Sigefrith walked quietly through the garden, but he stopped when Maud came into view. Before her he could make out the head and neck of a deer whose body was hidden from him behind a bush. Maud sat quietly, and the deer only flicked its ears nervously as each stared into the other’s eyes. But then a morning breeze blew up from behind him and carried his odor over to the animal, and it darted away before he scarcely realized it had moved.
He could see her shoulders slump in disappointment, and he briefly wondered whether he should not turn around and go back to the castle, so she wouldn’t realize it was he who had spoiled her pleasure. But he hadn’t the strength to deny himself his own.
She smiled bravely up at him when he came down the path.
“I’m sorry, Maud. I shouldn’t have come if I had known you had company.”
“It’s no matter. She comes often. She is one of last year’s fawns.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Lily.” She moved over on the bench to make room for him.
“You name them all for flowers.”
“Of what else do deer remind you?”
“Of you.”
“Shall I name them all Maud?” she asked with her tinkling laugh.
“I should. There would be Magnificent Maud, Marvelous Maud, Melancholy Maud, Meditative Maud…”
She laughed again and waved her hand at him. “And their stag would be Silly Sigefrith.”
He put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. “You’re wearing my favorite dress this morning.”
“Is it?”
“I always like to see you in this dress. It reminds me of the green dress you wore the first morning I saw you in the garden of the abbey. Do you remember?”
“I remember that morning. I remember the dress as well.”
“You reminded me of a little deer. I tell you that often, don’t I?” he chuckled.
“And you never saw a deer but you wanted to hunt it.”
“Does that bother you, dearest?”
“I wish you wouldn’t hunt the stags. What will my ladies do without their husbands?”
“You’re right, Maud. I shan’t hunt them anymore if you don’t like it. But you haven’t developed an affection for the boars, have you?”
“No,” she laughed. “You may slay the boars and welcome.”
“I was telling Eadgith how you remind me of a deer a few days ago,” he said as he pulled her legs onto his lap. “I don’t think she understands you. Perhaps no one does, eh?” he asked, stroking her cheek. “But I told her that I find it easier to understand you if I think of you as a deer. And I told her that with my Magnificent Maud, one must be very patient, and wait quietly until she comes of her own accord.”
“Do you?”
“Well, now, I don’t know,” he chuckled. “It’s true that if I had to sit patiently and wait for a kiss, I might be waiting a while.”
She bent her head and kissed him.
“That’s not what I meant, but I appreciate it all the same.”
“What did you mean?”
“I mean kiss me when I’m not expecting it.”
“Would you like me to?”
“Of course I should.”
“Aren’t I a good wife to you?”
“Maud! Have I given you reason to think not?”
“You want me to kiss you unexpectedly.”
“Well!” he laughed. “I admit it is a delicious idea, and all the more so when I hear you say it,” he said, tapping her lower lip with his finger. “You might even find you like it.”
“I shall if you do.”
“You do make it easy to get along with you, darling.”
“I hope I do.”
“Mind, I don’t believe I want you to turn into a Matilda. That sort of woman seems to suit a man like Alred, but I believe I should be quite overwhelmed if my little doe turned into a lioness of a sudden. However, I believe that if I – ”
She interrupted him with an unexpected kiss.
Well, she was bound to die sometime...
Chapters
Does she think that her sudden righteousness now makes up for her infidellity earlier?