She could not have felt less like his sister.Nonetheless, she gave him a nod of gratitude before they embarked on their search for sunlight.
He found a glade not far from the road with a hawthorn where he could hang his wet clothing to dry and a fallen, mossy log where they could sit in reasonable comfort.
“So tell me about your search for a husband,” he bid her.
“Oh, I’m not searchin’ for a husband.”
He smiled.“I suppose a lady as lovely as ye doesn’t need tosearchfor a husband.”
Lovely.He’d called her lovely.
“Nay,” she said, blushing.“I mean I’m not…that is…” What did she mean?Sister Eve wasn’t searching for a husband.But Lady Aillenn surely must wish to have children one day.“I suppose I’m…in no hurry.”
“Ah.I imagine findin’ just the right short, pale, fair-haired, soft-around-the-edges, agreeable gentleman may take a while.”
She grinned.He’d remembered her silly description.
“And o’ course,” he continued, “’twould be hard to give up the thrill of our profession.”
The thrill.She’d never thought of it that way.She’d always considered her disguises simply a necessity for doing God’s work.
But he was right.It was thrilling, slipping into the identity of another person, altering her carriage and her speech.Fooling observers.Carrying off risky plots.
“I suppose if ye were to marry,” he said, “’twould be the end o’ your adventures.”
She’d never had to consider that.After all, she was a nun.She’d already come to terms with not becoming a wife or mother.
“I suppose,” she said.“But what about ye?Would ye give up your life o’ deception for a bride?”
“’Tis the only skill I have,” he admitted.“So unless I find a rich heiress to wed…”
“PerhapsRonancan find himself a rich heiress.”
He chuckled.“Perhaps.”
“But certainly ye have other skills,” she said.“I saw ye in the melee.Ye can handle a blade.And ye chased off the thieves.Ye could work for the king as a man-at-arms.”
“A man-at-arms?”He stroked his chin, as if considering the notion.But there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes that told her he found the idea amusing.
“Or perhaps ye could take your vows,” she suggested.“That way ye’d live a life o’ chastity and be relieved o’ the burden o’ findin’ a wife.”
She half expected he’d react to that idea with distaste, indicating he wasn’t a man of the church.That would help narrow down his true identity.
Instead he answered with a noncommittal, “True.”
Still hoping to unmask him, she asked, “What other disguises have ye donned?”
He gave her a sly glance.“I’ll tell if ye will.”
“Fine.”She supposed it would do no harm.Besides, there was something exciting about being able to share her life’s passion.“I sometimes dress as a milkmaid named Maggie Gall.”
“Maggie the milkmaid?To what end?”
“For the milk, o’ course.”
He grinned.“O’ course.”
“And sometimes I hear a bit o’ useful tattle about a household.”
