“You’re afraid of women, aren’t you?”
I blurted, “No, I’m not!” and fled from Aethelflaed’s presence with her mocking words, “I say you are,” ringing in my ears accompanied by her scornful laugh. My escape proved her right. I found a quiet arbour in the garden to think. There, I sat on a stone bench next to a thick quince shrub. Alone, in that secluded bower, my thoughts whirled around ways to satisfy my l**t and show her what kind of man I was.
Was she right about me? Aethelflaed’s suggestive smile and step toward me had made me flee like a startled hare. The backward step I took that provoked her comment came from instinct. As such, I had to understand my behaviour. Unlike the men I knew, Edward for example, who could not stay away from maids, I did not seek them out. Why? I do not car
