The Gallows Curse Read Online Free PDF Page A

me
in the house. Good.'
        There
was something strange about Lady Anne's smile, as if she was forcing herself
into a cheerfulness that she did not feel.
        Your
duties will not be onerous. After your labours in the fields, I doubt you will
even think them work at all. And of course, we must find you a pretty kirtle to
wear, one more suited to your new station. You'd like that, I dare say. But
time enough for that, you must be hungry and thirsty after the threshing. Come
and eat, we can discuss your duties when you are refreshed.'
        Elena
looked around her. The long table was bare save for a long band of
half-finished gold stitch-work and a pair of small silver scissors such as
might be used to cut threads. Lady Anne motioned to a large chest in the far
corner of the chamber. It was covered with a white cloth on which had been
placed a tiny wooden dish of salt, together with a pitcher, and a platter whose
contents were protected by a wicker cover from buzzing flies. A low stool had
been drawn up next to the chest.
        Elena
hesitated. She was ravenously hungry, but she couldn't understand why she was
being offered food. Was this some kind of test of her table manners? She'd
never eaten in the hall, but she knew from those who had waited at table here
that the manor had a whole mountain of rules to be learned — not to scratch
your head at the table; not to belch; not to dip your fingers too deep in the
shared dish.
        These
were not rules observed by the men and women with whom she shared her midday
bite or her supper. What if she made some dreadful mistake — would she be
bundled out in disgrace?
        She
felt a hand take hold of her elbow and Master Raffaele guided her gently but
firmly across the room and seated her on the stool. Flapping his hand to drive
away several flies, he lifted the wicker cover to reveal a hunk of bread and
slices of cold mutton. Raffaele poured a measure of ale into the beaker and set
it beside the bread. Elena glanced up at him, on the verge of saying she wasn't
hungry.
        As if
he knew what she was going to say, he shook his head and murmured in a low
voice, 'You must at least taste each thing set before you or Lady Anne will
take it as a great insult.'
        'But
if I do it wrong . . .' she whispered.
        'Break
the bread, dip it in the salt and bite a piece off. Then take a morsel or two
of the mutton, and when you have swallowed it and your mouth is empty, drink
from the beaker.' He smiled encouragingly. 'That's not difficult, is it?'
        Slowly
and carefully, Elena did exactly as she was told, trying to eat as daintily as
she could and not drop a crumb or spill a drop. It was hard, for as soon as she
tasted the food, it made her more hungry than ever and she longed to stuff her
mouth with the dough-soft wheaten bread and sweet herbed mutton, which seemed
to deserve far grander words than mere bread or mutton, for they
bore little resemblance to the coarse, hard ravel bread and tough salt-meat she
was accustomed to eating. Although she promised herself she would only take one
bite, she devoured every scrap of the food as if she hadn't eaten for weeks.
        She
drained the beaker and rose, dropping a half-bob. 'Thank you, m'lady.'
        It
was as if Lady Anne had been holding her breath, for she answered with a great
sigh and sank into a chair, gripping the sides so tightly that the knuckles on
her hands turned white.
        "You've
done well . . . but I am weary. This insufferable heat ... go home now and come
back tomorrow at Prime. My maid, Hilda, will show you your duties.'
        Master
Raffaele nodded and led Elena out of the chamber as far as the set of steps on
the outside of the building leading from the hall down into the courtyard. She
looked up at him anxiously, trying to judge if her sudden dismissal had been a
sign of displeasure.
        You
did well,' he echoed. But as she turned to go, he grasped her shoulder,