Robin wished he had three hands as he walked home from his picnic, just so he could hold one of Marian's. His two were being used to carry their sleeping daughter and the picnic hamper. Marian held the much lighter blanket.
He could only guess how hard it was on Marian, not being allowed to ride Llanrei, or any of their horses for that matter. And at this early stage in her pregnancy, while she still had a spring in her step, he knew she preferred walking to riding in their carriage.
Arriving home, he was surprised to see another carriage parked in front of their house.
"Now, who can that belong to?" he quietly asked, failing to recognize it.
"Why don't we go see?" bold and practical Marian suggested, stepping around him.
The carriage obviously belonged to someone of wealth, but not nobility. No arms decorated it to announce its owner.
Robin kept step with his wife, and was met by several of their flustered servants, rushing to meet them. Carefully handing Ellen to Bridget Thornton, he asked her to find the nurse Mattie and lay Ellen in her cradle for the rest of her nap. Mary took the picnic hamper and the blanket, but not before complaining, "We tried to keep her out, Master Robin, but she refused to heed us!"
"Who refused?" Marian asked.
Thornton appeared, looking distressed. "I'm sorry, Master," the old man said. "The woman showed no manners."
"What woman?" Marian's impatience threatened to flare.
Thornton's answer, so unexpected, silenced Marian for the time being. "Mistress Fitzhugh, the Chancellor's wife, is here, milady, taking herself on a tour of your home!"
"What happened, Thornton?" Robin asked, gently entwining his fingers through his wife's and leading her to their house.
Thornton, relieved the master had returned home, tried to explain the uninvited "guest's" behavior. "The young woman arrived by carriage, as you can see," he began, his tone indicating how little he thought of her. "She asked whether this was the home of Robin Hood, and when I told her you did indeed live here, she delightedly charged past me and entered the house, uninvited."
"So she's sightseeing," Marian correctly guessed, finding her tongue, at last.
"She refused to listen to me," Thornton replied, visibly shaken, "and is traipsing from room to room, touching things, as if the manor were a curiosity shop!"
"Keep her out of Ellen's room," Robin ordered.
"With respect, Master, that is easier said than done. None of us could keep her out of the house, after all."
"I'll keep her out," Marian vowed, squaring her shoulders.
"You heard my wife," Robin said, grinning. "Tell everyone to relax. We'll satisfy our 'guest's' curiosity, and send her on her way. No harm done."
Thornton, breathing a sigh of relief, hastened away to assure the rest of the servants that all was well.
If it hadn't been for his servants' alarm, Robin would have found the situation amusing. In fact, part of him still did. Marian, too, was somewhat amused.
"So," she said, "how are you planning to explain to Annora, that Robin Hood and her priest are one and the same?"
"Monk," he corrected with a wink, as they walked together through their home, looking for the intruder.
...
They found Annora in their bedchamber, eagerly looking through Marian's gowns.
Her back was to them when they entered, and Marian's second thought was to wonder how such a slight, insignificant girlish form could have pushed her way past all their servants, and made herself such a nuisance. Her first thought was, "How dare you touch my things?"
"Excuse me," she said, her regal tone so icy it could freeze a day in August, "may we help you?"
Annora spun around, crying out, "Are you...are you truly Maid Marian?"
Marian, hating that name since she'd been a child, lifted her lovely eyebrows and quickly sized up this invader.
She saw a girl whose chief attractions were her costly gown and jewels, long silvery blond hair, extreme youth, and air of helplessness. Instantly, she hated her.
How dare this merchant's daughter barge into her home, upset her servants, and touch her belongings, as if her home was open for display?
Noticing Annora was clasping a priceless vase passed down in Robin's family from generation to generation, Marian ordered, "Put that down, before you break it!"
As if on cue, Annora dropped the vase, shattering it. But she barely noticed. Her eyes had locked onto the man standing in the doorway.
She couldn't believe what she saw. Time seemed to stand still, while her heart pounded in her ears.
He had found her, or she had found him. It mattered little. All that mattered was, she was once again staring into the incredible blue eyes of the man she loved.