He made a face. “That sounds strange coming from you. I think I prefer Zander from your lips.”
She came farther into the tent, and noticed that he held the little picture of the Virgin. “It was all he brought back with him,” she said. “He said the Frankish lord who held him let him keep it, since it was religious.”
“Religion was all we had in common with some of the other crusaders.” He set the wooden painting back on the ground near the pallet, where he had found it.
“You should leave. Before he returns, you must go.”
“I have heard that he blames me. Do you?”
“I blame all men who think war is a game and an adventure. Or an easy path to wealth.”
“That is not why we went. We fought for God.” He threw out the answer, doubting she would accept it. Still, itwasthe reason. The purpose. The cause. “God Wills It.” They would shout that as they rode into battle. Only after many months did he learn that the Saracens were yelling much the same thing.
Elinor stood a bit taller than he remembered. The pretty girl had grown into a prettier woman. Her chestnut hair carried lustrous lights and her skin was still white as snow. Her dark eyes watched him warily. Perhaps she thought he would behave badly, even in this first reunion. He had kissed her once before he left, in a garden. A sweet kiss, full of the ardor of youth on his part. Her first kiss, he was almost certain.
He’d assumed at the time that she would be married before he returned. She was of age. That he’d wanted her then was not enough reason to stay behind, but it emboldened him to steal that kiss.
If not now, never.
“You at least seem to have done well in the years since I last saw you, heading off to fight with the last king in France, and then joining Richard on his crusade.” Her gaze traveled down his tunic to his boots. “You have grown and filled out.”
“As have you.” The filling out part stretched the bodice of her simple dress. She caught his gaze lingering there, and smiled in spite of herself when he grinned.
“I am in the service of Lord Jean Fitzwarryn. He has lands on the northern marches where he guards the realm against the Scots. It is at most a day’s ride from here.”
“Did you leave the Crusade when the king did?”
“Shortly before. I did not stay long.” Long enough, though. Too long.
“There are some Scots here. I have heard their tongue. I suppose they will challenge you if you are in this border lord’s service.”
“Probably so.”
She had walked back to the tent’s entry. She now lifted the flap and glanced out. “He will be back soon. Please go.”
He did not want to leave. He wanted to take her down to the river and sit and talk about those innocent days years ago. The concern in her eyes made him give up that intention, for now.
He went to the flap. He looked down at her, and felt her warmth in the air between them. “I will see you again soon, Elinor.”
He did not make it a request. That would give her the chance to deny him, and he didn’t want to hear that. As he walked away, he calculated how he could change her caution to smiles, however, and also how to avoid telling her that Sir Hugo’s woes were all of his own making.
CHAPTER TWO
“I’ll be needing my crimson surcoat mended.”
Elinor’s father announced that in early afternoon, while she sat sewing garments brought to her by other knights. Word had spread that Sir Hugo’s daughter plied an expert needle and took in work, and several squires had arrived with a variety of clothing in need of a few stitches.
“If you had told me in good time that we were coming here, instead of the day before we left, I could have already done it.” She did not look up while she spoke, but kept her attention on her stitches. She worked outside to take advantage of the good light in the sun at the side of their tent.
“You’d have refused, so I’m telling you now that it needs mending.”
“Put it on the pile in the basket. I will do it tomorrow.”
“I need it for tonight.”
“I have promised this mending by early morning. Would you have me sewing long into the night?”
“I wouldn’t have you doing that for others at all. It isn’t seemly. You aren’t a servant.”
