maidservant at the estate, of Semin
“I am stuck scrubbing cabbage pots for no silver, just waiting on my back pay to leave.”
Things Juliana had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Wednesday before Whitsun, at Vespers
Still no coin. Joan says Gilbert in the castle will not release the allowance. I say she is too weak to ask him properly. Three weeks of back pay I am owed. Give me my silver and a good character and I will walk to Kuttenberg tomorrow. I am not rotting here.
Nota scribaeShe said this very fast, biting her lip in anger between sentences.
the feast of St Sophia, at None
Walter will not stop moaning about his ruined back and the missing money. I agree about the wages but Christ almighty, his voice is a grinding millstone. And Prokop is out in the mud again looking for that cheap tin ring of his brother's. We are starving and he hunts for tin.
the Thursday after Easter, at Terce
Easter has come and gone and Gilbert has sent nothing. Joan holds the keys now but what good are keys to an empty larder? We had thin oat stew for the holy feast. Old Clemence would have marched up to the castle and beaten the silver out of the clerk.
A wise man keeps his own coin locked safely in his box, girl. I ate well enough for Easter.
Nota scribaeDictated while she was scrubbing a blackened iron pot with lye.
the feast of St Gregory, at Prime
Merchants passed on the road to Kuttenberg this morning. I watched them from the well. I am meant for the taverns there, pouring ale for men with full purses, not wallowing in this dirt. I am young and pretty enough. God willing I will get out before I turn into a miserable old sod.
Pretty faces do not fill a belly when the roads are full of soldiers, girl.
the day after Candlemas, at Sext
The ice on the water trough was thick as a brick today. My hands are cracked from the freezing water. I hate this place. The cabbage stink never leaves my wool. Clemence clout me round the ear last year, God rest her soul, but at least the wages came on time.
Nota scribaeThe girl spoke so quickly I had to ask her to say it again.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
I cannot make silver appear from thin air, Juliana. Gilbert will not open the ledger for me.
Your mother would have made him open it. Just write my character so I can go.