Page 49 of A Scot on Duchess Square
She left the spices and next ambled along stalls that were selling root vegetables such as radishes, cabbage, and cauliflower. Farther down were vendors selling smoked fish.
“It’s a Yorkshire specialty,” Solway said, pointing to an array of smoked salmon, trout, and mackerel. He then had her sample some. “What do ye think, Miranda?”
“Oh, so good.” She smiled as she took another bite and spoke with her mouth full.
Her mouth was still watering as they passed by stalls filled with breads and pasties, for the aroma of warm bread fresh out of the beehive bricks was too tempting to pass up. Solway purchased some bread and hot cross buns for all of them, and Miranda declared they were delicious, too.
They then moved away from the food stalls, for her laces would need loosening if she sampled all the fare, especially the cheeses that were displayed in wide variety and quite popular with the crowd.
After making their way through the food vendors, they reached the stalls selling household wares, bolts of cloth, and pretty trinkets. She was surprised by the craftsmanship displayed in these stalls and stopped to look at one that had some lovely bracelets, brooches, necklaces, and rings to sell. These were not fine jewelry but nonetheless quite pretty, despite being made mostly of common beads. However, there were some more expensive items of finely worked silver.
“I designed these myself,” the young woman standing in the stall said with pride.
“Oh, they are lovely,” Miranda remarked, and turned to Solway. “May we come back for a closer look later?”
“Aye, if ye wish.”
They walked on and strolled past artists drawing portraits of anyone who wished to sit for them. Solway insisted on having her portrait done, no doubt because he feared she was tiring and there was nowhere else to sit.
Next to the artist was a glassblower who had set up a makeshift kiln and was delighting everyone with his delicateglass designs. Troupes of musicians strolled along the walkways singing songs and strumming their instruments.
“Is it this active every market day?” Miranda asked the lady at one of the next stalls they’d stopped at, who was selling particularly beautiful scarves.
“Yes, people come from all around Yorkshire and parts farther afield. It gets even madder in the summer. Can I interest you in something?”
Solway purchased a scarf for her and another for Gwenys, and then they returned to the young woman whose jewelry designs they had admired earlier. “You’re back,” she said with a bright smile on her face, obviously pleased. “What would you like to see? A necklace, perhaps? Or a ring?” She looked at Solway as he stood beside Miranda and Gwenys, obviously knowing he was the one to be persuaded. “Should your wife and daughter not have a beautiful memento of their visit to York? Do you not agree, m’lord?”
He grinned. “Aye, they should. What do ye suggest?”
Miranda cast him an exasperated glance, for he had already been quite generous with them. “No, we really do not—”
“I would love to see that bracelet,” Gwenys said, interrupting her. “And my aunt would love to look at that brooch. Everyone mistakes her for my mother, for we are as close as any mother and daughter can be.”
Miranda sighed. “Yes, I’ll have a look at that silver rose brooch.”
“You have excellent taste,” the vendor replied. “It is one of my finest.”
Which meant she was going to charge double its true price, because any good merchant could read their customers and quickly calculate who was going to overpay for an item. Miranda would not, but Solway was another matter. The girl could triple her prices and he would pay up.
“We’ll take that brooch,” he said, not helping the situation because he had not even asked the price. “Ye do the same, Gwenys. That’s a pretty bracelet ye’re trying on.”
“Yes, it is. But I cannot decide between it and this silver one with the topaz in the center.”
Solway nodded. “We’ll take both for the lass.”
Miranda tried to silently convey her disapproval with a waggle of her eyebrows, but that only had him chuckling.
He then proceeded to select a necklace for her that was in the shape of a silver heart. “And this one, too.”
The vendor wrapped their purchases up in pretty boxes and smiled broadly at Miranda once Solway had handed over his coins. “You are so fortunate to have such a kind and attentive husband.”
“Yes, she is!” Gwenys exclaimed, giggling.
Solway steered them both away from the booth. “Dinna frown at yer niece, Miranda. It is yer behavior that makes everyone think we are married.”
“Mine?” She let out a huff of indignation because his statement was simply absurd.
He was grinning again. “Perhaps mine, too. The eyes dinna lie, do they? It seems we canno’ stop looking at each other with great affection.”
