After their midday meal, Evangeline found Muriel in the sleeping quarters. She was washing her hair in a pottery basin.
Evangeline visually checked every bed. No one else was in the room. “Muriel, please talk to me. I’ll help you with your hair and braid it for you.”
Muriel squeezed her hair out into the basin and sighed. “Hand me that towel.”
Evangeline gave her the cloth lying on her bed. She wrapped it around her head.
“Let us go outside. Follow me.”
They made their way out past the meadow, the pigsty, skirting around the trees, and found a small secluded place next to the river. They both sat on a large fallen tree trunk.
“I’m sorry you are not pleased with being here.” Evangeline squeezed out the excess water from Muriel’s hair using the cloth. Then she proceeded to braid her hair. “I would never hurt you or want you to be sad.”
“I know.” But Muriel’s voice did sound sad. “I never wanted this life for you. I imagined something better for you.”
“Marrying Lord Shiveley would not be better.” Evangeline made an effort to calm herself and her voice. “Why did you let me leave Berkhamsted Castle if you thought I’d be better off with Lord Shiveley?”
“The only way I could have stopped you would have been to call out to the guards, who would have dragged you by force back into the castle. You would have hated me forever.”
“And now you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.” Muriel said the words softly, but again, her voice was sad. “To be honest, I miss my life at Berkhamsted. I’m angry I’m not there with the king, enjoying his favor.”
Evangeline’s fingers stilled in Muriel’s hair. That made sense. How often did one get to converse with the king of England? For Muriel, it was only when the king came to Berkhamsted, and Muriel liked it. Almost anyone would.
Evangeline continued braiding, then fastened the end of the braid with a small tie and started on the next braid, unsure of what to say to her friend. “I’m sorry, Muriel.”
“When the next group from Glynval travels to Berkhamsted, I shall go with them.”
“I understand, but do you think you will be safe? Lord Shiveley might harm you to get you to tell him where I am. If it comes to that, I want you to tell them.”
“Let us talk no more of it now. Why don’t you sing to me one of your pretty songs?”
Evangeline tried to think of something pleasant, something that would cheer them both up. She thought she heard something moving in the trees between them and the village. She stared but did not see or hear anything else. It must have been only a bird or a hare.
Finally, she started singing a song that she had heard from the minstrels who traveled with King Richard the last time he had visited Berkhamsted, a love ballad about a shepherd boy and a goose girl. Her heart gradually grew lighter as she wove small flowers into Muriel’s hair and let the music cheer her heart.
Westley took the dipper from the bucket at the well and drank several deep gulps. Then he stood staring down at the bucket. This water was nice and cool to drink, but water had nearly killed him three days ago.
“What are you thinking about?”
He turned to find Sabina just behind him.
“I was thinking how grateful I am that God put you nearby when I fell into the river yesterday.”
Sabina smiled up at him. “And how grateful I am that I could save you.”
“Did you see me fall in? Is it possible that someone struck me?”
A hesitant look came over her face. Then she drew her brows down in a thoughtful squint. “Now that you say that, and after thinking about it, I believe I did see someone running away when you fell into the river. I think it very likely that person struck you. Truly, you should be careful and not allow yourself to be alone, my lord.”
Sabina was one of the few people who called him “my lord.” At some point, if something happened to his father, everyone would call him that. Normally he didn’t like to be reminded that someday he would take his father’s place. But something about the way Sabina said the words, so admiring, made him feel . . . taller.
“Thank you for your concern, Sabina. Perhaps you are right.” He remembered what Evangeline had said, how it was strange that he would simply fall in. “What did this person who was running away look like?”
“It may have actually been two men, but definitely one man. I did not see his face, so I cannot say what he looked like. I’m very sorry.” She spoke as if slightly breathless. “I would do anything to protect you. I only wish I had seen him.”