Chapter Three #2
“I was told it was because Henry wishes to hold me hostage to ensure the loyalty of my brother and cousins,” she said.
“I have been at Newington Priory for the past six years, you see, and have been far removed from whatever the rest of the House of de Shera has been involved in. Sir Chadwick and his men came to Newington last night and said that I was to come with them, otherwise, Henry’s men would take me and I might find myself in the vault. ”
Liselotte was shocked. Shock gave way to outrage. “Henry would hold you hostage?” she repeated, aghast. “I know that the House of de Shera supported Simon de Montfort but to take a young woman hostage to enforce their loyalty to Henry is disgraceful. What a horrible man!”
Not strangely, Alessandria felt better hearing the woman’s outrage.
It made her feel comforted, as if she had a defender in the tall and elegant Lady de Lohr.
Though the nuns at Newington had always been kind to her, they had never shown quite as much concern as Lady de Lohr was showing.
That kind of attention was all quite new to her.
As Alessandria stood there, uncertain about stripping off her clothes, Liselotte began to help her, unfastening ties and encouraging her to pull off the damp, smelly clothing.
Knowing she had no choice, Alessandria began to pull off her clothing, which didn’t amount to more than a rough woolen overdress, a damp shift beneath, and shoes that had been passed down to her from another ward at Newington.
There was a hole in the left toe. But she dutifully pulled off the outerdress, laying it carefully before the hearth as Liselotte held up the coverlet to shield her from the room.
The shift quickly came off then, as did the shoes, and as soon as she was completely nude, Liselotte wrapped her up in the warm, dry coverlet.
“There,” Liselotte said with some satisfaction. “Sit by the fire and you will warm up quickly now.”
Alessandria was in heaven wrapped in the heavy coverlet.
She didn’t even care that she was nude beneath it, her modesty shot to pieces by the comfort of the thick blanket.
Nay, she didn’t care in the least. The dry coverlet won out over any foolish protests of stripping off her clothing and she sank to the floor where the fire was warming up the stones of the hearth, wrapping the coverlet tightly around her and getting as close to the fire as she could without setting herself ablaze.
Heat blasted Alessandria in the face as she huddled close to the fire while Liselotte picked up her damp clothing and held it up, inspecting it.
It was durable and well-made, but hardly the dress of a noble young lady.
Liselotte eyed the clothing and the young lady seated by the hearth.
All of this was quite curious to her because it was most definitely clothing worn by the clergy.
The fabric was horrifically coarse and the shift underneath wasn’t much better.
Liselotte cringed when she thought about such things close to a delicate lady’s tender skin.
“Are you a nun, Alessandria?” she finally asked.
Alessandria shook her head. “A ward, my lady,” she replied. “I have been considering taking my vows, however.”
“Why?”
Alessandria had to grin; Lady de Lohr was very curious about things and not afraid to ask questions.
She rather liked that kind of direct honesty.
“Because I consider Newington my home,” she said.
“Truthfully, it is the only home I have ever known. My mother died when I was young and my father immediately sent me away to foster.”
Liselotte was looking at her with some sympathy. “How old were you when your mother died?”
“I had seen five summers, my lady.”
Liselotte shook her head, clucking with sympathy.
“So young,” she said. “I am sorry to hear that. I have five children and it was difficult to send each one of them away to foster. With my youngest, I could not bear it, so she simply went to Rochester, which is not far away and the stewards of Rochester are related to the House of de Lohr. They are family. I went to visit my youngest every week until my husband put an end to it.”
Alessandria wondered what it would be like to have a mother that was so attentive. “How long did your youngest stay away?”
Liselotte turned away, busying herself with Alessandria’s damp clothing.
“When my husband told me I could no longer visit her, I simply brought her home,” she said, eyeing Alessandria and seeing that the woman was fighting off a grin.
She broke down into a smile. “Do not think me so smothering, my lady. Veronica wanted to come home. At least, that is what I told her to tell her father. Wait until you have children of your own; you will understand.”
Alessandria’s smile faded. “I will not marry, my lady,” she said. “I plan to….”
She was cut off by a knock on the door and Liselotte went to answer it, producing a parade of people when she opened the panel.
Servants with buckets of hot water rushed into the room and to the copper tub, filling it.
A female servant had brought linens and other things to bathe with, while Liselotte’s youngest child, Veronica, brought up the rear with her arms full of garments.
Alessandria pulled the big coverlet tightly around her, covering herself completely as the crowd of people filled the chamber.
She could smell fresh bread and her stomach growled, but she didn’t move, rooted to the spot and afraid to move lest the coverlet fall away and some measure of skin was exposed.
So she remained huddled by the fire, out of the way, as people went in and out, and Liselotte held up the garments her daughter had brought to see which ones would be the best option for a small and rather skinny young lady.
Alessandria watched the hustle closely, very warm and comfortable in her blanket.
In fact, she was becoming rather drowsy with the heat and more than once her eyelids had started to droop, but she shook it off, struggling to remain awake because the lure of a bath and food was just too strong.
It had been a long time since she’d had either.
Eventually, the servants took their buckets and left, leaving Liselotte and her daughter behind.
Alessandria could still see Rhun lingering just outside of her door, watching all who entered and exited, and she had to admit that she was starting to feel rather important.
She had a guard and the lady of the castle was tending her personally.
It was such an odd realization for she’d never had any reason to feel more important than anyone else. It wasn’t a wholly unlikable sensation.
“My lady, are you ready for your bath?” Liselotte asked when everyone was gone. “Please allow my daughter and me to help you.”
Alessandria looked at the lovely young woman standing next to Liselotte. “Your youngest, my lady?”
Liselotte laughed softly. “My darling daughter, Veronica Emilie de Lohr,” she said. “This is the child I could not do without. Ronnie, this is Lady Alessandria de Shera. We are going to take care of her and make her feel most welcome.”
Veronica smiled at Alessandria. “W-welcome, m-my lady,” she said, a heavy stammer evident. “I-I have p-picked out some garments t-that I hope are t-to your liking.”
Alessandria smiled timidly at the young woman with a noticeable stammer. “I am sure whatever you have chosen will be fine.”
Veronica grinned and went to her, pulling her to her feet. Much like her mother, she wasn’t shy or timid. “Come with m-me,” she said, pulling her away from the hearth. “I b-brought some bathing oil m-my father bought me in P-Paris. It smells of exotic f-flowers.”
Lured by the idea of bathing oil, something Alessandria had never seen or used in the sparse setting of Newington, she didn’t notice that the corner of the coverlet flopped into the fire and, as she moved towards the tub, a small blaze cropped up on the fabric.
She only realized it when Liselotte yelped and tried to yank the blanket off of her, but Alessandria wasn’t apt to let the only thing go that was protecting her modesty.
She had no idea what was going on with Lady de Lohr trying to wrest the blanket from her body and she held on to it for dear life until she saw the smoke.
“Fire!” she screamed.
Alessandria let go of the blanket just as Liselotte and Veronica gave a good yank, pulling it off of her body.
Completely naked, Alessandria did the only thing she could do; she jumped into the copper tub, trying to conceal her nakedness, hardly caring about the fire that was consuming the blanket.
She didn’t even care that it could quite possibly spread; all she cared about was the fact that she was nude and vulnerable.
With the burning blanket over by the chamber door, blocking the exit, Liselotte and Veronica backed up next to the tub, screaming for help.
Instantly, the chamber door flew open and de Russe and du Bois were standing there, startled to see all of that fire.
When more bodies appeared behind them, Alessandria panicked and plunged her head beneath the water, trying to hide.
It was her worst nightmare come to life; not the fire, but the hordes of strange men seeing her naked.
Dear God, could this get any worse?
That being the case, she’d rather burn to death.
A hand grabbing her hair and pulling her head out of the water told her that someone else had a different idea about it.