Thomas was tired. It had been a long day and going home to a cold, dark house was the last thing that he wanted to do. Instead he wanted to come home like Bertraud did. He had a wife, children and a nice hot meal while Thomas was usually left with whatever was left over from the day. It was the kind of life that he had wanted in his younger days, but as he got older, he was starting to see the merit in settling down with a family.
Before that, all he was worried about was war and a warm body next to him at night. It didn’t matter what her name was, or really anything else except that he got what he wanted in the end. The next morning nothing mattered as long as the woman left before too long after her eyes opened. It was not the right way, he knew that now, but now he wondered if it was too late for him. He had been like that for so long, that no one in the village would have anything to do with him. They knew how he was and when he traveled, they seemed to know the same. There was something about Thomas that told the interested party that there was something wild in him. There was something in him that no woman could tame.
So as he closed the door behind him and sighed in the dark surroundings, he shivered a little with the chill in the air. It took some time to get a fire going and the heat and light were not enough to get him feeling any better. Thomas had had enough.
He left his cold home to go back to Bertraud’s. Thankfully he was always welcome and he needed some cheering up. After a quick knock, he was invited in and given something to eat. That was really all he needed. “Thank you, Mariss. I hope Bertraud’s knows how lucky he is.”
The older woman smiled back at him and for a moment he could see the appeal of her. She wasn’t his type, waif thin and quiet, but there was something to be said for such a docile woman. Thomas had a tendency to find ones that were easy on the eyes and good for only one thing.
“You just have to settle down, Thomas.”
“There is no one here that would.” It was an honest answer that no one disagreed with. He had a reputation and though he was good for a night, by morning they had to be gone. No one in the villages would take him seriously. His friend and his wife were wondering the same thing.
Mariss was not one to say much, however when she did it was usually worth listening to. She had an idea that would give Thomas what he wanted or show that he didn’t and it was all just him feeling lonely because he didn’t have time to get a bedmate.
“You should go down there by the docks. There is a man there that sets up marriages with Irish women coming over.”
Thomas looked towards her and was actually surprised at the suggestion. “Sets up marriages?”
She nodded and tried to explain the practice. The women wanted to come to Scotland, but many wouldn’t have any money or family to help, so marrying a Scottish man gives them security. He seemed amazed at the idea of marrying someone he had never met before, but then when he thought about it, it made sense. He was not necessarily looking for love. He was looking for someone to take care of the house and put something hot and edible on the table when he came home after a long day patrolling. The rest of it, his other needs, were never hard to find satisfaction for. His reputation wasn’t all bad.
His mind was reeling and Mariss could see that he was taking her words to heart. Maybe he was ready to settle down, she thought to herself, though no one could read his mind.
“You will have to tell me where. I may very well go down there tomorrow.”
Bertraud gave his wife a side look, not sure why she was getting in the middle of it. Mariss just ignored him as she always did. Bertraud would warn of marrying a woman too smart, but would never say it out loud with his wife in present company. While he would never change his marriage to his wife, Bertraud was sure that there were many things that Thomas was not aware of.
“So what do you think, old man?”
He sneered at the title that he was still trying to get used to. Pulling on his gray beard slightly, he just smiled and then shook his head. “If that is what you really want, they would not know anything about you. You may have a chance, but do you really think that is what you truly want?
Thomas wasn’t sure, but he was sure that he was ready for a change. The worse thing that could happen was he would be stuck with a woman that couldn’t cook. “I don’t know. It is something to think about, though.”
***
Thomas did think about it all night. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, but at some point in the night, his mind went from if he could marry a stranger, to what it would be like. He tried to picture it and then he started to think about how to actually make it happen. Where would she sleep? His thoughts never included romantics, but instead it was what she could make his home like. What it would feel like to come home to a warmth hearth.
By morning he had made his decision and it was only with the sunrise that he knew things were going to change. He liked changed and had a good feeling that this time it would be good as well. When he found Bertraud and asked him to come with him to the docks, the man wasn’t as ready to go.
“Are you sure this is really what you want to do?” He wanted to impress upon him the permanence of it. He didn’t think that his young friend understood that there was no getting out of it. He would have to take care of the woman for the rest of their lives and Bertraud wanted him to really think about it.
“Do you think this is a bad idea?”
The older man almost looked over his shoulder to make sure his wife wasn’t around. “I just think that maybe you haven’t thought this through all the way. It is forever and I don’t think you have ever done anything for that long.”
Thomas nodded and agreed, but he didn’t see it as this great love connection that Bertraud had with his wife. He wasn’t looking for love. He was looking for someone to come home to that would take care of him. When he explained it the way he envisioned it, the older man just shook his head and smiled. “Well I suppose we shall see. If you want to go down there, you know I will go with you.”
He had given him a little pause in his plans, but Thomas was ready to move forward. He was quick to find his way down the path to the docks. Mariss had told him who he was supposed to be looking for and soon he had the red-haired man in his sights. It was easier than he thought and after he paid, Thomas was told that there would be another boat arriving in a couple of days and then he would be dropped off to the address he had given.
Walking away from it, he didn’t know if the feeling in him was anticipation or an impending sense of doom. He had talked about the women as if they were things to be sold and he guessed in a way that they were. It was only then that he wondered if he had done the right thing. Had he just bought a slave or a wife?