A Knight to Remember Read Online Free Page B

what to do about a wounded warrior and his hostile manservant .
    “If you’re troubled about refusing Lady Blanche the syrup of poppies, pray do not. You were right, and so I told her when she came to me.” Lowering her chin,Lady Corliss looked at Edlyn from below gray brows. “I know you think I don’t see the way Lady Blanche treats you, but I do, and I have taken steps to correct it. She didn’t appreciate my reprimand, of course, and swears she’ll prove your perfidy, but as I told her, Lady Edlyn is an innocent soul, much wronged.”
    Edlyn’s guilt gained weight as Lady Corliss spoke. “Not so innocent,” she muttered.
    “Your little sins cannot justify the great iniquities that have plagued you.” Lifting her hand, fingers together, Lady Corliss indicated the church. “Of course, who am I to decide? Nevertheless, I have prayed that your burdens be eased and the world shown the truth of your kind and honest ways, and lately I have sensed God’s own grace smiling on you.”
    Lady Corliss had been praying, Edlyn had been praying, and their combined prayers had produced a wounded knight hidden in her dispensary. She had sworn not to tell, but Lady Corliss led an abbey of twenty-two noble nuns and their servants with a mixture of diplomacy and insight. What harm would it do to tell her? Edlyn wanted to so badly. “What if…what if I sinned horribly? Would the Lord’s displeasure manifest itself on the whole abbey?” Edlyn waited breathlessly for the reply.
    “You’re not a child, Lady Edlyn. You know the Lord doesn’t work like that. He gives to some, takes from others, for no reason we earthly beings can easily comprehend. Yet if one thinks very hard, sometimes one can discern God’s plans.” With a satisfied smile, Lady Corliss said, “Think on it. When Lord Jagger died, may he rest in peace, the income you used to found the abbey and nurse it through its early years ceased abruptly. We had to prove ourselves able to provide food, clothing, medicines. And, praise God and all thesaints, we were able to do so. What happened to you was a tragedy, but for us it was a welcome revelation.” She squeezed Edlyn’s arm. “You’ll see. Somehow everything is for the good.”
    Edlyn bent her head and scuffled her feet in the dirt. “But this is not like that.”
    “Would you feel better if you told me?”
    “I have sworn to keep it secret.”
    “Then you must do what you think is right. You have a conscience. You’ll make the right choice.” The infirmary door stood before them, and Lady Corliss said, “Enough of that. What is your mission now?”
    Do what she thought was right . Edlyn stumbled as she said, “I need a…gown.”
    “What kind of gown?”
    “Like we use for the sick men.”
    Lady Corliss didn’t hesitate. “Wait here.” She disappeared into the infirmary and came back with a gown of rough brown weave. “Here. Now go and do God’s work.”
    Edlyn walked away, and when she looked back, Lady Corliss waved, then walked toward the church.
    “She’s probably praying for me again,” Edlyn muttered. She should have felt even guiltier. Instead, she felt relieved.
    She didn’t want to return to the dispensary, but she couldn’t allow herself to consider. She just marched down the garden path and into the hut to find Wharton glaring like the toad he was.
    “Where have ye been? Th’ master’s in pain!”
    “Is the patient stripped and washed?” she asked.
    “Washed?” Wharton sounded scandalized. “In his condition?”
    Edlyn stepped around the oven and smothered a gasp. Hugh had been stripped completely, and ifanything, he looked longer and meaner than he did in armor. The bruising and the thin film of mud formed from dust and sweat made him look as if he were Adam himself, created from the clay of Eden.
    “Wash him.” She thrust the gown at Wharton. “Then put him in this. I’ll prepare something to help the pain.”
    She didn’t stop to see if he did as she instructed,