Page 44 of Robin and Marian
He looked regretful. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how inexperienced you were. I’ll give you riding lessons while you’re here, if you’d like?” She wasn’t interested. He must’ve sensed that, and his voice changed. “How did you get to be mixed up with Robin, anyway?”
He still thought his cousin was guilty. She felt bad for that. The truth was so freeing. She gentled her voice. “We met up in the woods and he saved me from…” And then she remembered another detail—Guy had set up that trap with the sheriff. The day had been so tangled up in drama that it had slipped her mind. “Someone told me that the maypole was covered in bells,” she accused, feeling her anger build. “Turns out that the only places in Sherwood with bells are broken-down bridges. If it wasn’t for Robin, I’d be dead.” Casting him a furious glare, she flounced toward her room.
He blocked her way with a horrified expression. “You went on that bridge?” His hands went to hers and he pled for forgiveness. “It was a childish prank. You were never meant to get mixed up in it.”
Oh? So it was okay if they put Robin in danger? “What if?” the words slipped from her mouth in a torrent, “—what if we are all wrong about Robin?” Marian had no intention of revealing his secret, but she wanted to make his cousin think about what he was doing.
His face steeled. “You think he’s innocent?”
“He might not be as bad as you think he is,” Marian said. “He could have better intentions than you give him credit for.”
“He almost ruined us.” Guy was furious at the suggestion. He pulled back from her. “It’s nothing to what he did to Alan—hisreputation is shot.”
Scarlett was to blame, but would they have been as cruel to her? Robin had protected her from that, and now his cousin would kill him for it. “Is his crime worth a death sentence?”
Guy paled. “We only want him out of here.”
And she had no patience for that kind of thinking. Marian brushed him aside, pushing open the door to her room.
“Wait,” he said. “We can talk about this tonight over dinner.”
So he wouldn’t accuse her of being a lazy writer and she’d do the perfect article on him? “No. You hurt me in your feud. Just think about that.” She closed the door on his stricken face. Of course he had to look at her like he’d been the one unjustly accused.
After peeling off her ruined clothes, she showered and threw on the first thing that happened to be lying on the top of her open suitcase, a sage green tee-shirt and white shorts, and that was after she decided that she wouldn’t budge from her room for the rest of the afternoon.
Sitting heavily on her bed, she put her face in her hands and took a deep breath before she pulled out her notebook and stared down at her notes for her article. What should she write? Guy was pushing people out of their homes. There was nothingillegalabout that—just horribly unethical. She found herself scribbling “why” on the paper. Pushing everyone out didn’t make good business sense. What did he want with the husk of Nottingham?
A timid knock sounded on her door. She raised her head enough to invite the newcomer inside. Scarlett poked her head into the room. Her red hair was up in a floppy bun, and she looked tired from her ride that morning. “You mind if I come in?”
Marian indicated the edge of her bed, and Scarlett hopped up to sit on the end of it just as they had when they were children. She touched Marian’s notebook. “What’s that?”
Turning it over in case she’d written anything incriminating, Marian smiled uneasily. “Just my article.”
“On my cousin?” She gave her best friend a teasing look, her delicate features squinching up when she laughed. “Is that why you don’t want me to see it?”
“No.” The thought of writing an article supporting Guy filled her with revulsion and, in sudden decision, Marian pushed the notebook at her to read.
“Buying up Nottingham… why?” Scarlett read. Her gaze lifted and her mouth opened slightly. “What kind of article is this?”
“Nonexistent,” Marian said. “Guy owns theNew England Chronicle, so…” she shrugged. “This is more for me. We all left town after what happened, but Guy… he stayed and…”
“It’s business,” Scarlett said quickly.
Marian studied her friend, pushing her dark hair behind her shoulder. “What do you know about it?”
“I’ve heard a few things.”
When she didn’t expound, Marian widened her eyes at Scarlett. “You got anything else for me?”
“Is this about Robin?” Scarlett’s dainty fingers pulled on a loose thread she found on the comforter. “Robin can be very charming.” She ducked her head. “He’s my brother, and yeah, I’ve already forgiven him for what he’s done. With Alan it’s harder—his reputation was shot… and he keeps talking about that money Robin embezzled, wondering where it’s all at, ya know? If Robin wants to make amends so badly, then why doesn’t he return what he can? Except… I don’t think that my brother has it anymore. Alan just thinks he’ll hurt us again.” She sighed, as if realizing that she’d just revealed more about her arguments with her husband than she should have. “I’m only saying that I think you need to keep your distance from Robin.”
The anger that filled Marian took her off guard. Scarlett had forgiven Robin? For what? Doing prison time for her? Marian was appalled at the injustice. Scarlett’s eyes darted nervously under Marian’s glare. How could she look at anyone after uttering such lies? “Did Guy send you?” Marian asked stiffly.
“He might’ve mentioned something to Alan, and they were worried.”
“Wow,” Marian breathed. Any pity she felt for Scarlett shattered and died. She couldn’t bear that Robin was being continually punished by his family for something he hadn’t done. If anyone would be fighting that, it should be his sister. But here she sat parroting their words like she believed her own lies. “What are you doing, Scarlett?”
Scarlett took a deep breath. “What do you mean?”
