She had come to Elias first because, of the people they sought in Lincoln, he was the only one she knew how to find with any certainty. But she had told the Welshman that the message she delivered was not for his ears, and he had not seemed to find it strange that she carried a secret message to a Jewish home.

Now she sifted through the few papers in her leather wallet and found the one marked with Elias’ name. Truly, she only recognized the E at the beginning, but that was still a wonder to her. She wasn’t nearly as accomplished as Aunt Mary thought, but she had learned to recognize some letters, if not whole words. She handed the paper to him and waited as he read it. She did not know what it said, but she could guess.

He took a long time to look at it. The color had left his face long before he finished it.

“There is more that is not written here?”

She nodded, and summoned up the words Sir Gerald had given her.

“I am to tell you that the king is like to do in England as was lately done in Gascony. For your safety and prosperity it is best to leave of your own accord, while it is still possible. And if you will come away, you have the protection of the lord of Darian as far as he is able to give it, even unto Basel.” She twisted her fingers together, trying to remember all the words. “When the wine is next delivered, then may your family join the baggage train on its retreat, and have safe passage over land and sea. And...and that is the end of the message, though there be plainer words I am to give if they be needed.”

Nan knew that Sir Gerald had meant for Elias’s wife to be shielded from these more straightforward words, but she thought perhaps the child should not hear it either. The boy had stepped closer to Elias and held his hand now, staring at Nan with solemn eyes.

“Plainer words.” Elias looked something between angry and frightened. “What are these plain words? That I am to abandon my home and my friends only for a rumor?” When Nan looked doubtfully at the boy, Elias urged her on. “My son is not shielded from these matters. Speak the message.”

Nan looked at the way the boy’s collarbone jutted out, and closed her eyes to recite. “The king has no more use for Jewish money now that Italian bankers serve him just as well, and as Christians. Remember you well the sorrows of your past, for they are like to be the sorrows of your future, do you stay. These words are kindly meant.”