He was glad to discard the monk’s robes, which had become hateful to him, and put on homespun breeches and a much-patched woollen shirt. After that, he idled away the afternoon, refusing to let himself think about anything. He watched the fishermen return with the day’s catch and further distracted himself by talking with them about their livelihood. He asked some guarded questions about the sunken cave, wondering if these men had any idea that they were living in such close proximity to a vast city hidden inside an enchanted forest.

He found that none of the fishermen ventured past the fork in the river. The fishing was bad, he was told, and the waters treacherous. They fished the waters their fathers and grandfathers had fished before them and saw no reason to go anywhere else. Their lives were good, with the exception of the occasional flood, and when that happened they buried their dead and shoveled the mud out of their dwellings and went back to plying the river when it had returned to its banks.

Marcus also wondered what had become of Evelina. He asked around for her, and one of the women told him that Evelina had gone to the river, to an area where the women did their laundry, and that they were taking good care of her. He was not to worry about her.

Marcus didn’t. He’d find a private moment to speak to her tonight. He had to explain to her, as delicately as possible, that he was not in love with her. Manlike, he assumed they’d have a logical, rational discussion and that would end the matter.

The village held a feast in his honor that night, serving up fish and onions and potatoes all boiled together in an enomous kettle hung over a roaring fire. He saw Evelina, but did not have a chance to talk to her, for the men and women ate separately, the women after they had served the men. Evelina had apparently won favor with the women of the village, for they were making much of her. Someone had given her a change of clothing, like his own—worn and patched, but clean and comfortable. She looked fresh-scrubbed and wholesome in her homespun garb, and when she caught him looking at her, she blushed and smiled. Marcus felt a pang of uneasiness. The thought came to him suddenly that Evelina might not be all that logical.