“Here, my lady?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Very well, but it may take little while to get her suitably dressed. She can be quite stubborn regarding her clothes.”
“I see. In that case bring Lady Clare, in her sleeping attire, and such clothes as you deem suitable for the day. She can get dressed here, with me. It is probably warmer than her chamber.”
“No, my lady, it is not. But I will bring her to you.”
She bobs me a curtsy, rather more accomplished than her previous attempt, and leaves the room. I hop back into bed to wait for my little project to arrive.
I do not have long in which to contemplate my next move. Mathilde returns after a few minutes, a rather bedraggled little girl beside her, clasping her hand as though it were her last link to anything resembling security. Mathilde has bundle of clothes under her arm, and she places those on a chair close to the door.
Clare is carrying a floppy doll fashioned from rags, which she clutches in her free hand. Her hair is tangled, her loose plaits unravelling before my eyes. She peers at me from the relative safety of the maidservant’s skirts, her expression wary.
“Good morning, Clare. Did you sleep well?”
No answer. Clare tightens her grip on the doll and on Mathilde’s hand.
I press on with my campaign. “I am hungry. Mathilde was just about to bring food for me, to break my fast. Would you like to join me?
Still no response. I slip from the bed and pad barefoot across to the doorway where the pair still stand. I crouch in front of Clare.
“Your dolly looks hungry. Mathilde, what does dolly like to eat?”
The maidservant picks up the cue without further prompting. “She likes milk, my lady. And sometimes a little oatmeal too. Eggs if we have any.”
“Excellent. Please, could you bring those then? And for myself somebread and cheese if you would be so kind.”
The maid extricates her hand from Clare’s with some difficulty and bobs her brisk little curtsy again. “At once, your grace.”
She is gone, leaving Clare and me to regard each other with I daresay some doubts and considerable trepidation on either side.
“Dolly looks cold. Let us tuck her back in bed to wait for her breakfast. Then we can shut this door and keep out the draughts.” I stand and push the door closed behind the tiny figure, then I offer my hand to Clare. She eyes it with undisguised suspicion. Seizing the initiative, I reach down and take the child’s hand, then allow her no opportunity to protest as I march her back to the bed I so recently shared with Stefan. I lift her up and deposit her in the middle of the bolster, then slip in beside her. I arrange the blankets around her feet and legs, tucking her in.
I lean against the headboard and wrap my arm around her thin shoulders. She stiffens, but makes no move to pull away. I treat that as encouragement.
“So, Clare, you are to clean mirrors this morning. I will help you.”
She hugs the doll to her chest, then turns to peer up at me. “Otto is to do it. Papa said.”
Her first words to me are defiant, though her tone is not. She fears displeasing Stefan again.
“I asked your papa if I could help you instead, and he agreed. Otto has many other duties to see to, and I like to clean mirrors. So you and I will do it. I do not know where all the looking glasses in the castle are though, so your papa said that you would show me.” I trust that invoking Stefan’s authority will win the day for me.
“And Mimi.”
“Mimi?”
She lifts the doll, who close up I can see is badly in need of some repairs. Not to mention a good wash. I surmise this must be Mimi.
“Mimi too, of course. We will wait here for Mathilde to bring our tray, and we will eat. Then we will ask Mathilde to help both of us to dress. After that you can show me where the mirrors are and we will clean each one. If Mathilde does not have other tasks she must attend to perhaps she could help us too. That way it would not take as long, and we might have time to play later. Do you play hopscotch, Clare?”
Two dark eyes, wide with curiosity, regard me from beneath a tangled thatch of blond hair. She shakes her head.
“Then you must learn. Today. We shall play in the great hall. After the mirrors.”
She smiles, and I know I have her.
