"Whoa! Maggie! Back off! Not bein' funny, but I can't diddle you here!"
"Why not?"
Allan found it funny that Maggie didn't care that Robin's gang, with the exception of Robin himself, surrounded them around the fire in the forest. Not to mention Her High and Mightiness, Lady Cecily!
"Because," he answered, playfully pushing Maggie away, "Much would drop down dead from shock, if I did!"
"Naw, he wouldn't. Not him! He's so busy fussin' over when his master's comin' back, he wouldn't even notice. Now, come here!"
Allan submitted to being kissed, and decided Maggie had a good idea after all. A very good idea! But not in view of the others.
"Goodnight, gents," he said, rising and taking hold of Maggie's hand. "We'll just be findin' a pleasant spot to lay our heads. This camp's gotten too snooty for our tastes."
Little John growled, while Will and Djaq looked embarrassed.
Lady Cecily was too well bred to acknowledge Allan's obvious insult. Besides, like Much, she was anxious for Robin to return. There was no way she could attempt sleep, surrounded by these ruffians, without her noble knight's protection!
Much sputtered objections to Allan's departure. "Where are you going?"
"Never you mind," Allan answered Much. "You just stay here and keep watchin' for Robin. I'm sure he'll be along soon. 'Night, gents!"
"And nighty night, Your High and Mightiness," Maggie added.
Much soon dismissed Allan's gall at leaving. The man was right, for once! Much agreed, the best thing he could do right now...the only thing, was to sit up and wait for Robin. He paced, voicing a steady stream of anxieties.
Lady Cecily, sitting primly on a log at the other end of the camp, waited just as anxiously, her heart fluttering at every forest sound magnified by night's stillness.
She continued to wear her tattered silk slippers, for nothing would induce her to place her dainty feet inside the sturdy boots the Scarlet peasant and the foul Saracen had brought her. Nothing, except for Robin's orders!
She longed for his return! Where could he be?
...
Robin was standing safely within the walls of Martin of Aylesbury's manor, holding Martin's heir in his arms.
"You are a lucky man," he said, gazing awestruck at the baby in his arms. "I envy you."
Martin of Aylesbury was a bit awestruck himself! Here was Locksley, or more appropriately, here was Hood, being courteous and civil to him! He hadn't witnessed this side of the man since before he'd left on Crusade!
Robin had snuck into Aylesbury's home, alarming the noble and his silly wife, but had quickly assured them he had come in friendship. His manner had been so charming and sincere, and his face and form so handsome, Lady Genevieve had been completely won over. Her husband, after several anxious moments, finally relaxed, and was now proudly showing off their new born son.
Lady Genevieve, possessing a vain and selfish nature, mistook Lord Locksley's meaning. She convinced herself the handsome outlaw envied Martin his wife, not his life as lord, husband, and father. It was all she could do not to giggle and flirt.
"You seem quite well practiced at holding an infant," she told Robin. "Methinks you must be a naughty gentleman, with sons of your own!"
"Wife!" Aylesbury scolded. Then, unable to resist any tidbit of juicy gossip, he drooled, "I do believe my lady wife has hit upon something! Fie, fie, Locksley! Tell us, won't you, of your exploits with the ladies?"
"There's nothing to tell," Robin answered, focusing his attention on the bundle in his arms. "I did have the recent pleasure of caring for an abandoned infant, until my men and I were able to reunite him with his mother. I just have a knack for babies, it would seem."
It was true. Like Seth, this baby liked being held by Robin Hood, and had stopped crying in his arms.
Robin forced himself to concentrate on his purpose for invading Aylesbury's home. He needed to secure a pair of trousers, so he could return to his men in the forest. Besides, holding the infant, especially immediately following his tender moments with Marian, stirred up longings in his soul he needed to push aside.
Handing the baby back to its mother, Robin politely requested a pair of trousers from Lord Aylesbury.
"Any pair will do," he explained. "I can pay you, if you'd like."
"This is a change!" Martin exclaimed. "What's happened to you, Locksley? You're actually being civil!" Turning to his wife, he explained, "You recall, my wife, how I've relayed what a vile beast the man has been to me, robbing me numerous times in the forest, and mocking me."
"He's not being beastly now. Give him a pair of your trousers, Husband! Let us see how well he can fill them!"
Martin looked curiously at his wife. What was it she had just said? He chose to ignore her, and turned his attention suspiciously back to Hood.
"Why, may I ask, for this sudden change in your behavior? You never ask nicely, Hood. Not anymore, if you ever did! What has changed you?"
Robin wondered that himself. All his jealousy and anamosity toward Aylesbury was gone, banished by the wondrous act of having held Marian again in his arms.
Aylesbury was no threat to him. He'd never been a threat. Marian had simply been trying to forget him, just as he'd been trying to forget her, every time he'd held another woman while he'd been away.
"I owe you many apologies for my rude behavior, Aylesbury," Robin confessed. "But, I need to return to my men, and I'd prefer to do it wearing proper men's attire." Smiling at Lady Aylesbury, he said, "I don't know how you ladies manage to move so gracefully in skirts."
Lady Genevieve sent up a chorus of giggles.
"Alright," Martin conceded, deciding the sooner Locksley was removed from his wife's vision, the better. "You'll find my trousers in those three chests. Take any pair, and begone!"
"Thank you," Robin grinned. "And congratulations, once again, on your child."
Selecting the simplest, sturdiest pair he could find, Robin departed as suddenly as he had arrived, leaving Lady Aylesbury all a twitter.