“Well, lass? Are you going to sit there all day while the water grows cold or are you going to let me wash your hair so we can get you ready to go below stairs?”

Rionna shook herself from her thoughts and then nodded. Maddie briskly fetched a wooden bucket from the window and then motioned for Rionna to sit forward in the tub. As Rionna sat up, Maddie’s eyes widened.

“Well now, where have you been hiding those?”

Rionna looked down and flushed as she became aware that Maddie was staring at her exposed breasts. They bobbed in the water and Rionna laid her arm across her chest to push them down.

“I’m cursed,” Rionna muttered.

“Oh, Lordie, no you’re not cursed. Lasses would kill to have a shape like that. Does your husband know what he’s got?”

Rionna scowled.

Maddie let out a chuckle. “I’ll take that as a no. Oh my but is he in for a surprise.”

“He won’t be seeing them for a while if I have my way.”

Maddie hooted again and then poured a bucket of water over Rionna’s head. “Surely you aren’t going to hide them forever.”

“Nay. Not forever.”

“You think he’s not going to want a peek at your treasures when he beds you?”

Rionna frowned. “How do you know …”

Maddie made a tsking sound. “Oh come now, lass. You were as drunk as an old warrior put out to pasture and there was no stain on your bed. Unless you’re going to tell me you weren’t a maiden.”

Another flush crawled over Rionna’s face. Maddie was as forward as they came, and Rionna wasn’t used to the counsel of other women. It made her distinctly uncomfortable.

“There’ll be plenty of time to warm your husband’s bed,” Maddie advised. “Until then you need to give him a taste of what he’s missing so far. The lad’s tongue will be hanging out his mouth if you show those breasts to their best advantage.”

Rionna shook her head. “ ’Tis not my husband’s reaction I’m concerned with.”

“Think you Caelen would allow another man to get near his wife? Come now, lass. You may have worried before about untoward advances, but if a woman can’t look her finest at her own wedding celebration, then when can she? A man would be a fool to approach you with your new husband there beside you.”

“What do you have in mind?” Rionna asked warily.

Maddie shot her a smug smile as she began rinsing away the soap. “You leave that to me. I think I have just the thing.”