Atonement

Chapter 10

"Would you like to try, mademoiselle?"

Sophie startled, glancing at Thomas from her vantage point at the head of Bess, the massive brown cow her hosts relied upon for their daily dairy necessities. Thomas was sitting on a low stool to the side of the animal as he steadily filled a wooden pail with milk. This had become her ritual over the past two mornings - rising early to take a stroll around the cottage before stopping to visit the animals in the adjacent outbuilding. Since no one was to know of her presence, it made sense to get some fresh air and exercise when there was less chance of anyone seeing her and asking any undesirable questions. Also, after too much time spent sitting down over the preceding days, Sophie relished the freedom to move about as she pleased. Thus far, on her morning excursions into the animal shelter, she'd found Thomas there at the tail end of his chores. Since he did not seem to mind the company, she'd lingered and observed as he brushed down the horses, collected the chicken eggs and milked the cow.

"Oh no," Sophie replied, with a mild shudder. "I am fairly certain my talents lie elsewhere." He gave a faint shrug before resuming his task, using both hands to milk the cow in a firm and steady rhythm.

Silence fell between them once more. Sensing that somehow her response had disappointed him, Sophie paused. Was he, too, testing her? Thomas' general demeanor was austere and reserved, and while his coolness might have made her wary under different circumstances, his obvious care for Helene and his wife, Marthe, set her at ease. While she imagined he was a man whose outward facade hid much of his true self, he did not frighten her - though she was certain he could be frightening if circumstance allowed.

She wondered why he'd made such an odd request of her. Surely he was aware that a woman raised as she'd been would never be expected to perform so humble a task? Then again, she was a fraud, Sophie thought with a pang of shame. She truly had no right to consider herself above anyone else in either rank or situation. These people had been good to her, kind really, when they had no need to be. She was not one to them, and yet Helene and Marthe had done nothing but make her feel welcome. The least she could do was show a willingness to try something new.

Glancing outside, Sophie noted that the sun was slowly rising, the yellowish light of dawn sweeping in through the open doorway and casting away some of the early morning shadows. Around them, the chickens clucked contentedly, lazily poking at the corn Thomas had dropped into their coop not long before.

Frowning, Sophie ran a soft hand over the brown hide between Bess's ears. Tilting her head to the side, she peeped past Thomas' bent head to where his hands disappeared beneath the cow's udders. It looked pink and fleshy and... Her thoughts trailed off, her nose wrinkling. Would he think poorly of her if she didn't do this? And why did she even care that some man she hardly knew might view her as nothing more than a pampered princess? She sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly. He would most likely tell Fabien everything when he eventually returned and Sophie would die before she allowed anyone, Thomas included, to lay any claims of incivility at her feet.

"Perhaps I ought to try," she blurted impulsively, making sure to hold Thomas' grey gaze when his head swung her way.

"Are you certain?" he asked, a bushy brow raised.

She could milk a cow. How hard could it be? She nodded firmly. "I am."

Immediately he stopped, then swiped an arm across his forehead before standing. He stepped back, gesturing for Sophie to take the seat he'd just vacated. Wiping her suddenly damp palms down the front of her gown, Sophie shrugged off her cloak and placed it carefully beside Thomas' coat on a nearby bale of hay before nervously moving into position. Beside her, the older man reached for the lantern and held it aloft, brightening Sophie's field of vision.