The Rose of the World by Alys Clare

understand the impulse to creep away from the others and follow his lord when he had gone off under the trees. His lord had said, clearly and firmly: ‘Wait for me here.’ Usually, all the men obeyed his instructions automatically. They knew what he was capable of when he was in a temper, and his temper was all too easily aroused nowadays when, like all the wealthy and important men in the land, he had a sackful of problems to deal with. It had been as if a secret voice had spoken inside the young man’s head: Go after him. See what he’s up to.
    Whose voice had it been? The young man did not know. He heard voices quite frequently. Often they issued warnings concerning the other men: That one doesn’t like you. That one is whispering behind your back. That one means you harm. At first he hadn’t known whether or not to believe the voices, but lately he had begun to think that they – whoever they were – were his only true friends. When the voice had told him to creep after the lord, he had obeyed without question.
    He had watched carefully, and he had seen what the lord was looking at so intently. It hadn’t taken him long to come up with his brilliant idea. Everyone knew about the lord. The men exchanged the stories freely amongst themselves, always making sure the lord wasn’t in earshot, and it was thrilling to sit there and hear all about the things he had done. What a man he was! He was afraid of nothing and nobody, and he dismissed the boring old greybeards of the church and all their thou-shalt-nots with a snap of his fingers and a cruel laugh at their gullibility.
    He did just as he pleased, their lord.
    The young man wanted more than anything to be recognized, welcomed, taken into that precious inner circle of the favoured. It is my right , he told himself. Very few of the others are to him what I am.
    The lord knew his identity, of course he did, but it did not seem to make any difference. The lord did not know what the young man was really like, so he would just have to show him. I am clever enough to know what pleases the lord , the man thought, and I am resourceful enough to find it for him.
    Find her  . . .
    Yesterday he had stayed carefully concealed as the lord watched the two figures walk away, only emerging from his hiding place once they were gone. The young man had remained hidden as the lord strode off, out from under the trees and away to where the other men were waiting for him. He had heard the lord’s shouted command and the jingle of harness metal and stirrups as the party had ridden away. He had hesitated for an instant – he would be in trouble when they discovered he hadn’t mounted up and gone after them – but he had decided that the lord would readily forgive him once he knew what he had been doing.
    Once the lord and the men had gone, the young man had set about finding her. It had been quite hard at first because she and the other person had gone to sit out in the open, in full view of the great abbey that sprawled on the edge of the forest. They were joined by an older woman, and for a while he believed that his wonderful plan would come to nothing. Then they all came back towards the trees and he had to hurry to hide. He followed them, always staying out of sight. Although the dark-haired young woman with the lights in her eyes sometimes stopped and stiffened, listening intently as if she sensed the presence of someone or something that should not be there, she did not see him.
    Then the older woman left, and he stayed close to the other two. Later, he followed them right across the forest – he had been frightened then – and over to where the trees began to thin out on the far side. He heard them chattering to each other and realized they were about to part, and he had to hurry on ahead so as to intercept her.
    Then that amazing thing had happened. She caught sight of him, and, although he swiftly turned his back, he