The Silent Songbird (Hagenheim #7)(18)

They shelled furiously, hardly talking as they kept their gazes on their laps and their peas.

A while later, with Sabina and Cecily both crowing that they were winning, Mistress Alice strode toward them. “Girls, when you get those peas shelled, go and get your midday meal at the manor. Then help clean and get ready for the field workers to come in for their meal.”

“Are these the last of the peas?” Nicola asked.

“This will be the last big batch. Tomorrow I will only need one of you. Cecily, Sabina, what are you doing?”

“They are trying to see who is the fastest sheller,” Berta said.

“Are the ones in your baskets all that’s left?”

“Yes, Mistress Alice.”

Mistress Alice went to look over Sabina’s and Cecily’s shoulders.

“Finished!” they both screamed simultaneously.

“Who is the winner, Mistress Alice?” Berta said.

Mistress Alice picked up each basket and examined the contents. Frowning, she selected a few pieces of pea hull from Sabina’s basket and a few unshelled pea pods from Cecily’s, then said, “Cecily has more.”

Cecily laughed so loud, they must have heard her in the farthest field.

“What? No!” Sabina stood and slammed her fists against her hips.

Mistress Alice raised her eyebrows at Sabina, then walked away. She stopped beside Evangeline and looked down at her basket. Evangeline held her breath.

Berta said, “I don’t think she’s ever shelled peas before. We had to show her how to do it.”

Cecily laughed again. Nicola gave both Berta and Cecily a narrow-eyed stare, and Sabina stalked off.

“Get finished with the last few and come to the kitchen.” Mistress Alice turned to leave.

Two young women approached, both dressed in patched woolen kirtles. One of them walked ahead of the other and called out, “Excuse me.”

Mistress Alice took notice of them.

The young maiden’s face was very pale.

“Are you Mistress Alice?”

“Yes.”

“We were wondering if you needed servants. We are hard workers and can work in the fields or inside, whatever you need.”

“I’ve only just taken on two new maidservants. Perhaps I’ll have need of you next spring.”

The two maidens’ shoulders seemed to slump as they thanked her and trudged away.

A pain went through Evangeline’s heart as she watched them leave. She and Muriel were taking jobs that these two women obviously needed. O God, I’m so sorry. Please don’t let them go hungry. But from the looks of their sunken cheeks, they were already going hungry.

Cecily let out a whoop. “Did you see Sabina’s face when Mistress Alice said I shelled more peas than she did?”

Nicola said quietly, “Yes, and I saw how unkindly you treated Eva. You would do well to remember what Lady le Wyse said about being kind to each other. We are treated well here, but if she catches anyone being unkind, she will send us home as she did with Anna and Beatrice.”

“They were fighting,” Berta retorted. “Did you see any of us fighting?”

Nicola didn’t answer but continued shelling the peas in her basket.

But Evangeline was paying little heed to the squawking maidservants as she noticed Westley speaking quietly with Mistress Alice. Had he been near enough to hear what the two young maidens had said to her? He suddenly reeled away from Mistress Alice and ran after the two maidens.

She strained to hear what Westley was saying, but he spoke too softly and was too far away. The maidens’ faces suddenly spread into smiles. They nodded at him, then they both started walking back to the castle with him.

Evangeline’s heart soared. Westley would not let the women go hungry. He would find jobs for them. A lump rose in her throat as she turned back to the circle of servants.

“I’m done with my basket.” Cecily got up and left.

A few minutes later, Berta did the same.

Evangeline sighed as she looked into her basket and saw how much more she had left to shell. At the slow rate she was going, it would take her at least an hour.

“I’ll help.” Nicola took some of Evangeline’s pea pods and put them into her own basket. “We’ll be done soon.”

Evangeline was so slow. Why would anyone want a servant who could not do anything worthwhile? They would surely get rid of her the way they had rid themselves of the two fighting girls Nicola mentioned. But if they forced Evangeline to leave, she would never see Westley again, and that thought was sad indeed, especially since she was more intrigued with him than ever.





Chapter Seven


Evangeline hefted the bucket of water off the edge of the well, and the weight of it pulled the bucket out of her wet hands. It overturned on the ground, and she gasped as the cold water swept over her feet, seeping through her shoes.

It was only midmorning and already she had dropped the basket of eggs she and Cecily had gathered from the hens in the henhouse. A hen had flown at Evangeline’s head and scratched her cheek, which still stung.

She sighed and picked up the now-empty bucket and placed it back on the rope, then lowered it into the well. She hauled it up, the bucket dripping. This time she tipped it over and poured some of the water back into the well so it would be easier to carry.