Marcus turned to the voice, and the young man carrying a sack who came toward them from the garden’s back portal. “Welcome, David. Come and see it.”

David de Abyndon examined the statue with keen interest. His expression was much as Rhys’s had been, and he even touched the surface the same way. “So, it is finally done. A great achievement. Too bad it will stand in an obscure chapel on the Welsh marches where no one will see it.”

“I will see it,” Marcus said.

“Well, if that is to be its lonely fate, so be it. I will be taking a wagon in that direction soon, and can haul it to Anglesmore. I doubt that you will want to be delayed by such a burden when you bring your bride home.”

“My messenger found you then?”

“Tomorrow, he said. I will be there. You do not waste any time, since a day ago you had not even seen this girl. I assume that now you have, and found her very appealing if you are so impatient. Her recovery from that illness was sudden.”

David was prying in the subtle way he had. As youths they had become friends while Marcus lived here with Rhys, and had found each other again once Marcus began returning to the ward. Eventually Marcus would satisfy his friend’s curiosity, but not now with Joan listening.

David raised the sack he carried. “I thought you might be here with your sister. I have brought some things so that you can choose a wedding gift. I trust you were not so stupid as to deal with some other merchant.”

Marcus had not even thought about his immediate need for a wedding gift. David’s expression said he had expected as much.

“Come, have some wine and we will all drool over the luxuries,” Joan said, leading them back to the table.

The sack contained a little illuminated book of prayers, a small jeweled cross, some folded parchments, a silver necklace, and a headdress of fine netted gold. Marcus lifted the book and carefully flipped its pages.

“She will prefer any of the other things to that,” David said.

“How would you know?”

“Because she is a girl, which means that she has not yet learned that there is more to beauty than that which glitters.”

David spoke like a young man who knew women well. Marcus suspected that he did. As a handsome, unmarried merchant, he caught the eye of ladies looking to satisfy more than their taste for silks. Marcus did not envy his friend his experiences, but he would not play the apprentice learning from the master of love. “A devotional book is most practical.”

“Don’t be boring. For the same cost you can have both the cross and the necklace.”