Free The Iron Knight (The De Russe Legacy Book 3) by Kathryn Le Veque Page B

daughter, as his guests, were to have everything they needed to make their stay comfortable. Sophina was very touched by Lucien’s hospitality, kindness she was unused to, so when asking for hot water to wash her body with, she had been rather timid. She didn’t want to seem demanding. The servant, however, was most apologetic, explaining that someone named Lady Juno had use of the tub at the moment. That didn’t mean much to Sophina, who had no idea who Juno was, and she insisted that any hot water and soap would be most welcome. With that request, the servant fled.
    Once the servant was gone, both Sophina and Emmaline put on the heavy, dry robes that were left for them. The garments were most definitely made for a man because not only were they huge, they were very long and smelled of wood of some kind. Sophina thought it might have been cedar, a precious and aromatic wood, and that perhaps the robes had come from a chest made out of such wood. She had seen such chests, luxuries though they were. In any case, it was lovely to be dry as they waited for the Spelthorne servants to wash their clothing.
    Climbing onto the rather small but very comfortable bed in the chamber, Emmaline snuggled down with Oswald, who had been slithering around the bed, and promptly fell asleep, exhausted from her busy day, as Sophina watched the world outside of the window. Their chamber overlooked part of the bailey and most of the stables, and the smell of hay and horses drifted in on the wind now and again. Down below, she could see men moving about in the course of their duties, soldiers on the wall, and dogs running through the bailey, barking. There was actually a good deal to see and she was quite interested in her surroundings.
    But what she was really looking for was Lucien.
    Truth be told, she had been very sorry to be separated from him once they’d reached the bailey of Spelthorne. He’d dismounted his horse and pulled her down after him, his hands lingering on her perhaps a bit longer than they should have. Or was that her imagination? Certainly a man as great and prestigious as Lucien de Russe wouldn’t be interested in her. She had already established that. But she was still dreaming that such a thing might be possible.
    Sophina had been struggling against her attraction to Lucien since nearly the beginning of their association but, now, she found she couldn’t rail against it at all. Lucien had her attention, which was unfortunate considering she was due to meet the man her father wanted her to marry. She tried not to give in to the disappointment that thought provoked. For the moment, she was here at Spelthorne and, for the moment, she would give in to her little fantasies about Lucien de Russe. Until the time came where she was passed on to du Ponte, never to see Lucien again, she would continue to indulge her secret attraction to him. In this new and unexpected world of Spelthorne, she was content to live the fantasy.
    She’d never had such a fantasy before, ever.
    As the afternoon passed with Emmaline sleeping and Sophina sitting at the window, dreaming of Lucien, a soft knock finally rattled the door. Sophina crossed the room to open the panel, revealing the servant with the bad teeth. The woman had returned with two big men lugging a copper tub between them. Bath time had finally arrived.
    It was actually a small tub, about the size of half of a barrel, with taller sides and a seat built into it so one could sit in the tub and pour water over his or her body without splashing it over the sides. There was no real submersion of the body at all. It was quite fascinating, really, to see the latest form of bathing in, of all places, a military fortress, but it was extremely welcome. Sophina opened the door wide and admitted the servants, who set the tub down by the hearth.
    Next, hot water was poured into the tub, about halfway, and the female servant also produced a hard, white bar of soap that smelled heavily of rosemary,