"Giiisbuuurne!"

It the Sheriff felt the need to yell after his deputy, he was not at all bothered about who else might be in the Great Hall besides himself - as long as it was not the King - while said deputy was once again loitering around someplace else - getting into who-knows-what kind of trouble - instead of staying at his master's side. Since the idiot was apparently incapable of learning this, he had to live with the fact that everyone could overhear what the Sheriff was up to until he decided to join him to gather what de Rainault wanted him to do.

"My Lord," the voice of the knight was coming from the top of the stairs, and next he could be heard hurrying down the steps. It was then, however, that he apparently discovered the reason for de Rainault's summons, for he stopped as abruptly as if he had crashed into a wall while running full speed.

"Mother," he managed to utter finally.

Lady Margaret bestowed a smile on her son. She knew exactly how uncomfortable he was when she came to visit him in Nottingham, but there had been nothing else for her to do. After their last conversation on the subject of his marriage, he had avoided visiting her at the modest estate where she was allowed to live - by the generosity of the Earl of Gloucester. Therefore, she had had to set out to get to this place, even though she loathed the dreadful man Guy was in service to. Besides, it pained her being reminded whenever she was here that in this matter she could not help her son. But the generosity of the Earl amounted only to supporting the widow of a loyal retainer in her later years, not to compensating her offspring for the inheritance that Sir Edmund had withheld from him. For this reason, Guy had no choice but to continue serving the Sheriff. Or to return to his brother, the Abbot Hugo, which was not a better alternative in her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to introduce you to each other," with a nasty grin de Rainault brought himself once again to the attention of the two persons. Had he perhaps assumed she could have forgotten that he was here as well?

"My Lord," she struggled to address him. "I would need to speak with my son on a family matter." The man looked at her expectantly, so she has to add. "Alone."

The Sheriff grimaced, but could apparently not come up with anything to avoid having to comply with her request. Nevertheless, he could not admit defeat so easily. "But not too long, Lady Margaret, after all, your son has duties to fulfill," he tried to live up to his reputation.

She suppressed a sigh, figuring that if she did not, de Rainault would surely make her son suffer for it later. "Thank you, my Lord Sheriff," she managed instead, then waiting for Guy to lead her out of the hall. There was no way she wanted anyone to overhear this conversation, especially not the Sheriff.

"Why don't you let me take a look at your stallion, Guy?" she suggested to him as she assumed this would not only distract him, but also get them to a place where they would be able to have a conversation without being disturbed.

"The stables aren't really a place for a Lady to go there," he, in turn, tried to dissuade her, though at that moment it was not entirely clear to her whether he wanted to avoid the conversation or keep her from getting dirty.

"Let me worry about this, Guy," she assured him, though, and he was then quick to give in to her. After all, he had never intended to make a public scene for her, even though she was sure he did not want to have this conversation. This was certainly also due to the fact that he still blamed her for having been treated so harshly by his stepfather, even though their relationship had improved somewhat after the death of her husband. In addition, the plain truth that he was without any property now had not turned out to be very favorable either.

"You are aware that I am searching for a wife for you. As it happens, I heard from someone in Normandy, whose family is friends with mine, about a likely bride and thus I have sent a letter over there," she began, as soon as she was of the opinion that no one would be able to listen to them. Yet she did not want to tell her son about the large number of letters she had written so far - all to no avail - and how glad she had therefore been to receive a response from Normandy. For this reason, she had decided to circumscribe the truth a little bit. "Letters I received from a few of my cousins told me to where I should direct my inquiry, as well, but also that there was actually a chance of finding a bride for you in that place."

She paused, as she wanted to know how Guy would react to her words, but he did not let on what he thought about them. Surely he knew it would improve his standing if he were to be married, but she had gotten quite the impression that in the meantime he had given up hope of finding a suitable wife. She suppressed a sigh yet again, but this time for entirely different reasons than before.

"The father of the prospective bride, the Baron de Challon, has consented," she informed him therefore merely. "He intends to come to Nottingham with her so you two will be able to get to know each other. You should be aware, however, that the marriage is already a done deal." She would not tell him that a part of the reasons why she had invited the bride's father was her hope that de Rainault then would be unable to avoid giving his consent. Unfortunately, he was definitely in a position to still prevent this wedding and he had probably far more reasons not to let his deputy get married than the other way around. She might be able to ask once again for the Earl of Gloucester's help, since her son had spent many years in his service, first as page and then as squire. In her opinion that had to count for something, even though Gloucester had not wanted to hold on to him.

"What's the matter with her that her father wants to give her in marriage to a knight without any property, Mother?" Guy demanded to know all at once, by that proving to her that he had indeed given her words some thought, but also that he did not really believe this marriage could actually represent anything that was good for him. "She's probably ugly as sin," he added bitterly.

Immediately she tried to ease his worries. "Not according to what I have learned, my Son. It seems that the Baron promised his wife on her deathbed that he would not marry their daughter off before she was at the age of twenty-one, should she not wish to do so. For this reason, there is now in her neighborhood no suitable husband left."

She was instantly aware that this did not make a very convincing argument, even if she had learned, after all, that it was indeed true. But she had also learned that the young woman was unruly and used to getting her own way, facts she should not tell Guy, for then he would certainly try everything to avoid marrying her. But in all seriousness she had her doubts that she would possibly be able to find another bride for him.

However, he seemed not to have any intention of further resisting her. "You're going to ensure she gets here, anyway, whether I want her to or not." He came off sounding rather resigned. This was not exactly what she had wanted to trigger in him with her news.

But he was already carrying on - in the same tone of voice. "Then we ought now to prepare the Sheriff for this visit."

At that very moment his words and his reaction led her to make up her mind to protect Guy as best she could from de Rainault. It was just unfortunate that she was also convinced she would have little success in doing so - in all likelihood.