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"God’s ways are athose young monks rode aith Prince Ekkehard"
Humilicus bowed his head as if in submission to the unfathomable mind of God The procession of monks moved away down the street
Anna stairl followed happily, skipping and singing, as they walked down to the waterfront gate, to the fullers’ yard The mistress allowed them to sit on their cloaks by the hearth while she inspected each finger of cloth with an eye to flaws, but Anna didn’t , since it aran spinning fiber to yarn Helen pried all the thorns from the rose and tucked it behind her ear, like an ornament Sleepy, she yawned so widely that her es sat or stood in the hall, spinning, although most of the activity at this time of day took place out in the yard or in the tenters’ field situated below the city walls
"That’ll do," said the fuller, who usually hadn’t a kind word to say about anyone That she couldn’t find any flaws in the weaver’s as high praise "I don’t want anyone saying we’d da" An assistant hurriedly took the cloth away to the yard "I’ve twelve lengths done for you to be taking back to your aunt, although I see you’ve an errand to run before you go home" She indicated the scarlet cloak, already fulled and finished, that Anna had set on the bench behind her The fuller fingered the cloth in the saet such a good scarlet color Did Mistress Suzanne get the wool already dyed?"
Anna allowed herself a vapid shands,about it and reached instinctively to tighten your belt or take a slice of apple, but occasionally it had advantages
"Well, you’ve nothing to say! And no wonder Your aunt has made much of herself in Gent since the Eika were driven out If I didn’t know you were mute, I’d suppose you were simply too proud to talk to such as me!" The fuller had the kind of face easily creased by saze, only envy "Still, you’re old enough to be betrothed, and you look as though you’re likely to beto the women’s benches come St Oya’s Day Has Mistress Suzanne found a husband for you yet?"
Anna shook her head She didn’t ; that was part of the natural order But she didn’t like the way people tried to tee offers After all, no one actually cared about her
"You’ve a funny color of skin, it’s true, but you’re healthy enough and it would be a good alliance with a prosperous faeous for both our households to be allied one with the other I’ve a likely nephew He’s a good lad, alth, but shrieks erupted frorunt of anger "Gutta, give the weaver’s niece the cloth that’s done" To Anna’s relief, she strode out to the yard, where Anna heard her voice raised in a blistering scolding
A girl no older than Anna transferred the fulled and dried cloth into Anna’s keeping as soon as Anna tucked distaff and spindle into her belt She layered the good scarlet cloak in between the other cloth, for protection, and stamped twice to attract Helen’s attention She held a dozen folded lengths of cloth that Mistress Suzanne would either trade to tailors’ row or finish herself into cloaks and winter clothing With a sigh of satisfaction, she left the fullers’ yard behind
As usual, she had saved the best delivery for last
She loved visiting the nized her and let her and Helen inside without any trouble, although one of thee, bent down to speak to her
"I beg you, sister, say a good word for me to the lovely Frederun I know she favors you for the handsouard snorted "This girl’sto the lovely Frederun, not that it would mean much to you if she did! She hasn’t taken a man to her bed since Lord Wichman went away Get on with you, then, child, and leave us out here in the cold Maybe poor Ernust’s nether parts will cool off a little!"
The palace coet around The stables and storerooms lay to one side, the palace on the other, and the kitchens at the far end of the central courtyard so that any fire that s Despite the Eika occupation, the palace had survivedof the stables still lay in ruins, and three of the storerooes of repair The eastern gate had fallen in coreat heap of stone, but it had taken all this time to make the palace interior habitable and only this winter had his lordship sent to Kassel and Autun to find engineers who could direct the rebuilding of the gate