"Let us take a walk in the gardens" the Bishop motioned to the young woman. He stood up wearing an alb of sorts; he took it off. "If you don't mind, the stable help will walk with us. He knows my secret."<br/><br/>The Bishop walked with Manuela. It was awkward at first; he didn't quite know where to begin. He wanted to start with an admonishment not to be a witch. But he didn't know if she was one or not. He wanted to begin by asking about her life, not because he was gathering information so much as he finally met someone who would meet with him at least this once. He wanted to begin by asking her who she was exactly and what kind of life did she live? Occasionally, he would stop and look around at the beautiful garden just outside the church and connecting the church and the castle. He wanted to examine himself internally. What was his motivation now? Why was she here? If he believed in her innocence so much, then she should just be another pretty peasant girl in the kingdom. He gently asked her, "Do you think I'm power hungry? That you're here because I have the authority to order you around? If you do, please forgive me. I don't like playing that part." He raised his hand to the gardener.<br/><br/>"His excellency wishes to go to a private part of the garden alone, Ms. He shall rejoin you shortly."<br/><br/>Julian walked a distance and hid behind what appeared to be an outside portico that tucked itself behind some rose bushes. "You know" he said outloud as he talked with Manuela, "There's a lot of talk these days. Talk about witches, or not witches. People's lives, what they do, what they don't do behind closed doors." There was some movement, it sounded as if Julian was removing garments, putting garments on.<br/><br/>"For some reason in this diocese, everyone is suspicious of everyone. It gets tiring and weary after a while. Still, I have an obligation from the Pope himself, you know. If he brings to the attention of the diocese persons who have been accused with something as dastardly as witchcraft, it is my responsibility to follow up." There was more rustling on the porch. "Petre, would you come here a moment" and in a flash, the stable hand and gardener immediately obeyed.<br/><br/>"What I find, Manuela, is that there's only one way to really learn what people are like, how they think, what they do, that sort of thing." Julian walked a distance, but didn't immediately show himself. "Us Bishops, we have no concept of who people really are. Therefore I propose I put aside my Bishopric for the day. Instead of talking with Julian, Bishop of the villages of Spain - allow me to introduce you to ..."<br/><br/>He walked out; he had taken off his Bishop clothing and he wore a very simple wool tunic; someone had cut the arms off the tunic; it definitely looked, well ... hand made. The tunic wore down past his waist, covering up the woolen trousers he had chosen to wear. It was loose fitting on him; his feet were shod with simple leather boots. These particular boots seemed to lace up in the front; the Bishop definitely did not wear this often, it looked a little unkempt. Even more unkempt than a commoner would have worn it.<br/><br/>Around the bishops head was what seemed to be a bonnet that encompassed his head so that his hair could barely be seen; he had tied it under the chin. Unlike his previous persona, he held no staff in his hand. He gave a smile.<br/><br/>"May I have permission to accompany you and spend a day with you so that you can show me everything that you do within the day? Maybe even show me around where you live. In return, I would do the same for you, when you wish of course." The Bishop gave a smirk; he never did this but privately. He never accompanied anyone, but today he was feeling adventurous.<br/><br/><a class="postlink" href="http://www.maskworld.com/pix/costumes/large/4280-bauer-peasant.jpg">[ img ]</a>