Hilda Recites Poetry

In the novel Courting Trouble Hilda is one of the heroine Cynethrith's stepsisters. In this scene Cynethrith has come across Hilda in their shared bedroom reciting a poem.

   “Listen,” she said, practically gasping for air. “Listen to this.”
     She began to recite an overwrought poem about a woman who had allowed herself to be seduced by a warrior who, after impregnating her, was nowhere to be found. Hilda had the most extraordinary memory. In fact, she was very smart, just not about anything useful. She paused at the end.
     “Wasn’t it beautiful?” she said in a whisper. Her blue eyes misted over.
     “It was remarkable,” I said. The poem had left me befuddled. The woman was deserted, no doubt about that, but otherwise I was lost. “Tell me something,” I asked. “Are Eric and Edward the same person or two different people?”
     “You didn’t understand it at all, did you?” she said. “You have all the higher qualities of a pygmy shrew.”

On a different topic, the March 2019 Itchen Valley News has an article about the influence my friends and neighbors in the Hampshire town of Easton had on the genesis of Courting Trouble.  

The Stepmother

Cynethrith's stepmother, Waldberg, a character in  Courting Trouble

[My stepmother] was sitting behind an embroidery frame, working gold thread onto a fabric strip for the bishop’s vestment. Her two daughters were with her. Hilda was standing near my stepmother reciting, with more feeling than required, a poem about the crumbling remains of a once magnificent city that had been built by giants.

The Villagers

The villagers are scheming to get the royal entourage out of town. They don't want to feed the court while they winter in Winchester. Courting Trouble

The villagers had assembled under the yew trees, and the royals were the hot topic. One of the women had apparently heard a good one about the queen.