Lord le Wyse was still looking at her. “Can you tie up sheaths?”
Tie up sheaths? What was that? Evangeline shook her head and shrugged.
“Perhaps she is a house servant,” Westley offered. “Are you?”
How should she respond? Eva nodded. At least if she worked inside, she couldn’t nearly decapitate someone.
“Go with Westley.” Lord le Wyse nodded to his son. “Take her to the castle. Let your mother find something for her to do there.” He bent to pick up the scythe while Evangeline turned to go with Westley.
She had imagined joy and sunshine and freedom, and instead she had nearly killed a man with her incompetence.
“Don’t feel so bad.”
Westley walked toward the house beside Eva. Her head hung low and her shoulders drooped.
“The reeve will be well. He will enjoy the attention of getting bandaged, no doubt.”
She glanced up at him with a sad smile, then slowly shook her head.
Truly, she was very pretty. He had never seen hair quite the color of hers. But the way she expressed her feelings through her facial expressions was particularly fascinating—vulnerable and yet unashamed.
How sad that someone had abused her. How unfair that she might never speak again. To think of someone striking her at all, and especially to brutally and intentionally injure such a lovely, gentle maiden . . . It was hard to fathom. He was almost sorry they were dead so he could not exact justice on the maiden’s behalf.
He remembered her look of abject horror when she stared at the blood on Reeve Folsham’s side. But thank God it was only a scratch. Anything worse and she would have had to stand trial at the next manorial court.
“My mother will take good care of you. She is very kind. You will see. And the other house servants are friendly. They will help you with whatever you need.”
She smiled up at him. In truth, she was nearly as tall as he was, but with her head down, the way she looked at him through her lashes made it seem as if she was gazing up at him.
When they reached the house, he said, “Everyone calls it the castle to distinguish it from the manor house. But it is not exactly an impressive fortress such as Berkhamsted Castle.” She looked at him with interest, so he went on. “My father had planned to build another wing and a new tower, but after the Peasants’ Uprising, he changed his mind.”
They climbed the front steps and he opened the door, motioning Eva inside. “Mother!” he called.
“Here I am.” With a smile on her face, Mother emerged from the storage rooms at the back of the house. She hurried forward and threw her arms around him. He kissed her on the cheek.
“I missed you while you were gone,” she said. “Oh, is this Eva?”
“News travels fast in Glynval.”
“My dear, let me welcome you to our little household.”
Lady le Wyse was as beautiful as Lord le Wyse was handsome, in spite of his eye patch. Her hair was blonde, with a braid coiled around her head and other braids caught in a ribbon at the back of her neck. Her smile was her most beautiful feature, however. She took Evangeline’s hand and squeezed it. “Do you have any special skills, Eva?”
“Mother, she can’t—”
“I am aware that she cannot speak. Eva, do you cook?”
She shook her head.
“Do you sew?”
Evangeline nodded, then shrugged. How could she tell her that she embroidered pictures on tapestries but had never done any mending and did not know how to make even the simplest article of clothing? Evangeline had to shake her head.
“Have you ever worked in a dairy, separating the milk and churning butter?”
Evangeline bit her lip. She had never done anything except read books, hunt, sing, and embroider. What kind of servant would she be? Would they send her away?
“No matter. We will find something for you to do.” Lady le Wyse smiled kindly at her.
“I shall see you later, then.” Westley stepped forward, bent, and kissed his mother on the cheek. He nodded to Evangeline. “Mother will take care of you.” He gave her a reassuring smile and walked away.
“And do not worry about the reeve,” she said quietly, for Evangeline’s ears only. “We are bandaging the scratch on his side and he should be perfectly well.”
Evangeline expelled a breath of gratitude.
They walked through the house and out the back door to a stone kitchen a few feet away. Inside, a woman held a large piece of some kind of bloody raw meat. “Lady le Wyse, good morning to you.”
“Golda, this is a new helper, Eva. Eva, this is our head cook, Golda.” Two other maidens working in the kitchen turned their attention to Lady le Wyse. “Eva does not speak, but she hears and understands what you say to her. Do you have some work she can do?”
“Can she shell peas?”
Lady le Wyse looked at Evangeline. How difficult could it be? At least she couldn’t hurt anyone with a pea pod.
Evangeline smiled and nodded.