‘Shall I fill a tub, my lady?’ Almost recovered, Agnes wallowed to her feet and went to fuss over her sleeping mistress.
Judith sighed with obvious regret. ‘No, Agnes. She needs rest and quiet and all the fuss of organising a bath would make too much noise. Tomorrow, perhaps. A good wash will suffice.’
‘How long before your mother rouses, do you think?’ Guyon asked.
‘I don’t know. Her colour is good, but she is deeply asleep and she will need watching.’
‘Agnes is competent to do that? And Helgund?’
‘Yes, but …’
‘Good. Then put on your cloak.’
‘But Guy, I can’t go out like this and – oh!’ She broke off to catch the garment as he threw it at her.
‘Find something else to wear and bring it with you.’
She stared at him, or rather at his back, for he had turned away to rummage in his own clothing chest for a decent tunic. ‘Guy, where are we going?’
‘Wait and see. I’ve told you before about looking gift horses in the mouth.’ He swung around and pinning his own cloak, advanced upon her.
‘Guy?’
‘Trust me?’ His expression was a mingling of laughter and tension. ‘Trust me, Judith?’ He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close, or as close as the bunched cloak trapped between them would allow, and kissed her in a fashion that sent Agnes bustling to a far corner of the room on the pretext of some overlooked task.
‘I don’t know if I should,’ Judith said, tilting her head. ‘What awaits me if I do?’
‘A fate worse than death?’ he suggested, draping the cloak around her shoulders and fastening the pin.
She felt a warm glow in the pit of her stomach. Her lips curved and then parted in a full smile; her eyes danced. She would think about everything later. This moment belonged to her and Guyon. ‘Show me,’ she said, a catch in her voice. ‘I want to know.’
Judith was sitting beside Alicia when she woke, her fingers nimbly weaving a needle in and out of a tunic she was stitching for Guyon, her manner one of demure domesticity. She had never been inside a Southwark bathhouse before, indeed had almost refused when she discovered their destination, but Guyon, grinning, had dragged her protesting through the doorway and the rest had been too interesting for her to want to leave.
Mention a Southwark bathhouse and most people would raise their eyebrows and utter knowing laughs, or purse their lips and shake their heads. Many of the stews warranted such censure, but Guyon’s particular choice, which she suspected came of long acquaintance, appeared to cater for those with the wealth to buy privacy and discretion. She had seen several people she knew from the court, two of them alone, another in the company of a very pretty girl who was most certainly not his wife.
She and Guyon had soaked themselves clean and warm in a spacious tub and had drunk effervescent wine – not in any great quantity. They had played floating tables – and other less intellectual games, the kind associated with the Southwark stews and knowing laughs and pursed lips, and lent an added spice because of that.
She stifled a giggle and bit off the thread, and became aware that Alicia was watching her.
‘Mama?’ For an instant Judith was startled, but she recovered quickly and leaned forward. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘As if my brains have been squashed,’ Alicia said faintly and put up her hand to touch her bandage-swathed head. ‘What happened?’
‘You fainted and cut your head on the brazier as you fell.’
From the other room, muffled by the heavy curtain, came the reassuring sound of male voices in conversation. Alicia strove to sit up, then desisted with a gasp of pain.
Judith pressed her gently back down. ‘I had to stitch the wound and quickly,’ she apologised. ‘It is not my neatest piece of work.’
Frowning with pain and concentration, Alicia studied her daughter. Her rich gown had been replaced by a neat, serviceable homespun. The tawny hair was woven into a simple thick braid and looked almost as if it were damp.
‘Judith, how long have I been asleep?’
She placed a cool hand upon her mother’s forehead. ‘Not long, do not fret yourself.’
‘I seem to recall that I have cause to fret.’
Judith shook her head in wordless denial.
