The Marriage Prize Read Free Page A

Leyburn?" Demi asked avidly.
    "What about him?" Rosamond shrugged a pretty shoulder to
    show her complete indifference.
    "He's your betrothed!"
    "Not for long! I'l soon rid myself of the ugly devil," Rosamond said lightly, licking honey from her fingers.
    "Is he truly ugly?" Demi asked with compassion.
    Rosamond's throaty laugh bubbled forth. "He left such an
    indelible impression upon me, I don't remember."
    The girls finished their breakfast and hurried off to their first
    lesson of the day. Eleanor de Montfort was a stickler for
    learning and would not excuse the Demoisel e from her
    lessons simply because her father had returned. They studied
    languages with Brother Adam, a learned Franciscan who had
    helped compile the library at Kenilworth. Both young ladies
    were fluent in French, and Rosamond had recendy developed
    a flair for Spanish, while Demi preferred to learn the Welsh
    tongue. They also studied history and government, as wel as
    music and art.
    Along with this liberal education, each was preparing to
    become
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    the proficient chatelaine of her own castle. They learned how
    to run a kitchen, a laundry, a stil room, and a household of
    servants. They learned how to make herbal cures from the
    nuns of St. Bride's and were taught to stitch, cauterize, and
    dress the wounds of men-at-arms in case bloody action
    became necessary in times of emergency.
    On top of al this knowledge, Rosamond had acquired
    something far more valuable. She had acquired a measure of
    self-confidence and was no longer the vulnerable, insecure
    child she had once been. Because she revered Princess
    Eleanor, Lady de Montfort had become her role model. She
    imitated the magnificent woman's sparkling wit, her ful -bodied
    laugh, her exquisite clothes, and her regal demeanor. Eleanor
    could swear a blue streak with the stable boys or freeze the
    Queen of England with a haughty stare, and Rosamond
    Marshal was fast becoming the same sort of vibrant woman
    as the Countess of Leicester.

    ******************
The next morning, Rosamond chose a lavender gown whose
    shade matched the color of her eyes. It was richly
    embroidered with delicate seed pearls on its sleeves and
    square-cut neckline. Her beautiful clothes not only gave her
    pleasure, they also lent her a great deal of confidence. She
    picked up the journal she was compiling on the medicinal
    properties of herbs and plants, and hurried to the stil room,
    where she had been secretly experimenting with bayberries
    where she had been secretly experimenting with bayberries
    versus bay leaves to ease the pain and length of labor in
    childbirth.
    The nuns had been outraged when they discovered
    Rosamond reading a medical journal from Cordoba, Spain,
    the world's undisputed center of medicine. It not only
    contained information on the painkil ing properties of plants,
    but listed herbs that prevented conception, such as
    dragonwort. The nuns lectured that herbal remedies to ease
    pain should be reserved for men who received wounds in
    battle. Rosamond vigorously argued that from what she had
    seen, the pain of childbirth was so great, it was quite
    reasonable to use herbs to relieve it. The nuns, however,
    insisted it was natural pain, which should, indeed must, be
    endured, and Rosamond lost the argument. Undaunted, she
    continued to distil her syrups surreptitiously, providing the
    women of Kenilworth with the soothing concoctions that were
    much in demand.
    Rosamond set down her herbal book to examine the
    bayberries she
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    had gathered and hung in bunches to preserve them. She was
    pleased that they were not rotting, but drying nicely as she had
    hoped. She made a note in her journal and moved on to a new
    perfume she was creating. She had blended rose petals and
    apricot blossoms and mixed in a little almond oil. The
    fragrance pleased her, so she dabbed a little between her
    breasts and then on a sudden impulse decided to climb to the
    castle ramparts to view the men-at-arms stil streaming