Fuss looked reluctant to come to her, and he rarely ignored her beckoning. The dog was looking up at the Welshman, dropping the bit of bread at his feet, nosing his hand. She dared to raise her eyes to his face, to the features that were still sharp but no longer gaunt with desperate hunger. He looked back at her, and there was no arrogance in his expression, nor did she see the sullen resentment of a man rebuffed. There was only chagrin and, she thought, regret.

She turned away from the sight of it, and felt the kernel of anger in her dissolve a little.

The pork pies were each as large as her two hands together. She had bought three, and when she broke one in half so that they could share it all equally, she had to bite her tongue against apologizing that she had not put it on the fire to warm it. She set the portion on the stone next to him, avoiding his hands, and retreated to her own spot.

They ate in a silence that grew almost companionable as she watched him feed bits of his supper to her shamelessly groveling dog.

“Will you take refreshment? Gladly will I ask my wife to provide a proper welcome.”

The man named Elias stood just inside this well-furnished room of this large house, his clothes hanging off him, and spoke to Nan as though he could summon a feast with the snap of his fingers. But she had glimpsed the bareness of the house beyond this room, and the thinness of the young boy who had said Elias ben Joseph was his father and then brought them here.

“Nay, there is only the message to deliver and then will we leave you,” she said, hoping it gave no offense. Her father always said the Jews had strange ways and she must be careful of them – not for fear of offending them, but because they might steal her away for dark purposes. From what she could see even as a child, though, they looked no different from everyone else in the town, save for the yellow badges they must wear. She reasoned they were like as anyone to be offended if their hospitality was rebuffed. “There is other business here in Lincoln we must attend before the day is done, and we cannot linger,” she explained. “But if you would not be alone with me, you may call your wife.”

He did not register any surprise at her bluntness, but only shook his head and gestured at his son to come into the room. Then, with an apology, he closed the door on the Welshman who was left to stand alone in the little entry.