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the night. A willing farmer had supplied food and a place to rest after Bertrand gave him most of their money. She touched the silver cross that hung beneath her tunic. It was precious to her, but they would soon need more funds; she must sacrifice the necklace, if need be. Her friends had already done much for herand she could not ask them to go hungry when she had the means to ease their predicament.
    Looking round again, she thought she saw a man riding a horse, but he was hidden in the trees that bordered the track on which they rode. Her spine tingled and yet she did not feel that the presence of her shadow was menacing.
    When a little later they left the woods behind, she caught sight of the man again, and this time she knew him. He was the knight’s servant.
    Was the knight with him—and why was he following her?
    Elaine was considering whether she should stop and let him come up with her, then demand an explanation or tell Bertrand and try to throw him off. Before she could decide, she heard a shout from ahead and suddenly saw a party of six horsemen bearing down on them. They wore the yellow-and-black colours of the Earl of Newark and Bertrand signalled to her to ride away into the trees.
    ‘You must hide, lady,’ he said. ‘We shall go another way and hope to draw them off. From this distance they cannot see us clearly. Go back into the woods and hide. If we escape them, weshall return to look for you—if we do not…you must go on alone somehow.’
    ‘You risk your lives for me.’
    ‘Waste no time in regrets—go now, my lady, before they come up with us and see you.’
    Reluctantly, Elaine turned back into the woods. Her throat hurt and she was close to tears. Her darling Marion and Bertrand had already done too much for her. For a moment she was tempted to turn back and let the earl’s men take her rather than risk the lives of her servants. Yet she knew that Bertrand would never stand by and see her captured. She must hope that they managed to outrun the earl’s soldiers.
    Leading her horse further into the woods, she dismounted and sat down on a fallen tree. Bending her head, she covered her face, feeling close to tears. If they did not return, how would she ever manage to reach her home?
    ‘Your friend is a brave man, lady.’
    Elaine’s head came up as she heard the man’s voice and knew it for that of the knight’s servant.
    ‘You have been following us,’ she said. ‘You are alone—where is your master? Is he ill?’
    ‘My lord went to the house of his uncle to recruit men to ride with us,’ Janvier said. ‘Hesent me to watch over you, for he feared that you were in danger.’
    ‘Yes, I am,’ Elaine said. She saw with blinding clarity that she no longer had an option: she must trust the knight and his squire. ‘I am pursued by the Earl of Newark, because he wishes to capture me and force me to be his wife. I am…heiress to some lands he covets because they run close to his own. My father would never listen to his offers to buy the land and now he seeks to take them for himself.’
    ‘Come, lady, mount your horse and let me take you to my lord. He cannot be far behind us now. Once you have his escort you will be safe—we should give our lives to protect you.’
    Elaine hesitated. Her instinct had been to trust the knight, but Marion had warned her to hide her identity from him. Now that she had confessed part of her story, she would tell the knight the whole when they reached him.
    Hearing some voices back the way she had come, Elaine lost no time in mounting her horse and following Janvier back through the trees. For a while it seemed as though the voices were following them, but then Janvier pulled her along a narrow track that led close to a dangerous ravine. Her nerves jangling, she allowedhim to lead her horse, closing her eyes and refusing to look down.
    ‘We are safe now, lady. I saw this track earlier, but most would not notice it. I think we can rest now for a