Matilda woke with a start the next morning. Her night had been a fitful font of dreams of Robert, his head hovering above hers, his lips upon her own. She sat up in her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. It was her last morning waking up alone. Her wedding day.

Mary swept in as Matilda put her feet on the floor, a tray of food in her hand. “I am not sure I can eat for the hornets buzzing around in my middle.” Matilda had never been so very nervous about something in her life. She had to be able to push through this and marry Robert.

Mary set the tray on a small table across the room from Matilda’s bed and poured two glasses of water. “it is your wedding day, Matilda! It is time for rejoicing, not hiding under your covers in fear of the unknown. Come! I am breaking the fast with you this morning.”

Mary’s chipper attitude did little to make Matilda feel better. “I am making a mistake. I just know I am.”

“You are not. You are changing your destiny. Your children will not toil in the fields as we both did as babes. Your children will be raised in this castle, and they will be the future lords and ladies, served here by those who you had thought to work the rest of your life with. It is time for you to shine, Matilda, and I am not going to let you hold yourself back.” Mary gestured to the table where their meal was waiting. “Eat, and after you finish, you are going to have a bath, and I am going to wash your hair.”

“Wash my hair? I hope you know I am perfectly capable of washing my own hair, Mary.”

Mary grinned. “I do know you are. I hope you know that I am your maid, and it is now my job to take care of your hair.”

“Aye, of course.” Matilda sighed. “I am nervous. I am nervous about marrying, and I am nervous about seeing my parents when I do not know how they feel about this wedding. Everything is making me nervous today. Mayhap I really should get back under those covers.” Waking again in a better frame of mind seemed to be the answer.

Mary simply laughed. “Come and eat with me. You will feel better after a good meal.” She took her seat and picked up her spoon. “it is delicious.”

Matilda sat down across from her friend. “I am not sure I am up to eating.”

“Well, then I will eat my share and your share. You have not been walking through this castle. The meats have been roasting since yesterday afternoon, and I promise you, as soon as you step foot out of this chamber, the aromas will assault your senses, and you will be able to think of nothing but the food you will have later. When Lady Lina said she was inviting every peasant in the land, she meant it. There is more meat roasting than I have ever seen at one time. There will be enough to feed all of the land and France as well!”

Matilda smiled at that, taking a bite of her good. “Are you trying to help me with my nervousness or is that just happening by chance?” Having a friend beside her was helping tremendously. How could she stay in a bad mood when the girl beside her was so chipper?

Mary laughed. “Robert stopped me on my way up the stairs, and he promised me that I would be his favorite maid if I would make sure you made it down to the chapel for your wedding. He is afraid you will get cold feet.”

“He knows me better than I think he does.”

“In all the time I have been working here, I have never seen Lord Robert become interested in anyone, maid or lady. The moment he saw you, he was convinced you were meant to be together. That tells me that you are the one he has been waiting his entire life for. I hope you make him as happy as he thinks you will.”

Matilda had not considered once whether she was the right woman to make Robert happy, only worrying if he was the right man to make her happy. Instantly she felt regret, as if she had acted like a spoiled child. She promised herself there and then that she would do her utmost to make her future husband happy. It was her duty as a wife, after all.

After she broke the fast, Matilda hid behind the changing screens across the room and waited as several of the male servants came in one after the other with buckets of hot water to fill her bath. After Mary closed the door, Matilda came out from behind the screen and sank into the tub.

Her family had not had the luxury of an actual bathtub, and instead they had bathed with a cloth and water whenever they could. She could not believe just how good it felt to sink into the water up to her shoulders, and she sighed with pleasure as she did so. “I want to take a bath every morning, Mary.”

Mary laughed. “I can arrange that for you if it is what you would really like.”

“Really?” Matilda had thought she was asking for something absolutely outrageous, but Mary took it in stride.

“Absolutely. Lady Lina bathes every night after supper. No one expects anything different from her.”

“Would that not make me seem as though I was trying to act above my station?” Matilda asked in confusion. She truly worried that the servants would think less of her because they knew she would once been one of them. The whole situation was difficult for her.

“I do not think you understand the love the entire household has for this family, Matilda. We all love and want to serve the people who live here. It is not a matter of duty even. It is simply that we all have great feelings of thankfulness for them. For the way we are treated.”

“I have never heard of a family in the nobility treating their people well. My father has always talked about how cruel the privileged nobility can be. He lived here before the current family, though, and they were not nearly as kind to the peasants.”

“This family treats every servant as they would a member of their own family. I do not think you really understand how kind they truly are. If they see a peasant ill, they are often brought to the castle so Lady Lina can heal them. It is an amazing family you are marrying into. I think you will be very happy, and I know you will make Robert happy just by smiling at him every morning.”

Matilda took a deep breath. She had been so focused on herself and her parents since she would come to the castle. Today, she would give herself for the rest of her life to Lord Robert, and she would learn to be the best wife she could be . . . but even more than that, she would make sure she learned the ways of the nobility, so she would never embarrass him.

After her hair was washed, Matilda sat still while Mary combed it dry. Matilda could not believe all the new experiences she was having, and she had never once expressed gratitude to the man who was changing her life. Instead she had argued with him and demanded that he try to get her parents there for the wedding. Surely, he must think her the most ungrateful woman alive.

Mary talked to her softly as she brushed her hair, and Matilda felt tingles up and down her spine. It felt good to have someone care for her in such a way.

It did not take long for Matilda to fall asleep as Mary brushed her hair over and over, and she was startled to be woken. “Your hair is dry. it is time to get you dressed for your wedding, milady.”

“How long did I sleep?” Matilda asked groggily.

“No more than an hour.” Mary took the dress she would made off a hook it had been hanging from and held it in front of her. “You will look so beautiful today. No one will have any doubts why Lord Robert would marry a maid in his mother’s castle.”

“I care nothing about how anyone views me but Robert himself. I do hope he will be pleased with me, though.” Matilda hoped she would see her parents before the wedding, but after would be soon enough. It was a strange situation for her, but it would be so much better if her parents relented and were willing to be beside her.

After she was clothed, she sat in the same chair where she had fallen asleep a short while before, while Mary worked her magic on her hair. “Robert liked how you fixed my hair yesterday,” Matilda told her maid. “He commented on how lovely I looked.”

“That was a hairstyle for every day. I want you to look like you are a lady when you marry your lord. You will look your absolute best for this wedding. I promise you that.”

“I know you will do all you can,” Matilda said with a smile.

There was a knock on the door, and Mary hurried over and cracked the door just a bit to see who stood there. “Lady Lina!”

Lina stepped in and sat down on the edge of Matilda’s bed, surprising the younger woman with her casual actions. “You look lovely. Robert is pacing a rut into the stone of the parlor as he works out his nervous energy. I expect objects to go flying any moment.”

Matilda smiled. “He hasn’t acted nervous, and he is constantly trying to still my nerves.”

“I think he is worried about whether or not your parents will come. They would not promise, but I do know he tried his hardest.”

Matilda took a deep breath and smiled at her future mother-in-law. “I would like them here, but what really matters is that Robert and I go before the priest and say our vows.” Robert would do anything for her, and she needed to repay that by doing what he so desperately wanted—marrying him with a smile.

Lina grinned. “You are very right.” She pulled a small package from behind her back and held it out for Matilda to see. “I have a gift for you. It is a pair of hair combs that I have had for a very long time. I think they would look lovely on you.” She walked over to hand the combs to Matilda, who looked down at them.

“Oh, they are beautiful, milady. I would be honored to wear them.”

Lina leaned down and hugged Matilda tightly. “Welcome to the family, my daughter. And please, make my son happy. I cannot wait to hold the sons you will bear.” With those words, Lina was gone, and Matilda was left staring at the closed door.

Mary reached down and took the combs from Matilda. “They are truly beautiful. There are pearls on them . . .”

“I will feel as if I have the crown jewels in my hair for my wedding. Mayhap I should put them somewhere safe, so I can return them to her . . .” Matilda could not imagine a worse way to start a marriage than losing her mother-in-law’s precious hair jewels.

“Did not you hear her say they were a gift? No, you will wear them on your wedding day. They will go beautifully with your hair.”

Matilda’s hair had never been cut. Her mother had always insisted that her beauty was magnified by her hair. It had been a nuisance most of the time, but her mother had promised her that when she married, it would cease to be a problem. Instead she would be happy it was long and beautiful. “As you wish. If I lose them, you will only have yourself to blame, though.”

“You will not lose them. It is not like you are going to be running about the castle grounds today. You will be followed everywhere you go. I doubt if Lord Robert will allow you out of his sight.”

“Is it bad that I am happy he is nervous as well? I want him to be as nervous as I am about this wedding.”

“He is probably just nervous he will accidentally make people fly about during the service in his nervousness.”

Matilda giggled. “Does everyone know about his powers?”

“Most of the castle servants do, but none of us will ever say a thing. Mayhap that is the reason the family is so wonderful to us, so we will keep their secrets. Between Lord Robert’s making things fly about, and Lady Lina causing storms inside the castle, there are many things that would frighten people.”

“They are Christian, are they not?” Matilda could not believe she would never thought to ask the question before.

“Aye, they are, and they are good Christians. Lady Lina always wears a cross around her neck, and you will find that Lord Robert has a cross on his armor as well as another at the hilt of his sword.”

Matilda nodded, knowing that the family was not evil. Surely, she would know if they were. The servants would be afraid of them and not nearly so loyal.

When Mary finished with her hair, Matilda walked over to the window overlooking the yard below. It was completely swarmed with peasants, and Matilda’s eyes searched through the crowd, hoping against hope to find her parents. Suddenly she let out a gasp. “I see them! They came!”

Mary hurried to the window with her. “Your parents?”

“Aye, see? They are just past the portcullis. Can you see them?”

Mary looked to see if she could tell who Matilda was speaking of, but she gasped instead. “I see my parents as well!”

Matilda turned to Mary and hugged her close. “Please say a prayer that Mother and Father will stay in the cottage that Lady Lina has offered them. I need them close.” Being married to Robert and having her parents living close by where they could help as needed . . . well, it almost seemed like heaven on earth at that moment.

“I think having them here for the wedding means that they are willing to stay. Will you try to talk to them today?”

“Absolutely, if I can find a way.” Still watching, she smiled as she saw Robert bow before her father, his arms waving with wide gestures. A moment later, her parents were following him. “I believe Robert has convinced my parents to accompany him into the castle. This is good!”

Mary smiled as she watched Matilda’s face rather than the scene unfolding below. The sheer joy on her face made her seem to almost glow with pleasure.

Within moments, there was a knock at the door, and Mary hurried to open it. “Aye?” she called as she opened it just far enough to see who was there.

“You know that Matilda has been eager to see her parents. Let us in so they may speak to her before the wedding,” Lord Robert said.

“No, sir. I will let them in, but you are not going to see Matilda until the wedding. Go away, milord.”

Matilda put her hand over her mouth, surprised at the way Mary chased her betrothed away. It amused her to see a loyal servant treat one of the children of the castle that way—especially since it was one who would be the master the following day.

The door opened then, and her parents stepped into her chamber, looking wary. Matilda rushed to her mother, embracing her immediately. “I am so glad you came! Will you stay in the cottage?”

Her mother sighed, looking into her face. “What would we do? We have worked all our lives, child.”

“And that is why you should not have to work now. Move into the cottage, and if you want, I am sure Robert will see that you have jobs to do around the castle. Mostly, I just want you both here.” Matilda took her mother’s hand and led her to the bed where they both sat. “Robert is the seventh son of a seventh son. The family has had generation after generation with seven sons. I want my mother to be close while I go through pregnancy and childbirth. I want my children to know all of their grandparents. Please.”

Her mother frowned at her for a moment and then nodded. “I never could tell you no, could I?”

“I am so glad.” Matilda buried her face in her mother’s shoulder, so happy she was there.

There was another knock on the door, and a loud voice called, “It is Lady Lina!” Mary hurried to the door and opened it. “The wedding is to start in a short while. Is your father to walk you to Robert?”

Matilda turned her attention to her father, who shook his head. “No, I will not. I will be there, though, and we will proudly watch you marry your man.”

Matilda started to argue, but she knew with the way her father was dressed, he would not feel comfortable walking by her side to the priest. “It is fine. I can walk alone. I am just happy that you are here and you will stay.”

Lady Lina smiled, clapping her hands together. “You will stay? The cottage was readied, and we were hopeful, but we were not certain. I am so pleased to meet you.”

Matilda realized then she needed to introduce her parents to her future mother-in-law. “Lady Lina, may I introduce my parents, John and Esther? Mother and Father, this is Robert’s mother, Lady Lina.”

“Please just call me Lina. We will be grandparents of the same beautiful boys after all.” Lina smiled at her mother, who smiled back tentatively. She seemed very nervous to be addressed by a lady.

“It is good to meet you,” Esther said. “Thank you for taking care of our daughter in our absence.”

“Matilda is already a member of the family.” Lina walked over and took Matilda’s hand. “I am going to lead your parents, and the rest of your wedding guests, into the chapel. After you see that all have disappeared, you may walk down to join us with Mary.”

Matilda nodded, looking over at Mary, who had a serene smile on her face. “Aye, milady,” Mary said.

After the others were gone, Matilda looked over at Mary. “Please tell me one more time that I am doing the right thing. All these people are here for my wedding to a man I just met three days past. What am I thinking?” She knew her emotions were rapidly changing, and she felt as if she was losing her mind. One minute she was determined to be the best wife she could possibly be for Robert, and then next she was questioning whether she should marry him at all.

“You are definitely making the right choice, Matilda. For you, your parents, and for me as well. And for Robert, who has never been happier than he has since your arrival. You must marry him.”

The two women watched together as the others hurried away from their view, and once the courtyard was cleared, Mary smiled. “It is time.”

“I can do this, right?”

Mary chuckled softly, linking her arm with Matilda’s. “You can do this in a way no other can. In a few hours, you will be mistress of this castle, and you will love it. All the servants are excited to help you learn.”

“They do not hate me for trying to rise above my station?”

“Not at all. We are all happy for you. We talked about it in the kitchen just this morning.”

Matilda frowned. “It just occurred to me that while all the other peasants on the land get the day off, the people who work here have to work harder than usual. It is not fair!”

“No one begrudges it. Give them time off if you can or slip them an extra coin for Christmas. All will be happy with that.”

“I will talk to Robert about it soon.” It was late summer, far from Christmas, but she was certain Robert would approve of her plan. She could not believe she had not thought of the extra work for the castle servants.

As the two of them walked down the stairs and toward the front door, Matilda realized the entire staff of the house was lined up between her and the entrance to the castle. Many of them said kind things as they passed and finally, when she reached the front door, the last person there was Alice, who had welcomed her to the castle kindly when she still felt weepy from leaving her mother.

“Proud of you, girl. We all are. Make our lord happy.”

The words were simple, but Matilda felt herself tearing up. “I will do my best.” Matilda smiled at the older woman, touching her arm gently as she walked past.

Mary smiled. “I hope you know they decided to do that to show honor to you.”

Matilda sniffled. “I do not deserve it, but I am so happy they do not hate me.”

“They all feel like they can do more in their lives because of what you have done here. No one hates you. We all respect you. Me most of all because you have changed my life with your own.”

“Thank you for being at my side.” They had reached the chapel, and Matilda put her hand over her chest to keep from panicking. She forced her breathing to be even. “It is really time, is not it, Mary?”

“It is!”

“Can we just take a moment here? Before we go in and my life changes forever?”

“But your life is changing for the good, not the bad. Remember that as you are walking toward Lord Robert, Matilda. Your groom is a wonderful man, and your future mother-in-law already loves you. How can you not want to walk in that door?”

Matilda smiled and stood straighter, her shoulders back. She was going to marry Robert, who treated her as if she was a lady, not a maid. How could she not want to do that?