The Herb of Grace Read Online Free

It’s good for the hens to eat, and my father used to feed it to his cows as well.’
    Luka had finished mopping up all the water, and so Martha poured a small amount of the rue water into her bucket and began to lower herself stiffly to the floor, a cloth in her hand.
    â€˜Here, I’ll do it,’ Emilia cried, and got down on her hands and knees, wiping the rue water over thefloor. The smell was enough to make her eyes water.
    â€˜Make sure you slosh it into all the corners,’ Martha instructed, and pushed her fists into the small of her spine, arching backwards. ‘I don’t want any fleas in here!’
    â€˜All right. Tell me more about the rue. What else does it do?’
    â€˜They used to sprinkle rue water before the High Mass on Sundays,’ Martha said, ‘because it’s meant to repel devils and witches. Popish nonsense! But they call it the herb of repentance because of that, or sometimes the herb of grace.’
    â€˜Aye,’ Emilia murmured, remembering her grandmother’s words.
    â€˜We always used to make up a bunch of rue for the judges when they came round for the assizes,’ Martha went on, smiling a little at the memory. ‘No doubt it was useful for protecting them fromthe gaol-fever, but my mother always thought it would help them be merciful.’
    Emilia at once imagined herself picking a bunch of rue for the magistrates in Kingston-Upon-Thames, and said excitedly, ‘What does it look like? Is it pretty?’
    â€˜Not really,’ Martha said, taking up a dishcloth and wiping the dishes that Luka was washing. ‘It’s a sort of grey-green colour, and gets tiny little yellow flowers in summer. It smells awful.’
    Since she was almost gagging at the smell of the rue water, Emilia could believe this. She abandoned the idea rather reluctantly.
    â€˜Don’t let that monkey drink it,’ Martha advised, looking at Zizi who was sniffing at the jar in curiosity. ‘It’s poisonous as anything.’
    Luka at once snatched up his monkey and snuggled her into his neck, and Emilia got up and screwed the lid on the jar again. She wascaught unawares by a yawn so huge her jaw cracked.
    â€˜Well, thank you for helping out,’ Martha said, smiling at her, ‘but you get to bed now. It’s very late. In the morning you can give me a hand with a few more chores around the place.’
    â€˜All right,’ the children said.
    â€˜Come, and I’ll tuck you up in bed. Luka, I’ve put you in Lord Jeremy’s old room, and Emilia, you’re just next door in what used to be my room, when I was his nurse. I thought you’d like to be near one another.’
    As she spoke, Martha picked up her lantern and a couple of hot bricks wrapped in cloths, as she led them out into the draughty corridor. Rollo got up and followed them, ears pricked.
    â€˜Not you, dog,’ Martha said. Rollo’s ears drooped and he whined.
    â€˜Oh, he has to come with us,’ Emilia said quickly. ‘He’s never slept by himself. He’d howland howl, and scratch and scratch at the door . . . besides, I’d be scared without him, all alone in such a big, dark house . . .’
    Martha shot her a sceptical look, but said in resignation, ‘Very well. At least he’s had a bath. He’s not to sleep on the bed, though, do you hear? There’s a perfectly comfortable hearthrug he can lie on.’
    Emilia nodded, smiling, as Rollo bounded before them, his claws clicking on the wooden floor. They climbed up a flight of steps, and huddled close behind Martha as she led them down a long corridor to a little suite of rooms at the back of the house. The rooms both opened out into some kind of sitting room, rather bare, except for some shelves laden with some rather forlorn-looking toys. A fire had been lit in the hearth, shielded by a tall metal grate, and Rollo obediently lay down on the moth-eaten