A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley

Author:Judith Merkle Riley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307347084
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2006-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

MARGARET PEEKED SIDEWAYS FROM where she sat on the cushions of the window seat, her hands in her lap, resting on a piece of neglected mending. She wished to watch and enjoy Brother Gregory’s growing annoyance as he finished writing. There is nothing more delightful than secretly annoying someone who tends toward the kind of pomposity that Brother Gregory liked to display in matters of religion. By now Margaret knew her subject well. A red flush was climbing up the back of his neck. He turned suddenly and stood up over her, and growled down at her in an irritated voice, “I suppose, madame, you are trying to inform me that you and the ‘Blessed Maid of Sturbridge’ are one and the same creature.”

“I’m only telling you what I saw and heard. I believe in trying to be exact,” she replied sweetly.

Brother Gregory fumed as he walked about the room with his hands behind his back.

“You are an utter disgrace. I suppose you take a percentage in the sale of relics.”

“Oh, never that, I assure you. Of course, some time later, I did catch Brother Malachi scooping ashes out of the fireplace into reliquaries. He said he got the idea from the way the dead coals were raked up and sold as a cure for palsy. He did very well with them for a while. That was before he changed to selling teeth.”

“Don’t tell me about it, for I don’t wish to hear more.” Brother Gregory clamped his mouth shut in a tight line.

A perfect day, thought Margaret. I have got a large part of the story done, and annoyed Brother Gregory in the bargain. I suppose now I’ll have to get back to work. Today they were making soap, and while it is not a difficult process, Margaret liked to supervise it closely to make sure that it did not come out too strong. There is something very nasty about soap that peels the skin off the user. Later, the tailor was coming to take her measure for the new dress and surcoat that Kendall had ordered for her. He had decided that it would be nice to outfit Margaret and the girls for the Christmas season.

“I have a piece of dark green velvet that will make your pretty eyes shine, sweetheart,” he had said, giving her a squeeze around the shoulders. And although Margaret was never much concerned with clothes and considered it a great bother to stand still for the tailor, who was she to refuse such a gracious offer from the man she cared for so much? Kendall was outfitting his household, as well, and it was on Margaret’s shoulders that the business of making these arrangements fell. Then, of course, there was supper; but there was always supper. When it is served in a large household, it is a job for a field marshal. Margaret reluctantly put her book out of her mind, even before Brother Gregory had quite left, and when he bade her

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