Whiter than the Lily by Alys Clare Read Free Book Online Page A

you,’ she added courteously.
    Galiena smiled as if to say, naturally!
    Fighting to keep a pleasant expression on her face,Helewise said, ‘I am told that you arrived alone? Was it wise to travel without an escort?’
    ‘I did have an escort,’ Galiena said quickly. ‘My maid and my husband’s stable lad. But it is quite a ride back to Ryemarsh so, as soon as the gates of Hawkenlye were in sight, I dismissed them and sent them on their way.’
    ‘I see.’ Helewise frowned. The girl’s explanation was perfectly reasonable and, had anyone else given it, Helewise might have been impressed at the selfless motive that had prompted the premature dismissal of the escort. As it was …
    I am being foolish, Helewise told herself firmly. I am wasting the Lord’s precious time on silly fancies.
    Getting to her feet, she said, ‘I believe that you are to speak with my infirmarer in the morning so, if there is nothing else, I will let you get to your bed.’
    Taking the cue, Galiena too rose. ‘No, I think I have all that I want,’ she said, frowning slightly as if checking through a mental list. ‘I will bid you good night, then, my lady.’
    She bowed, straightened and turned, then glided out of the room.
    Helewise listened to the quiet footsteps receding. For a little while she battled with herself. Then, giving up, she strode over to the open door, closed it rather too forcibly and, safely shut in her room, cried out, ‘Well, really !’
    She returned to her chair and flung herself down. The cheek of the girl! I think I have all I want , indeed! As if Helewise had been offering to fetchher a bedtime drink, wash out her personal linen or find her a softer pillow!
    She sat fuming for some time. Then, as habits of charity reasserted themselves, she began to regret her outburst. The girl is troubled and upset, she reminded herself. She is clearly quite desperate to give her husband this longed-for child, and why should she not have her wish? The dear Lord knows, enough babies are born to those who do not want them, cannot support them and have little love for them. Is it not something eagerly to be desired, that the healthy young wife of a man of wealth and position conceives and bears a child?
    The reasoning was sound enough. Why, then, Helewise asked herself, was she left with the feeling that Galiena Ryemarsh was a determined and ruthless young woman who would stop at nothing to get her own way?
    ‘I am ashamed of myself,’ Helewise whispered softly. She stood up, then, falling to her knees, began to pray. With sincere contrition she confessed her lack of charity and the unreasonable way that she had jumped to judge another human being, one, moreover, who had come to Hawkenlye for help. Knowing that these were faults she would have to share with her confessor in due course made her guilt lift slightly; Father Gilbert would view them as gravely as she did and the severity of her penance would probably reflect that. Until she could open her soul to him, she resolved that she would go out of her way to be kind to Galiena.
    By acting in charity towards another, the nuns said,you could override antipathy and even downright dislike. That was why you sometimes observed a sister silently and unobtrusively performing small acts of kindness for one of her fellow nuns; it was never easy, at least to begin with, but very often, with God’s grace, it worked.
    Helewise sighed. The strength of her reaction against the prospect of doing kind little deeds for Galiena Ryemarsh only went to show how important it was that she start as soon as she could.

4
     
    The next day was as hot as its predecessor. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky and there was no breeze to cool the nuns and monks as they worked through the long hours of toil. To add to the usual daily quota of problems, greater or smaller in nature, a swarm of bees had appeared out of nowhere and settled in the eaves of the stable block. Sister Tiphaine, who knew more about