World Without End Page 0,120

threw him out into the road.

Joby groaned. "Help me, my face is burned."

"Help you?" said Wulfric. "You've set fire to my house and attacked my labourer, and you want me to help you? Get out!"

Joby got to his feet, moaning piteously, and staggered to the front door. Gwenda searched her heart and found no compassion. What little love she might have had left for him had been destroyed tonight. As he went out through the door, she hoped he would never speak to her again.

Perkin came to the back door, carrying a rush light. "What happened?" he said. "I thought I heard a scream." Gwenda saw Annet hovering behind him.

Wulfric answered the question. "Joby came here with another ruffian. They tried to take Gwenda away."

Perkin grunted. "You seem to have dealt with the problem."

"Without difficulty." Wulfric realized he still had the bucket in his hand and he put it down.

Annet said: "Are you hurt?"

"Not in the least."

"Do you need anything?"

"I just want to go to sleep."

Perkin and Annet took the hint and went away. No one else seemed to have heard the commotion. Wulfric closed the doors.

He looked at Gwenda in the firelight. "How do you feel?"

"Shaky." She sat on the bench and leaned her elbows on the kitchen table.

He went to the cupboard. "Drink a little wine to steady yourself." He took out a small barrel, put it on the table and got two cups off the shelf.

Gwenda was suddenly alert. Could this be her chance? She tried to pull herself together. She would have to act quickly.

Wulfric poured wine into the cups, then returned the barrel to the cupboard.

Gwenda had only a second or two. While his back was turned, she reached into her bosom and pulled out the bag that hung around her neck on its leather thong. She fumbled the vial from the bag. With a trembling hand she unstoppered it and emptied it into his cup.

He turned around as she was pushing the bag back into her neckline. She patted herself as if she had merely been straightening her clothing. Typical man, he noticed nothing amiss, and sat opposite her at the table.

She picked up her cup and raised it in a toast. "You saved me," she said. "Thank you."

"Your hand is shaking," he said. "You've had a nasty shock."

They both drank.

Gwenda wondered how long the potion would take to have its effect.

Wulfric said: "You saved me, by helping me in the fields. Thank you."

They drank again.

"I don't know what's worse," Gwenda said. "To have a father like mine, or to be like you and have no father at all."

"I feel sorry for you," Wulfric said thoughtfully. "At least I have good memories of my parents." He emptied his cup. "I don't usually drink wine - I don't like that woozy feeling - but this is great."

She watched him carefully. Mattie Wise had said that he would become amorous. Gwenda looked for the signs. Sure enough, he soon began to stare as if seeing her for the first time. After a while he said: "You know, you've got such a nice face. There's a lot of kindness in it."

Now she was supposed to use her feminine wiles to seduce him. But, she realized with a panicky feeling, she had had no practice at this. Women such as Annet did it all the time. However, when she thought of the things Annet did - smilingly coyly, touching her hair, fluttering her eyelashes - she could not bring herself even to try. She would just feel stupid.

"You're kind," she said, talking to gain time. "But your face shows something else."

"What?"

"Strength. The kind that comes, not from big muscles, but from determination."

"I feel strong tonight." He grinned. "You said no man could dig over twenty acres - but I feel as if I could, right now."

She put her hand over his on the table. "Enjoy your rest," she said. "There's plenty of time for digging."

He looked at her small hand on his large one. "We've got different colour skin," he said, as if discovering an amazing fact. "Look: yours is brown, mine's pink."

"Different skin, different hair, different eyes. I wonder what our babies would be like?"

He smiled at the thought. Then his expression changed as he realized something was wrong with what she had said. Abruptly, his face became grave. The change might have been comical if she had not cared so much about his feelings for her.