“But where did you get the money to buy the jewelry?”
“I borrowed from my uncle—and paid him interest, by the way.”
“But nobody will lend to us!”
He looked thoughtful. “What would I have done if I had no uncle? I think I would have gone into the forest and collected nuts, then brought them into the town and sold them to the housewives who do not have the time to go to the forest and cannot grow trees in their backyards because the yards are so full of refuse and filth.”
“It’s the wrong time of year,” Aliena said. “There’s nothing growing now.”
The goldsmith smiled. “The impatience of youth,” he said. “Wait a while.”
“All right.” There was no point in explaining about Father. The goldsmith had done his best to be helpful. “Thank you for your advice.”
“Farewell.” The goldsmith returned to the back of the house and closed the massive ironbound door.
Aliena and Richard went out. The goldsmith had been kind but nevertheless they had spent half a day being turned away from places, and Aliena could not help feeling dejected. Not knowing where to go next, they wandered through the Jewry and emerged in the High Street again. Aliena was beginning to feel hungry—it was dinnertime—and she knew that if she was hungry, Richard would be ravenous. They walked aimlessly along the High Street, envying the well-fed rats that swarmed in the refuse, until they came to the old royal palace. There they stopped, as all out-of-towners did, to look through the bars at the coiners manufacturing money. Aliena stared at the stacks of silver pennies, thinking that she wanted only one of those, and she could not get it.
After a while she noticed a girl of about her own age standing nearby, smiling at Richard. The girl looked friendly. Aliena hesitated, saw her smile again, and spoke to her. “Do you live here?”
“Yes,” the girl said. It was Richard she was interested in, not Aliena.
Aliena blurted out: “Our father’s in the jailhouse, and we’re trying to find some way to make a living and get some money to bribe the jailer. Do you know what we might do?”
The girl turned her attention from Richard back to Aliena. “You’re penniless, and you want to know how to make some money?”
“That’s right. We’re willing to work hard. We’ll do anything. Can you think of something?”
The girl gave Aliena a long, assessing look. “Yes, I can,” she said at last. “I know someone who might help you.”
Aliena was thrilled: this was the first person to sayYesto her all day. “When can we see him?” she said eagerly.
“Her.”
“What?”
“It’s a woman. And you can probably see her right away, if you come with me.”
Aliena and Richard exchanged a delighted look. Aliena could hardly believe the change in their luck.
The girl turned away, and they followed. She led them to a large wooden house on the south side of the High Street. Most of the house was at ground level but it had a small upper story. The girl went up an outside staircase and beckoned them to follow her.
The upstairs was a bedchamber. Aliena looked around her with wide eyes: it was more richly decorated and furnished than any of the rooms at the castle had been, even when Mother was alive. The walls were hung with tapestries, the floor was covered with fur rugs, and the bed was surrounded by embroidered curtains. On a chair like a throne sat a middle-aged woman in a gorgeous gown. She had been beautiful when she was young, Aliena guessed, although now her face was lined and her hair thin.
“This is Mistress Kate,” said the girl. “Kate, this girl is penniless and her father’s in the jailhouse.”
Kate smiled. Aliena smiled back, but she had to force herself: there was something about Kate that she disliked. Kate said: “Take the boy to the kitchen and give him a cup of beer while we talk.”
The girl took Richard out. Aliena was glad he would get some beer—perhaps they would give him something to eat as well.
Kate said: “What’s your name?”
“Aliena.”
“That’s unusual. But I like it.” She stood up and came close, a little too close. She took Aliena’s chin in her hand. “You’ve got averypretty face.” Her breath smelled of wine. “Takeoff your cloak.”
Aliena was puzzled by this inspection, but she submitted to it: it seemed harmless, and after this morning’s rejections she did not want to throw away her first decent chance by seeming uncooperative. She shrugged off her cloak, dropped it on a bench, and stood there in the old linen dress the verderer’s wife had given her.
Kate walked around her. For some reason she seemed impressed. “My dear girl, you need never want for money, or anything else. If you work for me we’ll both be rich.”
