The Rose of Provence Read Online Free

laughed, then after a short pause, she
continued: “But let me tell you the purpose of my arrival… I’ve
been living in the royal court for a while; I’m the companion of
Catherine, the spouse of the crown prince, and a serious problem
oppresses my mistress. She has been the wife of the prince for ten
years, but she can’t get pregnant, and if she is not going to
conceive soon, she has to leave the castle and the country as well.
I promised to help her, so I came here to prepare rose
nectar.”
    “ Yes, the nectar of the Rosa gallica is extremely effective in
the case of such troubles. But you obviously know that the
strongest potion can only be made at the time of the full moon, and
it’s almost two weeks ahead.”
    “ I know! That is also why I need your help. Because the more
people cook the rose nectar, the more effective the potion will be
the next time. I’ve made it roughly ten times only, but you have
done it several hundred times! We substitute the power of the full
moon with this.”
    “ You’re right,” nodded Marie. “How long will you
stay?”
    “ I have to leave tomorrow at dawn.”
    “ We cannot idle then! If we prepare the nectar by midnight and
let it stand until the break of day among the bushes and in the
fragrance of the living roses, then one phial will be enough for
your mistress to give birth to a baby boy by the middle of
winter.”
    She put Jérome in the girl’s hands, sprang up from the bench
swiftly, and hurried into the house. After a short while, she
returned with a book.
    “ My recipes,” she held out the linen-covered volume towards
Amrita.
    “ What happened to the yellowed parchment bundle?”
    “ It’s necessary to follow the latest trends! One of my
customers is a binder, so I asked for an empty book of him, and
then I copied the recipes from the parchment.”
    Amrita took the purple linen-covered book in her hand, and
turned some pages.
    “ Why is it so fragrant?” She sniffed the air with her eyes
closed.
    “ I soaked the linen in lavender water; it got the color from
that too. Then, I covered the binder with it.”
    The girl glanced at the sheets; the book was left open
exactly at the recipe of the rose nectar.
    “ Even if I woke up in the middle of the night, I know it by
heart,” she murmured, but it was good to absorb the words
again.
    Fecundating Rose Nectar
    First of all, prepare rose honey for the rose nectar: make a
thick syrup of the freshly picked petals from the noblest tea roses
and sugar until the petals are completely cooked. The rose honey is
particularly effective against women’s problems.
    When the honey is ready, collect two cups of Rosa gallica,
but only from the blood-red type. Add four cups of boiled spring
water and let it stand in a glass bowl. Stir often so the petals
always stay under water. If the liquid is fragrant enough, strain
it, then add the nectar of the tea rose and three pinches of dried
verbena. Finally, pour the potion into a phial, which can be locked
well.
    The person who drinks it every morning for twenty-one days,
will conceive a boy, and who sips it in the evenings, will give
birth to a baby girl.
    “ Come, have something to eat!” Marie invited her before the
girl could say anything else. “There’s baked fish left from lunch;
it was caught in the Rhône River this morning. For dessert, I’ll
give you some donuts with rose jam; I know it’s your
favorite.”
    Amrita had a hearty dinner. The zander, which was crispy on
the outside and soft on the inside, almost melted in her mouth. And
the fresh donut, bathing in the sweet jam, was just as succulent as
in her memories.
    After dinner, they started to cook: they prepared the honey,
then the rose water and finally mixed the two into a balmy nectar.
They locked it in a crystal phial and lay it among the rose bushes
for the night.
    At dawn, when the rattling carriage arrived, Amrita was
already waiting for it. She said good-bye to Marie and set out
again on the two-day