“My, but you are gracious!” Alcuin could easily have counted the number of times he'd received a heartfelt apology on a single hand before his master's death. Though his enemies had been numerous and the slander against him and their household had been the talk of the town for quite some time, there had been many others afterward that had felt sorry enough for it, and told him so. In fact, there were times he felt that he swam in a veritable ocean of apologies – spoken, or unspoken – though they had rarely been so simple as this. “Do not worry,” he replied softly. “All is forgiven.”