maidservant at the castle, of Trosky
“I scrub the cauldrons and sweep the hearths. I just try to do my chores and keep my head down, to be honest.”
Things Emma had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Thursday before Whitsun, at Terce
They say Tobias the clerk is on the road from Prague. If he calls the summer muster and checks the gear, I do not know what I will do. I rub my arms raw just thinking of it. God save me from his ledgers.
Nota scribaeShe spoke so fast I could barely write it down, and kept rubbing her arms in a terrible fright.
the feast of St Pancras, at Vespers
Margery keeps complaining about that brass-bristled brush she lost at Candlemas. I told her I forgot where I put it. It is a big yard, things go missing. A brush like that saves hours of back-breaking work on the black cauldrons.
You did not forget where you put it, Emma. It cost a month of wages. I want it back before Sunday.
the third day of Easter week, at None
Matilda asked why I was shivering at the wash tubs, and asked to see the padded jacket she gave me last winter. I told her it is packed away at the bottom of my chest because the spring is here. Christ Almighty, the lies are choking me.
the Tuesday after Laetare Sunday, at Compline
The lye and the rough sand have cracked my hands so deep they bleed into the water. Joan Stone the cook expects the iron to shine, but it is just ash and soot again the next day. A penny a day is not enough to clear a dead man's debts.
It is better than the trenchers. I scrub those without a word, but the grease never leaves them.
Nota scribaeDictated at the bailey well. Her hands were indeed cracked and bleeding.
Candlemas, at Prime
I slipped down to the settlement this morning. The man my late father owed money to was threatening to go to the bailiff. I had to leave my thick jacket with Gilbert. I feel naked without it, and ashamed.
Gilbert is a thief, but you did what you had to do to stay out of the stocks.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Let him come. I am not giving back that heavy cleaver no matter what he writes in his book.