Nesah actually did quite the opposite. She liked to dress in men's clothes when nobody was watching, and when her brother was in York and the servants were out, she'd raid her brother's closets and have a blessed few minutes in front of the mirror. But she did not understand the language well enough to follow what the man was saying, and even if she would have, she would never admit to something so scandalous, not even before a stranger.

"Lad?" she said. Did he mean a man? She thought it was a metal. Her annoyed frown deepened. "I don't know what you're saying."