There was nothing like a party in Locksley, Marian was thinking, especially a village one.
She couldn't help contrasting this event to the recent banquet and ball at the castle. There was no pretension here...nobody trying to outshine one another or vie for political favor. There was only excitement and happiness, relaxation after the work of the day, camaraderie and friendship.
Marian especially enjoyed being with Robin, watching him interact with his people. Everyone made much of him, but he made certain the attention was focused back on little Luke Scarlett, whose birthday they were celebrating. Marian watched, admiring Robin's genuine amusement of Jeffrey pulling the same silly jests they had witnessed dozens of times..."Where's my egg? You took it. I didn't take it," and on and on, finally pulling an egg from behind his ear.
"You've seen him do that even more times than I have, ever since we were children," Marian told Robin. "How can you still enjoy it?"
"It's Jeffrey! Besides, how can I not, hearing the laughter of the children enjoying it?"
Thinking of those children, Marian felt a warm glow flow through her, watching Robin's attitude toward them. He was decidedly gentle, his voice especially kind when speaking with them. He did not talk down to them, and he genuinely listened to their talk...listened more than he spoke. Marian could tell he found them all precious, and her heart was glad.
And the elderly! Robin, though their lord, showed them respect along with kindness and caring. He listened with true concern while old lady Elspeth bored everyone else with talk of her cat and the hairballs it spit up. He sat for a long time in comfortable silence beside old Joe, who had recently lost his wife to old age, sharing in his grief so that he wouldn't feel quite so alone.
With all his people, of every age, Robin seemed perfect to Marian...unaffected, genuine, kind and caring, a friend and yet their lord. His people loved and respected him, and he showed love and respect toward each and every one of them.
"Why are you so pleasant toward them, yet cheeky with me?" Marian teased him.
"Do you want me to stop being cheeky?"
He wasn't often "cheeky," but each time was memorable. "Don't change who you are," she told him.
Because it was a party to celebrate ten-year-old Luke Scarlett, there were games after supper. Foot races, bowling, fox and hounds, and Luke's favorite, hoodman's blind, were played by all the young people. Luke insisted that Master Robin and Lady Marian take part in the game of hoodman's blind, and somehow, when it was Marian's turn to wear the blindfold, she caught Robin.
"You captured me," he said, his words filled with meaning.
The meaning behind his words reminded her of her vow to get him to declare his heart to her. Not that she needed him to now...his feelings toward her couldn't be more clear. Or could they? Was he marrying her because their fathers had arranged the match years before, or did he truly love her as much as she loved him? Love shone brightly in his eyes, but was it for her, or only from the ale he had tasted? He'd gone nearly a week without even trying to come see her, claimed to have missed her, yet how difficult would it have been to spend even an hour in Nottingham? Marian felt like a child again, plucking the petals from a daisy. He loves me, he loves me not.
She needed to hear him say it! She needed to know for certain!
The moon and stars came out. The children of the village were put to bed, the old people retired, and only the young men and women remained outdoors, to enjoy their village dances. These were so much more fun than the staid, courtly dances Marian had enjoyed at the castle ball. These dances were energetic with plenty of lifting and turning and spinning of partners. Marian grew giddily dizzy, spinning faster and faster in Robin's arms. She surrendered to her giddiness, throwing back her head as her hair came loose and tumbled down her back. She laughed from the sheer joy of being young and free and in love.
Robin, holding her tightly, felt an urgency to kiss her. He wouldn't do it in front of his people...he had to whisk her some place away, where they could be alone. Not his bed chamber...that would be too tempting. And not the stables...that would be tempting as well. Where then could they be alone, yet not tempted to transgress the laws of decency and honor?
His church? He rejected that idea, feeling the way he wanted to kiss her wouldn't be right beside the altar. But there was the churchyard, where his family was buried! Robin felt it would do...it was a beautiful spot, and there was something eternal about it, like his love for her. They would be alone in the moonlight, yet the graves of his ancesters would temper the hot blood now rushing through him.
Giving Marian a moment to recover her equilibrium, he whispered, "Come on! There's something I want to show you."
Leading her by the hand, he ran up a hillside until they reached the stone gravestones. Robin stopped to turn and look deeply into her eyes, studying her, his face shining with love and desire.
Marian was surprised. "Graves? These are what you wanted to show me? Robin, I've seen them before."
He didn't speak, just continued looking at her with deeper and deeper longing.
"Are you trying to show me where I'll end up one day," she asked, "after becoming your wife? Hardly an incentive to marry you, Locksley."
"I love it when you call me 'Locksley.' Say it again."
"What else do you love?" she asked, coming straight to the point. A graveyard was not the place she would have chosen to hear his first declaration of love, but it would do, she supposed, if he would only speak those three little words!
"Do I really need to say?"
She nodded her head.
He looked at her the way he did when trying to charm her to kiss him. Was he being sincere, she wondered, or was he only feeling amorous?
"Everything about you pleases me, Marian," he told her. "Your eyes, your hair, your smiles and frowns. Your voice! Your words, even those spoken in anger. Everything."
"And what else?"
He grinned, wickedly. "I don't think your father would approve if I went any lower than your head now, would he?" His voice grew even more soft and alluring. "But I love it all anyway."
He leaned in for what he hoped would be the first of many, many kisses tonight. She turned her face away.
"Marian?" he asked. "Did I offend?"
"No."
"Then why won't you kiss me?"
He looked worried, and hurt. Her heart instantly melted toward him. The gravestones reminded her of the possibility of him lying beneath the ground here, if he should go to battle. "Robin!" she cried, and their lips met and clung together.
It had been a declaration of sorts, she realized, though not as clear as she hoped for. Love spoken, beside graves. Robin was the only man in the world who would chose such a site. She found herself smiling as she returned his kisses.
