Eve threw Much a questioning look when she saw her husband lead Lord and Lady Locksley through her door and on to her table. The nobles looked windblown, with mussed hair and flushed faces, and while Robin wore a smile, the Lady Marian appeared as if about to explode. Eve guessed the couple had been arguing, with Robin getting in the last word, though he wasn't wearing that smug look that might have graced his features. Instead, he was smiling at Eve most congenially, as if meeting her for the first time.
Of course! Much had gone on and on, and on and on and on, about how the witch had stolen Robin's memory! To Lord Locksley's mind, they had never met before.
"You're most welcome to Bonchurch, my lord, milady," Eve told them, curtseying.
Although Much and Robin insisted she not treat him formally, Eve couldn't bring herself to believe they were "equals" whenever initially confronted by the Earl of Huntington. A few moments in his open and friendly company always dispelled her nervousness, for he even treated her servants as people worthy of his friendship.
"Men should be judged on their worth, not their wealth," he had told her, and Much had grinned at her as if to say, "Didn't I tell you?"
Robin's breeding trumped his curiosity now, for he longed to stare at Much's wife and children. He was extremely pleased to see his best friend set up as a lord in Bonchurch, surrounded by a beautiful wife and children.
One of those children, a chubby little boy who looked nearly identical to Much when he'd been a lad, approached Robin now.
"Hello," Robin said kindly, crouching down to smile into the child's eyes.
"Woof! Woof!" the child barked.
"Tweeks!" Much cried. "You are not the family watchdog!"
"Tweeks?" Robin asked the boy. "Is that your name?"
Marian turned her face away and stared out the window. She wasn't ready to forgive her husband yet, but when he spoke in that sweet voice he used with children, her heart always warmed towards him. She reminded herself what he had said to her in her garden, refueling her anger.
"Woof!" Tweeks barked, then climbed into his seat at the table.
"We call him Tweeks because it took us two weeks to finally settle on a name," Much explained.
"And what is his name, if may I ask?"
Eve noticed Robin continued to adopt his "company manners" with her, feeling they had just met.
"Robin!" Much answered proudly.
"I'm honored," he grinned.
At that, Marian spoke, though so quietly only Robin could hear her. "No wonder they gave him a nickname, when his namesake continues to prove himself a fool!"
Robin shot her an angry glare, and Much grew anxious. Eve sighed, resigned to forgo what would have been a peaceful evening with her family, lacking in drama.
...
"I won't bother you tell me about yourself," Robin said charmingly to Eve at the first course, "unless you want to. Bits and pieces of my memory are coming back, so I'm hoping I'll remember everything within the fortnight, or 'Tweeks,' as you will." He winked at Much's son, causing Marian to visibly fume. "But, I think I've come to the right house to learn the details of my past I'm missing, and that of my wife's."
Marian put down her knife and raised her eyebrows at him. "My husband," she said, glaring at Robin but addressing Much and Eve, "is so full of himself, he wishes all conversations to revolve around him. But you needn't tell him anything about me. He's already concocted his own vile history, to slander my character."
"I hardly think, my lady wife," Robin advised with vain superiority, "this is the place to air our disagreements."
Much's eyes darted nervously back and forth between Robin and Marian, while Eve focused her attention on her children.
"Yes! Of course! The things you don't recall!" Much took up the challenge, hoping to ease away Marian's attacks on Robin, and his ensuing anger. "Where shall I begin?"
"Begin with Gisbourne," Robin insisted coldly, not taking his eyes off his wife's face, which stared back at him furiously. "Sir Guy of Gisbourne, the tall, broad shouldered, handsome knight, who showed such kindness to my village, its people can't speak his name aloud without fear, even today."
"Gisbourne!" Much cried. "So that's why you're arguing!"
"Arguing? Me?" Robin uttered a small, scoffing laugh. "I'm merely asking you to tell me what everybody else at this table already knows."
"You want to know how close he got to Marian, that's what you want to know! Please! You really need to bury your jealousy, Robin, once and for all."
"Thank you, Much," Marian said, turning her eyes away from Robin at last. "You won't believe what depths his jealousy sunk him to this time."
"As bad as that time we had Gisbourne tied up with us in Sherwood, and I kept having to stop Robin from killing him?"
A flicker of memory returned to Robin. He could actually picture the black clad knight, bound to a tree and gagged, eyes cold with fear and hatred, glowering at him.
"He tried to kill the king!" Robin realized. Turning on Marian, he cried, "You married that traitor?"