|
|
|
|
|
|
damp, rest periods brought them to Salisbury to dry out and spend the night. Lady Ela was most suitably surprised by their arrival in public. She was also, when alone with Joanna in the women's quarters, quite reassuring. It did not seem possible, Lady Ela stated, that John should wish to harm Joanna or would choose this moment. She looked thoughtful when Joanna explained her reasoning, but still shook her head. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
''I am quite sure he does not want Ian here, and nothing would bring Ian home faster than hearing you were missing." Ela smiled at Joanna's indignant expression. "John will never acknowledge Ian's abilities, but he does understand his care for his men. He thinks he will be able to use them as he likes because Geoffrey is leading. He underestimates Geoffrey." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"I hope so," Joanna said with sudden sharpness, her eyes clear and very bright. "That had not occurred to me," she murmured. "How fortunate that Isabella invited me." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ela looked horrified. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked uneasily. "Surely you do not intend to interfere with the war plans. You do not intend to go to the camp! I am sure it would not be permitted." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Who will stop me?" Joanna flashed, looking for that one instant so much like her mother despite the difference in coloring and feature that Ela gasped. In a moment, however, she had recovered the mask of a sweet maid. "No, I will not go to the fieldnot unless it becomes necessarybut I will pay close attention to the gentlemen who come from there and to what they say. Moreover, it will be fitting that I send Beorn to see and speak to his old companions." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Do you not trust Geoffrey?" Ela asked a little stiffly. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joanna's eyes flicked up at her once and were demurely lowered again. "As much as my mother trusts Ian," she replied. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With that, Lady Ela was at first content, but somewhere within her was a small core of uneasiness that grew and grew. After Joanna and her escort had left the next day, that sentence returned again and again to Ela's mind. Alinor |
|
|
|
|
|