“Let her cry,” he said to the medic. “I’ll get nothing out of her until that’s over.”

He knelt with a clank and put his hand under Yseult’s chin, the harsh calluses on his fingers like human sandpaper. It felt like her father’s hand or Odard’s.

“I need the information, soonest, daughter of Gervais! Control yourself like a noblewoman. Quickly!”

Yseult nodded and gulped . . . which started hiccups. Romarec chaffed her hands and rubbed her back. More handkerchiefs appeared at her gesture and Yseult breathed deeply. Her breath kept catching on her hiccups, but they faded away as she kept breathing and sipping from the glass Romarec held.

Twice today, some distant part of her thought wryly. It’s turning out to be a real black letter day.

Romarec gave her the glass, but her left hand wasn’t working and Adolphus had to catch it. “Saints Cosmas and Damien! What happened? How did you injure your wrist?” he asked probing.

“Doo . . . doo . . . door . . . hit me . . .”

“Where?”

“Back.”

Quick competent hands probed up and down her spine and shoulder blades. She twisted away as he touched where the door had hit her. He took her face again and tilted it.

“Burns, rug and embers. Ah! From your mother’s gown. You must stop crying, you’ve washed them with enough salt water to clean them, that’s for sure, but it’s getting inflamed. I think you’ll have a few scars.

He turned to Romarec: “Goodwife, get some soft cloths, soak them in water as cold as you can get it and dab at her face. Get the swelling under control. No arnica or witch hazel; this one’s too close to her eye. Just cool water.”

Adolphus wrapped her wrist in a tight bandage and pinned it to the front of her riding jacket. She concentrated on sipping, holding the glass in her right hand.

“I . . . I can talk, Sir, Sir Garrick,” she said.

“Good girl! Ten minutes to control a hysterical fit, all on your own. You’ve got steel somewhere, Gervais.”

She shook her head, tears still trickling down her cheeks. The left one stung and throbbed.

“I—I went riding over the east bridle path today. I left the castle about five, five thirty. Master Johannsen might know exactly when.”

“Were you just getting back when we saw you?” asked Garrick.