Miriam by Anton Maggie

Author:Anton, Maggie [Anton, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2011-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

Across the courtyard, alone in her bed, Rachel wasn’t sleeping either. Her breasts were too swollen and sore to lie on her belly, which meant that her flowers would start any day now. Then she’d suffer a week of cramps and back pain. Miriam mixed potions of wild celery and fenugreek for her, and hot baths helped too, but Miriam made it clear that when this problem afflicts a virgin of marriageable age, it’s because there’s too much corrupt seed in her, seed meant to be drawn out by a male during marital relations.

It wasn’t fair. When women expelled their excess seed it hurt, but when men expelled theirs in nocturnal emissions, it felt good. A man could also relieve his needs with a harlot, while all she could do was wait until she was married. Rachel sighed. Only three months left.

Now she would only have to endure a few more months of flowers before pregnancy and nursing would make them merely an occasional annoyance. Look at Joheved, who only flowered once after she got pregnant with Isaac, and that was eight years and three children ago.

Rachel rolled onto her side, but that was equally uncomfortable. After beginning her flowers last year, she’d assumed that she and Eliezer would marry that summer. But Papa neglected to inform Eliezer’s family in Provence, thus ensuring that they arrived at the Hot Fair unprepared to host a wedding. It still made her angry to think about it.

By then the Jewish community was occupied with the upcoming nuptials of the parnas’s son, Joseph, to a woman young enough to be his daughter, while all of Troyes was celebrating the marriage of Count Thibault’s oldest son, Étienne-Henri, to Adèle de Angleterre, the bastard King Guillaume’s only daughter. Both Thibault’s cellarer and Isaac haParnas requisitioned Papa’s best wine for their banquets, along with every other luxury victual in the city. Eliezer had begged his father not to delay, but Shemiah agreed with Papa that they should wait until more provisions were available.

Eliezer—she had such strange feelings about him. He could infuriate her like no one else, except maybe Papa. Yet she wanted to be with him every moment, and if they were apart, she often found herself wondering what he was doing.

Last summer wasn’t so bad. Eliezer was occupied studying Talmud and getting to know Shemiah’s clients, while she’d been busy helping Alvina with the jewelry business. Funny how she ended up working with Judah’s mother. Jewels fascinated her, and the summer after Miriam’s wedding she tried to surreptitiously watch whenever Alvina met with a customer. The following year Alvina permitted her open presence, and then Alvina took her on as an apprentice. No longer the careless child who lost the lady merchant’s emerald ring, she now kept Alvina’s accounts.

Then the Hot Fair ended, Eliezer went home for the Days of Awe, and she couldn’t stop worrying about him. There were so many dangers on the road—storms, highwaymen, unstable bridges, dishonest innkeepers in league with thieves. What if he were injured, or worse, had an accident? Look what had happened to Miriam’s fiancé.

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