Bitter Oath (New Atlantis) - By Nhys Glover Page 0,28

and rain?

To distract herself from such a worrying thought, she turned away from the view, and took in the room. More thick, cream rugs covered the floor. And an unposted bed so wide it had room for four people, dominated the space. A series of white-wood doors ran along one wall, and when Jane opened the centre door, she realised it led to a laundry.

‘You are about to get an education, which can’t be put off until tomorrow. Rene, go make us some lunch. I think Liv will feel more comfortable hearing about what’s in here without you being present.’

Liv was shocked how readily Rene took direction. What man in her time would put up with such orders, especially when he was told to do a woman’s work? Make lunch indeed! She would let Jane show her this laundry, and then she would go and make the meal for them all. Cook had insisted that all the girls learn how to run a kitchen and cook the basics. No one knew how many servants the girls would have at their disposal once they married.

‘Come,’ Jane beckoned with her hand, and Liv followed her cautiously into the room. ‘Okay, now this is a bath. You would be familiar with that, I assume. Did you have water from taps in your time?’

Liv looked at the huge bowl set low to the ground. It was unlike any bath she had ever seen. It would take more buckets to fill than she could imagine. As she watched, Jane turned a spigot and water started to pour into the bowl. The water steamed.

‘Oh, my heavens!’ she gasped.

‘One for hot and another for cold. That way you can have it just the right temperature. Mostly, we use baths to relax in. To get clean, we use the shower.’

‘Shower? Like rain?’ She followed Jane to a cubicle with more spigots and something Jane called “buttons”. ‘We shower every day. You can select the type of shower you would like. If you want water pouring over you like a waterfall, you press this button,’ she pointed to one of the small squares. ‘If you want a light mist coming from all directions, you press this one. And there are lots more. I would suggest you stick to mist until you get used to it. This is a soap dispenser. See?’ She pressed another “button”, and liquid shot out at them. It smelled like hyacinth.

‘Stand back a little, I’ll show you what happens.’ Jane pressed the first button she had indicated, and a torrent of water gushed from the ceiling, flooding the cubicle.

Liv jumped back with a little yelp, brushing water droplets off her dress.

‘You get naked, close the door, and the water stays inside. Soap your body with the liquid, and then rinse it off. For the time being, use towels to dry yourself. I’ll find some for you later.

‘Now the basin is for washing your hands. The water comes into the bowl just as it has in the bath and shower. There are plenty of mirrors, as you can see. Have you ever looked at yourself naked in a mirror?’

Liv flushed bright red and looked away, mortified by such a question.

‘Sorry, I don’t mean to embarrass you. Your time was a lot more modest than mine. I only mentioned it because when you shower you will see yourself in one mirror or the other. That might challenge you for a while.’

Jane stopped and studied her for a few moments, until Liv felt obliged to look back and meet her eye. Liv squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin. ‘I will avert my eye when I must shower.’

‘Whatever. Just giving you a heads up, as Maggie would say.’

‘Heads up?’

‘A warning. Now this is the one that is going to really challenge you. This seat thing over here is a toilet. You had water closets and pottys, if I remember. This does the same job. You remove your underclothes and sit on there when you need to urinate or defecate. There is paper there to wipe yourself. Just drop the paper in the toilet, and when you are finished, stand up and press that button.’

She pressed the button and water gushed into the bowl and disappeared. Water gushed everywhere in this room, she was finding.

‘That water flushes everything away and then you wash your hands with soap from this dispenser.’ She pointed at yet another button which she didn’t press this time.

‘Let me get this right. This is a