his face to drink.
Helen nearly giggled at the silly sight, but she managed to restrain herself.
Retrieving some more herbs, the healer moved to place them in the warm bathwater. She stirred them in, then turned to smile invitingly at Helen. "This should help soothe the itching. And we shall add some ointment to help you heal."
Helen hesitated, her gaze sliding toward Hethe. He was seated in his chair, half turned toward the fire, his feet on a log before it, his gaze firmly on the flames. It appeared that this was all the privacy she was likely to get. She supposed she should be grateful for this much, since he had already watched her bathe once. Quickly shoving the linens aside, Helen scooted out of bed, rushed to the tub, and stepped in to sit in the water.
Much to her amazement, the water, while cooler than she had expected, had an immediate soothing effect on every patch of skin it covered. Murmuring her relief and pleasure, she began to splash the liquid up eagerly over her arms and chest.
"Better?" the healer inquired gently as she began to splash the treated water over Helen's back. . "Aye."
Helen sighed, then glanced over at her savior. "What is your name?"
"Mary, my lady."
"Mary." Helen leaned forward, submerging as much of her arms as she could under the water to ease their irritation as well. "T hankyou, Mary."
"You are more than welcome, my lady."
"Where did you learn your skills?"
"My mother," the girl admitted reluctantly, picking up a strip of linen to dunk it in the tub and use it to continue to draw water up over Helen's shoulders and back.
"And where is your mother now?" Helen asked, suspecting she already knew the answer. No doubt the woman had gone the way of Maggie.
"She was the healer here till last year. But..."
"But?" Helen prompted.
The other woman's reluctance was apparent, for it took her a few moments to speak, and when she did, it was in a hushed whisper. "She was dismissed. Fortunately, she is able to advise me on things still, for I haven't the knowledge she does." There was no doubting the resentment in her tone. It was more than obvious the girl felt her mother should be here in her place.
Helen felt goose bumps rise on her back and knew that Hethe's eyes had turned their way. He was listening to them.
Well, let him listen, she thought. He should be ashamed of himself. Perhaps hearing about his own behavior from another's lips would make him see how ridiculous and cruel his misdeeds were.
"I have noticed there are only pretty young servants in the castle. I was told that the older women are released once they are no longer deemed attractive, no matter their skills. Is that what happened to your mother?" Helen asked loud enough to be sure her husband would hear.
Mary went still. The silence in the room seemed to draw out to infinity, until at last she sighed and said,
"Aye. Lord Holden ordered her out of the keep. He prefers only young, pretty women here."
There was a crash as Hethe's feet hit the floor, then the stomp of his crossing the room.
"The hell I did dismiss that woman!" he snapped, towering furiously over them both. "And I have never, ever ordered that only pretty, young women serve me."
Helen glanced over her shoulder at her husband's looming presence, then toward the healer's pale and frightened face. Scowling at Hethe for bellowing and stomping about and scaring the girl, Helen protested, "Well, that is what Maggie was told when she was tossed out on her ear. She was too old and ugly to work in the keep."
"Maggie..." Hethe frowned. His eyes took on a faraway look. "No. She claimed she was burned out of her home for being too old, not thrown out of the keep."
"She was mistress of chambermaids here," Helen snapped. How could he not recall that? "She was tossed out on her ear for being too old. Fortunately, she had been seeing a farmer named White, and he asked her to marry him. She spent six happy months being a farmer's wife. Then he died, and you had her thrown out of their small cottage and all her belongings burned as heriot. She came to me for permission to accept charity from her daughter. Instead, I put her in charge of my chambermaids. She is still sharp-witted and skilled. She has value. Yet you tossed her aside like - "
"Get out."
Helen