Jennifer Roberson - [Robin Hood 01] by Lady of the Forest Read Free Book Online

quietly, “now your task is done. Your letter went astray, but the messenger has not.”
    The scar burned whiter still. “The messenger has, ” he said. “Very much astray, and cannot find his way back.”
    She stared openly, startled out of her personal reverie by the nuances of his tone, by the intensity of his emotion. And was equally surprised he would show it so plainly to her. “My lord—”
    “There is one more thing,” he told her. “I wrote it in the letter, but the letter has gone astray. And so I will say it myself.” He looked past her to the door, shut for privacy. Then the gaze returned to her. “Your father said to tell you he can think of no better man. He wanted you to marry the Sheriff of Nottingham.”

Four
    The knock on the door was loud. Marian did not move. He wouldn’t ... my father? Would he?
    Locksley, turning from her, lifted the latch, then stepped aside as the door was pushed open with uncompromising force. The earl himself came through, clearly irritated. His expression was black until he saw Marian. He transformed it instantly into a bland, urbane mask. She was nothing at all to him, merely a nameless woman, but peers of the realm divulged nothing to those of lesser rank.
    In view of the news from Locksley, the presumption made her angry. But she said nothing at all. Behind the earl stood the sheriff. She would keep her emotions in check, even as Huntington did.
    “Robert,” the earl said mildly, “there are guests who wish to see you.”
    Locksley’s face, too, was masked. “They saw me.”
    The earl’s frown was fleeting. He glanced briefly at Marian, assessed her judgment of Locksley’s answer, then smiled paternally at his son to make light of the matter. “I understand what it must be like to share the company of an Englishwoman again ... but you must recall our purpose here, Robert. You can hardly hide yourself away when so many have come in your honor.”
    Marian looked more closely at the earl. Nothing in his face belied the intent of his words or the cordiality of his tone, but she was struck nonetheless by his lack of comprehension. Clearly he thought only of himself and his own plans for the feast, not of the guest of honor.
    She glanced back at Locksley, marking the subtle tautness of jaw, the guardedness of his eyes. Surely the earl could see it. Surely the earl realized this was not what Locksley wanted; that he desired to be elsewhere, in different circumstances.
    Plainly, the earl saw nothing of the kind. Merely his son alone with a woman, and not one to whom Huntington aspired to link his heir.
    He is blind, Marian thought in shock. He looks at his son and sees nothing, only the boy who went away. He does not know what he faces ... he does not know whom he faces.
    “Marian.” Now the sheriff spoke. “Marian, surely you cannot deny me the pleasure of another dance.”
    Inconsequentially, it amused her. Surely I cannot deny your daughter the chance to catch Locksley. Marian smiled politely. “No more dancing, I pray. Sir Robert brought me news of my father and thought it best divulged in private; he is a most discerning man, well cognizant of my grief. Now, if you will excuse me—?” There, she thought, smiling privately, let them chew on that.
    But her satisfaction faded. Even as she attempted to slip out the door, commotion beyond raged. She heard shouting, some form of declaration—or was it a presentation?—and then the crowds within the great hall were falling back, bumping into one another; or standing in place, bowing and curtseying.
    “What now?” the earl demanded irritably as the sheriff moved aside. “By God, what is all this noise—?” And then he halted abruptly, bowing. “Prince John!”
     
    He had her, the minstrel knew. Or could have her, if he wanted her; if he so much as suggested. He had grown adept over the years at judging the moment—and the woman’s willingness. This one was his.
    But did he want her? Perhaps. If none