Part 53 (1/2)
”You have a lovely body, my lady.
”Twould please me to create gowns for you.”
”Did you sew all these?” Meredith swept her hand to indicate the gowns that littered the bed.
”Aye. These are a sample of my wares.”
”Yours is a fine talent.”
Meredith saw the woman beam at her compliment. As Rowena helped her into the water and began lathering Meredith's hair she said,
”I was once the royal seamstress.”
”You sewed for Queen Mary?”
”Aye.” The woman's tone grew dreamy.
”I was but ten and three when I accompanied the infant queen to France.
Because of my deformity, 'twas determined that I would never marry. So I was taught from childhood how to sew. When the queen mother, Marie de Guise, saw my work, she insisted that I would spend my life dressing her child.”
”How wonderful. Did you enjoy your time in France?”
”At first. It was so gay there. There were so many b.a.l.l.s and state dinners. I was kept so busy I hardly had time to sleep. I was given a little room filled with bolts of silks and satins and a clean bed of my own. Though it was drafty, and far from the queen and her ladies-in-waiting, it was heaven after the humble cottage I had been born in here in the Highlands.”
Meredith leaned back in the water, loving the feel of the woman's strong hands against her scalp.
She had been cold, so cold, on the long journey from Kinloch House to this ancient fortress. The warmth of the bath, the lingers at her scalp, threatened to lull her into a false sense of security. She cautioned herself to stay alert to any chance at escape.
”It all sounds wonderful.”
Meredith heard the note of pain that crept into Rowena's tone. ' ”Aye.
It was. For a time. But when the young queen married the dauphin, his mother, Catherine de' Medici, stated that I was an embarra.s.sment at Court. She insisted that I be sent back to Scotland at once.”
Meredith's sense of fair play overcame her earlier dislike of this woman.
”Was the queen not able to use her influence on your behalf?”
”Influence.” Rowena gave a hollow laugh.
”As long as Catherine de' Medici lives, there is no other influence in France save hers.”
”But Queen Mary has returned from France.” Meredith sat up as the woman wrapped a linen about her damp hair. ”Perhaps you should entreat her to reinstate your position and once again use your talents.”
Rowena toweled Meredith's hair vigorously, then picked up a cake of fragrant soap. Her tone was one of resignation. ”I am a humble Highlander. The queen is surrounded by important people, her time taken up with matters of state. By now she has forgotten her childhood dressmaker. There is no way I could ever approach her.”
”What of your lord Mackay? Could he not use his influence as a Highland chief to intercede with the queen?”
”My lord Mackay,” Rowena said with a note of contempt, 'would never act as an intermediary for one of his clan. He is a cruel leader who thinks only of his own pleasures