Hi people! Really sorry for the very long break, but I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Reviews are much appreciated :-)
Chapter Seven – Dinner Party
Robin glared at the shirt lying on his bed. He had just emerged from a soaking in the hot tub. Yes, he'd actually bathed - at Marian's specific request – and well, there were few things he wouldn't do for her, but it had taken a fair amount of wheedling on her part to get him to agree to her request.
The door burst upon and Much burst on, going slightly red at the sight of Robin, still dripping wet and shirtless.
"I'm sure this shirt is far to fancy for a simple dinner! I don't know why you left it out for me in the first place," Robin complained before Much had a chance to say anything. "It's no different to any other time we've gone to the castle for dinner!"
"Except this dinner is to welcome Lady Miriam, the designated chaperone. You'll want to make a good impression, master!"
"Much, I was trying to forget about that. And anyway, I don't want this Lady Miriam to think too much of me – just think how disappointed she'll be when she finds out what I'm really like."
"But then won't she watch you and Marian all the more closely? Anyway, as I was coming to tell you," Much went on grumpily. "It's not just the Lady Miriam coming to stay! She's bringing a companion, and her maidservant, and her cook!"
"There's going to be four of them?!" Robin exclaimed, horrified.
Much nodded sagely. "And they're all as old as she is, from what I've heard."
"How did you heard anyway?" asked Robin curiously. "Did you speak to Marian?"
"Er … no. I … er … was heard from Anna. You know, works in the kitchens at Knighton?" Much went even redder than before.
"Much, you dark horse, you! I didn't even know you could talk to girls, apart from Marian, of course!"
"It's not like that," said Much, now as red as a beetroot. "She's just a friend, that's all!"
"Mmm," murmured Robin non-commitedly, with a large smirk on his face.
Much took a deep breath to calm himself. "Now, you are going to put on that shirt, comb your hair and then we are leaving."
Robin rolled his eyes. "I'll comb my hair but I am not wearing the shirt – the collar makes me look like a trussed peacock!"
"The shirt with the collar down then?" asked Much, pleading.
"Fine!" said Robin huffily. "Hair combed, fancy shirt, no collar … and the plain belt."
Much widened his eyes at the last point, but there was nothing for it.
"Agreed," he said finally. "Now come on, you'll be late."
As it turned out, the Locksley party arrived far too early.
"You'll be late! You'll be late," mimicked Robin sourly. "This is your fault. Haven't you heard of the phrase 'fashionably late'?"
Much harrumphed and determinedly ignored his master, while Lord Robert gave the two of them a withering look. They were sitting on a bench in a small entry room just inside Nottingham Castle, banished from the main hall until the ladies were ready. It was an unfortunately cold spot, suffering from the lack of a fire place and the cold draughts from the door. What made it worse for Robin was that he knew Marian must be only a few rooms away from him, and yet he couldn't see her. Perhaps she was getting changed into her evening dress, he mused thoughtfully. He really, really wished he could see her.
A servant Robin knew vaguely came to bring them through to the parlour room, where they would mingle with the other guests to the dinner party before sitting down to eat. That was, Robin and his father would mingle, while Thornton and Much would stand at the edges of the room, ready to run any errand their masters required.
They entered the parlour, and Robin was disappointed to discover Marian was not yet in attendance. Instead, the sight of the Sir Edward listening in what appeared to be strained silence to two older ladies greeted him. The woman next to the sheriff was almost as tall as he was, but whip-cord thin. She was dressed completely in black in clothes that even Robin, with his limited knowledge of the frivolous fashions of women's dress, knew must be in style about thirty years ago.
"Young women these days!" she complained. Robin winced; he could hear the woman's piercing voice clearly from across the room. "Taking forever to pamper themselves and then flaunt themselves to young men! That won't impress the Lord above, will it Gladys?"
Gladys, dressed in almost identical clothes as her companion except in a toned-down charcoal grey colour, shook her head vehemently. She drew breath to reply, but was cut off when her companion, who could only be Sir Edward's sister Lady Miriam, suddenly noticed the new arrivals.
"Ah," she said in loud whisper to her companion, clearly audible to the rest of the room. "That must be the suitor. He doesn't look much does he?"
"Look at that collar! But he is handsome in a scruffy sort of way, I suppose," was Gladys's half-whispered reply as Sir Edward led the ladies over to introduce them. Robin felt his turning red.
The sheriff grimaced slightly, but he welcomed them with a gallant bow nonetheless. "Lord Robert, Master Robin, welcome, welcome. Allow me to introduce my sister, Lady Miriam and her companion Lady Gladys."
Lord Robert kissed the hands of the ladies perfunctorily without saying a word. He quickly turned back to Sir Edward, ignoring the ladies to the point of rudeness. Robin's father never had much to do with women unless they were young or beautiful. Robin, however, bowed deeply over Lady Miriam's hand.
"A pleasure to meet such beautiful ladies," Robin said smoothly, and straightened up with his most charming grin. "I can see I'll have difficulty concentrating on my fiancée tonight."
Lady Miriam raised her chin slightly, and looked down on him witheringly. "Flattery won't work on me, boy, my dear brother's told me all about you. I've got a job to do here, and I'm going to get distracted from it."
Robin closed his mouth abruptly which had fallen partly open in shock. He glanced towards Sir Edward, who smirked extremely uncharacteristically. No help from that quarter, then.
Swallowing his pride, Robin ducked his head and murmured, "My apologies, my lady, I understand. Although I can tell you you'll have no problems with me in regard to your duties," he added unconvincingly.
"We'll see," Lady Miriam replied ominously. An awkward silence fell.
Robin quickly looked around for some escape route. He saw Much hiding in the corner and subtly gestured him over.
"So, Master Robin, I hear you are to run your father's estates while he fights in the Crusades?" Gladys said brightly, blatantly turning the conversion away from dangerous ground.
"Err, yes, my lady. I feel fortunate my father has placed such trust in me."
"And do you think you merit that trust?" Gladys asked innocently.
"Well, I'd like to think so," Robin squirmed uncomfortably. He looked up relieved as Much finally appeared. "Ah, excuse me a moment ladies."
He roughly pulled Much over to the side the room and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked worried, and his face was set in a grim line.
"What's the matter, master? Is something wrong with Marian? Where is she?" Much asked worriedly.
"It's worse than we thought, my friend," he said sadly, while ignoring Much's questions. "They're absolute harridans! They won't let me get away with anything!"
Much rolled his eyes, relieved that nothing serious was the matter. "Well, lucky it's only a month until you marry, then."
"Much!" Robin said scandalised. "A whole month, exactly! And where's your sense of adventure? Your daring?"
"I think you got my share, to be honest, master," said Much.
Robin continued on if Much hadn't spoken. "No, my friend, this means war against those ladies. And I think we should start right now, you know, set the tone and all. Right, you provide a distraction and I'll –"
"Hang on, no!" Much interrupted. "I make enough of a fool out of my self without even trying! I don't want to do it on purpose!"
Robin laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's why you'll be perfect! No-one will suspect a thing! Just bring me a drink, then arrange to spill it all down Lady Miriam's front."
"No! I'll get you a drink and then you can spill it on her!" Much said, but Robin had already made his way back to the small group of lords and ladies. Robin was getting a few curious looks for the party, who were evidently wondering what the whispered conversion was about. Lord Robert though simply glared at his son, clearly not happy about having to continue the conversation on his own.
Much sighed and hurried over to one of the castle servants. Still grumbling under his breath, he took a drink off the man's tray without so much as a by-your-leave. The servant, a young man about twice as wide as Much and half again as tall, hissed back at him, "Just what do you think you're doing!? Get your own drink for your master!"
"Err, sorry, err, gotta go now," Much whispered, hurriedly backing away with the drink still clutched in his hand. The glare the servant was giving Much sent him scurrying back to the small party. As he reached Robin and held out the glass of red wine, he cast a fearful glance over his shoulder, and in doing so managed to trip over his own feet. He came crashing down, spilling the fine red wine all over Robin's fine shirt. Robin leapt back, horrified. After he recovered slightly, and pulled Much up off the ground by his collar. "Will you watch we're you're going next time, idiot!"
"Sorry, master. I didn't mean to!" Much whined in reply.
Robin leant closer so the others couldn't hear. "Not quite what I was intending, but impressive acting Much, I must say. And you'll be scrubbing this shirt until there is not a mark on it, do you hear!" he finished loudly for the others' benefit. "Now, if you don't mind, my lord sheriff, could duck off and clean myself up?"
"Yes, of course, my boy. Thomas here will show you." Sir Edward beckoned over the servant Much had swiped the drink off. Robin looked up at him nervously.
"This way, master," Thomas the servant said gruffly.
Robin followed Thomas into the main part of the castle, and he was soon presented by with a small basin of water and a selection of fresh shirts to choose from. Robin dismissed the servant as soon as he was able, who left rather doubting his charge would be able to find his way back. Luckily, the altercation with Much had not left him particularly disposed to be of service.
Grabbing a shirt – this one with no collar at all – and pulling it roughly over his head, Robin poked his head around the door and set off in search of Marian. He walked quickly along the corridor that would lead him back to the main hall; Marian would have to go that way to attend the dinner. Reaching the doors that led to the main hall, but still seeing no sign of Marian, Robin loitered uncomfortably in the passageway. After a few minutes, Robin had almost decided that Marian must have gone in already, when he heard voices echoing from around the corner.
"My lady, it would be more proper if fixed it in two plaits."
"Will you just leave it, Elisa! My hair is fine!"
Robin grinned at the sound of his fiancée's voice. All of Marian's servants had to learn to do things her way; this one must be new to still bother arguing with her. When the footsteps finally turned around the corner, Marian and her servant stopped dead. Robin stepped forward smoothly and bowed over Marian's hand. "My lady."
"My lord," Marian returned with a smile.
"Who are you?" interrupted the servant Elisa rudely.
Robin looked down at her. She could have been his grandmother's age, for God's sake! What was Marian doing with a handmaiden like that! "And who are you?" he asked incredulously, although he had a sneaking suspicion he knew.
Elisa drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't much, and replied, "My name is Elisa, most recently handmaiden to Lady Miriam, and now in the service of Lady Marian."
"Well, Elisa, not that it's really any of your business, but my name is Robin of Locksley, son of Lord Robert Earl of Huntingdon, and I am here to escort my fiancée to dinner." With that, he took Marian's arm and waited expectantly for Elisa to open the door to the great hall. Elisa, however, did not move a muscle. Robin sighed and kicked the door open himself before walking through with Marian.
"You were always one to make a grand entrance," Marian remarked softly to Robin seated next to her. It was a hard-won position; as they were being shown to their seats Lady Miriam had tried to insinuate herself between the couple but Robin overcame that obstacle with a deft bump and a slightly unseemly haste to sit down.
"Oh?" Robin smirked slightly. "Your entrance would have been rather grand anyway, Miss-sorry-I'm-late-I-had-to-fix-my-hair."
Marian punched him lightly under the table. "Not my fault. It was that –" Marian had to stop herself using words unbecoming for a lady, especially at the dinner table, " – that new maid. She wanted me to have my hair in child's plaits! And she wouldn't help me fix it any other way, so I had to do my own."
"It looks beautiful," Robin said, and he meant it. He grasped her hand where it still rested under the table and stroked it softly. Marian felt a sudden rush of love and affection for him, amazed by how gentle he was beneath his joking, flirtaceous exterior. She squeezed his hand in return and allowed her hand to rest gently on his lap. Robin smiled at her and then rolled his eyes as Lady Miriam on his other side claimed his attention for another uncomfortable conversation. Suddenly feeling mischievous, Marian slid her hand out of his grasp, caressing his leg. Robin jumped slightly, but managed to continue the conversation. Marian watched in delight as his face went redder and redder, and he shifted uncomfortably.
"What on earth is the matter, young sir?" Lady Miriam asked, rather alarmed at Robin's change in behaviour.
"Nothing, nothing," Robin demurred. "Perhaps a sip of wine will fix it."
Robin grabbed his goblet and took a large swig. "Ah, that's better," he remarked casually as he put his hand back beneath the table. This time his hand crept over to Marian's side, resting on her knee. Marian drew a sharp breath as the warmth and weight of his hand sent pleasurable tingles down her spine. Growing bolder, she moved her hand up slightly higher on his leg, and was rewarded by his moving onto her thigh. Robin was sweating now, and he took another gulp of wine with his other hand.
"Why did you use your right hand then?" Lady Miriam suddenly asked Robin sharply. Robin simply shrugged and answered, "No reason."
He removed his left hand from Marian's leg to claim the glass, but not before giving Marian a sharp pinch. Marian jumped and yanked her hand back from Robin's leg, muffling a small shriek.
"Use some table manners, will you?" Lady Miriam eyed them both suspiciously. "And in future, keep your hands where I can see them."
