Marian was angry at Isabella's insinuation. "Robin did not want to 'ogle' you, as you put it. You took your dress off before he could stop you."
"Were you there?" Isabella asked. She entered the pond and eased her body under water. "I took my time undoing the laces. He made no move to stop me."
"Because he wanted to see if you had poison hidden on you."
"That's odd, since he'd watched me remove this nightdress already, and knew I had nothing on underneath it."
"He watched you...? I don't understand."
Isabella watched as the poison she had applied to Marian's scratch on her hand began to take effect. Already the woman had gone pale, and it wasn't only from what she had just heard.
Kate was scowling. "Hurry up and finish your bath," she grumbled. "I want to go back to camp and eat my breakfast. I'm hungry."
"I need to go back," Marian said. She felt the way she had last night after she'd eaten, only worse. She had suddenly become dizzy and tired, and her muscles were starting to cramp. "Excuse me." She turned and walked away.
Isabella watched her go with extreme satisfaction.
"She's gone," Kate said. "What about what I said earlier? I want you gone, and I'll lead you out of the forest."
"You weren't listening, Peasant. I said I was having too much fun here to leave just yet. And I intend to have more fun still...with Robin."
"He's done with you. I hope you drown."
"So sorry to disappoint you. I've finished bathing. Turn away so I can get out and get dressed."
Kate obeyed, not bothering to question Isabella's sudden modesty. She couldn't suspect it came from Isabella wishing to put on her garter holding her vial of poison that she had hidden in the folds of her nightdress.
She followed Kate back toward camp, wondering if they would come upon Marian, passed out in pain. But there was no sign of her along the way. "Robin really must provide me with some shoes," Isabella said. "The forest is no place to walk around barefoot."
They arrived at camp, and Marian was not there. Isabella supposed she must have taken a different path. She smiled, imagining her crouched down somewhere upon the ground, gripping her stomach in agony, or passed out, with insects crawling over her.
Robin greeted Kate. "Did she give you any trouble?"
"She pushed me in some briars. See? I'm all scratched up. But I caught up when she tried to run away. She can't get far without shoes. Can we eat now?"
Much handed out bowls of porridge, but Robin was too concerned about Marian's continued absence to eat. "Pushing Kate in a thorn bush?" he asked Isabella. "You just lost your bathing privileges."
Isabella did not like hearing that. "She tried to hit me first. I was only defending myself."
"I'm sure you gave her cause."
"You're so smug, Robin Hood."
"Have you thought about what I said last night?"
"About you being my protector rather than my brother? How can I agree to that, when you suspect me of poisoning your wife?"
"Maybe I was wrong about that."
"I'm glad you admit it."
"That doesn't mean I'll stop being vigilant, with our food. I won't stop watching you, Isabella."
"Good. I like your eyes on me. I like all of you on me, to be more exact. I look forward to the next midnight gaze you pay my naked body."
"That won't be happening again. Now, are you ready to tell me where the king is?"
Before she could answer, Marian staggered into camp. "Help me," she begged weakly, doubled over and clutching her stomach.
"Marian!" Robin ran and caught her just before she fell. "Djaq!"
"Lie her down," Djaq ordered, looking worried. "When did this start?" she asked her patient.
Marian was having difficulty answering, so Robin said, "She was like this during the night. I thought she'd been poisoned."
"Did you eat anything today?" Djaq asked Marian.
"Nothing."
"Are you expecting?" Djaq turned to Robin. "She might be miscarrying. With her injury in the Holy Land, she will have difficulty carrying a child. Marian, are you bleeding?"
Isabella hid her pleasure. What an unexpected diagnosis! She thought of a wonderful thing to say to make Robin miserable. "Did Guy make her pregnant, when he raped her? The timing would be right." She took extreme pleasure at the agony her words put on Robin's face.
Marian could not stay awake, despite her pain. She passed out.
"I need privacy, to see if she is bleeding," Djaq told the outlaws, who looked away. Djaq quickly saw that she was not. That fact did not rule out her suspicion, however. The bleeding may not have started yet. Djaq was unsure, having little knowledge of such matters. "I need Matilda," she realized. "I am not trained in this."
"I'll fetch her," Will volunteered, knowing that Robin would not want to leave his wife.
"Let's get her on a bed," Djaq said.
Robin lifted Marian and began carrying her to their shelter, where there would be more privacy. He couldn't help remembering the last time he'd carried her like this. He had believed her dead, and had carried her across the sands outside Acre, to the grave that now held their child.
"Don't leave me, my love," he begged her. He felt numb, his concern for her blocking out Isabella's suggestion Marian might be carrying Gisbourne's child. He began praying desperately for Marian to survive.