Quinn felt as if he had won a great victory. It had been bold to issue his invitation to the villeins without discussing the matter with Melissande first, but he had not thought it through. The moment had seemed ripe and he had followed his impulse. He was glad she had neither rebuked nor challenged him, but he knew all was not yet resolved.
The storm might come in private.
Or not at all.
One thing he admired most about his wife was that she was clever. She knew of things he did not, and so he could not always anticipate her. She had a keen sense of justice, though, and he liked that she was not weak or fearful. She was a beauty, like his mother, but she did not possess his mother’s frailty and Quinn was glad of that.
He was glad to be wed to a woman who would tell him if he was wrong.
