There was a wholesome smell of new-baked bread, and a savory soup cooking. Lights showed in the building at the far end of the garden, and dishes clattered. There had been bells, before; maybe the sisters were at prayer. However, I heard voices outside the garden wall.

“…would be best to leave her here. She hasn’t the strength for further travel. She needs a long rest, proper food and spiritual counseling.”

“That’s not possible. We have been away too long already. Your hospitality for tonight is very welcome, but we must move on in the morning.”

The sister’s sigh was audible. “Forgive me, Lord Hugh. I hope you will heed an old woman’s advice, and not take my words amiss. This is just a child, and she has been hurt, I think, more than perhaps you know. Leave her with us, and travel on if you must. It will be better for her here, and better for you if you leave her behind.”

There was a pause.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “The girl travels with me.”

“Have you considered how it will be for your family, if you return with her to Harrowfield? Her kind are not welcome here; and you have powerful enemies.”

“You think I cannot protect her?”

“My lord, I have no doubt of your strength, and your integrity. I think, rather, that you do not fully understand what you are taking on here. Perhaps you do not fully appreciate the depth of feeling against these people. You cannot house an orphaned owl among your chickens, and expect no worse than ruffled feathers. By insisting on this, not only do you lay the girl open to attack, but you risk your own safety and that of your kin.”

There was no reply to this. I heard their steps on a gravel walkway, which must pass up and down just outside the kitchen garden.

“I must ask you,” added the nun in diffident tones, “and you should not take this wrongly. I have known you a long time, my lord, and it is in the awareness of this that I speak of such a delicate matter. I said before that the girl had been hurt. She is not much more than a child; tired, hungry, and heartsick. But for all that, she is a woman; and some man has used her ill in recent times. I must ask you how well you trust your companions. I will not insult you by suggesting—”

Red swore explosively and I heard the crunch of boots on the stones of the path as if he made a sudden violent movement.

“In the light of this,” went on the sister calmly, ‘perhaps you will reconsider the wisdom of taking her back to your household? The silence and contemplation we practice can provide healing for both body and spirit. And she will not be frightened here.”

There was another long pause.

“Thank you for your advice,” he said finally, and his tone distanced her with its formality. “I will wait another night, maybe, until the girl is rested. Then we move onto Harrowfield.” And with that it appeared the conversation was closed, and they walked away out of earshot.