—SCOTTISH TRADITIONAL, FROM ALEXANDER CARMICHAEL, Carmina Gadelica At dawn, roused by the maidservants and urged to dress quickly, Eva barely had a moment to use the chamber pot in a curtained corner before the girls hurried her from the room. They joined a few other women silently descending the stairs by the light of oil lamps carried by their maids. Eva followed them into the anteroom beside the great hall, where a golden and jet cross and silver vessels gleamed in candlelight. The queen knelt before it, hands pressed in prayer, pale hair rippling down her back, a simple white veil covering her bowed head. Her ladies gathered behind her, each kneeling to pray. Kneeling, too, for she had been taught to honor a daily routine of prayer, Eva was surprised to see Margaret pray with the fervor of a nun, murmuring in Latin, hands clasped, for most of an hour. Sometimes the queen led her women in a recitation, and Eva kept pace, familiar with the Latin. Once she saw tears gleam on the queen’s cheeks before the golden head bowed again, hair sweeping down to conceal her face.
