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she’d given him a bowl of porridge. In the days since, he’d eaten his meals without much trouble, and even seemed to like what she served him, despite her certainty that he did so against his will. She almost trusted him to be calm…but not quite. The last thing she wanted was to give him something to throw in a fit of temper. Taking up the cup, she approached him cautiously, prepared to be barked at, which she knew would happen if the mood set him right.
    “Drink this,” she urged him, handing him the cup. As ridiculous as he’d been in his previous outbursts, she half expected him to spit the liquid out. But to her surprise, he only grumbled at its bitter taste.
    “That is the most horrible concoction I have ever tasted. What are you poisoning me with?”
    She sighed, her tolerance wearing thin.
    “It is a healing tea. It will help ease your pain.”
    He thrust the cup back to her, turning his head aside like a spoiled child.
    “It is bloody awful. Take it away and bring the food I smell.”
    Unable to hold her tongue any longer, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Sir Guy of Gisborne, you are an ungrateful bugger.”
    He clasped her wrist tightly, causing the cup to fall from her hand. He yanked her close to him.
    “This is not the first time you have spoken out of turn to me, woman. If it were not for my being so indisposed, I would see you punished severely.”
    She flung his hand away. Putting the cup down forcefully, she walked from the room, leaving the food tray well out of his reach…and ignoring his furious protests.
    “Where do you think you are going? How am I supposed to reach the damnable meal if you have left it way over there? Come back here!”
    She didn’t turn back. Even as he continued his rant, she crossed the front room and went to stoke the fire. Her father looked at her, inclining his head towards the sound of the shouting.
    “What noise is there, daughter?”
    She shook her head. “Do not mind him, father. He is just making a fool of himself with all of his blustering. But do not fear him. I have put a bit of something in his tea to make him sleep. I shall tend to him in peace, for once.”
    Indeed, it wasn’t long before the noise in the room ceased. And for the first time in a long while, she and her father enjoyed a quiet, hearty meal.
    After they’d finished, Robert retired for the night, leaving her alone with her thoughts. With Guy and her father both asleep, she had a few precious moments to herself. She went to the cot in the corner to rest. It would not be long before Guy would wake up. He would be very hungry…and probably, very unhappy with her for leaving him as she had. Heaven only knew how he would act.
    There was goodness in that man…but Lord above, it was buried deep. Perhaps too deep. Maybe it was beyond reach. If kindness and compassion couldn’t bring it out, then perhaps what he needed was a dose of his own medicine…a bit of tough handling. And if that didn’t do anything to change his surly ways, she didn’t know what she would do with him.
     
    *****
    “He wants a bath and a shave…and he will not allow me to touch him.”
    Cassia paused in her needlework, her mouth slightly open in shock.
    “Surely you jest, father. It might do for me to see he has a shave, but I cannot… bathe him. ‘Twould not be proper.”
    Robert looked quite flustered, as if his patience had reached its limit. Gisborne must have been quite harsh indeed to make him so upset. He grumbled in fustration, handing her the cloth bundle with the shaving materials.
    “He will not allow me to tend to him. And he is in desperate need of a wash. The smell is growing intolerable. Only wash that which is necessary. And if there is trouble to be found, call me in…and I shall think of something.”
    Even in the light of the fire, her face grew red. But in truth, she knew her father was right. And even with a patient as difficult as Sir Guy, she knew it wasn’t proper or healthy to leave him