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

bees than anyone else at Hawkenlye, was trying in vain to keep the nuns calm while she readied a skep for the new swarm, but two of the young postulants had gone too near and one of them had received several stings. From the fuss she was making, Sister Euphemia had been overheard to remark caustically, you would have thought she had been cast into Hell and was being prodded by red-hot pitchforks.
    Helewise, making a determined start on her resolve to be kind and generous of heart towards Galiena, offered up a special prayer for the girl at Matins, at Prime and at Tierce. She did not know exactly when Sister Euphemia planned to interview Galiena – the infirmarer had not been specific – and so Helewise sent word to the infirmary asking Sister Euphemiato report to her as soon as there was anything to report.
    Sister Euphemia came to see her in the middle of the morning.
    Helewise, taking in the expression on Sister Euphemia’s face, realised immediately that things had not gone well. Reaching for the jug that stood on her table, she poured out a mug of barley water and handed it to the infirmarer, who took it with an absent nod and downed it in one.
    ‘That’s better.’ She smacked her lips. ‘Thank you, my lady.’
    ‘You looked as if you needed a cool drink,’ Helewise observed.
    Sister Euphemia grinned briefly. ‘It was as obvious as that?’
    ‘It was,’ Helewise agreed. ‘What has happened, Sister?’
    Sister Euphemia sighed and shook her head. ‘Precisely nothing, my lady! For all that she clamours for our help, she will not speak to me of intimate matters between herself and her husband. Not a word! And when I suggested I have a look at her, she leapt up and clutched that long veil she wears tightly around her as if I were threatening to strip off her clothes and examine her by force!’ Pink in the face at this insult to her professional integrity, Sister Euphemia was momentarily lost for words. Then, in a quieter voice, she added, ‘The very idea!’
    ‘Do not distress yourself,’ Helewise said soothingly. ‘All of us who know your ways treasure your kindnessand your tact when – er, when a patient’s treatment requires certain intimacies.’
    ‘Thank you, my lady.’ Sister Euphemia muttered something to herself then, eyes raised to meet Helewise’s, she said, ‘I wouldn’t have said that young lady was coy, though. I find it strange that she should react to my questions like a timid child.’
    ‘You can never tell,’ Helewise remarked. ‘Sometimes what we see on the surface masks other, very different emotions.’ Remembering her vow to be charitable to Galiena, she went on, ‘Perhaps she finds this whole business of trying to conceive rather embarrassing. I mean, she is still young and to have strangers know of – er, of matters usually reserved for the bedchamber, to have people, no matter how well-intentioned, aware that there are difficulties …’ Floundering, she broke off.
    The infirmarer was watching her with a smile. ‘Happen you’re right, my lady, and I’m grateful to you for reminding me of something I should have thought of for myself. I’m too forthright and well I know it. I meant well, though, and I did stop my questions when she looked so upset. And I’d only got as far as asking her whether her courses came regularly and fully, how frequently her husband lies with her and whether he’s still capable of ejaculation!’
    Helewise had a moment’s genuine sympathy for Galiena. However well intentioned, Sister Euphemia could be formidable when she was seeking out the facts behind a patient’s malaise.
    ‘Then I said,’ the infirmarer was relating, ‘well, mygirl, if you don’t want to speak of such things, better hop up on the cot, slip your skirts up and let me have a look at you, and she went so white I thought she was going to faint!’ Amazement flooded the honest face all over again as Sister Euphemia described the scene.
    ‘Oh, dear,’ Helewise said.