Robin pulled Cecily off him and stood staring at her in surprised exasperation.

Cecily somehow managed to collect herself, and stood by embarrassed and ashamed under his stare, her eyes glued to her sedately folded hands.

Robin's outrage turned to pity when he noticed her chagrin. "I am so sorry," he told her. "I led you to this, that time I kissed you. I should never have done it. It was a mistake."

"No," she said sadly. "Please don't say that! Is there no hope at all for me...for us?"

"I love Marian," he answered simply, then froze at hearing the words spoken by his own lips.

Robin couldn't think clearly after that. He couldn't hear Cecily, his head being so full of the importance of what he had just said. "I love Marian," he kept thinking. "I love her. I love her." He wanted to break away and just run, as fast as he could, not away from his confession, but to just be in motion... to just run, and jump, and fall, and roll upon the grass. To stand, and shout the words aloud.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Cecily asked him.

"I'm sorry," he said, returning back to earth. "Would you mind repeating that?"

Cecily, he noticed, appeared wounded. He was very sorry he had hurt her, and he tried to feel sorry, but he couldn't stop his heart from soaring.

"I said," she repeated, her voice breaking, "I would like you to escort me to Stoke-on-Trent, if you do not mind. I would like to stay with Margery of Stoke. Surely you remember her?"

"Margery!" Robin said, failing at trying to rein back his smile. "Of course I do! You two were always great friends, as I recall."

"Yes. And you were friends with her brother Roger." Bitterness made Cecily ask, "Tell me, how did it feel when you heard he was betrothed to your Marian?"

"It was only a rumor," Robin snapped, feeling his joy drain instantly away. "Nothing more, I suspect."

Cecily laughed sharply. "It was quite a bit more than rumor! They appeared to everyone to be in love! I've often wondered why they didn't marry."

Satisfied she had struck a blow, Cecily turned and walked away. Let him stew on that for awhile!

Robin tried not to let Cecily's news bother him. After all, he hadn't been so very faithful to Marian, while he'd been at war. The important thing to remember was that she hadn't married. She'd waited for him, miraculously!

Still, as the day wore on, Robin couldn't stop picturing Marian with his friend Roger. He pictured them going riding, or taking long walks together, or cuddling before the fireplace at Knighton. Roger had tasted the sweetness of her lips! Roger had been favored by her sweet expressive glances. Roger had actually proposed to her, and had been accepted! It ate at him until he felt blind with jealous rage.

"Cecily," Robin said, approaching the noblewoman immediately after supper, "it's safer if we travel by night. I'm ready to take you to Stoke, if you still want to go there."

"I'm ready now, Robin," she answered, with a sly smile.