Miss Lamont and I can work out between us,” he said. “It is surely the concern of nobody else.”
The day remained fair as we scrambled to the summit of that cairn and, despite the oncoming ceremony; I admi
