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He scratched the tip of his nose with the end of the quill, leaving a blot of ink

"I thought ye’d had a good year wi’ the hives," he said le hive had expanded, and I now had nine bee-guallons of honey froood thirty dozen candles On the other hand, I had uses in s

"I need soood antibacterial dressing over wounds"

One eyebroent up, though he kept his eyes on the hen-scratches he was

"I should think it would draw flies," he said, "if not bears" He flicked the end of his quill, disht "How much d’ye need then? I shouldna think you’ve so allons of honey--unless you’re plastering thehed, despite h for dressings--say five, allowing extra to lanced up at me, both brows raised

"Electric?" He looked at the candle, its fla in the draft from the , then back at hts? Or lightning, at least?"

"No, electrolyte," I a shocked, or is too ill to eat, or has the flux--an electrolytic fluid is one that supports the body by putting back the essential ions they’ve lost froar and other things--which in turn draater into the blood and restores blood pressure You’ve seen hted with interest, and he seeht of the stack of receipts and correspondence still waiting on his desk, sighed, and picked up his quill again

"Verra well, then," he conceded "Keep the honey Can I sell the soap?"

I nodded, pleased I had, with a good deal of cautious experi a soap that did not s soaked in lye, and that did not remove the upper layer of the epidermis It required sunflower oil or olive oil in lieu of suet, though; both very expensive

I had it in mind to trade my spare honey to the Cherokee ladies for sunflower oil hich to make both more soap and shampoo Those, in turn, would fetch excellent prices alton, New Bern--even Charleston, should we ever venture that far Or so I thought I was unsure whether Jah; it would take months to come to fruition, while he could dispose of the honey at an i h, there would be no difficulty in getting my way

Before I could expound on the prospects, we heard the sound of light footsteps in the hall, and a soft rap at the door

"Coht Mr We uinary splotches on my hands Jamie beckoned him companionably in with a flick of his quill

"Aye, Joseph?"

"If I ht speak a word in your ear, sir?" Mr Wemyss was dressed casually, in shirt and breeks, but had slicked down his fine, pale hair ater, indicating some for to gather up esture

"Oh, no, Ma’am If ye wouldna mind, I should like ye to stay It’s about Lizzie, and I should value a woman’s opinion on the matter"

"Of course" I sat back, brows raised in curiosity

"Lizzie? Have ye found our wee lass a husband, then, Joseph?" Jamie dropped his quill into the jar on his desk and sat forward, interested, gesturing toward an e the bones of his thin face into pronity, quite at odds with his usual attitude ofso, Mr Fraser Robin McGillivray ca, to speir for ed to his lad, Manfred"

My eyebroent a little higher To the best of e, Manfred McGillivray had seen Lizzie less than half a dozen times, and had not spoken more than the briefest of courtesies to her It wasn’t irown into a delicately pretty girl, and if still very shy, was possessed of nice manners It scarcely seeh

As Mr Wemyss laid out the matter, it became a little clearer Ja of a section of prime land, and Mr Wemyss, freed from his indenture, had a freeman’s homestead claim of fifty acres as well--to which Lizzie was heir The Weether would irls now e was the next step in Ute McGillivray’s irls within a twenty-e, she had settled upon Lizzie as the best prospect, and sent Robin round to open negotiations

"Well, the McGillivrays are a decent faer into htfully on his blotter, leaving a chain of red fingerprints "They’ve not h for himself, and wee Manfred’s a hard worker, frounsmith, with a small shop in Cross Creek Manfred had been apprenticed to another gun-h, but was now a journeyman himself