private rooms when building with wood." When she stood and turned, he saw she had regained most of her composure. "Of course, even with the palisade, it's not well suited to defense."
"And thus was taken by your Norman forbearers, I assume."
"Not at all." She pushed springy curls back from her round, heated cheeks.
"My grandmother was left a widow by the battle at Hastings, and given in marriage to my grandfather. They were happy, to all accounts, and Burstock has never been fought over."
"A place of blessings." After a moment he said, "Perhaps, Lady Aline, you could summon people to help with my armor."
She flushed again, this time with embarrassment at her own neglect. It was as well, he thought, that flushing suited Aline. It was so easy to bring color to her cheeks.
Now, however, she pulled on efficiency like a cloak, opened the door, and called orders in a lusty voice.
In moments, two men arrived to strip off his mail and carry it away to be cleaned, then two others poured water from the huge kettles into the tub and took the empty vessels off to be filled.
Women hurried in with jugs of cool water, bags of herbs, and even a vial of oil.
Raoul eyed the oil with interest, but he let his better side take command.
"You are to be a nun, Lady Aline?"
"That is my intention."
"Then perhaps it is against your rule to assist a man at his bath."
She stared at him for a moment, temptation clear in her eyes, but then she shook her head. "No. There is nothing sinful in such a courtesy."
"But you have a sister-in-law here who is responsible for this household, do you not?"
She nodded. "Catherine. She's away at St. Radegund's convent on business."
Raoul decided he had done what he could to be virtuous. He certainly wasn't going to suggest Jehanne assist him at a time like this, and to demand lower aid would be to insult Aline, who was now rolling up her outer sleeves in a businesslike fashion.
Perhaps whatever qualms had troubled her were eased.
Perhaps, he thought with some affront, she had previously believed him so ill bred as to be indecent in this situation. He bent to unlace his braies, intent on showing her that he knew polite behavior.
In hindsight, he wished he hadn't accepted the willing Ella's invitation that first night at Heywood. He had not imagined, however, that there was a lady in Heywood whose opinion would concern him - especially a modest, excessively virtuous, lushly rounded almost-nun.
He suppressed a smile, wondering why Aline intrigued him so. Perhaps just because she was such a contradiction.
She was so brisk and practical that she reminded him of his mother, who could manage a large household to perfection and dabble in a hundred other matters at the same time. But Aline was also young and easily flustered around men. She had in truth offended against the laws of hospitality in refusing to assist him to bathe at Heywood.
He'd be flattered to think that he alone had this effect on her, but he'd heard it was not so. She was skittish with all men, especially young ones. It was strange in a girl with five brothers. People seemed to accept that it was her vocation to the holy life that made her prudish, but Raoul wasn't sure.
In truth, he found it hard to imagine Aline of Burstock as a nun. A dictatorial abbess, yes, ruling a community of both men and women, and large properties as well. But it was necessary to go through the process of learning to be a nun in order to end up an abbess.
He peeled off his linen leggings, using force where blood had stuck them to his skin.
She looked up from where she was testing the temperature of the water.
"Are you injured, sir? I apologize. I should have asked."
He looked over to see that her genuine concern had banished embarrassment for the moment. "It's someone else's blood."
"Galeran's?" she asked with alarm.
"No. Someone we encountered on the way." He pulled off his shirt so he was dressed only in linen drawers, and glanced at her.
She had modestly turned her head and now moved away from the tub. Of course it wouldn't be polite for a lady in this situation to ogle a man's parts, but her avoidance of the sight of his body was extreme. She must have seen many male bodies in her time.
She was clearly ideally suited to be a nun, and he should accept that