Hearts and Crowns Read Online Free PDF Page B

enormous carved armoire five times the size of Peri’s chamber at home took up part of one wall. Extravagantly detailed wall sconces of wrought iron held thick beeswax candles, snuffed now in the light of day. Arabian carpets warmed the floor. Peri itched to tear off her shoes and stockings so she could wiggle her toes in the rugs, but Ermintrude warned them off with an imperious wag of a gnarled finger.
    Pride filled Peri’s heart that she, a person of no significance from Anjou, had been chosen to serve here amid this opulence. No matter how hard a taskmistress the Empress might turn out to be, Peri would bear anything to work in such splendor. She vowed to write to her parents this very night to tell them of her good fortune and the favour she had found.
    Ermintrude’s harsh voice jerked her attention back to the other newcomer. They stood by one of the chests, now open. “When The Empress disrobes, her ladies place her clothing in this chest. You, Philippa de Grosmont, will have the honor of taking it to Francine in the laundry.”
    Philippa frowned. Peri struggled not to let pride become smugness. What did it matter now that the girl had spurned her quiet offer of friendship? She resisted the urge to pin a gloating smile on her face.
    “Come with me, Angevin,” Lady Ermintrude commanded.
    Sticking out her chin, Peri spun around to follow, her skirts swishing against her legs. Ermintrude stood by a heavy curtain that she thrust aside with a flourish. An acrid smell emanated from the cubicle behind the curtain.
    “The royal garderobe ,” Ermintrude declared.
    Peri suddenly felt dizzy.
    “Kneel to reach beneath the privy,” Ermintrude ordered.
    Surely not!
    Peri slowly lifted her skirts to kneel by the wooden privy. Holding her breath, she felt beneath it for the chamber pot. Disbelief pecked at her that a palace as grand as Westminster had no privy shafts. Even her parents’ modest house had the convenience. Her fingers closed on the handle of a receptacle. The cold stone of the flooring dug into her knees as she drew the pot out, gagging when she saw the contents.
    She closed her eyes as dizziness tilted the cubicle to a peculiar angle. Ermintrude towered above her. “Get to your feet. You must carry it out to the yard behind the kitchens where slopboys will dispose of it. Then you wash out the chamber pot and return it here quickly.”
    Peri recognized then the full weight of Lady Ermintrude’s disdain. She was required to carry the royal excrement through the palace. Everyone would turn away in disgust at the lowliness of her station.
    She held her breath and came to her feet, fearing the pot might slip from her trembling hands. Lady Ermintrude produced a linen cloth which she unfurled with a snap then draped over the chamber pot with great flourish. “Be off.”
    Peri lifted her chin and walked out of the chamber, past a snickering Philippa de Grosmont. She resolved to carry out this odious duty with dignity. None of these arrogant Normans would see her heart was breaking, and she would hate them until her dying day.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    “We must harass France!” King Henry declared, exasperated with his daughter’s apparent lack of interest in the deliberations. She seemed intent on some discussion with that harridan Ermintrude. He snapped his fingers. “Can you not see that, Maud?”
    Ermintrude de Calumette pouted at the interruption, infuriating him further. When had the woman become so impertinent? The widowed Empress shot her father an annoyed glance, fidgeting with the sleeve of her gown. “I mislike talk of politics.”
    Henry rolled his eyes and thanked the saints only his most trusted advisors were present in the private solar at Westminster to hear his daughter’s feeble protests. He brought his fist down hard on the arm of his massive chair. “If you wish to be Queen of England, you must make these decisions. Did you learn nothing as the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor? Most of my English