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fire, and hung a pot of water to boil, while she waited impatiently to question her mother about their future.
    ‘And did you gather the strawberries after you left us so rudely, Janna?’ Eadgyth’s tone, as she opened the door, was cool, unforgiving. She did not look at her daughter but instead busied herself untying her cloak and hanging it from a peg.
    Janna’s face flushed with embarrassment. ‘And are you now in partnership with Fulk the apothecary, mother?’ She mimicked Eadgyth’s tone, sulky with resentment.
    ‘Hold your tongue, foolish girl.’ Her mother caught sight of the purse and moved towards the table to inspect its contents. The night’s adventure was still vivid in Janna’s mind. She wanted to tell her mother how dangerous gathering strawberries had proved, and ask her advice about Godric. But her mother had cautioned her to be silent and so she would. She, too, could keep secrets.
    ‘I have spent the night with Dame Alice, although Fulk would have been present in my lady’s chamber if he’d had his way, if I had allowed it.’ Eadgyth relented somewhat, pride loosening her tongue.
    ‘How is it with the lady? And the new babe?’ If Eadgyth was trying to make peace, then Janna was prepared to meet her mother halfway.
    Eadgyth frowned. ‘Dame Alice is recovering her health and her spirits, but I worry that the baby may not survive. He is weak after the lady’s long labour and will not suckle. I suspect there may be more wrong with him even than that. I’ve done what I can to make him comfortable, and I shall make up a special tonic for him and call in after noon to see how they both fare. Indeed, I would rather have stayed on at the manor and made my physic there if it were not that I have agreed to see …’ She caught herself before she said the name.
    ‘You must go to the mill at Bredecumbe, Janna,’ she said instead. ‘We are in need of flour. You may take the usual crock of honey in payment.’ She considered for a moment. ‘It would be best if you speak to the miller’s wife. I’ll give you a balm of comfrey for her ulcers, for I know the poor woman suffers sorely.’
    ‘And why may I not stay and meet Mistress Whoever-she-is?’ Janna said hotly, resentful at being sent away when her errand was not so very urgent.
    ‘Because she has impressed upon me the need for the greatest secrecy. No-one must know of her coming, she told me. No-one. That includes you, Janna. Now go out and pick me some rue and pennyroyal before you go, and houseleek too. Oh, and bring me tansy and lavender to freshen the rushes on the floor. Instead of being quarrelsome, make yourself useful.’
    ‘What of Fulk? How do matters rest with him?’
    Eadgyth gave a short laugh. ‘Dame Alice knows my true worth, even if Fulk does not. I discovered that it was she who sent Fulk to fetch me. All that talk of wanting me to work in his shop was to cover his ignorance and bolster his pride. The man is a turnip head. I could never work with him, I have far too much to lose. So I’ve sent him on his way, with a flea in his ear for how he has treated his patient and instructions to summon me earlier next time he is called on to deal with such problems.’ She gave her daughter a brief, bright smile. ‘You and I will continue as we were, Janna, as we have always been.’
    As we have always been. Janna felt a sharp stab of disappointment as her brief dream of independence was snatched away. ‘I had thought, with you in Wiltune, that you might trust me at last to take care of the villagers on my own,’ she ventured.
    ‘You are too young. They would have no respect for you.’
    ‘They’ll never respect me if I don’t know what I’m doing. And I’ll never find out if you won’t let me try!’
    ‘I’ve already taught you everything I know,’ Eadgyth protested.
    ‘Then let me use that knowledge to help people. You may be the greatest healer around here, but I could be too if you’d only give me a