Read Online Mary Gillgannon by The Leopard - Free Book Online Page A

amusement. “How true my father spoke, Astra. You are an innocent. It’s going to be great fun watching you lose that damnable purity you carry around like a shield. And you will lose it, mark my words. The court is full of men, ma belle , and you’re bound to find at least one of them irresistible.”
    Astra slid down in the water even further. Marguerite’s warning words echoed in her head, vibrating down into some secret place inside her. She shivered, though the bath water was still warm. Here was a new danger, a new temptation she must guard against. The nuns had been right. The world outside the priory was a virtual quagmire of hazards to her soul.

Six
    “S till sleeping? Why, you lazy slug-a-bed!” Astra strode purposefully into Marguerite’s sleeping chamber and pulled the curtains back from the bed so the daylight streamed in on her friend.
    “I’ll get up now, I promise,” Marguerite answered sleepily as she untangled herself from the covers and stretched. “It is not so late, is it?”
    “Late! The rest of the castle has been up for hours. Lady Fitz Hugh and I have already seen to the evening meal, started the buttermaking and supervised cleaning out the rushes in the hall. This afternoon we will review the supply lists and then she said she will teach me how to make her special soap.”
    “Soap!” Marguerite made a horrible face. “Astra, you have no idea how awful soap-making is. You have to boil the wretched grease for hours, and it stinks up the whole courtyard. You’ll get the smell on your hair, your skin...”
    “Then I’ll wash,” Astra answered briskly. “Surely any decent wife must know how to make her own soap. Your mother promised me she would share her special recipe of herbs with me so I will know how to make the wonderful-smelling concoction you use here at Ravensmore.”
    “You are taking this chatelaine business utterly too seriously.” Marguerite pouted. “A noble lady does not have to learn to do everything herself. She has plenty of servants to do her bidding.”
    “You forget, Marguerite, that I am not destined to be mistress of a great castle as you are. If I, indeed, find a man at court willing to marry me, we will likely live in a small house and have few servants. I need to know how to do these things myself.”
    “Oh, bother! I had planned on us going riding this afternoon. It has been days since you’ve had time to spend with me, Astra. You must admit you’ve neglected me shamefully.”
    Astra fixed her friend with a look of exasperation. There was so much to learn if she were to ever know how to manage even a small household, and Marguerite kept dragging her off to go riding or swimming or other idle pursuits. She was torn between spending time with Lady Fitz Hugh—or Lady Bea, as the castlefolk referred to her—and trying to keep Marguerite entertained.
    “Perhaps we can compromise,” she suggested. “Lady Bea can show me the basics of soapmaking, and then I will go riding with you.”
    Marguerite nodded. “That will have to do, I suppose. Then you could take a bath as you suggested, and afterwards we could practice your dancing and fixing your hair for court events. I wish your new clothes were finished. We cannot try out wimples and headdresses without knowing how they go with your new gowns.”
    “The seamstress has finished them. I had her put them in the big chest.”
    “Your court clothes are ready? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    Astra shrugged. “I didn’t know it mattered. Certainly I couldn’t wear them for riding, or cleaning and soapmaking for that matter.”
    “But don’t you want to see how they fit?” Marguerite asked as she went over to the chest and impatiently dug inside, throwing bliauts and undertunics everywhere. “Don’t you want to know how exquisite you will look in them?”
    “I’m sure there will be time enough for that. We have the whole summer after all.”
    “The whole summer? Why should we wait until fall to go to