Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.†
Now that Teversal had a church and a priest regularly in attendance, Sir James was able to do something he had wanted to do since leaving the Holy Land-namely, to work out a routine that was less demanding than that of the Hospitillars but that still met his spiritual needs. He’d use the breviary he picked up in Rome to recite Lauds when he rolled out of bed in the morning and Vespers before he blew out his bedside candle, and would walk down through the village at midday and join a handful of villagers to hear Father Adam say Mass. Father Adam was proving satisfactory, but, as was usually the case with priests of his station, didn’t write his own sermons but read aloud a sermon authorized by his superiors when he celebrated Mass. It was a practice Sir James heartily approved of. However, Sir James had attended so many Masses by this point in his life that he had become perhaps a bit over-familiar with the old chestnuts of St. Gregory the Great and St. Augustine that Father Adam favored, and his attention tended to wander.
Maybe it had to do with the Epistle Father Adam read, but today his mind was wandering towards, of all people, Allan a Dale. Sir James had promised Djaq he’d look after him, but he hadn’t done much to live up to that promise. Granted, Allan seemed to be doing all right without his help, but still…. Christmas was coming up, and Sir James could think of few more miserable places to spend it than with Gisborne, especially now that Lady Isabella had moved out and Lady Marian was still who knew where.
As he left the church, Sir James saw Young Joe loading a packhorse. Upon finding out they were heading to Locksley, he said, “Stop by the manor house on your way out of town. I have a message for you to deliver.” He had meant to ask Allan something during the St. Catherine’s Day feast, but hadn’t had the chance; maybe it still wasn’t too late.
But when he got home and actually put quill to parchment, he wasn’t so sure what he wanted to say, not the least because he didn’t know if Allan could actually read. (He doubted it.) Something about Christmas, at any rate, and something that Allan would be sure to read as an invitation rather than a command. Eventually, he came up with this:
From Sir James de Molyneaux, of Teversal
To Allan a Dale, of Locksley and Nottingham,
Greetings!
If Sir Guy of Gisborne does not require your presence for the whole of Christmastide, and you find yourself in want of company, please consider joining me in Teversal. My intention is to spend all twelve days of the season at home, with the exception of attending any neighborhood festivities which may arise, and I would welcome a visit, brief or extended, at your convenience during that time. I am already putting in food and drink and other provisions especially for the holiday, so trust I can make you comfortable and merry.
Yours sincerely,
JdM
P.S. I have added a truckle bed to the manor house furnishings since your last visit, so there will be no need to for anyone to sleep in the hay stall this time!
Joe arrived just as Sir James was blotting his letter. He rolled it, sealed it, and handed it to Joe, saying, “Give this to Allan a Dale. Personally, mind-not to anybody else.” Joe looked uneasy, so Sir James added. “Don’t worry. It’s just an invitation. Nothing that can get anybody in trouble, you, me, or Allan. I just want to make sure Allan gets it.” What he was concerned about was that Gisborne would intercept it and keep Allan in ignorance, just out of spite. He only hoped the lad had enough sense to ask someone besides Gisborne to read it too him, if it came to that.
† 1 John 4:7-14
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.
Maybe it had to do with the Epistle Father Adam read, but today his mind was wandering towards, of all people, Allan a Dale. Sir James had promised Djaq he’d look after him, but he hadn’t done much to live up to that promise. Granted, Allan seemed to be doing all right without his help, but still…. Christmas was coming up, and Sir James could think of few more miserable places to spend it than with Gisborne, especially now that Lady Isabella had moved out and Lady Marian was still who knew where.
As he left the church, Sir James saw Young Joe loading a packhorse. Upon finding out they were heading to Locksley, he said, “Stop by the manor house on your way out of town. I have a message for you to deliver.” He had meant to ask Allan something during the St. Catherine’s Day feast, but hadn’t had the chance; maybe it still wasn’t too late.
But when he got home and actually put quill to parchment, he wasn’t so sure what he wanted to say, not the least because he didn’t know if Allan could actually read. (He doubted it.) Something about Christmas, at any rate, and something that Allan would be sure to read as an invitation rather than a command. Eventually, he came up with this:
From Sir James de Molyneaux, of Teversal
To Allan a Dale, of Locksley and Nottingham,
Greetings!
If Sir Guy of Gisborne does not require your presence for the whole of Christmastide, and you find yourself in want of company, please consider joining me in Teversal. My intention is to spend all twelve days of the season at home, with the exception of attending any neighborhood festivities which may arise, and I would welcome a visit, brief or extended, at your convenience during that time. I am already putting in food and drink and other provisions especially for the holiday, so trust I can make you comfortable and merry.
Yours sincerely,
JdM
P.S. I have added a truckle bed to the manor house furnishings since your last visit, so there will be no need to for anyone to sleep in the hay stall this time!
Joe arrived just as Sir James was blotting his letter. He rolled it, sealed it, and handed it to Joe, saying, “Give this to Allan a Dale. Personally, mind-not to anybody else.” Joe looked uneasy, so Sir James added. “Don’t worry. It’s just an invitation. Nothing that can get anybody in trouble, you, me, or Allan. I just want to make sure Allan gets it.” What he was concerned about was that Gisborne would intercept it and keep Allan in ignorance, just out of spite. He only hoped the lad had enough sense to ask someone besides Gisborne to read it too him, if it came to that.
† 1 John 4:7-14
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.