Bea shook her head, her face screwing up in that way she had when she did not want to weep. Nan thought her heart might burst at the sight of it, so familiar and so heartbreaking. She dragged a sleeve across her own face to wipe the tears away even as more tumbled down, then wrapped her arms around her sister again. They were a spectacle in the street and her knees might fail her at any moment and leave her in the dirt – and she did not care at all.

“I’m here now, Little Bea.” She spoke into her sister’s ear, fierce and certain. “I’m here, and there’s no one can take me away from you, not never again.”

They were in the common room that served as kitchen when she began to understand that the uncomplicated joy would be a fleeting thing, never to return. Still, she was content with her journey’s end as she sat in this house that Bea managed.

Not Bea, she reminded herself over and over again – it was Bargate Bettie who ran this place. And she was struggling to understand Nan’s life.

“I serve the lord and the lady, however they should need me,” Nan explained. Some of the women who lived here had come for their meal, and Nan did not like to speak of the business of Morency where they could hear it.

Bea gave a knowing grin.

“We’ve been known to serve lords too, but never their ladies. Is he a kind one, then? He must be, to let you leave his bed and come here. But for all that you look well, I see more bone than flesh on you.”

She pushed another of the small loaves across the table to Nan, who was mortified by this assumption – less for herself than for Morency. Nan’s place there was strange enough, even without her humble birth, and defied simple explanation. She should not have tried to tell it so soon without considering her words. Her sister had never served in castle or manor, nor had she much knowledge of great lords and ladies, so she was only guessing the best she knew how. That didn’t save Nan from feeling the affront.

“Morency is ruled well by Lord Ranulf. He’s a good knight and true. Nor would he never dishonor his lady, and there are few enough lords I can say that about.”