There was the sound of her crutch against the stone floor of the chamber. “I brought these.” She was holding a bunch of twigs.

“A bouquet of twigs.”

“Not a bouquet for decoration, silly.” Her bright blue eyes sparkled. It was as if two little pieces of blue sky had come into the shadowy chamber. “Just a bunch of bayberry and juniper twigs for Princess Mary’s teeth.”

“Her teeth? Whatever is she going to do with twigs?”

“Clean her teeth, of course.”

Another hygienic quirk. Rose imagined that the entire concept of toothpaste squeezed from a tube onto a real toothbrush would seem completely bizarre. And weren’t twigs as real as a plastic toothbrush with its nylon bristles? Twig toothbrushes at least made a lot more sense than only washing your underwear once every several months.

“You know, Rose, we’re in great luck.”

“And why is that?”

“Princess Mary is coming. They hate each other.”

“Then why is she coming?”

“They like to spy on each other. Not to mention the fact that Princess Mary delights in Elizabeth’s banishment. But Elizabeth never wants any of her personal servants around when Mary is here. She even locks up all her jewelry.”

“Yes, Princess Elizabeth mentioned that her half sister likes to take her things.”

“Last time she took one of Elizabeth’s favorite footmen. But you see, this gives us plenty of time together. My work is done.”

“What shall we do?”

“Well, we could go for a swim?”

“A swim?”

“In the River Lea. We can fish there too. See, this is the first really hot day and I haven’t had a bath since . . . I don’t know, maybe Christmas.”

Gross! Rose thought.

“So, you know how to swim despite your leg.”

“Despite my leg! Oh my goodness, I swim better than I can walk. Not many people do swim. But I am one. I feel free in the water.”

“But what about a bathing suit?”

“Bathing suit? Whatever are you talking about?”

“What do you wear?”

“I wear my nether things and sometimes my chemise. Why waste time to wash your clothes separately when you can swim in them and make them clean? And there’s a place where the eddies get quite boisterous. It’s wonderful for scrubbing out dirt.”

Yes, Rose thought, like a spin cycle on a washing machine. And she realized that nether things must mean stockings and underpants.

“Then we can just lie out on the grassy banks and be dry in no time. Oh, it will feel so good after all these months with nary a drop of water on my skin. Very cold winter. Ice on the well. Then only so much wood to heat up enough water for the teakettle and cooking. Couldn’t waste it on bathing.”

A blast from a horn seared the air.