In that time she had done her best for Dickon, making him a sweetened barley water, which she fed him in an effort to purge his system of whatever was harming it. Elf quickly noticed that while her sister-in-law hovered about making sympathetic noises, she did little to aid her husband. It was Ida who saw that her master’s bedding, linen, and person were kept clean and fresh. It was she who tended the terrible bedsores Dickon had, using a salve of lamb fat and acorn paste Elf had made after first smoothing beaten egg whites on the sores to ease their pain. Still, Isleen was kind to her husband’s sister, the manor hall was kept neat, and meals were served on time. Yet in the evening Isleen would sit on the far side of the fireplace with her cousin, the two of them speaking in whispers while the manor’s lord dozed on the other side. Elf, sitting next to her brother, worked on a tapestry to while away the time. Was there something wrong as Ida was constantly hinting, given the opportunity; or was poor, beautiful Isleen simply taking comfort in the company of her relative?

I must not think idle and evil thoughts, Elf chided herself. Isleen and Saer de Bude do nothing wrong, and they are in full sight of everyone in the hall. God forgive me, Elf prayed, for sitting in judgment of my brother’s wife. Ida is querulous and bitter. She has no children to care for, and children are her very life. "Ave, Maria, gratia plenia," Elf murmured, and afterward thought she did not like being kept away from St. Frideswide's, where her days were peaceful and her hours ordered.

Ida’s son, John, and his son, Arthur, took it upon themselves to build a small fireplace in the herbarium. It was a small raised half hearth, constructed upon a base of stones with a slate flooring, and set above floor level in a wall. Its shape was a half round, and when the two men had finished it, they drilled holes in the side of the hearth and affixed a swinging iron arm from the smithy that would hold a pot. A little chimney ran up the outside of the shed, which was now quite habitable. Both men were delighted when Elf thanked them profusely.

" 'Twere nothing, lady," John said quietly. "I know little of your skills, but I did not think you should have to go outside each time you needed hot water. Especially if the weather were foul."

"I hope I have not taken you from your manor chores," Elf replied. "I would not want the lady to be angry with you on my account."

"The manor is well looked after by your serfs, my lady Eleanore. We do not need the likes of that knight telling us what to do. He is not a man of the land, and knows less than nothing. You will forgive my frank speech, lady, but my mother says you are too good, and I would have no harm come to you, or yours." John then gave a little bow, saying, "We are your serfs to command, lady, and will protect you if we must." Then he turned from her, leaving Elf quite puzzled in her new domain.

During the week the shed was being made useful again, Elf had enlisted the company of several young female serfs to go searching in the fields and woods for many of the things she needed to make her remedies. Pinecones had been gathered, for they were useful in healing problems of the kidneys and bladder, although if not used properly were known to excite lustful desires. She had found a small store of acorns in a storage room beneath the hall, and was grateful for them. There would be no more acorns until the autumn. There was some wheat and barley remaining in the granary from the previous harvest. Elf took a basket of each. She roasted the latter grain, for otherwise it was mildly laxative. Mixed and cooked with dried figs in a sweetened water, it was a cure for abscesses. She found a host of capers growing on some rough ground near the granary, and gathered them, for they were most valuable for any number of complaints from a toothache to sciatica and cramps. A beehive in a half-rotted log in the nearby wood gave her a large cache of honey. The kitchen gardens yielded cabbages, marrows, cucumbers, leeks, onions, and garlic, as well as asparagus, spinach, lettuces, parsnips, and beets. There were mustard greens, mint, sage, parsley, and fennel. In a nearby meadow Elf discovered horehound growing, and behind her shed, elecampane.

Very soon sheaves of herbs were drying within the little building. Jars were filled with violets, dandelion roots, crocus bulbs, as well as figs and dates that Elf had taken from the kitchen. She had been surprised to find them there, for they were items not easily come by, but, the cook told her, the lady Isleen likes a sweet dessert occasionally. Albert had opened a small garden for Elf next to her shed. She planted all manner of herbs not grown in the kitchen’s gardens, including chamomile.

Dickon seemed to be growing weaker every day despite her efforts, but she found herself with a growing number of patients from among the serfs. When she questioned Ida about it, the old woman told her that Isleen was not particularly skilled at healing, and disliked such labor.

"But it is the lady’s duty to care for her people," Elf said, shocked. "Do you mean in all the years she has been married to my brother, she has not healed those who came to her for aid?"

"Not once," Ida said. "She does not give your brother an heir, although he has children among the serfs. She will not bind up her people’s wounds, or prescribe for an ague, or flux. She is useless."

"But Dickon loves her," Elf said softly.

Ida made a rude sound. Then she muttered, "A lot of good it does him to love so useless a female. When my poor lord Richard is dead, you will be a better mistress for Ashlin, my dear lady."

Elf said nothing more. It was foolish to argue with Ida. Her mind had been set against Isleen from the very moment she had arrived at Ashlin. Still, Elf was concerned about her sister-in-law. Just last night she had caught her feeding Dickon a sweetmeat that Elf knew he loved, but should not have. It was not the first time, either. Elf was hard put not to scold her sister-in-law severely. Instead she had protested gently while Isleen had looked properly contrite at first, then made a face at her.

"Isleen, you must not feed Dickon anything of which I do not approve, for it is difficult enough getting his belly under control. The sweets but upset him, although I know you do not mean to harm him. You spoil him because you love him, but you cannot."

"If I were ill, would you care for me so tenderly, my lady Eleanore?" Saer de Bude asked her. She found his smile unpleasant.

"It is my duty as an infirmarian, and a servant of our God, to use what skills I have to ease suffering, sir," Elf answered him primly.

"It would be easy to recover if I were tended by you" was the silken reply. "You are most fair."

Elf flushed, ignoring him, for his words were quite inappropriate, and he well knew it. A gentleman did not speak to a bride of Christ in such a suggestive manner. She bent low over her tapestry frame, but she did not miss the angry hiss of her sister-in-law’s voice, although she could not hear her words.

"How dare you flirt with the pious little bitch!" Isleen whispered to Saer de Bude. "If Richard were well, he would kill you for your words to her. Are you mad?"

"No, I but think of our future, as should you, my pretty cousin. Have you and I not planned all this? And is this not why the little nun was called from her convent? You have played your part well so far, Isleen. Do not allow your jealousy and envy of her to ruin everything. It is you I love, and not the little nun. It has always been you. Had I been a man of property, we might have convinced your father to give you to me instead of Richard de Montfort."

"But you are not a man of property," Isleen murmured cuttingly.

"No, I am not, but I will be once I wed your sister-in-law," Saer de Bude answered his cousin. "Then Ashlin will belong to me. When I suddenly find myself a widower, it is you who will be my bride." His eyes, so deep a blue that they were almost black, looked into hers passionately. A lock of his golden blond hair fell lazily over his forehead. Isleen wanted to reach out and push it back, but she knew she dared show no sign of intimacy toward her cousin.

"She will not marry you, or anyone else," Isleen said almost spitefully. "I saw her only once, before she came to Ashlin, when Richard and I were first married. He took me to her convent so I might meet her. I think he hoped I would offer to bring her back to Ashlin. The fool! She was but a child then, and knew nothing. Now, however, she is grown enough to know what she wants, and 'tis a nunnery, although I cannot understand why. She is certainly pretty enough, and with Ashlin for her dowry, can easily attract a flesh-and-blood husband, but she wants none but her Lord Christ. How can you compete with that, cousin?"

"If we cannot bring her around reasonably, there is but one way, Isleen. I will rape her. Her convent will not have her if she is despoiled. Believe me, her virginity will be gone, and the little nun well used before I release her to prayerfully reconsider her decision."

"You are very wicked," Isleen murmured in appreciative tones. "I think you hope she will resist you so you may violate her."

He chuckled darkly. "Perhaps I do," he said. "Would you like to help me, Isleen? Would you like to rape the little nun, too?"

Isleen’s blue eyes widened. "How?" she whispered half fearfully. This was dangerous territory. Sometimes Saer frightened even her, but she had to admit to herself that she was intrigued by his words.

"I have among my possessions an object called a dildo, which I purchased at the Moor’s shop in Hereford. It is a forbidden object, not easily obtainable, but the Moor knows my tastes. It is shaped like a manhood, and fashioned of polished ash wood." He smiled wickedly at her. "After I have taken the little nun’s virginity through her temple of Venus; perhaps you should like to take her other virginity through her temple of Sodom. The dildo can be used by its hand grip, or you might enjoy attaching it to yourself with the leather straps I have for it, and playing the boy, cousin. Would you like that, Isleen?"