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"What was that?"
Paen glanced up from the ale he was enjoying with his father and blinked at his mother as she faced him
across the trestle table. She had her hands on her hips and a very annoyed expression on her face. "What
was what?"
"The apple, the pat on the rump, and the 'good,'" Lady Gerville said impatiently.
Paen blinked. "I was praising my wife."
"That waspraise ?" she asked with disbelief.
He shrugged. "It is how I praise Midnight."
"Midnight is a horse!" she snapped irritably as his father burst out laughing, spitting out ale.
Paen shifted uncomfortably. He'd thought he might need other ways to increase his wife's self-esteem,
but truly it was a tricky business and he hadn't come up with anything as yet. He'd never had a wife
before, and when he needed to praise his horse or his squire, it was with a "good" or "well done" for the
boy, and an apple and a pat on the rump for the horse. He explained this now and watched his mother's
irritation abate.
"So you have realized those cousins of hers have damaged Avelyn's view of herself," his mother said
with relief.
"Aye, but I do not know how to repair it other than to praise her when she does well," Paen said.
"Well." Lady Gerville relaxed her stance. "You could start by talking to the girl."
Paen rolled his eyes with exasperation. "Talk. Women always seem to think talking will fix things. A
sharp sword often solves the problem much more quickly and efficiently."
"Well, you can hardly cut the poor image out of Avelyn. And as your wife is a woman like myself,
mayhap you should try my suggestion," Lady Gerville said dryly. "It is sharp, unkind words spoken to her
over the years that have caused this poor self-image in Avelyn, so I suggest that kind and complimentary
words may also with time undo them. You might like to spend some time with her as well. Go for
walks with her and play chess of a night, things like that," she suggested. "Now I shall just go have a
word with cook about the goods being brought up from the village. It will make things much easier while
everything is still in such an uproar. It was very clever of Avelyn to go to the village as she did."
Paen watched his mother walk away, then gave a disgruntled sigh. "With time. I do not want it to take
years and years to undo the damage those cousins of hers caused. I want her to knownow that she is
smart and pretty and capable."
"Hmm." His father nodded his understanding, then brightened. "Well, I shall help. If the two of us
compliment her, it may speed it up."
Lord Gerville suddenly stood. "In fact, I will go compliment her right now, and again tell her how well
she did with her efforts this afternoon in the village."
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Paen watched thoughtfully as his father headed for the kitchens in search of Avelyn. The man's words
had put a thought in his head. If the two of them complimenting her helped her see that her cousins were
wrong and she had value, then many people complimenting her might speed it up even more& and if the
whole garrison of soldiers and servants here did&
Paen stood abruptly. He had to speak to his men.
Chapter Seventeen
"Can I hold Samson? I promise I will not drop him."
Avelyn glanced down at David and smiled at his earnest expression. She was becoming quite attached
to the boy after several days of having him trail after her.
It was a week since Avelyn's first foray into the village, and now they were returning from a second trip.
She'd acquired David as her constant companion the day after that first journey. The lad had nearly
gotten himself crushed by a boulder with his clumsiness while trailing Paen around the wall where the men
were working. Her husband had asked her that evening if she would keep the boy with her until he'd
finished the wall and moved on to a less dangerous task. Avelyn had agreed at once, happy to be of
service to her husband in any small way. The lad had been following her ever since.
Pondering the last week, Avelyn decided that all in all it had been a good one. Paen's mother and
father had ended up only staying a couple of days. Lady Gerville had acknowledged that Avelyn wasn't
injured so badly that she couldn't run her own castle& and run it well. The last part had nearly brought
tears to Avelyn's eyes as she recognized it for the compliment it was. Lady Gerville had confidence in her
abilities, even if Avelyn herself didn't. But that was changing with each success she had. Avelyn could feel
herself becoming more confident with every passing day.
The last week had seen the repairs to the castle speed along. The entire castle had been cleaned, the
keep doors repaired and the sow and her litter moved. All except for the piglet Samson. Determined to
save the feisty runt of the litter, Avelyn had kept him inside when the other pigs were shown the door,
and she'd done all she could to improve his chances of survival. In effect, Samson had taken up
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