The Feast of San Nicola and Eleanor

Of course, Eleanor has heard of San Nicola, the revered bishop of the fourth century, who was known for giving people unexpected gifts, and who is celebrated on May 7 in Italy. Fishermen take his statue out to sea and then bring it back in again, to commemorate his return to Bari. Eleanor is definitely less interested in the ceremony than she is in what San Nicola was known for. An unexpected gift, she muses. What would San Nicola bestow on her? Would it be the ability to stare down that arrogant Lord Hugh? Ah, no, because one look in those piercing blue eyes sets her heart a-fluttering. Perhaps her unexpected gift might be to best Lord Hugh in one of the many altercations they are engaged in over her management of her forests — he calls it “mismanagement,” of course, and his constant accusations of her allowing poaching to run rampant. ‘Twould be a gift, indeed, that one. Then, Eleanor blushes hotly, what if the gift were a kiss from Lord Hugh? That, indeed, would be MOST unexpected….and, she admits, perhaps most welcome…..

Eleanor and the Christmas Holidays

Eleanor is quite taken with the whole idea of Christmas. Giving gifts to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child is a time that she looks forward to all year. She arranges for the Great Hall to be decorated with swaths of greenery and red velvet, and she has been busily doing her needlepoint to sew something special for her dear sister, Mary, a small bag to keep her treasures in. How she wishes she could make a gift for Lord Hugh, but, she is sure he would turn that arrogant gaze on her and sneer. Well, maybe he wouldn’t…after all, that time that his hand brushed hers and he looked at her longingly and searchingly….what had happened, then? In the meantime, she studies the picture of the lighted tree on the hillside. How did people accomplish that? Did they actually light candles all about the hillside? She is puzzled, but admires the beauty. She dreams of Christmas — and of Lord Hugh. Back to the needlepoint, she turns with a sigh.