slender as a willow wand." For the first time, Aline sounded rather glum about it.
"Poetic nonsense. Would any sensible man want his lady to behave like one of those sweet, gentle willow maidens?"
"Probably," said Aline with a grin. "She'd be less trouble. She'd wait patiently at home while her man went adventuring. Or she'd obligingly put herself into danger so her hero could show his prowess. And when her swain declared that he was unworthy of her, she'd not tell him how true it was." She sighed. "Being the only girl in a household of men warps a woman, I fear."
Jehanne laughed with relief and hugged her cousin. "I suppose you could do worse than to test your vocation against Raoul de Jouray, for he's tempting as the apple in Paradise. Just take care not to go too far. And never think he'll marry you. Landless men like that cannot marry."
"He'd make a sorry husband, anyway, with his roving eye." And Aline glared at the handsome wretch who was teasing a giggling lady.
It seemed Aline still had her sensible head set right on her shoulders. All the same, when Jehanne declared the midday rest over and sent everyone about their work, she went out of her way to catch Raoul before he left the hall. "If you hurt my cousin, sirrah, I'll gut you."
He looked down at her with a raised brow. "Galeran has already given me that message, my lady, though rather more doucery."
Jehanne felt color rise in her cheeks. "I can be sharp-tongued."
"Lady Jehanne, virtue comes not from confessing our faults but from trying to correct them." He walked away, leaving her gaping.
Galeran came to her side. "Did Raoul say something to offend you?"
"No." She looked at him. "How can you love me? I'm not lovable."
His hand went to his knife at his belt. "What did he say?"
"Nothing to offend, but . . ."
"But?"
"But I do take pride in my vices. I don't try to change them. I like to speak my mind. I'm afraid to be weak, afraid to depend on you. . . ."
"Why should you want to be weak? And I could die tomorrow."
"I've already proved unable to handle that event well."
He sighed. "Jehanne. We have to stop picking at all this like the scab on a healing wound."
"When it heals, there will be no scab. If it heals." She studied him, trying to see beneath the calm exterior. "Everyone is still waiting for you to do something."
"Perhaps one day they will stop. The well needs dredging, I'm told. I'd better set some men to it."
Jehanne sighed and went off to supervise the scouring of the corn bins. She sympathized with Galeran's desire to let time heal, but she doubted that time alone would wipe her sin away.
* * * * * The days were still long, so the evening meal came late, but not so late that people were too tired for entertainment. When the trestles had been broken down, music began, and then stories were told in the russet light of the setting sun.
Because Galeran and Raoul had been to mystic lands, their stories were much in demand. In addition to tales of the Holy Land, Raoul could also tell of Spain, both the Christian north and the Moorish south. He told of a meeting with the famous Cid Compeador, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, mightiest warrior of Spain, who had spent his last years opposing the Moors in his own crusade.
"Perhaps I could sing you a song of Spain," Raoul said at last, looking around at his rapt audience.
A great shout answered him. He called for a gittern and plucked a tune from the strings, a delicate, floating melody.
"Some say this is the song El Cid sang to the Lady Jimena when he wooed her. In it, he tells her she is as beautiful as the almond blossom, as pure as water from the snows of the sierra, and as sweet to the lips as a plump, juicy grape.
He began to sing in a rich, expressive voice, and though he did not look at Aline, and she understood none of the Spanish words, she felt as if he sang to her alone. As if she were as beautiful as the almond blossom, as sweet as a juicy grape, and as pure as the water from the snows of a sierra.
When he finished and refused to entertain further, he came to sit on the floor by her knee. Why that should seem so much