Field of Blood

guest.'
    'Will you come?' Sir John asked.
    Athelstan shook his head. 'For once, Sir John, let me be the last to leave the tavern, not you!'
    The friar watched them go. He sat in the deserted taproom then raised his tankard in a silent salute.
    'Whom are you toasting, Brother?'
    Athelstan glanced round to see the merry-faced taverner's wife standing in the doorway wiping her hands.
    'Why, mistress, I'm toasting love: in all its beauty and all its terror!'