England might be gripped by plague, and the Pengraic house might be in turmoil, but even so, it seemed nothing would stop the steward and Lady Adelie entertaining the king as they believed fitting. The great hall on the ground floor had been opened up, benches and trestle tables moved in, the great banners and tapestries rehung from beams and on walls, the fires lit, and I was, indeed, to dine with the king.

      Nothing in Lady Adelie’s household had prepared me for this. As the evening drew in, Evelyn and I left the two youngest children in the care of their nurse while she and I, together with Alice, Emmette and the twin boys, washed and prepared ourselves for the evening’s feast. I had nothing suitable to wear, but Mistress Yvette, in a moment she spared us from her dressing of Lady Adelie, generously offered me one of her kirtles, a lovely spring-green linen garment, adorned with crimson ribbons and embroideries.

      ‘It is so beautiful!’ I said as I smoothed it down over my hips.

      ‘And it suits your black hair,’ said Evelyn, ‘and reflects the green of your eyes.’

      Despite everything I had heard this day, and the upheaval of the entire household, I shall admit I was more than a little excited at this evening’s entertainments. I had never worn such a rich gown, nor thought I would ever attend a court where a king should be present.

      There would not be many women attending — Lady Adelie, Mistress Yvette, and Evelyn only; myself, and the two elder Pengraic girls still at home. There would be no gaggle of painted court beauties, or a bevy of titled ladies. All courtly attention would be on our small group.

      I wondered if I would attract any admiring eyes. I fingered one of my heavy braids, shifting it this way and that across my breasts, pleased with the effect of my black hair against the green and scarlet.

      Evelyn came over, and I remarked that she had not veiled her head as she was wont to do.

      ‘There will be no veils among the womenfolk tonight, Maeb. It is the new fashion to wear hair unadorned, save for flowers or jewels, at courtly events. Even married women go without their veils.

      ‘And the unmarried … Maeb, why not wear your hair loose tonight? It will be all wavy from the braiding, and it must surely reach all the way down to your knees. You have such lovely hair … you do not need to lengthen it with the horsehair that some women require. Tonight you can shine in all your womanly glory, eh? Enough to catch the eye of one of the king’s gentle retainers? A youthful knight, or even a baron?’

      ‘Sweet Jesu, Evelyn, you shall have me married before the morn!’

      She laughed. ‘Ah, come now, Maeb. Here now, it is all loosened. We shall brush it … and I have just the thing for your brow, this circlet of ribbon and waxen flowers that Lady Adelie once gave to me. There. Done. You shall be beautiful for tonight, and for one evening forget whatever worries you heard earlier. Now, let’s see if Alice has managed to dress Emmette’s hair, or if we shall have to do it ourselves.’

      There was a small looking glass in the chamber, and as Evelyn turned to Alice and Emmette, I stole a glance in its reflection.

      I hardly recognised myself. The excitement had put a sparkle in my eyes, and the richness of the verdant green gown, and the unaccustomed sight of my hair unbound and tumbling about my shoulders and back, made me look almost the wood dryad. I bit my lips a little to make them redden and, checking quickly to make sure Evelyn was not watching, pinched my cheeks to colour them, too.

      For that moment, the plague and the journey ahead was all lost in my anticipation. I forgot even my humiliation of earlier, and looked forward only to an evening that a few weeks ago I could not ever have imagined myself attending.

      My night would be full of earls and kings and feasting. I thought of Stephen, too, and wondered what he would make of me now.

      I remembered the jest he made of his bedchamber on that day I had first arrived at Rosseley, and suddenly I had no need of pinching to make my cheeks colour.

      I put down the looking glass, and turned to where Evelyn fussed over the girls, and smiled.

      Tonight I would enjoy, and tomorrow I would fear.

      I had not previously entered the great hall of Rosseley Manor. Its doors were always closed, and there had been no reason for me to go inside. My world had been completely bounded by Lady Adelie and her children — not the larger world of men and court of which I’d only had tantalising glimpses.

      So on this night, when I entered, I stopped and just looked.

      I had never seen a chamber so huge, not even that of a church! I knew that the hall ran a great distance from seeing its outer walls, but even so, nothing had prepared me for its size once I entered it.

      Now I understood why the stairs from the ground floor to the upper level wound up and up for an eternity — they had to somehow surmount the height of the hall’s panelled ceiling.

      The hall ran back from its entrance doors to an enormous fireplace in its far wall. Before that fireplace — ablaze even on this warm spring night — sat a raised dais with a long table heavy with patterned silken damasks and linens. The light from both the fire and the scores of torches and candles about made the silver and golden plate and cups and pitchers atop the table glint with a rosy light.

      I had never seen … I had never comprehended such riches!

      I knew this all came from the earl’s household store, for I’d overheard William on the stairs earlier, handing a key to an armed servant that the plate might be unlocked for the night.

      If an earl commanded such wealth, then what might the king’s court reveal?

      ‘Maeb.’

      Evelyn’s voice broke into my awed reverie, and I hastily moved aside at her gentle tug on my hand. We walked to one side of the hall — two long tables ran down the length of the hall, as if they were pillars supporting the cross beam of the high table — and allowed one of the servants to lead us to our places. We were by ourselves now, for we had handed over Alice, Emmette, Ancel and Robert to Mistress Yvette so they could enter with their parents, and the two younger children were with the nurse. Mistress Yvette would stay close to Lady Adelie for the evening, so Evelyn and myself had little to do but enjoy ourselves, with no duties to perform.

      The two long tables were already almost full of diners. There were no other women present save for Evelyn and myself — Lady Adelie, Mistress Yvette and the two girls had yet to make their entrance — and we attracted