A palpable sense of relief washed over Wylyam when she responded positively to his request. His concerned expression instantly changed to one of pure joy when she agreed to be his friend. She hadn’t refused him or laughed in his face as he secretly feared and dreaded. If she had, it felt to him as if the floor would have opened and swallowed him whole. Instead, now he felt as light as a feather with the thought that she might have similar feelings for him, too. Any lingering doubts on that point were erased when she retrieved her favor and pressed it into his hand before racing away. Wil was over the moon.<br/><br/>Once she had dashed from sight Wil opened his hand and looked at the delicately embroidered handkerchief, which was no doubt created by her own hand. He held her favor reverently as if it were one of the most priceless artifacts in the kingdom. That is because to him, in that moment, it was. He could hardly believe his good fortune.<br/><br/>After gently folding and placing the favor in the pocket of his tunic, he next dropped to one knee and began picking at the now-hardened candle wax. He knew he had to wait a few minutes before exiting and decided to clean up the evidence of their presence there while doing so. When he stood again it struck him that he should have asked for the favor instead of dawdling and forcing her to act first. He closed his eyes and bumped his head against a linen shelf as the events played again in his head.<span style="font-style: italic">You idiot!</span>he told himself a few times as he thought it over. Later that night he returned to his quarters to find Philip still not there.<br/><br/>Once back, Wil studied the favor for a long time by candlelight, breathing in the faint smell of her perfume before eventually turning in. This was, undoubtedly, the greatest night of his life. In hindsight he decided that it was probably for the best that he hadn’t tried to be more forward with her. Even if she would have agreed to kiss him, it would have been ungentlemanly. While he realized that he had backed away out of fear and not his sense of personal chivalry – still having been reserved may have helped him in the end with a woman of Elisabeth’s moral character. Wil slept peacefully and dreamed of them kissing several times. At one point he awoke with a mouth full of pillow feathers.<br/><br/>The next morning he was awoken by Sir Philip who looked like he hadn’t slept at all. “We’re leaving, and bringing the boy with us. And, apparently, the girl too.” Wylyam had never jumped to his feet as quickly as he did right then.<br/><br/>“What!?!” he asked with a bit too much excitement.<br/><br/>“Calm yourself,” he replied with disapproval. “Elisabeth’s father is sending her to advocate for Peter on his behalf, since the King specifically asked Sir Jonas to remain behind. This is a murder investigation, boy, not a chance for courtship. I expect you to be on your best behavior the entire time. Now get the horses ready, we leave as soon as their things are together – hopefully before breakfast. We want as little commotion as possible.”<br/><br/>Wil nodded, grabbed his things and raced from the chamber to prepare for the trip. He found it very difficult to contain his joy, but did his best to hide it in order to not seem insensitive to Peter’s situation.