"And gentlemen, you shall hear them!" Evelynn promised, relishing the admiration. "But I am here to make an impression! Any bard or minstrel knows those inside and out and should be able to play them on a whim. But! Have you heard this one, I wonder?"
She held up a hand and flashed a dazzling smile.
"Oh, no, I promise it is just as merry a tune as ever you have heard!"
And once again her fingers played and her voice sang out, all evidence of any previous state of nervousness long gone.
"There's a garden, what a garden
Only happy faces bloom there
And there's never any room there
For a worry or a gloom there.
"Oh there's music and there's dancing
And a lot of sweet romancing
When they play the carol
They all get in the swing."
As she continued with the verses, a number of guests stood up, interrupting the serving wenches in their work in order to swing them about in bawdy dancing. The accompanying music to her words ceased for a brief moment when one of the drunkards cheered in Evelynn's direction, nearly sloshing his drink all over her. She deftly slid up and out of her chair just in time to avoid the worst of it. Flashing the man a cheeky grin, she slid back to her seat and resumed. To her credit the lyrics themselves had never faltered; she was used to it.
"Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun
Roll out the barrel, we've got the blues on the run
Zing boom tararrel, ring out a song of good cheer
Now's the time to roll the barrel, for the gang's all here.'
When at last it came to an end, she had to beg the crowd to allow her down. It wasn't until she had promised three times over that she would not run off and would remain to play the favourites that they permitted her to swim through the bodies towards the bar.
"Might I trouble you for water?" she requested of Duncan. Her exuberance during the last song had left a faint sheen of sweat on her brow and she could feel her throat growing parched.