"My apologies," Alexander said, letting his hand drop and feeling a little sheepish as he started to see things from her perspective.
Oh, goodness...er, hopefully she didn't think he was trying to get fresh with her? He realized then that this...was perhaps a very uncomfortable situation for her for reasons beyond being hunted. Here she was, a young solitary woman, alone with him, an older and rather burly retired soldier, in his home. He knew his own intentions here, but she of course had no way of knowing they were entirely pure. Erk. Well, best be extra careful so as not to spook the poor thing more.
So he didn't let the awkwardness hang there long. Instead, he smiled, stepped back, and turned to go fetch her some food. "It's no trouble at all, miss. If it was, I wouldn't offer," he told her with a wink.
And so he fetched her what he had--a bowl of pottage from the hearth, made earlier that day and still hot. He had banked the fire before he'd left for the tavern, not wanting to risk any accidents, and he hadn't been gone long.
He fetched her a heel of bread and an apple and set it on the table for her, before fetching her a cup of ale to go with it. It was watered down ale, not like what was served at the tavern, but after drinking bad water in the military and nearly dying from the fever, he didn't trust water.
"There we go. Sorry I don't have more--I really need to go to market."