There Your Heart Will Be Also by Felicia Rogers Page A

lingering smoke, aged books, and a hint of lilac and rose. The walls were lined with bookcases that housed books and various trinkets .
    But for all the published documents on the shelves, one book was in a prominent place , resting on a type of podium wedged against a wall. This was where Sarra led him. She lit a candle in a holder and walked with it toward the book, careful not to spill any wax on the handwritten pages.
    â€œI want to show you something .”
    Cedric leaned over , trying not to block the light with his huge frame. He made out a few words. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He read the first verse in the Gospel according to John and then stared at Sarra . “This is in English?”
    â€œAye,” she said trying to refrain from grinning so broadly. He seemed to be generally surprised he could read a Bible on his own.
    â€œWhere did ye get this?”
    â€œMy fa …, I mean the mistress’ father, Thomas of Greenbriar, was in the city when he was a young man, and he was approached by a figure in ragged clothing. He handed Thomas a book bound in leather , glanced over his shoulder, and limped off down the street. Thomas h id the item in his cloak at the exact moment a group of uniformed men raced by. Later when t he lord of Greenbriar was able, he opened the book and discovered it was an English Bible. He knew many in English churches had forbidden the word of God to be written in the common man’s tongue. They claimed it was for the consumption of the clergy only, but a few ‘rebels’ had denied the idea, and translated the Bible into English anyway.
    â€œ The man who had given him the Bible was later discovered floating in the Thames River. Thomas said he worried himself into near fits until he was safely at home and able to store the book in a safe place. Only when he became older and realized to hide the book away was almost as bad as forbidding it in the first place, did he make this podium and place it in this room.”
    â€œ The laird must have been a brave man .”
    â€œOh, he was brave. But more than anything , he knew to whom he belonged. He knew no matter what , God would see him through.”
    â€œWould ye mind if I came back and read some more of this later?”
    â€œ Well, I shall have to ask the mistress, but I’m sure she won’t mind.”
    â€œGenerous , is she?”
    â€œShe can be.”
    Cedric seemed a little embarrassed. After a moment he said, “I have had a wonderful time with ye this evening.”
    â€œ And I have had a wonderful time with you as well.” Cedric seemed hesitant to make the first step or say the first word which would end their time together , and Sarra was making no moves to do so either .
    Sarra spoke first , ending the a wkwardness between them . “I guess I should go and check on the mistress .”
    Without a word, they left the library, closing the doors behind them. Sarra led Cedric to her quarters .
    A s they walked , she wondered how the night would end. Would it be a goodnight kiss on the hand? Would it be a goodnight kiss on the cheek? Would it be a goodnight kiss on the lips? Sarra hoped for the latter but would accept anything Cedric was willing to bestow upon her.
    They approached Sarra’s door and a feeling of trepidation descended. Yet another lie she was going to tell. If he happened to peek inside there would no doubt be questions about the opulence of her surroundings ; the excuse could be because of the room ’s proximity to the mistress. And what if he remembered their first encounter? The day they first met, Sarra had left and walked to the village instead of the keep. She sank her teeth into her lower lip.
    So caught up in her musings, she barely noticed Cedric. H is head descended toward her waiting form . Sarra arched for him, but before their lips could meet , the shrill sound of an alarm bell rang out