“Start my coffee,” Rev. Jackdaw barked.
The bed groaned beneath Effie as he sat up, his long feet hitting the floor. He’d pulled down her curtains and the sun was cresting in the east, but her body ached for more sleep. He had somewhere to go and so she must be up, too. After two months away, he was leaving again after only one night. His male Lord had important work for men.
He hadn’t returned to spend time with her; he’d come to take his pleasure and see if she was pregnant. Had he also come to check she was still there, his property where he’d left it? Or did he have spies on her and already knew?
She forced herself out of bed and to the cold stove. He’d brought home six eggs, a bit of bacon, and a loaf of bread in a clean dish towel—the bread not from a bakery and wrapped in paper,
