She threw a dismissive smile and then brushed the hair from one side of her face, an instinct she immediately tried to stop. Robin caught sight of a puffy pink line that slanted down across her cheek. He had stared at the hole in his own calf every day for months. He knew the difference between a rash and a wound.

“Are you alright?” he asked, craning his head for a better look.

She ignored him and tipped the edge of the wine cask for him to grapple. “We should be off. Unless you normally spend longer than this in a carriage, as I don’t want your cohorts to become suspicious.”

There was something offensive about the word cohorts, but Robin let it pass. He took the weight of the cask into his arms, and made to open the carriage door again.

“Arable, was it?” She nodded. “Thank you for not vomiting on me.”

She made a bashful smile and readjusted her hair. “Thank you for listening. William has a lot of faith in you, and I have a lot of faith in him. Do you have anything you’d like me to say to him, from you?”

“I have so many things,” Robin admitted, “so very many things I’d like you to tell him, but they would all be quite vulgar and I would feel bad if I made you repeat them.”

“I understand.” She bobbed her head. “I’ll just make up some of my own vulgarities then, and tell him they’re from you.”

“Brilliant.” He laughed. “Tell him I’ll see him soon.”

A few minutes later it was over, the carriage made an awkward circle to return from whence it came, and the lot of them was left complaining about the single coinpurse and the wine cask.

“Hardly worth it,” Arthur grumbled, popping the wine open to smell at its mouth. “This is supposed to be rare?” He dipped a finger and tasted it, his face explaining exactly what he thought of it. David found a cup to pour into, which they all passed around to lend their expertise in wine tasting.

Robin found the opportunity to draw Marion away, trying to calculate how he could convince her of what needed to happen. “I think it would be best if we back off a bit.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve made our mark. We’ve collected more coin than we know what to do with … what say we put a pin in it for now, before we get too greedy?”

“We’re helping a lot of people, Robin,” she chewed on the idea, “and we can help a lot more. I don’t see any reason to stop while it’s still going so well.”