he said, reaching to take a strand of her fair hair between his fingers. “Please let us part on good terms?” He searched her stark blue eyes for forgiveness, for understanding. He loved her so much and hated the way that he never seemed able to tell her how he felt. Whenever he tried he always ended by making some jest. She sighed and reached to clasp her hand around his. She looked so small and frail and when he had loved her last night he had been afraid that she might break she had become so thin with hunger and worry. “Will you give me your blessing before I go?” he asked, leaning to kiss her pale face in the early morning light. “I... I love you,” he mumbled. “William,” she replied with the smile that always made him feel so tender and protective of her. “I know. I love you too,” she told him, touching her gentle hand to his cheek. “Go, if you must – but take care of yourself.” He bent to kiss her soft lips, feeling her yield to him as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. Then she pushed him firmly away from her. “No,”
