Chapter 2-3

It was odd how her anger amused him, even enticed him to cause it further. He hadn’t felt the need to annoy a wench in sometime. Normally, he bedded them and had done with it. Though, she seemed adverse to the idea, which he was fine with him, he had no interest in bedding her, for the moment. Talking with her however, getting her angry, watching her features turn from expressionless to defensive, proved far more entertaining. “Now, I’ll ask ya once more, Sir. Why are ya follow’ in me?” “You said if I need help, all I’d need to do is ask. So, I’ve come asking.” He replied with ease, bringing his cane up to rest on his shoulder. For a moment, Nan considered the man. He wasn’t the sort she normally dealt with. Nan liked a man she could read right away, once she knew what he was about, she knew how to handle him. This man however was less clear, and she wasn’t certain if she should help him or not. Though, he had saved her and she had said she would help him, she really saw no good reason to refuse him, her unease about his motives for coming after her aside. With a short nod, she ceded to his words. She’d hear him out before she gave yah or nay to his request for aid. “Aye, I did. What it is ya need?” she questioned, bringing her eyes to his, skeptical and suspicious. A far cry from the unreadable depths they had been that afternoon. “You truly are a fearless sort aren’t you?” He breathed bringing his cane back to the ground, his tone somewhat awed as he walked towards her, noting the slight shift in her being, the rigidity of her frame. She looked like a rabbit ready to run, but she held her ground, eyes on him, chin held high. When she spoke her answer, it was not what he had expected. “Hardly.” She snorted, rolling her eyes at his words. “You don’t fear me.” He stated, stopping only a foot in front of her. “You’ve done naught to me to make me fear ya. So, I don’t.” She replied, with a shake and a shrug, her anger seeming to melt into a sort of casual annoyance with him as she answered his question. “Not even when I yelled at you?” He questioned. “On the Beach?” She queried, arching a brow as he nodded. “I’d hardly call that yell’ in. More like the bark of an ornery hound.” She admitted easily. “Nah.” She shook her head, looking to the ground, before looking back to him. “I’ve had plenty of men shout, bark, snarl, and spit at me. I’ll not be turned into some lump by a few harsh words that’ll do naught to me.” She stated. “And the scars?” He asked. “What of ‘em?” She shrugged, staring up at him with indifference. “Surely, you are not immune to them. I am not a handsome man, Nan. I was once, but not anymore.” He shook his head. His look and tone more serious than they had been a moment ago. And for a moment his anger raised when she smiled at him as though to laugh at his deformity, shaking her head, as she looked about aimlessly before leveling her gaze back on him. And he felt his ire slowly rising at her mockery. “Beg your pardon, Sir. But you Gentry are a vain lot.” She stated to his surprise. “A man’s worth doesn’t lie in his face. It’s in his word, in his hands, his back, his legs, his head, and his heart. A man can be handsome but it doesn’t make him good. So, you had the misfortune of bein’ scarred. If you still have money in your purse, clothes on your back and a roof over your head, you’re still better off than some that don’t. Now are ya ever going to tell me what it is ya want my help with or are ya just going to keep ask’ in these questions?” she asked, regarding him with a slight impatience, as she waited for his answer her hands sitting squarely on her hips. “You’re helping me now, Nan.” He breathed down at her, with a look she wasn’t entirely sure how to take. He wasn’t barking at her or questioning her, just staring. “You’re helping me decide something. Tell me do you know Sir Will—“he was cut short as lightening flashed across the sky and rain fell in a cold heavy stream upon their heads. “Oh, Bloody Hell!” Nan bit out, glaring up at the pitch black of the night sky. Pulling her basket close to her chest, hunching over it as best she could to try and keep it dry. It wouldn’t be long before the lamps were dosed and she’d have no way to see her way home. “You’ll have to ask me your question some other time, Sir. As it is, if I don’t go now I’ll not make it home.” She told him, in a rush, quickly stepping past him only to come to a skidding halt as he grabbed her arm, turning her back about to face him. “Tell me where you stay and I shall bring you home.” “That’s no good Sir.” She shook her head at him. “The way is hard enough to find by day. Tis near impossible at night. Best I go alone. Good evening to ya.” She nodded then ripped her arm from his hand, sending him toppling to his hands and knees as she ran off into the black. Again, William was left to stare after the unusual Nan. He’d never meet such a confounding woman. And again, she slipped away from him without the slightest trace of fear on her.