“But wherefore do you wander so far from Lincoln?” Robin asked her, with a sidelong glance toward Gryff. “What of your travels to Wragby and your business there? And where is Sir Gerald?”

“Injured by knaves who attacked halfway to Lincoln, and I must leave him to heal at a priory.”

She said nothing about having met Gryff, nothing about her aunt or her sister, nothing about why she was here instead of on the road between Lincoln and Morency. Instead of pressing for answers, a perplexed Robin only looked at her intently, observing her stillness and her downcast eyes for a long moment. Gryff held his breath and prayed the boy would not ask what had happened at Lincoln. Anyone could see she did not want to speak of it. All the sweet contentment that had been in her for days was draining away as she sat silent in the face of his curiosity.

Gryff opened his mouth, prepared to say anything to deflect the questions, but Robin moved. He simply touched the back of Nan’s hand, barely a brush of his fingertip, to draw her attention. When she met his eyes, he gave the ghost of a nod. His voice was light as he asked, “You have sent word to Morency that you will be delayed in your return?”

This casual change of subject endeared him to Gryff. He would think of what it meant later, that this boy could understand her silence and communicate without words. Right now he was only relieved to see the tension leave Nan.

“Aye, I asked the prioress at Broadholme to send word.” She looked at Gryff, a faint smile briefly chasing across her face. “But now I’ll be going another place, and should send a new message.”

Gryff smiled back at her, vaguely wondering how it was that a servant had such freedom in where she may go and how long she may be away from her duties. He might have asked, but Robin burst into a fresh grin of delight and said, “You must come to the manor at Whitting with me, then! Is but a few hours from here on foot, a message can be sent from there.”

“Whitting?” Gryff asked sharply. “Whose manor is that?”

“It is one of Uncle Rob’s holdings,” the boy said to Nan, who looked delighted at this news. He explained to Gryff, “My uncle is Robert de Lascaux, the lord of Darian.”