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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time
+Tales, by Amelie Rives
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time Tales
+
+Author: Amelie Rives
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2008 [EBook #26356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BROTHER TO DRAGONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from scans of public domain material produced by
+Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover: A Brother to Dragons]
+
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER TO DRAGONS
+
+AND
+
+_OTHER OLD-TIME TALES_
+
+BY AMÉLIE RIVES
+
+          NEW YORK
+          HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
+          1888
+
+
+
+
+          Copyright, 1888, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+          _All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+          =Dedicated=
+
+          WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
+
+          TO
+
+          THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
+
+          MY FIRST EDITOR
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+OF the tales published in this volume, "A Brother to Dragons" appeared
+in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for March, 1886; "The Farrier Lass o' Piping
+Pebworth" in _Lippincott's Magazine_ for July, 1887; and "Nurse Crumpet
+tells the Story" in _Harper's Magazine_ for September, 1887.
+
+                                                        AMÉLIE RIVES.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+
+          A BROTHER TO DRAGONS                       1
+
+          THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING PEBWORTH       82
+
+          NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY            168
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER TO DRAGONS.
+
+
+I.
+
+IN the year of grace, 1586, on the last day of the month of May, to all
+who may chance to read this narrative, these:
+
+I will first be at the pains of stating that had it not been for Marian
+I had never indited these or any other papers, true or false. Secondly,
+that the facts herein set down be true facts; none the less true that
+they are strange. I will furthermore explain that Marian is the
+Christian name of my lawful wife, and that our surname is Butter.
+
+My wife had nursed the Lady Margaret from the moment of her birth; and
+here I must make another digression. The Lady Margaret was the twin
+sister of the then Lord of Amhurste, Lord Robert, and my lady and his
+lordship had quarrelled--Marian saith, with a great cause, but I cannot
+herein forbear also expressing my opinion, which is to the effect that
+for that quarrel there was neither cause, justice, nor reason.
+Therefore, before those who may chance to read these words, I will lay
+bare the facts pertaining to the said quarrel.
+
+It concerned the family ghost, which ghost was said to haunt a certain
+blue chamber in the east wing of the castle. Now I myself had never
+gainsaid these reports; for although I do not believe in ghosts, I have
+a certain respect for them, as they have never offered me any affront,
+either by appearing to me or otherwise maltreating me. But Marian, who
+like many of her sex seemed to consort naturally with banshees, bogies,
+apparitions, and the like, declared to me that at several different and
+equally inconvenient times this ghost had presented itself to her,
+startling her on two occasions to such an extent that she once let fall
+the contents of the broth-bowl on Herne the blood-hound, thereby causing
+that beast to maliciously devour two breadths of her new black taffeta
+Sunday gown; again, a hot iron wherewith she was pressing out the seams
+of Lady Margaret's night-gown. On the second occasion, she fled along
+the kitchen hall, shrieking piteously, and preceded by Doll, the kitchen
+wench, the latter having in her seeming a certain ghostly appearance, as
+she was clad only in her shift, which the draughts in the hall inflated
+to a great size. The poor maid fled affrighted into her room and locked
+the door behind her; yet when I did essay to assuage the terror of
+Mistress Butter, identifying Doll and the blue-room ghost as one and the
+same, she thanked me not, but belabored me in her frenzy with the yet
+warm iron, which she had instinctively snatched up in her flight;
+demanding of me at the same time if I had ever seen Doll's nose spout
+fire, and her eyes spit in her head like hot coals. I being of a
+necessity compelled to reply "No," Marian further told me that it was
+thus that the ghost had comported itself; that, moreover, it was clad
+all in a livid blue flame from top to toe, and that it had a banner o'
+red sarcenet that streamed out behind like forked lightning. She then
+said that this malevolent spirit had struck her with its blazing hand,
+and that, did I not believe her, I could see the burn on her wrist. Upon
+my suggesting that this wound might have been inflicted by the iron in
+its fall, she did use me in so unwifely a manner that I sought my bed in
+much wrath and vexation of spirit. Nay, I do fear me that I cursed the
+day I was wed, the day on which my wife was born, wishing all women to
+the d--l; and that, moreover, out loud, which put me to much shame
+afterwards for some days; although, be it said to my still greater
+shame, it was full a fortnight e'er I confessed my repentance unto the
+wife whom I had so abused.
+
+But meseems I have in this digression transgressed in the matter o'
+length; therefore, to return to the bare facts.
+
+It was on the subject of this ghost that my lord and the Lady Margaret
+had disagreed. My lord, being a flighty lad, although a marvellous fine
+scholar and well-disposed, did agree with my wife in the matter of the
+ghost; while my lady was of a like mind with myself.
+
+It doth seem but yesterday that she came to me as I was training the
+woodbine o'er the arbor that led to her little garden, and put her white
+hand on my shoulder. (My lady was never one for wearing gloves, yet the
+sun seemed no more to think o' scorching her fair hands than the leaves
+of a day-lily.) She comes to me and lays her hand on my shoulder, and
+her long eyes they laugh at me out of the shadow of her hat; but her
+mouth is grave as though I were a corse.
+
+Quoth she:
+
+"Butter, dost thou believe in this ghost?"
+
+"Nay, my lady," answered I, hoping to shift her to better soil; "I ne'er
+meddle with ghosts or goblins. Why, an there be such things, should they
+wish me harm? O' my word, my brain is no more troubled with ghosts,
+black or white, than our gracious Queen's"--here I doffed my cap--"is
+with snails and slugs;" and here I plucked a slug from a vine-leaf and
+set my heel on't.
+
+"Nay, nay!" quoth she, a-shutting of her white eyelids so tight that all
+the long black hairs on them stood straight out, like the fringe on
+Marian's Sunday mantle in a high wind. "Butter! thou nasty man!"
+
+"Why--for how dost thou mean, my lady?" quoth I.
+
+"Why, for mashing that poor beast to a pap." And then a-holding of her
+hand level below her eyes, so that she might not discern the ground,
+"Is he dead?" quoth she.
+
+"Dead?" asked I, for I was somewhat puzzled in my mind.
+
+"Ay, the slug; is he dead?"
+
+"That he is, verily," said I; for in truth he was naught but a jelly,
+and therewith I drew a pebble over him with my foot, that the sight o'
+his misfortune should not disturb her tender heart.
+
+"How if I were to crush you 'neath my heel, Master Butter?" quoth she at
+last, having peered about for the sight she dreaded, and, not seeing it,
+returning to her discourse. "How wouldst thou like that, excellent
+Master Butter?" But somehow, as I looked at her foot, my mouth, for all
+I could do, went into a smile. For though she was as fine a maiden as
+any in all Warwickshire, her foot, methinks, was of so dainty a make
+'twould scarce have dealt death to a rose.
+
+"But truly, my lady," continued I, seeing that she was making up a face
+at me, "thou knowest I've naught in common with ghosts."
+
+"Ay," quoth she. "And thou knowest the like of me. But"--and here stops
+she, with the slyest tip of her frowzed curls towards the house--"thou
+knowest also this, Butter, that his lordship, my brother, thinks as doth
+Marian, thy wife, and that therein we four cannot agree."
+
+So I look at my hoe-handle, and say I, "My lady, it is known to me."
+
+"Well, now, Butter," she goes on, "thou most wise, most excellent, most
+cunning, most delectable of Butters, I have concocted a plan. I' fecks,
+Butter" (for my lady, like her Majesty the Queen, was somewhat given to
+swearing, though more modest oaths, as should become a subject)--"I'
+fecks, Butter," saith she, "'tis a most lustick plot. But I would not
+thy mome heard us;" and with that she makes me send away Joe, the
+under-gardener. He being gone, she whispers in my ear how she hath
+plotted to fright his lordship and Marian into very convulsions of
+further conviction, by appearing to them at the door o' the blue room in
+her night-gown, with a taper in her hand and her face chalked. What she
+desired o' me was, that I should come to the blue room with her, and
+there remain while she played off this pretty fantasy on my lord and
+Marian.
+
+To be truthful in these my last days o' earth, I liked not my proffered
+office o'er-well. Howbeit, that night did I do the bidding o' my young
+mistress, and--loath am I to speak of it, even at this late day--'twas
+the cause of my young master's leaving his home and going to bide in
+foreign countries.
+
+Ah, bitter tears did his sister weep, and with mine own eyes I saw her,
+on the day he set forth, cling to his neck, and when he shook her
+thence, hang about his loins, and when at last he pushed her to the
+ground, she laid her hands about his feet and wept; and between every
+sob it was, "Go not, brother, for my fault! Go not, brother, for my
+fault!" or else, "Robin, Robin, dost not love me enough to forgive me so
+little?" and then, "If thou didst but love me a little, thou couldst
+forgive me much." But he stepped free of her hands and went his ways,
+and my lady lay with her head where his feet had been, and was still.
+
+Then Marian, who was very wroth with me for my part in the matter, did
+up with her nursling in her own proper strong arms (for she was aye a
+strong lass, that being one o' the chief reasons for which I had sought
+her in marriage--having had, as should all men, an eye to my posterity.
+It was a great cross to me, as may be thought, to find that all my
+forethought had been in vain, and that while Turnip, the farrier, had
+eight as fine lads as one would care to father, of a puny wench that my
+Marian could have slipped in her pocket, Mistress Butter presented me
+with no children, weakly or healthy). But, as I have said, Marian, in
+her own arms, did carry my lady up-stairs to her chamber, and laid her
+on the day-bed.
+
+And by-and-by she opes her eyes (for Marian agreed that I sate on the
+threshold), and says she, putting out her hand half-fearful-like, "Is't
+thou, brother?"
+
+"Nay, honey," saith Marian; "it is I, thy Marian, thy nurse."
+
+Then said my lady, "Ay, nurse; but my brother, he is below--is't not
+so?" But when Marian shook her head, my lady sate up on the day-bed and
+caught hold of her short curls, and cried out, "I have banished him! I
+have made him an outlaw! I have banished him!" And for days she lay like
+one whose soul was sped.
+
+Well, the young lord came not back, nor would he write; so we knew not
+whether he were alive or dead. Yet were Marian and myself not
+unhopeful, for full oft did the heady boy find some such cause of
+disagreement with his sister to abide apart from her. But when we saw
+that in truth he came not back, and that week sped after week, and month
+did follow month, and still no tidings, we had perforce to acknowledge
+that the young lord was indeed gone to return no more.
+
+The Lady Margaret, in her loneliness, grew into many strange ways. She
+did outride any man in the county, and she had a blue-roan by the name
+of Robin Hood; which same, methinks, no man in or out o' th' county
+would 'a' cared to bestride. She would walk over to Pebworth ('piping
+Pebworth,' as Master Shakespeare hath dubbed it) and back again, a
+distance o' some six miles; and afterwards set forth for a gallop on
+Robin Hood, and be no more a-weary, come eventide, than myself from a
+trip 'round the gardens. She swam like a sea-maid, she had fenced even
+better than her brother, and methinks she was the bonniest shot with a
+long-bow of any woman in all England. She was but fifteen when my lord
+left Amhurste for aye, and in the years since she had grown mightily,
+and was waxed as strong as Marian, and full a head taller. But she had
+long, curved flanks that saved her from buxomness; and her head was set
+high and light on her shoulders, like a bird that floats on a wave, and
+o'er it ran her bright curls, the one o'er the other, like little
+wavelets. Her eyes were as gray as a sword, and as keen, and she had
+broad lids as white as satin-flowers, and there was a fine black ring
+around them, made by her long lashes.
+
+My lady was courted by many a fine lord, and more than three youngsters
+have I seen weep because of her coldness towards them; speeding them
+away out o' the sight o' mankind (as they thought), and casting
+themselves along the lush grass in my lady's garden, there to bleat and
+bleat, like moon-calves for the moon.
+
+For one lad did my heart bleed, verily. 'Twas for the young Lord of
+Mallow--but a lad with buttercup curls and speedwell eyes, and a smile
+to win the love o' any maid in her reason (though, to be sure, my lady
+was in her reason). He comes to me and gets between my knees, like any
+little eanling that might 'a' been mine own, and quoth he:
+
+"Butter, Butter, she loves thee! Wilt thou not speak to her, and tell
+her that she shall be the richest lady in all England, and maid of honor
+to the Queen, and have more jewels than the Queen herself? Oh, Butter!"
+cried he.
+
+Then said I, a-stroking of the yellow gossamer that bestrewed his
+shoulders, as he knelt, head bowed, between my knees, "Nay, my lord,
+'tis not so that thou shalt win the Lady Margaret. She careth no more
+for jewels than she doth for the beads in a rainbow; nor doth she care
+for riches. And methinks a maid who would marry just to be maid of honor
+to a queen would not be an honorable maid either to herself or to her
+sovereign;" for so indeed I thought.
+
+Then saith he, "Butter, dost thou believe in love-philters?"
+
+And I asked his meaning, for verily I was ignorant of 't, albeit I was
+not ignorant in all matters. And he explained to me that it was a drink
+or potion to cause love.
+
+Then I answered, and said, "Calamint doth make a good brew, likewise
+sage, and some flax is soothing, but methinks none o' these would cause
+love."
+
+On this he wept again, but said that I was a good old man, and that on
+his return to Mallow he would send me a gift; and so he did--a pair o'
+silk hose, such as my lady and the Queen do wear; but being mindful of
+my station, I laid them aside for the sake o' th' poor lad, and
+yesterday Marian did bring them to me, with her ten fingers through as
+many moth-holes. Whereupon I was minded o' th' text concerning that we
+lay not up treasures where moth and rust do corrupt, and at my behest
+Marian read me the whole of that chapter. But to return to bare facts.
+
+It was on a certain night in March that there occurred the conversation
+which was the cause of this narrative. There had been news of the return
+of one Lord Denbeigh to Warwickshire--by report as wild a cavalier as
+ever fought, and a godless body to boot. Marian, who, as I have said,
+had always a certain knack for ghost stories and the like, froze me with
+her accounts o' this wild lord's doings. Quoth she:
+
+"Fire-brace is a suiting name for him, inasmuch as 'tis a family name,
+and he a fire-brand to peace wheresome'er he shall go."
+
+"Peace--peace thyself!" quoth I, hearing my lady's foot along the hall.
+And, o' my word, Marian had but just ceased, and given her attention to
+the fire, when in clatters my lady, with her riding-whip stuck in her
+glove, and her blood-hound Hearn in a leash. She was much wrought,
+either with riding or rage, for there was a quick red in her cheek, and
+she had set her red lips until they were white. Then took she the hound
+between her knees, and plucked off her gloves. Here I did find it my
+duty to speak.
+
+"My lady," cried I, "'tis not in your mind to baste the dog?"
+
+"Ay, that it is," quoth she, and her lips went tighter, and she jerked
+at her glove.
+
+Then said I, "How if he leap at thy throat?" And she answered, "Nay, he
+knows better;" and with that she gripped his collar, and let swing her
+whip. Then did I bid Marian that she leave the room. As for me, it was
+my duty to stay, though, as I have given an oath to tell but the truth
+in this narrative, I must confess that I was in a sweat from head to
+foot with fear.
+
+But the great hound crouched as though he knew he got but what he
+deserved, and when my lady had given him ten or twenty lashes she flung
+wide the door, and said she, "Get thee gone, coward! Go fare as fares
+the poor beggar thou sought'st to bite!" and the hound slunk out. Then
+turned my mistress to me, and--"Butter," saith she, "yon beast sought to
+bite an old beggar as we came through the park, so I whipped him. But
+for naught save cruelty or disobedience will I ever whip a dog; so,
+Butter, the next time that thou seest me about to lash one, keep thy
+counsel." (This was the harshest that my lady e'er spoke, either to me
+or to Marian.) Then went she to the door and called Marian.
+
+"Come, nurse," quoth she, "I am a-weary. Fling me some skins on the
+settle, and I will lie down, and thou shalt card out my locks with thy
+fingers." So we heaped the settle with the skins o' white bears, and
+thereon my lady cast herself, like a flower blown down upon a snow-bank;
+and by-and-by, what with the warmth and Marian's strokings, she fell
+into a deep sleep. But we two sate and gazed on her.
+
+She was all clad in a tight riding-dress of green velour cloth, and her
+white face seemed to come from the close collar like a white lily from
+its sheath. She was e'er flower-like, asleep or waking, as I have said,
+and her pretty head was sleek and yellow, like a butterfly's wing. She
+was so sound that it appeared to me and Marian as though one longer
+breath might transform the mimicry into the actual thing--death. But
+by-and-by awe fell from us, as it doth ever fall, even in the presence
+of that which hath awed us, and my wife and I did return to our
+discourse concerning my Lord Denbeigh.
+
+Quoth I to Marian, "But, wife, may not malice invent these tales?"
+
+"Nay, nay," said she, shaking her head; "as bloody a rogue as ever
+lived--as bloody a rogue as ever lived. They do say as how he'll set a
+whole tavern in a broil ere he be entered in for three minutes."
+
+"But," quoth I, "may he not be provoked?"
+
+"Nay, I tell thee," said she; "but he'll jump at a body's head, and
+cleave 't open ere a body can say 'Jesus.'"
+
+At this I said, firmly, "I doubt not but what the poor man is most
+surely maligned." Whereupon Mistress Butter did wax exceeding wroth.
+
+"Why wilt thou e'er be seeking to plead the cause o' villains?" cried
+she. "First that bloody beast o' my lady's, now this bloody villain o'
+th' devil's. I do wonder at thee, Anthony Butter." Whereat I did put in
+that I sometimes wondered at myself.
+
+"For why?" quoth she.
+
+"Why, that I ever married to be worded by a wench," said I. And at this
+I am most entirely sure that she would have cast her joint-stool at me,
+had she not been sitting on 't, and my lady's head against her knee. So
+she called me a "zany," and then after a little a "toad," but went on
+stroking my lady's hair.
+
+And, by-and-by, back we come to his lordship.
+
+"'Tis not alone his bloody tricks and murderous ways," quoth my wife,
+"that causes all Christian folk to abhor him, but he consorts with no
+other women than drabs and callets. Dost excuse that?"
+
+"Nay," said I, with sufficient gravity, "then is this earl no longer a
+man, but a swine, and not fit for men's discussion, much less that of
+women."
+
+At this reproof I saw anger again in her eye, but she was so pleased
+withal at having got me to call Lord Denbeigh a swine that she forebore
+any further personal affront.
+
+"And yet," she went on, "they do say he be as fine a man as a wench
+will walk through the rain to glimpse at, and a brave and a learned; but
+that he wed a Spanish maid, and she betrayed him, and so he hath vowed
+to hate women, one and all."
+
+"Hast thou seen him?"
+
+"Nay, but I've had him itemized to me by the wife o' Humfrey Lemon. A
+blue eye, a hooked nose, a--"
+
+"Well, well, wife," quoth I, "if a blue eye and a hooked nose be as bad
+signs in a man as they be in a horse, methinks this thy villain is a
+very round villain."
+
+"And so he is," affirmed she.
+
+"Yet," said I, "there is somewhere in me a something that doth pity
+him."
+
+"By my troth!" cried my wife. "I do believe, Master Butter, that
+thou'dst pity the Devil's wife in childbirth."
+
+"Ay, that I would!" I made answer, with a great calmness, for I saw that
+she sought to rouse my spleen.
+
+"Well, do not bellow," blurted she, "for my mistress is as sound as a
+gold-piece."
+
+Then quoth my lady, a-rising up on her elbow,
+
+"Nay, that she is not. And, moreover, she would hear all the stories
+concerning this bad and bloody Lord of Denbeigh!"
+
+
+II.
+
+When Marian heard my lady so speak, methought she would have swooned in
+verity; for she knew my lady's contempt for gossip. E'en for the first
+time in all her life, Marian could not find a word to her tongue.
+
+"La! my lady," said she, and then stopped and was silent. My lady
+laughed at her, with her deep eyes; but as was her wont, her mouth was
+wondrous solemn.
+
+"Ay, nurse," quoth she, "thou thought'st me safe i' th' Land o' Nod, but
+one hath ears to hear there as elsewhere." Then she reaches out one
+hand and plays with Marian's ruff. "Go to, nurse," says she. "Dost thou
+not see I am even i' th' same case with thyself? I too would gossip a
+little. Come, word it--word it!"
+
+So Marian told her all that she had heard, together with a little
+prophesying here and there, which boded no good to my Lord Denbeigh. She
+told how he had e'en been a brave lad, but how in Spain he had wed with
+a wife who played him false; how then he had vowed vengeance on all
+womankind, becoming a brawler and a haunter o' taverns; how death was in
+his sword and lightnings in his eye.
+
+My lady listened, and now and again she would pinch her eyelids softly
+with her thumb and ring-finger, as one who is deep in thought. But when
+Marian paused for breath, she turned to her, and quoth she,
+
+"Nurse, thou hast often preached unto me; listen now to my preachings.
+Thou shalt often hear a man abused, nurse, but chiefly for that which
+he hath never done. This wild lord, I doubt not, hath been guilty of
+sorry deeds. What man hath not? But the half that thou hast told me is
+not to be believed."
+
+Then went she to her room, taking Marian with her, but I saw that she
+was moved.
+
+It was but the next day that my lady's uncle, Sir John Trenyon, came
+riding into the court. He often came in such wise, to bide for a day or
+two with his niece. A most courteous gentleman; red of face, blue of
+eye, and blithe of tongue. He had a jest for each tick o' th' clock, and
+a kind word for all.
+
+"Ah, Butter," saith he, "and where is thy mistress? And thy wife, the
+good Dame Marian--where is she? And how about thy family? Hast thou no
+better prospects than of yore?"
+
+Whereat I looked sorrowful enough, I doubt not, for he did bid me take
+heart, as my first-born might have had a hare-lip or a crook-back. Then
+did he toss me his bridle-reins, and my lady, having heard his voice,
+came forth to meet him.
+
+"So, lady-bird!" quoth he, clasping her. "I am come for no less than
+three reasons this time. First, to see thy bonny face. Second, to ride
+thy bonny Robin. Third, to inquire and seek out a certain villain of
+mine acquaintance, of whom you have doubtless heard;" and forthwith did
+he say to her of how the wicked Lord Denbeigh was the son of a friend
+and comrade, and of how he had known him when a lad, together with much
+more, at which my lady pricked up her ears, as 'twere, having all a
+lady's love for stories of wicked men who are not yet either old or
+ill-favored.
+
+"By my troth," declared the old knight in ending, "I will take but a
+mouthful to stay me, and then set forth straightway in quest o' th'
+rascal." So having dined right heartily, he rode forth again.
+
+Now, having related this hap to Marian, she was devoured of so great a
+curiosity that, as I am an honest man, I looked to see her consumed even
+unto her bones, as some men who burn of drink. She would have it that I
+must hazard a guess on the shape of Lord Denbeigh's nose, the color of
+his hair, and the height of his body. She forced me to wonder whether he
+were civil or rude of tongue. She pressed me to say whether I thought
+there was aye a chance of his returning with Sir John. She questioned
+me, in a word, until, having no answers, I was like to lose my wits, or
+my temper, or both together. At last comes she and sits on my knee, and
+tickles the back of my neck right playfully, as in the days of our
+wooing.
+
+"As I live, Tony," quoth she, "we are like to have a strange story under
+our very noses. What if"--and here she takes my face in her two hands,
+and sets her chin against mine, so that I see four round blue eyes
+against her white brow, and am like to go blind with her
+thoughtlessness--"what if it turns out that the Lord hath set upon our
+lady to be the saviour of this wicked earl?"
+
+"Ay," cried I. "And what if the Lord hath set upon me to be the founder
+of a nation, like Abraham? What then?" At which she boxed my ears right
+soundly. But I could not blame her, for in the wrong I was, without
+doubt, although verily she had plagued me into it. So I sued for pardon,
+and got it, and a kiss into the bargain. But she would not leave me in
+peace concerning Lord Denbeigh.
+
+When that same afternoon there comes Sir John a-riding past, and the bad
+earl at his side, "What dost thou say now?" quoth Marian, a-plucking me
+in a way that did not serve to increase good feeling betwixt us. "Ah
+ha! Are not women prophetesses by nature?"
+
+"Ay, by ill-nature," answered I; and for this quip I was not forgiven
+for two days.
+
+It was towards the setting of the sun when Sir John and Lord Denbeigh
+rode up to the door of Amhurste, and my lady, knowing naught, came out
+at the sound of the horses' feet, thinking only to greet her uncle. The
+red light from the west shone on her, and dabbled her white kirtle as
+with blood, and her face was like one of the red roses in her garden. So
+she put up her hand to shield it, and saw the stranger standing at her
+feet.
+
+There was ne'er a nobler-looking man, for all he might outblack Satan in
+his soul: straight of body, and strong of limb, and lofty of head. His
+hair was the color of my lady's, and there seemed to be ever some
+sunshine in it, as he moved his head. Methought his face was fair and
+goodly to look upon, albeit his lips went downward at the corners, and
+there was a droop in his broad lids. He was clad all in a close suit of
+dark velvet, and in his hand he held a black hat with a knot of
+heron-plumes.
+
+My lady stood and looked down at him from under her long, white hand,
+and he stood and looked up at my lady, as one looks upward at a fair
+picture. And the evening light crept between them. I was ashamed of my
+own folly, when I did catch myself remembering Marian's silly sayings;
+but for all that, they did come back to me, as the words of a foolish
+woman will return to the wisest of men. And in truth he did gaze up at
+her, as though she were more holy than the heavens above her. And for
+all her hand, the sunset found its way unto her cheek.
+
+What I now relate was told me by Marian some three days after. 'Twas on
+the night of the day on which Sir John had brought the stranger to
+Amhurste, and Marian was carding out my lady's tresses before her
+bedroom fire.
+
+Quoth my lady, suddenly, "Nurse, didst thou see Lord Denbeigh ere he
+went?"
+
+And Marian said that she had seen him.
+
+"He hath a strange face, nurse."
+
+"How 'strange,' my lady?"
+
+"Why, it seems to me that each feature in it doth contradict the other.
+His brow is stern, and saith to his eyes, 'Ye shall not be gentle.' His
+eyes say to his nose, 'Spread not thy nostrils so proudly.' His nose
+commands his lips that they smile not; but, nurse, there was ne'er a
+sweeter smile on the lips o' a saint!"
+
+Marian fell a-thinking, and pulled my lady's hair. My lady heeded it
+not, so Marian fell a-thinking yet more deeply.
+
+"It is not a face that tells of a bad heart," continued my lady. "Rather
+it speaks of rebellion and misfortune. A sad story--a sad story."
+
+"What is, my lady?" asked Marian; but my lady was far away, whither
+Marian could not follow.
+
+"Nurse," she saith, presently, "that were a soul worth saving." Then got
+she suddenly to her feet, and turned and took her nurse's hands with
+hers. "It shall be saved," she saith, "God helping."
+
+And she kissed Marian, and lay down upon her bed. But Marian did tell me
+how that no sleep visited her lady's eyes that night. Through the
+darkness she could hear her turn, first on this side, then on that; then
+sigh and move her pillow, and sigh again.
+
+Methought Marian would have split in sunder with importance, when Lord
+Denbeigh took to coming sometimes to Amhurste. 'Twas never for even an
+hour that he stayed; and 'twas always some question of business that
+brought him. But my lady and he touched hands full oft during a week,
+and always he would look at her with a different look from that which
+his eyes did wear at other times. And she spoke to him e'er courteously
+and kindly, even as though he had been a holy man and worthy of all
+reverence.
+
+One day it chanced that my lady rode the blue-roan out into the woods,
+towards the hut of old Joan Gobble, who was crippled by reason of age.
+My lady had me follow her on Dumble, th' white nag, with a pat o' butter
+and some wine. I was taken up with pondering as to why my lady should go
+in person to Dame Gobble's, seeing she might have sent me alone on
+Dumble as well. Be that as it may, as we rode along by a brook-side,
+under the thick leaves, whom should we come upon but my Lord Denbeigh.
+He was kneeling beside the water, and holding down his hand into the
+brook. As I looked I saw that his hand was befouled with gore, and that
+the brown stream did rush away ruddily from beneath his fingers.
+
+My lady did not wait for me to hold Robin Hood, but did swing herself
+from her saddle, and was beside the earl in a trice. He looked up, and
+seeing her, did start upon his feet.
+
+"Nay," said she, putting out her hand, "but tell me if I can aid thee."
+
+And he strove to hide his hand at his side, saying. "Tis but a scratch;"
+but the blood ran down like water on the grass.
+
+"Think not to spare me the sight o' blood," said my lady, "for I am
+learned in bandaging wounds." And certes she was, seeing that every soul
+at Amhurste did come to her for healing, let a cat but scratch them. And
+she took his hand between her two fair hands (having drawn off her
+gloves), and saw that his wrist was deeply severed as with a knife. But
+she asked him no questions, telling him only to stoop while she cleansed
+his hand sufficiently to bind it. And as she laid it in the water, and
+pressed the lips of the wound together, he said unto her in a low tone,
+not meaning that I should hear him,
+
+"Would that thou couldst wash my soul as thou hast washed my hand!"
+
+She looked straight into his eyes, with her own so clear and honest,
+like a dog's (meaning no disrespect to my lady, as God knows), and she
+answered him and saith,
+
+"It were well worth the washing, my lord; but an higher than I must
+cleanse it."
+
+And he saith, "There is none higher."
+
+At that my lady's blood rose in her cheek, but she besought him that he
+would not speak to her in such wise. When she had made a compress of the
+napkins in the basket wherein I was carrying Dame Gobble's butter, and
+had stanched the blood, she unwound the ribbon from her silver
+hunting-horn, and cast it about his neck for a rest to his wounded arm.
+Then he did bend down his head and kissed the ribbon, and my lady turned
+quickly, and got upon the roan, and rode away at so smart a pace that
+methinks Dame Gobble's butter and wine did reach her in a closer
+conjunction than she could have found pleasant.
+
+When I told Marian of this encounter, merely by the way of a bit of
+gossip, she did smile in such a wise that I was minded to cuff a woman
+for the first time in a long life.
+
+It was that same night that Marian did tell me how that she feared the
+earl was in danger of some sort, judging by certain words that my lady
+had let fall in her sleep. I noticed how that my lady seemed restless,
+and would start at the clap o' a door, or when Herne did come suddenly
+upon her. And one day she leaned from a window, as I swept up the
+rose-leaves from the grass on the east terrace, and called to me to come
+thither. She was as white as her kirtle, and her gray eyes were dark
+like water before a storm. She did not look at me, but beyond into the
+air. So I waited, having plucked off my cap, and my lady stood looking,
+looking; and after a while she saith,
+
+"Thou hast aye been a true and faithful servant unto me: therefore I am
+about to give unto thee a great charge."
+
+And I said, "My lady, thou knowest that thou canst trust me;" and in
+truth I could say no more, for my throat was stiff.
+
+And she continued and said,
+
+"Thou must be to-night at the Red Deer, and that by nine of the clock.
+One will be there in whom we have both deep interest. I cannot tell thee
+more. Take thy sword with thee, but have no fear--thou wilt have no
+cause to use it. Yet, lest thou be fearful, take it with thee." And she
+said, "Thou wilt remember?"
+
+"My lady, when have I e'er forgotten word of thine?" Whereat she did put
+out her fair hand to me, saying, "Never," and there were tears in her
+eyes.
+
+So that night (for the first time in many years) did I find myself
+within the doors of the Red Deer. A cosey place it was, despite the
+wine-bibbers that did profane it; and the inn-keeper's wife, a most
+buxom, eye-pleasing wench, with three sturdy boys aye clambering about
+her. As I looked, some hard and sinful thoughts did visit my heart
+concerning the bounty that the Lord had lavished upon one who was a
+barterer of wine, when I, who had lived ever a temperate and (in so far
+as was in my power) a godly life, should remain childless. But I did
+conquer at last, bidding Satan get behind me, and was left in peace to
+toast my feet, and to ponder as to who it was that my lady had sent me
+thither to mark. Had I not loved my lady with all my heart, methinks I
+could not have stood the terms that were heaped upon me by the brawlers.
+I will not repeat the foul slanders; suffice it to say, I sustained for
+one half hour what few men are called upon to endure throughout a
+lifetime.
+
+At last, the newness being gone, they left me in peace, and I, being
+settled safely in my corner, did set to work to watch the door.
+
+Who should enter at that very moment but my Lord Denbeigh! He was
+wrapped in a long brown cloak, and wore a broad hat, unornamented by
+plume or buckle, pulled down over his eyes. He came and tossed himself
+into a chair near the fire, and sat there pondering upon the coals, with
+his legs out in front of him. Now, I have ever had a woman-weakness for
+a goodly leg in man, and the splendid limbs of Lord Denbeigh did witch
+me into a steadier gaze than that which civility doth permit. This
+by-and-by he did notice, and so spoke to me.
+
+"At what art thou staring, ancient?" quoth he, not unkindly. So I told
+him, whereupon he laughed somewhat.
+
+"Methinks thou art but a doting body," he said, "and yet is thy face
+familiar. What now? Hast thou e'er met with me before?"
+
+Then did I lie right roundly, being, to confess the truth, not a little
+afraid.
+
+"Out on thee," saith his lordship; "the truth is not in thee. I ne'er
+forget a face; how, then, shall I forget a face such as thine? Certes I
+have seen thee before. Wilt thou colt me?"
+
+And again lied I--blackly, most abominably.
+
+"As thou wilt," quoth he; "but thy face is known to me, for all that."
+
+It was at this time that the door opened again, and there did enter a
+stripling, clad all in dark maroon velvet, wrapped also about with a
+long cloak, and having a velvet bonnet pulled down over his brows i' th'
+manner o' Lord Denbeigh's. One could see naught o' his visage for the
+shadow from his head-gear. The revelers scarce noted his entrance, being
+far gone in drink, and some having departed, and others asleep. The lad
+came and stood near the fire, and I saw that he looked at Lord Denbeigh
+from under his drooping bonnet--the earl having withdrawn unto a table
+apart, with a glass of wine and some papers, and his sword across the
+table. Even as I looked the boy turned, and went over, and leaned on the
+table to finger the heavy sword. My heart was afraid within me, for
+there was a dark light in the eyes that flashed up at the youth from
+under Lord Denbeigh's stern brows. I was nigh unto them, being but a
+stride or two apart, and so marked all that passed between them.
+
+"By my troth," quoth his lordship, "a valiant crack!"
+
+"Meaning me?" quoth the lad, smiling.
+
+"Ay, meaning thee, Sir Insolence. Dost thou know how to handle thine own
+sword, that thou handlest a stranger's so freely?"
+
+"Even so. But I meant not to vex thee. In truth, I am come to thee on an
+errand of life and death;" and as he spoke, he did doff his bonnet and
+toss it upon the table, and the firelight and candlelight did leap upon
+his fair curls, and as I saw his face it was the face of my lady. The
+earl did start half-way to his feet, and his face was first like fire
+and then like snow.
+
+"Margaret!" he saith, back of his teeth, as 'twere.
+
+And the lad smiled, leaning still upon the table.
+
+"Nay; my sister is called so," he said, "but my name is Robert, and I am
+the Lord of Amhurste and her brother. Haply she hath mentioned me unto
+your lordship."
+
+The earl stared as one who sees a ghost (though I believe not in them
+myself), and he saith, "Whence comest thou? All think that thou art
+dead."
+
+And the boy said,
+
+"Nay, but I would not that any besides thee knew of my whereabouts. As
+to thee, I know more concerning thee even than my sister, and it is for
+her sake that I come to thee to-night."
+
+And my lord saith, "For her sake?"
+
+"Even so. I am come to persuade thee that thou wilt not go on the errand
+thou wottest of two nights hence. There are those who do mean thee
+death. It is certain that thy life is plotted against. Surely thou wilt
+be warned?" And as I looked, the color left the lad's face, and he grew
+white as any woman. Almost I could have sworn it was my lady's face.
+Line for line, eyelash for eyelash, look for look. And methought no
+mother's heart e'er yearned towards her new-born babe as yearned my
+heart towards the youth. It seemed as though I must cry out to him. To
+see him thus after five weary years; to be so near him, and yet unable
+to touch even the latchet of his shoes, or to hear his voice calling my
+name. I trembled and was blind with longing. When at last I did look
+up, he said again, "Surely, thou wilt be advised?"
+
+The earl leaned with his forehead set in his clasped hands, and
+by-and-by he said,
+
+"It is impossible. Would that I could!"
+
+And the lad said,
+
+"Nay, it is not impossible. Thou canst save thine own life with a word."
+
+And Lord Denbeigh answered him:
+
+"My life is not worth even a word," and he did not lift up his forehead
+from his hands.
+
+Then said my master, "Thy life may be worth less than naught to thee,
+but to others its price is above their own." And again he was as pale as
+any girl.
+
+And he spoke again and said, "Thou wilt not go? Thou wilt be warned?"
+
+And again did the man answer, saying, "Impossible."
+
+Then saith my master,
+
+"Lord Denbeigh, if thou goest to London on the morrow, I will follow
+thee there. Nay, thou canst not prevent me. And think you my sister's
+heart will be warmer towards thee if her brother's blood be spilled at
+thy behest?"
+
+And the earl sat with his stern eyes on the lad, and he said,
+
+"Thy blood will ne'er be spent at my behest. I do forbid thee to follow
+me."
+
+And the lad said,
+
+"I am not to be forbidden." So they stood and looked at one another. And
+all at once the boy put out his hand ('twas my lady's very gesture) and
+took the earl's sleeve, and saith he in a gentle voice,
+
+"Thou wert a man after God's own heart did not thou let Satan consort
+with thee."
+
+Then turned Lord Denbeigh with a laugh that was not merry. And he saith,
+
+"As thou quotest Scripture to me, select thy texts with greater care.
+Even to my mind there doth come one more suiting; for even as Job, 'I am
+a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.'"
+
+Then saith the lad, still with his hand on the man's arm,
+
+"Is it not the more to thy discredit that thou, who couldst be brother
+to Christ, do make brothers of dragons? Verily, my lord, I am bold
+through my sister, for methinks it is thus that she would have answered
+thee."
+
+And the man turned away as though to hide his face.
+
+
+III.
+
+Lord Robert spoke with Lord Denbeigh at some length, but he was not to
+be turned from his purpose (which, methought, must be a very strange and
+grewsome one, judging by their words). So finally they went out
+separately, and I got me back to Amhurste.
+
+The next morning I did relate to my lady all that had passed, but
+mentioning no names, as I saw that she wished it not. And when I was
+finished she bade me go straightway to London and find out the
+whereabouts of Lord Denbeigh. Moreover, she told me that she herself
+would be there shortly with Marian, and that they two would lodge at the
+house of Marian's aunt, one Mistress Pepper, a linen-draper's wife. At
+this I wondered greatly, the more that she should keep silent concerning
+her brother than that she should follow him to London. And all that I
+could think was that Lord Robert was in some dire conspiracy, likewise
+the earl, and that she feared for the lives of one or both. So we all go
+to London, I earlier than my lady and Marian.
+
+For a day I lost sight of Lord Denbeigh (whom I had followed closely all
+the way from Warwickshire), but the next afternoon I marked him as he
+passed along a by-way, and heard him speak with some one of his friends,
+naming a tavern where he would meet him at a certain hour that night.
+
+So first I found out where the tavern was, then straight to my lady and
+acquainted her with all that I had discovered.
+
+She said naught but to commend my diligence, and she went whiter than a
+just washed sheep at shearing-time. Quoth I to myself, "Butter, there is
+more here than thou wottest of;" which was very true.
+
+That night, a little before the hour set upon, I did get me to the
+tavern, and lurked quietly in the shadows where none might observe; and
+there, verily, was the earl and him with whom he had spoken in the
+afternoon. He had but said a word or so when Lord Robert entered, and
+went and stood at his elbow, but did not touch him or pluck at his
+cloak. Albeit, the earl seemed to feel his presence, for shortly he
+turned and saw the lad.
+
+"How!" quoth he. "Thou here?"
+
+And the boy said, "I told thee I would follow thee."
+
+And Lord Denbeigh answered him, "Dost thou know of what thou speakest?"
+
+And the lad said, "Verily I know, and thou mayest trust me;" and with
+that he muttered two or three words under his breath, which, because of
+mine old ears, I could not catch. And the two men started and looked at
+one another. Then the earl did turn to his friend, saying to him that
+they could indeed trust the lad. So they three clasped hands. When that
+was done, Lord Denbeigh turns to my master, and saith he, "Hast thou thy
+dirk with thee?" and the lad answered that he had both sword and dagger.
+
+"Not that there is any danger," quoth the earl, "but that thou mayest
+feel easy."
+
+But the lad said, "There is danger, as I have told thee; and thou art
+putting thy life in jeopardy." At this Lord Denbeigh only laughed; but
+as they went out into the street I marked that he kept the lad close at
+his side, almost as a mother keeps a child.
+
+The night was still and cold, and the sky full of little white clouds
+that lapped the one over the other, like shells on a seashore. Now and
+again the moon would strike through, in a long, bright ray, that seemed
+like a keen blade or lance severing the misty air. The three went on and
+on, through many winding ways, and still I followed, for I knew not into
+what danger the lad might be hastening.
+
+All at once, in a dark turning, there came the clang of swords and a
+rushing and scuffling, but no cry of any kind; and methought the silence
+was more hideous than sound. Stiff as were my old joints with disuse, I
+drew my sword and lay about me lustily, striving to get between the
+villains and my young master (which is no credit to me, as I was so
+wrought with rage that I verily believe I would have no more felt the
+thrust of a rapier than Marian's housewife the prick of a needle). But
+there was no method in aught, neither could anything be seen; for the
+moon had withdrawn behind the clouds, and we seemed to be fighting
+underneath clear water, so pale and ghastly was the light shed about us
+from the pale clouds. And as I struck out with my sword I saw a fellow
+in a mask close with Lord Denbeigh, lifting a dagger high in his hand,
+while another rascal pinned the earl's hands to his sides. And even as I
+looked, the lad leaped between, and the thin knife went deep into his
+breast. At the same time there was a louder clash of swords, and a
+thudding of men's bodies together, and the masked wretches turned about
+and did take to their heels with a good will. So I sheathed my sword and
+ran forward.
+
+Lord Denbeigh and his friend were bending over the lad, who lay
+out-stretched between them, with his white face turned up to the white
+sky, looking like the face of a dead man at the bottom of a clear pool.
+Then could I not withhold my grief, but cried aloud, "My master, my
+master!" and tried to feel with my trembling old hands for the wound.
+
+Then said the earl, "Not here! I will carry him to a place of safety."
+And he lifted the boy in his arms, as though he had been a hurt child.
+
+When the other saw that, he laid hold on Lord Denbeigh's arm, saying,
+"What mean you? are you distraught? There is but scarce time by the
+clock."
+
+And the earl said, "Go you on. I must take this boy where his wound can
+be bound."
+
+"Nay," said the man. "I tell you, you are mad!"
+
+And Lord Denbeigh turned on him, and spoke in a harsh voice:
+
+"I have said I will not go. I have done with thee and thine. Go thy ways
+ere it be too late;" and he passed on and left the man to swallow the
+moonshine with his great gaping mouth.
+
+And he saith unto me, "Follow closely." So by-and-by we came to a great
+gray house, and Lord Denbeigh opened the door and bade me enter with
+him.
+
+We passed through a vast hall, and up a ponderous staircase, and into a
+room. A fire was burning on the hearth, and there was a fantastic kind
+of lamp swinging from a silver chain above the bed's foot.
+
+I guessed rightly that this was his lordship's own apartment. He laid
+the lad on the bed, and fell to undoing his doublet of black velvet. I
+did see him set to shivering, as 'twere, when he noted the red stains on
+the shirt underneath, and my heart stood still within me. Then he opened
+the red linen, and did put in his hand gently to feel if the heart were
+yet beating; but no sooner had he done this than he gave a strange cry,
+and drew out his hand dripping with blood, and stood staring and
+trembling. At the same moment the lad stirred, and opened his eyes, and
+began to clutch feebly at his doublet, drawing it together. I made
+naught of it until Lord Denbeigh did turn to me, with the face of a dead
+man, and quoth he, "Stay here while I fetch women," and so rushed out
+like one in truth distraught.
+
+Then did it all come upon me, and I knew that the face upon which I
+looked was the face of my lady.
+
+Ere another second had passed I heard the earl's voice without, and he
+spoke with a woman:
+
+"Do thou go instantly and clothe the lady within in some of thy
+garments; and have care that thou say no word to any of what hath
+happened, else will it not be well for thee."
+
+When I heard the tone in which he spoke, methought in truth it would not
+be well for her did she not heed his commands.
+
+Shortly there entered a woman most marvellous fair, with hair that
+seemed spun of black taffetas, and a skin like a white jasmine. When
+she saw the blood her lips whitened, and she did close them more
+closely, but no cry escaped her. Whereat I was much ashamed, remembering
+the hullabaloo that I had raised.
+
+I turned aside while she disrobed my lady and clothed her in clean
+linen, and drew down the sheets, placing her between them. But the blood
+still flowed in spite of all bandages, and the fair linen was soon
+crimson.
+
+And when all was prepared, the woman went to the door and said, "You can
+enter," and the earl came into the chamber again. When, however, he did
+see my lady he cried out, "God in heaven! she will bleed to death!" and
+he called the woman, and showed her how to stanch the wound. Then, when
+the steps of the surgeon were heard in the hall without, he said unto
+her, "Remember. She is thy sister, and thieves have stabbed her for the
+jewels on her neck." And she answered him, "I will remember."
+
+And all this time methought I was in an evil dream, and that Marian, for
+some spite, would not awaken me.
+
+How it came about, to this day I recollect not, but ere two weeks had
+sped we were again at Amhurste, and my lady in her own bower, under
+Marian's care. As to that, Marian had been with my lady ever since the
+fatal night whereon she was nigh done to death by that masked ruffian.
+
+The earl did go himself to fetch her from Mistress Pepper's, and after
+that she came neither of us saw the sloe-eyed woman any more.
+
+None had known of my lady's stay in town, saving my lady herself, Lord
+Denbeigh, the black-eyed woman (who never uttered word more, good or
+bad, after that she had said, "I will remember"), Marian, and me. So
+besides us five no one was the wiser.
+
+It was towards the last of May that my lady did beg that we would lift
+her out to sit in a long-chair on the east terrace. The birds were at
+their morning gossiping in the shrubbery, and the air was most sweet
+with the breath of the white lilacs. My lady looked like a snow-wreath
+fallen suddenly among the greenery of spring, but her eyes did peep
+softly, like bluebells, from the snows of her face. Methought she was
+all white and blue, like the heavens above her, and her hair made
+sunshine over all. Herne, the blood-hound, lay at her feet, and would
+not be stirred, though for sport my lady had Marian to tempt him with
+some comfits.
+
+While we were all there, and my lady showing us how the light shined
+through her thin hands, and discoursing right merrily, there came a page
+and handed her a letter. Back fell she among her pillows, and her
+eyelids dropped over her eyes, like snow-flakes fallen on violets. Anon
+she opened the letter, and having read it, said unto Marian, "Nurse, go
+bid him hither." So Marian beckoned me, and we left her. As we entered
+the house, who should pass us but my Lord of Denbeigh, and o' my word he
+was whiter than my lady, if anything, and wrapped as usual in a long
+cloak. He seemed not to see us, and we went on in silence.
+
+Here transpires the only part of this narrative concerning which I am
+reluctant to write. I will out with it, however, and the Almighty knows
+that I have not done with repentance even yet. So be it. There was a
+window overhanging the terrace where my lady sat (the window out of
+which she had leaned to speak to me about repairing to the Red Deer).
+But let me not defer longer. I, Anthony Butter, of respectable parents,
+and counted among my fellows and betters an honest man, did go to this
+window, and did most deliberately listen to the words that passed
+between my mistress and the Earl of Denbeigh. In fact (for I have sworn
+to keep back no jot or tittle of the truth), I did speed me so fast that
+I was at the window ere his lordship reached my lady's side.
+
+He came slowly, but his look went before him, and was fast upon my
+lady's face ere he himself was within ten yards of her. When at last he
+was come to her side, he did stand and look down on her, but uttered no
+word. And also my lady did look down, and there was a light like sunset
+on her cheek.
+
+Then suddenly did he drop upon his knees beside her, and bowed down his
+head upon her knee and was silent. Then my lady (God forever keep her!)
+did turn her eyes quickly, and stole a look to see that no one was nigh
+(God forgive my dastardly presence!), and did reach out one pale hand,
+half fearfully as 'twere, and did let it rest upon the man's bowed head,
+as a white rose-leaf falls and rests on the earth. And she said but two
+words, "My friend;" yet methought all love was in them. Whereat he
+raised his head and looked at her, and it is so that men look upward
+when they pray. He took her hands with his and held them to his breast,
+and he saith, "Dear saint, if thou forgivest me, wilt thou but kiss my
+brow?" And she bended forward and kissed him; and he trembled, calling
+her by name; and she asked him what he would with her. Then kneeling at
+her side, he spoke to her, and his words were as follows:
+
+"Thou hast heard of my life and of my misfortunes, but all hath not been
+told thee. Grant me but patience for a moment, that I myself may tell
+thee all."
+
+And she saith unto him, "Say on."
+
+So he spoke and said, "There is much that I may not tell thee, yet part
+I will tell thee, for that I must. Thou hast heard how that my wife--"
+But he could not continue, so dropped his face into my lady's hands,
+and she waited for him, saying softly,
+
+"I will understand what thou dost not say. Be not troubled, but speak
+out thy soul to me;" and presently he told her more. As I do live, never
+listened I to sadder story. So piteous it was that my tears fell down
+like rain, and I was sore afraid that my sighing would discover my
+whereabouts. But the Almighty is merciful even to sinners, and I
+remained unnoted. 'Twas the old tale of love and treachery; a false wife
+and a friend who was a villain.
+
+The earl had killed the man (but in fair encounter), and his wife he had
+brought back, never to be as husband to her more, but to preserve her
+from further sin. And I do maintain that 'twas a noble act, and I did
+quite forgive him the blood of his betrayer. Methought my lady did
+forgive him too, for she did but stroke his hair softly, saying ever and
+anon, "Poor soul!" or "God help thee!" And by-and-by he lifted his
+face, and saith, "But the worst is yet to tell thee."
+
+And she said again, "Say on."
+
+And he trembled again, but spoke out bravely: "My wife yet lives. It was
+she who bound thy wounds."
+
+Now at this I thought to see my lady swoon; but she only smiled, though
+better had one seen her weep than smile in such wise. And she saith, "I
+have known that these many days;" and she leaned towards him, and placed
+both hands upon his head, saying, "Weep not. I hold thee guiltless. Do
+not weep."
+
+But he sobbed, clasping her knees, as one whose heart is broken, saying
+now and again below his breath, "O God! O God!"
+
+If there be this side the stars a more awful sight than the sight of a
+strong man in tears, God grant I may ne'er behold it, for surely I
+should die of pity. Doth it please God that I resemble Abraham in the
+matter of age, if in none other, ne'er will that scene fade from my
+memory--my lady, so wan and white and narrow, like a tall lily over
+which a rude wind hath swept, and at her knee the strong man, bowed as a
+little lad that saith his prayers, clasping her kirtle and her hands, as
+though one sinking in deep waters were to grasp at a floating stem of
+flowers for support. And after a while, when the violence of his grief
+was spent, he saith unto her,
+
+"I sail for Spain with Essex on the morrow, as thou knowest; but it doth
+remain for me to tell thee why I go. It is for that I think the lad, thy
+brother, hath been a prisoner of war these many years, and I go to bring
+him to thee."
+
+And she sat and looked at him as though her heart had leaped from her
+breast into his body; but she spake no words save only, "God keep thee;
+God go with thee."
+
+And suddenly he saith unto her, as though the words would forth,
+
+"I loved thee from the moment that I saw thee. Let me but tell thee
+that."
+
+She whispered, saying, "It was even so with me." And he lifted his eyes
+and looked at her. Then fled I, as though I had drawn away the veil from
+the sanctuary, for I thought that God would surely smite me for having
+beheld that look.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So Lord Denbeigh sailed with the Earl of Essex for the war in Spain, and
+my lady's soul left her body and went with him; for surely 'twas but her
+body that remained at Amhurste. All day long would she sit silent, nor
+move, nor look, and her hands the one upon the other before her, as who
+should say, "I am done with all things, whether of work or of play." So
+passed the months, and ever and anon some report would reach the village
+of the wild earl's deeds in Spain, and of how he would fight ten men
+with one arm wounded and the blood in his eyes, and such like tales. But
+no word came direct, either through letters or friends. So passed the
+months, and it was nigh to August, and the fighting was over for the
+time, when one day, with a clattering as of a horsed army, there comes
+dashing into the court two cavaliers on horseback, and one of them was
+my Lord of Denbeigh. Ere I could look at the other he had leaped to the
+ground, and had me about the neck a-kissing me as roundly as ever a
+wench in the market-place. And lo! when I looked, it was Lord Robert in
+very truth. He was grown out of all knowledge, and as brown as a nut,
+but as big and as bonny a lad as ever clapped hand to sword.
+
+When I could turn my eyes from him upon the earl, I saw that he was
+waxed as pale as death, and wore his arm in a kerchief, and that there
+was a great red streak adown his temple, clean through his right
+eyebrow. And his splendid flanks and chest were hollow, like those of a
+good steed that lacketh fodder. But when he stood and leaned against his
+horse's neck and smiled at us, methought he was by far the goodliest man
+that ever I had looked upon. His teeth were as white as the foam on his
+horse's bit, and there was a deep nick at the corner of his mouth, like
+that at the mouth of a girl.
+
+Then must I call Marian, and send her to break the news to my lady. So
+in a moment she comes rushing down along the stair-way, like a branch
+that is blown suddenly from the top o' a tall tree, and so into Lord
+Robert's arms; and he catches her to his heart, and so stands holding
+her; and they make no motion nor any sound whatever. Then turns the earl
+away, and leaves them together. But I marked that his eyes were
+brimming, and that there was a quiver in his lip.
+
+Ere night all is known to us: how Lord Robert had been a prisoner in
+Spain all these years, yet was he treated with courtesy at the behest o'
+some wench. But he did not love her, God be praised! And 'tis in my mind
+to this day how he might have wed her, and how the earl did relate to
+him his bitter experiences with a Spanish wife. Ay, that is my firm
+opinion. All this and more did we hear, laughing and weeping by turns.
+But it was not until Lord Robert saw my lady alone that she heard of how
+the earl had saved him at the risk of his own life, all but bearing him
+in his arms through the enemy, hewing his way right and left. And,
+moreover, Lord Robert did tell how that the blood from that cut on the
+earl's temple did in truth run down into his eyes and blind him, but how
+that he dashed it back and slew the man who wounded him, and so they
+escaped.
+
+The next morning, as I did sally forth with my cross-bow to have a shot
+at a screech-owl which for some nights past had disturbed Marian's
+slumbers, she in her turn having disturbed mine, I did see Lord Denbeigh
+come out upon the terrace and throw himself down along the grass,
+beneath a tulip-tree, with a book. But he read not, lying very quiet,
+with his head raised up upon one hand and his elbow sunk in the soft
+turf. And as the sunlight struck through the leaves upon his glittering
+hair, and his face like marble, I could not but pause to gaze on him, so
+noble looked he. But his eyes were far away, and his thoughts with them.
+
+It was for this that he did not hear my lady coming until she stood
+beside him, and her white gown brushed his cheek. But seeing her, he
+leaped to his feet, and the blood ran along his face, and then seemed
+all to settle in the long wound, leaving him more pale than before. And
+she said to him,
+
+"Nay, do not rise, for thou art weak yet;" but he would not be seated,
+so they stood there, side by side in the fair morning light. And
+presently she puts out her hand (no one ere reached out their hand as
+did my lady), and she just lays it on his sleeve, and saith she, "I am
+come to thank you--to thank you with all my heart and soul--" and there
+a sob chokes her, and she can say no more.
+
+Again the blood swept up across his brow; and he said, "For God's love,
+say no more."
+
+But she answered, saying, "Nay, I have so much to say." And she came
+nearer to him for a little space; and her head drooped downward, like a
+flower full of rain. And she did knit and unknit her white fingers as
+they hung before her. And she saith, "There is no guerdon worthy such a
+knight, but if an thou--"
+
+Then all on a sudden did she reach out both arms towards him, and her
+fair hands, palms upward, and the scarlet leaped to her very brow; but
+she lifted her little head proudly, albeit her eyes were dropped
+downward, and she said unto him, "Take me, for I am thine."
+
+And he trembled from head to foot, and parting his lips as though to
+speak, reached out his arms and clasped her.
+
+And when I realized what I had done, I did drop my cross-bow and took to
+my heels, like one followed by goblins.
+
+Now, even as I hope to be saved, I but just come to recognize that this
+was my second eavesdropping. So be it. I have vowed, and must keep my
+vow.
+
+It was all made clear to me that night, when Marian did relate to me how
+that the Spanish woman had slain herself by swallowing flame. At which
+(though mightily pleased, God forgive me, on account of my lady and the
+earl) I was more than ever thankful that Lord Robert had escaped alive
+and unwed out o' th' clutches o' th' Spanish wench. And here it
+occurreth to me that I have not yet told that Marian did know from the
+first of my lady's going up to town dressed as her brother. This I
+record more on account of its being a marvellous instance of a woman's
+keeping her tongue than to shame Marian, who hath often read how that
+wives should submit themselves unto their husbands as unto the Lord.
+Howbeit, all ended so happily that I had not the heart to scold her.
+
+With the first frosts of October my lady and the earl were wed.
+Methought the queen herself could not have had a finer wedding, and
+certes no woman could have had a nobler spouse. He was yet pale from his
+wounds, but most soldierly of bearing and proud of carriage. He was clad
+all in white, like my lady. A more beauteous apparel I have never seen.
+
+His doublet was of cloth of silver, with a close jerkin of white satin
+embroidered in silver and little pearls. His girdle and the scabbard of
+his sword were of cloth of silver, with golden buckles. His poniard and
+sword were hilted and mounted in gold, together with many blazing orders
+and richer devices that I know not how to enumerate.
+
+My lady's gown was all of white satin, sewn down the front with little
+pearls, like those on my lord's jerkin, and her ruff was of soft lace,
+not stiff, as was the fashion, but falling about her bosom most modestly
+and becomingly. Lord Robert, methinks, was eke as goodly, after his way,
+as either his sister or Lord Denbeigh, being close clad from head to
+foot in crimson sarcenet, slashed all with cloth of gold. My lady had
+given me some suiting clothes for the occasion; and as for Marian,
+methought in her new gown of sea-green taffeta, with her new ruff and
+head-gear, that she looked as fair a matron as any mother of fine lads
+in all England.
+
+
+IV.
+
+Seven months they had been wed, and it was May again. Methought such
+love had never been on earth since Eden. 'Twas gladness but to see them.
+And all, moreo'er, was so well with Lord Robert, who, folks did say, was
+in mighty great favor at court, and like to become a shining light in
+the land.
+
+'Twas on a May morning. The trees were a-lilt with birds, and the sound
+of waters set all the winds a-singing. All at once comes my lord, and
+sets his hand on my shoulder. Then know I that something dire hath
+happened. And he saith, "Friend, where is thy mistress?"
+
+And I tell him that she is out among her roses.
+
+Then saith he all at once, "The Queen hath sent for me--I must to war."
+
+And I could do naught but stare at him. And he said to me: "In an hour I
+must be gone. Say naught to thy mistress. I will go don a suiting dress,
+and do thou bring me my sword and give it into my hand."
+
+And he went, returning shortly, and I gave him the sword. It was then
+that we heard the voice of my lady without, and she sang a song of the
+spring-tide. The words I have ne'er forgot, though I did but hear them
+once:
+
+          "For O! For O!
+           The cowslips blow,
+             And the ground's all gold below me;
+             The speedwell's eye
+           Peers up so bli'
+             I swear it seems to know me!
+
+          "The lady-smocks
+           In silver frocks
+             Do flout the sonsy clover;
+           The humble bee
+           Consorts wi' me
+             And hails me for a rover.
+
+          "Then trip, then trip,
+           And if ye slip
+             Your lad will lend a hand O;
+           The lass in green
+           With black, black een,
+             Is the fairest in the land O."
+
+And as the earl listened methought he would have fallen, grasping my
+shoulder, old man as I was, and bending down his head upon it. And I did
+stay him with my arm, as though he had been my very son--for old age is
+father to all men.
+
+So my lady comes in, with her gold hair blowing, and her white kirtle
+full of red roses, and seeing her lord goes to meet him. But when she
+noted the soldierly fashioning of his dress, and the sword girt at his
+thigh, she opened her lips as though to cry out, but no sound escaped
+them. And her kirtle slipped from her hold, and the red roses lay
+between them like a pool of blood.
+
+Then she saith unto him, "Tell me. Quick, quick!"
+
+And he lifts her to him, and saith, "Sweetheart, my Queen hath bidden me
+come fight for her and for my country."
+
+And she saith naught, only clasps him.
+
+But by-and-by she cries out, saying, "Go not! Go not! Else wilt thou
+kill me." And so speaking, falls like one dead at her lord's feet.
+
+Then I, running like one distraught to fetch Marian, do tilt pell-mell
+into Lord Robert, who hath come down to Amhurste for a week or so of
+rest.
+
+"Heydey!" quoth he. "What Jack-a-lent hath frighted thee?" And I told
+him all. Never a word said he, but went straightway and got upon his
+horse, and clapped spurs to its sides, and so out of sight.
+
+And all that night my lady lay nigh to death, so that there was ne'er a
+thought in the breast of any for another soul. Therefore Lord Robert was
+not missed.
+
+Ere two days were past came a man with despatches, and we found out how
+that Lord Robert had substituted himself for the earl (having acquainted
+the Queen with the circumstances--and he being, moreover, so great a
+favorite), and how the Queen had granted Lord Denbeigh leave to remain
+in England a while longer.
+
+And so his lordship was with his lady when their child was born, but
+Lord Robert was killed in the wars.
+
+They grieved sore for him, and for many weeks would not be comforted.
+And even it was said that the Queen mourned for him, and did banish all
+festivities from court for the space of several days.
+
+But like as the stars do pale in the morning sky, so pales the orb of
+sorrow before the rays of the great sun, happiness.
+
+And though he was ne'er forgotten, and though the tears would spring to
+my lady's eyes heard she but his name mentioned, yet she did smile again
+and was happy.
+
+It chanced but this morning that Marian and I, leaning from the window
+that overlooks the east terrace, did see a most winsome sight.
+
+'Twas a fair morning, and May again, and on such mornings as these my
+lady would go forth on the east terrace with the child. And there grow
+all such sweet flowers as my lady loves--the red mule-pinks, and
+dame's-violets, such as are sweet o' evenings, but marvellous fair to
+look upon both by sunlight and moonlight. And the south wall was all
+thick with the yellow violets, so that my lady's head looked like the
+head o' a saint against a golden platter. And there did my lady sit, on
+a quaintly wrought bench, with the little lord.
+
+And this morning, when she was seated, and the babe curled against her
+bosom, and Marian and myself thinking o' the pictures o' the Virgin Mary
+and the blessed Jesus (saving that my lady's kirtle was all of white and
+gold, like the lilies, knotted in her waistband), she looked up on a
+sudden, and lo! there was the master coming along over the grass towards
+her. When he saw who it was that sat there, he doffed his plumed hat
+like as though it had been the Virgin Mary for very truth, and he paused
+a minute, but then came on.
+
+When my lady saw him who he was, there came a fair red o'er all the
+white o' her throat and face; ay, and withal over her very bosom. And
+she put up one white hand, with her wedding-ring on't, and made as
+though she would shield the sun from the babe's eyes.
+
+And all this time my lord came slowly over the grass, as though the
+sweet sight did pleasure him both far and near. And when he was
+approached, he stood, still with his hat in his hand, and looked down at
+the babe and its mother, and was silent.
+
+Then the child, feeling mayhap that its father was near, twisted over
+towards him, reaching out its waxen arm, and smiled right knowingly;
+whereat my lord did pluck the great plume out o' his hat and lay it
+across my lady's bosom; moreover, he knelt and put an hand on the babe,
+but his arm he held about his wife.
+
+Then did she draw both my lord and the child to her, and pressed them
+against her, but her face she lifted Godwards.
+
+And something spoke within our hearts that we turned and left the
+window.
+
+
+
+
+THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING PEBWORTH.
+
+
+HUMFREY LEMON, meeting Bered Turnip, before the "Red Deer," doth speak
+as follows:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Whom have we here? Well, well, by my troth! 'tis none other than Bered
+Turnip, the farrier, as I do live! Come for an alms-drink, comrade.
+Would I had as many gold-pieces as we have burnt alnights i' this very
+tavern! And is it thus we meet after all these years? It doth seem but
+yesterday that we supped under this very roof as juvenals. Dost thou
+mind thee o' the night that we gave old Gammer Lick-the-Dish a bath in
+his own sack, for that he served us in a foul jerkin? By'r lay'kin,
+those were days! Well, well, to meet thee thus! Though, believe it or
+not, as thou wilt, I had such a pricking i' my thumbs but an hour gone
+that I was of a mind to roar you like any babe with a pin in his
+swaddling-bands. Thou wast my beau-peer i' those times; and we are kin
+by profession, moreover. How be Mistress Turnip and thy eight lads? Ha!
+ha! Dost remember how old Anthony Butter--him who was gardener at
+Amhurste Castle, ye mind--dost thou remember in what spite he held thee
+because o' those eight little salads o' thine? A always said a married
+with an eye to a's posterity; and o' my word a's been cockeyed e'er
+since, for's posterity has e'er kept him on the lookout: never chick or
+child hath Mistress Butter given him.
+
+Quoth he to me one day, a-setting of 's chin in 's thumb and forefinger
+(thou mind'st his solemn ways)--quoth he to me, "Lemon," quoth he,
+"would I knew why the Lord doth seem to look with a more bounteous favor
+on such as are farriers, than on such as be followers of other trades;
+for methinks, what with thee, and Turnip, and Job Long-pate, who bides
+in Dancing Marston, England will owe the chief o' her future population
+to blacksmiths." I quoth, to humor him, quoth I, "Belike, Master
+Butter," quoth I, "the Almighty hath gotten wisdom by experience, and
+doth purpose to put no further trust in gardeners." Whereat he waxed so
+wrathful, that for the sake o' my breeches I took to my heels. But,
+Lord! it doth seem as though a had a spite against th' very children o'
+others. Thou mindest my Keren? By'r lay'kin, 'twill not stick i' my old
+pate how that thou hast not been in these parts since my Keren could 'a'
+walked under a blackberry-bramble without so much as tousling her
+tresses. Well, a grew up a likely lass, I can tell thee! Sure thou
+mindest why we--my wife and I--did come to call her Keren? Go to! Thou
+dost! 'Tis the jest o' th' place to this day. Well, then, if thou dost
+not, I'll be at the pains o' telling thee; for methinks 'twas a wise
+thought. We did christen her Keren-Happuch; "for," quoth my wife, "when
+that we be pleased with her, we can call her Keren--which is as
+sweet-sounding a name as a maid can have; and, on the other hand, when
+we be wroth with her, we can call her Happuch--which sure would be a
+rough name even for thy trotting mare Bellibone." Ha! ha! And thereby,
+comrade, hangs another tale, as Master Shakespeare was wont to say. My
+wife, thou must know, hath e'er been a loyal admirer o' our gracious
+Queen, and it comes to her ears one day as how her Majesty did ride
+a-horseback most excellent well. Naught would do but that I must let
+Mistress Lemon mount for a ride upon my gray mare Bellibone. Now
+Bellibone, though as willing a nag as ever ambled, did think far more
+o' getting to her journey's end than o' the manner in which she did
+accomplish the journey; and, I will say, a trotted as though a was for
+breaking th' stones on th' Queen's highway, instead o' getting o'er 'em.
+Well, I did what I could to dissuade Mistress Lemon from her enterprise,
+but a was as firm as one o' my surest driven nails in a new shoe. So a
+let her go. Couldst thou but 'a' seen her when she was returned an hour
+after! Ha! ha! ha! a was for breaking my head with my own pincers.
+
+"Dost thou call that devil's-riding-horse 'Bellibone?'" quoth she, with
+what breath there was left to her. "By my troth, I think she hath not
+another bone in her whole body besides her backbone!"
+
+But I spake o' Keren. Thou knowest that even as a lass she had a sharp
+tongue o' her own--as keen as a holly leaf, by my troth. So be it. 'Twas
+one day nigh unto Martlemas that old Butter did undertake to chide her
+for conducting herself after the manner o' a lad rather than o' a lass.
+
+Quoth she to him, a-setting of her little black pate to one side, and of
+her little brown arms akimbo--quoth she, "Since the Lord hath not made
+me a lad," quoth she, "I cannot more than act like one; and so I will
+do!"
+
+Quoth he, "Thou hast a sour name, a bitter tongue, and a peppery temper,
+jade; and the two last be not gifts o' the Lord."
+
+"And thou," quoth she, "hast a mustard conceit, for right sure am I that
+'tis big enough for a goose to roost in! And whether th' Lord hath given
+it to thee or not, I'm glad I have 't not," quoth she; for she had heard
+it read, in some meeting whither her mother would sometimes take her, of
+how the fowls o' the air did lodge i' th' branches o' the mustard-plant.
+Well, by'r lay'kin, th' village hath ne'er forgot that to this day, and
+that I'll prove thee when we be through drinking!
+
+What hath become o' her? Go to! Sure thou knowest that? Well, well 'tis
+a tale to make a play of. I've often thought, had Master Shakespeare
+known of 't, how he would 'a' fashioned it into a jolly play. Tell thee
+of 't? What! art in earnest? By the mass, then, thou must drink again.
+Come, fill up, fill up. What there! a cup o' the amber drink for Master
+Turnip!
+
+Let me see: how old was th' lass when thou didst set forth on thy
+jauntings? Some two years, methinks. And she was fourteen on the first
+day o' March i' that year wherein she did sauce old Butter with some o'
+'s own wit for gibing at her for a tomboy. O' my word, man, th' old
+fellow was not far i' th' wrong. If e'er th' angel o' life did make an
+error i' th' distributing o' souls, 'twas on the night Keren was brought
+into this world. And a say that with a cause, moreover; for th' same
+night, mark you, one Mistress Mouldy, over the way, was brought to bed
+o' a man-child. That's neither here nor there. Herein doth lie the
+singularity. That child did grow up to knit stockings i' th' door-way
+like any wench; Peter Mouldy's th' name, and a plays a part i' th' story
+I'm about to relate to thee. Ne'er in all thy travels hast thou e'er
+seen so crack-brain a wench as my Keren! Lord! it set thy head to
+swimming did she but enter a room. She had no more stability o' motion
+than a merry-go-round; and she was that brown, a bun looked pale i' th'
+comparison, when she did lift it to her mouth to eat it. A strapping
+jade, and strong as any lad o' her age i' th' village. In her seeming
+she took neither after her mother nor after me, though she was a comely
+wench as wenches go--hair as black as a January night in stormy weather,
+and eyes as big and as bright and as yellow (o' my word)--as yellow as
+two crown pieces! They looked out from under her thick eyebrows like
+sunlight peeping from a heavy cloud. And she was made like a lad for
+suppleness. Taller than her mother by head and shoulders, and within a
+full inch o' my forelock. By'r lay'kin! how she could sing too! She
+would troll thee a ditty i' th' voice o' a six-foot stripling, but for
+a' that, as sweet as bells far away on a still noon in summer-tide. And
+she was always getting hold o' saucy songs, and putting them to tunes o'
+her own invention. A could 'a' had aye the lads i' th' village, had a
+wanted 'em; but, Lord! a had one sweetheart one day, and another the
+next, till they were one and all for murdering or marrying her. But she
+would none o' 'em. 'Twas one summer's day, her mother being gone to th'
+village, that she did set about to brew some sack; and as she did stand
+by the big pot while it cooled, to see that naught fell into 't, up
+comes Master Peter Mouldy with his knitting, and grins at her across
+the caldron, after the fashion o' a horse eating briers. She not
+noticing him, quoth he,
+
+"Good-morrow, sweet Mistress Lemon."
+
+Saith she, not looking at him,
+
+"Thou liest."
+
+"How, mistress?" saith he, with his mouth as wide as a church door on a
+Sunday.
+
+"Why, for calling a lemon sweet," saith she, "when all the world doth
+know that it is sour."
+
+Thereat he did fall a-grinning again.
+
+"Sweet, sweet mistress Keren," quoth he, "'tis thee I praise, and not
+thy name. And I will wager that thou art not sour, Mistress Keren."
+
+"How wilt thou find out, either to lose or to win thy wager?" quoth she.
+
+"Thus!" quoth he. And, o' my word, the homespun got his arms about her,
+knitting and all (though I would 'a' laid two cows and a lamb they
+couldn't 'a' reached about her pretty waist), and smacked her right
+heartily full on her red mouth.
+
+Well, comrade, that something would happen I knew full well; but when
+she did up with him by the seat o' his breeches and the collar o' his
+jerkin, and did souse him head first into the pot o' sack, methought I
+would 'a' burst in sunder, like Judas Iscariot (meaning no blasphemy).
+
+And when he was climbed out, spluttering and white with terror, she did
+fish out his hat with his big knitting-needles, and did set it upon his
+head, and did thrust him outside, and did shut the door in 's face. But
+never a word said she from first to last. Then methought in verity I
+would 'a' split in twain from top to toe, like the veil o' the temple
+(meaning no blasphemy, as I will swear on th' book). And when she caught
+sight o' me she too fell a-laughing, and quoth she to me, "I have
+spoiled a good brew for thee, father, but 'twas worth the paying for."
+And therewith she did out with the worth o' the sack from her purse,
+which she always carried in her bosom, after a fashion inherited from
+her mother, and counted down the silver into my hand. I took it, for I
+ever strove to bring up my children in the ways o' honesty; and certes
+she had spoiled the contents o' the caldron by turning it into a
+bath-tub for Master Mouldy. Well, 'twas th' talk o' th' village for full
+a month; scarce did young Mouldy dare put out his nose from behind the
+lattice o' his mother's cottage. But th' other lads seemed to fall more
+daft about the lass than aye afore.
+
+Now, my wife's sister had a daughter, called Ruth, and in all things was
+she most different from my Keren. A'd a head as yellow as Keren's eyes,
+and eyes as brown as Keren's skin, and a skin as white as Keren's teeth;
+and a was slim and tender-looking, like a primrose that hath but just
+ventured out on a day in early spring. Moreover, she was a timid,
+sweet-voiced creature--the kind o' wench that makes even a weak man
+feel strong, ye mind, comrade. But a was ne'er o'er-civil to my lass.
+Neither did Keren waste much love upon her; she said from th' very start
+that th' hussy had a sly tongue; "and a sly tongue," saith she, "doth
+ever mate with a false heart," saith she; "and from such a marriage what
+offspring can ye look for, unless it be for mischief?" saith she.
+
+They had not much to do the one with the other, however, until the
+coming of Robert Hacket to Pebworth. And a was as fine a lad as e'er
+caused a lass to don her Sunday kirtle on a Saturday. 'Twas said as how
+he had met with Ruth while that she was on a visit to her aunt in
+Dancing Marston, and that he had come to Pebworth to wed with her. All
+would 'a' been well had not it come to Keren's ears how that Mistress
+Ruth said that she would bring Master Hacket to see her cousin Keren,
+but that she did not want her sweetheart to be out with her family ere
+that he had married into it; meaning neither more nor less than that my
+Keren was a shame unto her name by reason o' her romping ways.
+
+"The cat!" quoth Keren, waxing as red as any damask rose for very anger;
+"the little, spiteful cat! But I'll cut her claws for her! Do thou bide
+and mark me, father. Ay, I'll serve her and her Robert in such wise
+they'll go to their graves remembering."
+
+Now, 'twas the very next day that the lads and lasses o' the village did
+crown her harvest-queen, and all Bidford was out to see 't. And very
+queen she looked, too, borne aloft in a throne made all o' dark red
+roses, and her dark curls crowned with a wreath o' corn and o' poppies,
+that shined in the sunlight like to gold strewn all with rubies. She
+wore a new kirtle of white wool, and her brown throat rose from her
+white kerchief like as a frozen wood-dove's dusky breast doth peep from
+new-fallen snow.
+
+And Mistress Ruth walked beside her as one o' her maids o' honor. And
+they twain did remind me of naught so much as of a lamb trotting by the
+side of a forest doe--the one so meek and white, and the other so free
+and brown, with great eyes ever moving, and head aloft.
+
+There, moreover, walked Master Hacket. He was as brown as my Keren, and
+nearly half as tall again; and he had eyes like pools o' water under a
+night heaven, wherein two stars have drowned themselves, as 'twere, and
+brows as black and straight as a sweep o' cloud across an evening sky.
+Ruth walked at his side, all glittering with her unbound hair, like to a
+sunbeam that follows a dark stream. And I saw that they talked together,
+and nodded as though agreeing on something, and looked together at my
+lass where she sat on her flower-throne with her poppy-crown, and her
+lips like poppies. And all at once she turned and saw them, and her lips
+parted over her white teeth in a sudden smile, as when a kirtle o' red
+silk doth tear over a white petticoat beneath; and she turned away; but
+I could see that she laughed in her brown throat, as a bird sings
+sometimes for its own hearkening ere trolling for the whole forest. So I
+said to myself, "'Ware, 'ware, my little spring lamb; there is trouble
+ahead for thee. Thou wilt not win thy Boaz so easily as thou dost think,
+my little Ruth."
+
+Now, when they were come to the fields, and the maids seated under some
+elm-trees, and all the lads fallen to 't with their sickles, while that
+they were reaping the glistening corn my Keren doth leap to her feet,
+and she calls out,
+
+"I know not the name o' yonder man, but I do know that I can give him a
+lesson in reaping!"
+
+So forthwith up jumps she, and, striding out into the sunlit meadow,
+jerks young Hacket's sickle from his hand, and, having turned back the
+sleeves o' her smock, stands well upon her shapely legs and begins to
+reap.
+
+Now, methought I had ne'er in all my life seen anything more pleasing to
+look upon. The wind blew down her thick locks about her, so that she was
+wrapped in a mantle worthy any queen; while with every sweep o' her
+strong brown arms the tumbling grain did fall like gold about her, so
+that she seemed to be trampling upon her treasures after a manner truly
+royal. Also a red came into her shadowy cheeks, like as though a scarlet
+flower tossed into a clear brown stream should rise slowly upward
+beneath the limpid surface and shine a-through. And all at once she
+ceased, and came back towards the young man, and returned his sickle
+unto him. And she said, smiling,
+
+"Take thou thy blade, for I have not only reaped the grain, but I have
+reaped the reward of my bragging as well." And, behold! when I was come
+up to them with a drink o' water in a gourd, there was the blood falling
+down upon her white kirtle, as though the poppies in her crown had
+melted in the sunlight and did stain her garment.
+
+He did cry out, saying, "O' my word, lass, thou art deeply hurt. Let me
+but look at it."
+
+She saith unto him (winding her arm about in her long hair), "Nay, 'tis
+nothing, and belike if thou look upon it 'twill spoil thy dinner: so
+here's to thy health, and my father will bind it for me."
+
+Then, when we were retired again into the shade, and I had torn a strip
+off of her kirtle wherewith to stanch the blood, she laughed outright,
+and saith,
+
+"By my troth, father! I do verily believe thou thinkest me awkward
+without a purpose."
+
+"Purpose!" saith I; for I could not believe my ears. "How dost thou
+mean--purpose?"
+
+"That's neither here nor there," saith she, still laughing. "But I'll
+lay thee my heifer, father, that Mistress Ruth's sweetheart cometh on
+the morrow to inquire after Mistress Ruth's cousin Keren."
+
+Wherewith she did make me a deep courtesy, and did get her back to the
+other lasses ere I could reply.
+
+Well, as I live, and must some day die, and do hope when I do die to get
+to heaven, I was so taken aback with the hussy's cunning I could do
+naught but stand and stare after her for some minutes.
+
+And on the morrow he did come, and on the day after that he came, and
+yet a third day and he was under my roof again.
+
+Then saith my wife, after that his third visit was o'er, and speaking to
+Keren as she sat spinning i' th' door-way, "Happuch," saith she, "thou
+art serving thy cousin Ruth a very jade's trick."
+
+Then, hearing as how she did call her "Happuch," I did prick up my ears,
+as 'twere; for I knew there was anger brewing.
+
+"Thou art very free with thy words to-day, mother," quoth the maid,
+a-spinning very quickly.
+
+"Not so free as thou art with thy favors to the sweetheart o' another
+lass," replied her mother.
+
+"How dost thou know he is the sweetheart o' another lass?" saith Keren.
+
+"If an he be not," quoth her mother, who, though not half so big as her
+child, was in nowise less valiant--"if an he be not," quoth she, "'tis
+time he were."
+
+"And for why?" saith Keren.
+
+"Thou knowest as well as I do, Happuch," saith my wife; whereat up
+started my crack-brain in a fine fury.
+
+"Why wilt thou call me that vile name, when thou knowest how it maddens
+me?" saith she, hurling her spindle upon the floor, and tightening both
+her pretty hands so that they looked like balls o' her own brown yarn.
+
+"For that I am not pleased with thee, Happuch," saith her mother, with
+all composure, looking at the linen as she washed it, with her head
+cocked to one side.
+
+"There again!" shouted my wildfire, stamping with her foot. "Why didst
+thou not call me Beelzebub and have done with 't?"
+
+"For the reason," quoth her mother, calmly, "that neither Beel nor Zebub
+is a suiting name for a woman, and, furthermore, that thou art not the
+Devil, though thou dost act like him on occasions."
+
+"Wife, wife," put in I, seeing that the girl was like to split with
+rage, "speak gentler to Keren."
+
+"To Happuch," saith she.
+
+"Speak gentler to the girl," saith I, hoping to compromise, as 'twere.
+
+"Happuch," saith my wife again.
+
+"Well, well," saith I, still hoping to split the difference, so that I
+would have neither my wife nor my daughter upon me, "if thou wouldst
+only speak gentler to Keren-Happuch, thou--"
+
+"To Happuch," saith my wife a third time; whereat the lass did bounce
+out o' the house without more ado, and spent that night with a friend o'
+her own, by name one Mistress Meg Titmouse.
+
+"Wife," saith I unto her later, hoping to draw her into converse
+concerning Keren, so that I might reason with her as to her treatment o'
+th' lass--"wife," saith I, amiably, and, as I thought, in a manner most
+winsome, "wherefore didst thou speak to Keren as thou didst this
+morning?"
+
+"I spake to Happuch," saith my wife, "because I did choose so to do. And
+as for the why o' that wherefore, though thou shouldst smirk till
+doomsday like a dog scratching his ear, ne'er wilt thou get it out o'
+me!"
+
+Then saith I, being justly angered, as I think thou wilt admit,
+comrade--saith I,
+
+"Thou art welcome to keep thy counsel!" saith I.
+
+And I followed the example set me by my vixen, and did spend more than
+half the night at this very tavern.
+
+Well, the next morning, as I did pass out on my way to my forge, whom
+should I see in the garden but my Keren and Master Robert Hacket! and if
+e'er a woman was possessed o' a devil, 'twas just that lass o' mine
+then, comrade. She had caused young Hacket to climb up into a pear-tree,
+and while that he was up there she did bear away the ladder by which he
+had mounted, and she saith to him,
+
+"Now, Master Robin, I am going to sing thee a song. Wilt thou listen?"
+
+"With all my heart," saith he. So he leaned on his elbow, stretched out
+like a young panther along the limb o' th' tree, and looked down on
+her. Now, as I live, down went that jade on her knees in the grass, and
+she lifts up her two pretty hands to him as though in prayer, and thus
+sings she (I knew the song by heart):
+
+          "'Listen, Robin, while I woo.
+             This world's stale with repetition:
+           I'll not do as others do;
+             Haste thee, love, to my tuition.
+           Robin, I'll make love to you,
+           As men to other maidens do.
+
+          "'Oh, what eyes my Robin hath!
+             April fields own no such blue;
+           In the luscious aftermath
+             There's no flower so fair to view.
+           Robin, Robin, hear me woo.
+           All my soul's in love with you!
+
+          "'Robin, will you marry me?--
+             Thus upon my knees I sue:
+           O' my word I'll harry thee
+             Like as men their sweethearts do.
+           Robin, as I live I'm true:
+           Will you wed me, Robin?--Will you?'"
+
+Now, what chanced thereupon I think thou wilt agree with me, comrade, in
+saying it did but serve her right. Down falls he like a ripe pomewater
+at her side, and takes her about the waist, and sets his mouth to hers
+(all in a twink, comrade; thou hadst not time to shape thy mouth for a
+whistle ere 'twas all done, or verily my mouth had given forth something
+besides whistling), and saith he,
+
+"That will I, lass; an' if thou be not my wife ere that snail-coming new
+moon doth thrust out her horns, my name is not Hacket, nor will thine
+be!"
+
+Now, comrade, though it doth shame me verily so to speak o' mine own
+flesh, I saw by her pretending to push him away that she did mightily
+relish his kisses; for, by my troth! had she sought to scuffle with him
+'twould 'a' been as snug an encounter as when day and night wrestle for
+the last bit o' a June sky.
+
+And she saith to him, feigning to scowl, "How now, thou rapscallion!
+dost thou dare?"
+
+"Ay, ay," quoth he, "in verity I do!" quoth he. And in verity a did,
+too.
+
+But just as I was consulting with the Lord how to act, He having had
+even a greater experience with wayward children than myself (may He
+pardon me if I be too free with His holy name!)--just, I say, as I was
+asking Him to show me in what wise to proceed, up goes her hand, and she
+gives him a sound cuff o' th' ear (young Hacket's ear--not the Lord's;
+may He pardon me if so it sounded), and she saith,
+
+"Take that for striving to make a fool out o' an honest girl! I know thy
+goings on with Ruth Visor," saith she. "Thou'lt ne'er blind me with thy
+pretty speecheries." And a was o'er th' palings and out o' sight like a
+wind-blown leaf.
+
+Then did young Hacket come to th' fence and lean upon it with both his
+arms, and support his chin with a thumb on either side o't, and saith
+he,
+
+"Methinks she'd 'a' made a better warrior than a wife," saith he; "but
+when she hath ta'en off the edge o' her warlike spirit in fighting for
+her freedom," saith he, "why, then," saith he, "I'll marry her!" So
+saith he--every word o't. By my troth, comrade, an I had not had so much
+the advantage by having my nippers in my hand, I would 'a' thrashed him
+then and there. But, "fair play" being my motto, and having my nippers,
+as I saith, I forbore; yea, I forbore, and walked away unseen of him.
+And, o' my word, I was much angered with myself for not being more angry
+with th' wench.
+
+"For," saith I, out loud, that I might be impressed by the sound as well
+as by the knowledge o' th' fact--"for," saith I, a-hammering away on a
+shoe for Joe Pebbles's brown nag King Edward (though I had often
+reasoned with Joe on account o' th' name, first because o' its
+irreverence, second on account o' th' horse not being that kind o' a
+horse, as 'twas a mare)--"for," saith I, as I made th' shoe, saith I,
+"'tis sure a great wickedness to steal a lass's sweetheart away from
+her!" saith I. And so 'twas; but, for all I could do, I could not feel
+angered with the hussy.
+
+But that day when she did fetch me my dinner, being finished, I did pull
+down th' sleeves o' my shirt, and wiped off my leathern apron, and quoth
+I to her,
+
+"Lass, come here and sit upon my knee."
+
+So she comes right willingly, being fond o' me to an extent that did oft
+seem to astony the mother that bore her (seeing that _she_ was fond o'
+naught save her own way); she comes, and she perches upon my knee (as
+sometimes thou shalt see a hawk rest wings on a bull's back), and she
+kittles my throat with her long brown fingers, and hugs me about the
+neck (the jade! a knew I was for scolding her), and saith she, "Well,
+father, here be I." Methinks I can hear her say it now, as soft as any
+little toddler come for a kiss. "Here be I," she saith; and with that
+she fills all my face with her curls (the jade! a saw that in my eye
+which a did not care to face). "Here be I," saith she.
+
+"Ay," saith I, speaking in a gruff voice; "and now that here thou be,"
+saith I, "I'll tell thee what I want of thee."
+
+"Thou canst want naught that I will not do," saith she. (The jade! a had
+a way with her to 'a' made Bess herself yearn for matrimony.) But I was
+stanch; I was stanch, comrade. Saith I,
+
+"Methinks thy mother was right to speak to thee as yesternight she did,"
+saith I; "for I saw thee strive to graft a pear-tree with a branch o'
+th' tree o' knowledge," saith I.
+
+"Then," saith she, hot as my forge all in a breath, and bouncing from my
+knee--"then thou wast an eavesdropper!" saith she.
+
+"Even as the Lord afore me," saith I, not over-pleased at her sauciness.
+"And being in some sort thy Creator, and thou having set up for thyself
+an Eden in my garden," saith I, "who hath a greater right than I to
+watch over thee?" saith I.
+
+Then she not answering me, thus did I continue:
+
+"Why dost thou not take unto thyself an husband," quoth I, "to do both
+thyself and thy parents a credit?"
+
+"Show me such an one," saith she, "and I do promise thee to wed him."
+
+"There, then," quoth I, "is Davy Short hose, the poulterer--"
+
+"A bangled-eared buffoon as ever lived!" quoth she; "and a fool into the
+bargain."
+
+"So be it," saith I; for I was set upon keeping my temper. "What dost
+thou say to Beryamen Piggin, the brewer?"
+
+"A say if ever a piggin was in sore need o' a new link, 'tis that one,"
+saith she. "And, what's more, I'll not serve for 't," saith she.
+
+"How, then, of Nanfan Speckle, the tanner?"
+
+"A's as pied as a's name," quoth she, "both soul and body."
+
+"There be Jezreel Spittlewig, the joiner."
+
+"Methinks," quoth she, "if a'd do a little joining to a's own shackling
+body, a might hold together long enough to go through the marriage
+ceremony," saith she. "Howbeit, I'm not a-sure of 't."
+
+"Well, then, Jack Stirthepot, the chair-mender."
+
+"A'd have to stir th' pot with a witch ere a brewed a wedding with me,"
+quoth she.
+
+"What sayest to Reuben Puff, the tinker?"
+
+"If I say so much as a word to any one o' em," cried she, snatching up
+the pail wherein she had brought my victuals, "may thy first grandchild
+be born without a tongue!" saith she. And out she went.
+
+Then quoth I to myself, quoth I, "Lemon," quoth I, "the jade's in love
+with th' crack--no more, no less." And I said further, said I,
+"Bodykins!" said I, a-shoeing of King Edward with all my might, "by cock
+and pye!" said I, "an a wants him let a have him. 'Tis more than his
+dessert, I'll warrant," so quoth I. "And as for Dame Visor's hussy, let
+her learn to bridle her tongue," quoth I. And 'twas just here that wench
+Keren did creep up and take me about the neck, as I was a-filing of King
+Edward's hoof.
+
+"Father," saith she, "I cry thee pardon if I have sauced thee; but dost
+not mind the rhyme thou art so fond of?--
+
+          "'Shoe the horse, and shoe the mare,
+            But let the little colt go bare.'
+
+Seek not to chide me, father, and ne'er will my heels bring hurt to
+any."
+
+Then off was she again ere I had spat forth my mouthful o' nails to
+answer her.
+
+But that evening as I came home, about the going down o' th' sun, I did
+hear voices i' th' kitchen, and, looking in at th' window, behold, there
+was that hussy Ruth a-plucking of Keren by th' kirtle, and Keren
+a-holding of a pan o' milk above her head, as though she had half a mind
+to souse her cousin in 't.
+
+And saith she, "Get to thy feet, wench. This is neither a church, nor am
+I th' Lord."
+
+But th' girl (who seemed to be in trouble o' some sort) fell a-sobbing,
+and saith she,
+
+"Cousin, cousin, I know I have used thee ill, but all my joy is in him.
+If thou takest him from me, better didst thou take my life, for he is
+more to me than life."
+
+Then quoth my lass, "Shame on thee to say it o' any man, worthy or
+unworthy!"
+
+"Oh, shame enough have I, cousin!" quoth the poor wench--"shame to 'a'
+lost him, and shame that I should plead with another to give him back to
+me!"
+
+"Go to!" saith Keren; "go to! I have not got him to give him back to
+thee."
+
+"Thou hast!" saith Ruth; "thou hast!--he is thine, soul and body--soul
+and body! And thou dost not care; and I care--oh, I care so that I know
+not how to word it!"
+
+(Every word that passed between 'em is as clear in my mind as though
+'twere but yesterday it all happened.)
+
+"I say shame on thee to say so," saith my lass again.
+
+But the wench still hung about her, and would not let go, and she saith,
+
+"Oh, cousin, cousin, cousin, doth it not show thee in what straits I am,
+that I come to thee for succor? Rather had I died, one week agone, than
+ask thee for thy hand though I were drowning. And sure 'tis less than
+thy hand for which I ask thee now, sith it be for a man who is less to
+thee than the littlest finger on that hand, but who is more to me than
+the heart in my wretched body! And a had vowed to wed me; and 'twas next
+month we were to be wed; and all so happy--my father and my mother so
+pleased, and his folks do like me well; and my wedding-gown all sewn and
+lain away, and the ribbons for my shoes, and some kickshaws for th' new
+house; and all we so glad, and all going so smooth, and we twain so
+loving; for, oh, he did love me the once! he did love me the once! And
+now--now--now--" And here did she fall a-weeping in such wise that never
+another word could she say. And she sate down on the kitchen floor, and
+hid all her pretty head (for pretty 'twas, though I liked her not)--hid
+it all in the skirt o' her kirtle.
+
+Then stood my lass quite still, and her face like the milk in her pan,
+and she looks down on th' hussy, as a horse might look down on a kitten
+which it hath unwitting trampled on, and she saith,
+
+"I would I knew whether or no thou speakest the truth!"
+
+Then saith the wench, a-reaching up her clasped hands to heaven--saith
+she, "May God forever curse me an I do not!"
+
+"Take not God's name in vain," saith my lass, sharply, and went and set
+down her pan o' milk on the cupboard. And again she stands, slowly
+wiping her hands on her apron, and looking down at th' girl, who hath
+once more covered all her face in her petticoat; and by-and-by she saith
+to her,
+
+"What is 't thou wouldst have me do?"
+
+"Give me back my Robin! give me back my Robin!" saith the maid.
+
+"Thou art welcome to him for me," saith Keren.
+
+Then fell the maid a-weeping more bitterly than ever, and she huddled
+herself on the hard floor, like a young bird that hath fallen out o' its
+nest, and sobbed piteously. And presently gets she to her feet without a
+word, still a-hiding of her face in her kirtle, and turns to go,
+a-feeling her way with one o' her little hands. But when she hath
+reached th' door, and hath got one foot on the threshold, up strides
+that lass o' mine, and, taking her by the arm, swings her back into th'
+room; and she makes her sit down on a settle and take down her kirtle
+from her face. And while she is snooding up her ruffled locks, she saith
+unto her,
+
+"Thou art a little fool to cry so; dost hear? What! at it again? Well,
+well, God patience me! What's a body to do with such a little ninny?
+There! dry your eyes. Ye shall have your Robin, never fear. God-a-mercy!
+at what art blubbering now?" But down slipped Ruth on her knees, and
+caught Keren about hers, and she saith unto her,
+
+"Heaven bless thee! thou art a good woman! May Heaven forgive me for all
+such words as e'er I have said against thee! Bless thee! bless thee!"
+
+"Bodykins!" saith my lass (having learned some round oaths from me, I do
+grieve to say)--"bodykins!" saith she, "wilt a-hear th' lass? I say
+scamper, scamper; my father'll be coming home to sup erelong, and I
+would not he found thee thus. Away with thee! and fret no more: dost
+hear? If I hear that thou hast moped any further from this hour on, I'll
+not answer either for my doings or for those o' others: dost hear? Now
+scamper!" And scamper a did, like a hare with th' hounds upon 't.
+
+So full was I o' praising my lass on her good 'havior that I had got me
+from th' lattice and was half in at the door ere I saw what had
+befallen.
+
+There was my madcap comrade, down on her knees afore the settle, wi'
+both hands gripped in her thick locks, and her head bent forward on th'
+wooden seat; and she made no sound, neither uttered she any word, but a
+shook like water when a heavy weight rolls past. And a drew long breaths
+ever and anon, like one that hath been half drowned and is coming back
+to life. And I knew then, I knew then, comrade. I had thought a loved
+th' boy; and I knew then. So I got me out, without making any clatter,
+and I sat me down on a bench outside th' kitchen door to think 't over;
+and, by cock and pye, man, ne'er a thought could I think for th' tears
+in my eyes. Th' poor lass! th' poor lass! It fetches th' salt into my
+een now to think on 't. Well, well, what's past is past, and God himself
+cannot undo 't; and what's coming's coming, and God wunnot hinder it an
+he could; so there's an end on 't. Fill up, man, fill up! What there, I
+say! Joel, I say! A quart o' sack for Master Turnip.
+
+Well, when I had thought it well o'er, I did determine to say naught to
+th' lass whatsoever; neither did I; but meseems I was bound to o'erhear
+heart-breaking words atween somebody, for th' very next day, as I was
+henting th' style as leads into th' lane (thou knowest the lane I mean,
+comrade: 't lies atween Cowslip Meadow and th' pool i' th'
+hollow--Sweethearts' Way, they call 't)--well, as I was getting o'er th'
+style--as I had just got me o'er by one leg, after this fashion, ye
+mind; as though this chair here were th' style, and yonder chimney-place
+th' lane--Sweethearts' Way, ye mind--well, as I was half over, and
+Mumble, th' turnspit pup, half under, as 'twere, I heard voices--voices,
+comrade--one o' them th' voice o' that lass o' mine, and t'other th'
+voice o' young Hacket.
+
+"Here be a coil," say I. "What's to do?"
+
+Now the pup seemed to be filled with the spirit o' th' Lord all on a
+sudden, after th' fashion o' th' talking jackass i' th' Scriptures; for
+if a didna talk a did th' next thing to 't--a tried to. And after
+pulling at my heels like as though a fiend had got him, a scuttles into
+th' thicket, for no cause, as I could see, but to give me th' benefit
+o' example. So in goes I after him. Scarce was I settled, with a
+bramble down th' back o' my neck, and some honey-bees at work too nigh
+to my legs for my peace o' mind, when they come, and both a-chattering
+at th' same time like two magpies with slit tongues.
+
+"Thou didst!" quoth he. "That did I not!" quoth she. "Thou didst, and I
+can prove 't on thee!" quoth he, louder than afore. "I tell thee I did
+not, and thou canst sooner prove that Bidford Mill turns the Avon than
+that I did!" quoth she. "Wilt thou stand there and tell me i' th' eyes
+that thou hast so oft looked love into," quoth he, like a man choked
+with spleen--"I say, wilt thou, Keren Lemon, stand there and face me,
+Robert Hacket, and say thou hast ne'er given me reason to believe that
+thou didst love me?" quoth he. "No more cause than I've given to twenty
+better than thee!" quoth she. "Shame on thee to say 't, thou bold-faced
+jig!" saith he; "shame on thee, I say! and so will say all honest folk
+when I tell 'em o' 't." "An thou tell it, the more fool thou," saith
+she; and a draws up her red lips into a circle as though a'd had a
+drawstring in 'em, and a stands and looks at him as a used to stand and
+look at her dam when she chid her for a romp. Then all on a sudden, with
+such a nimbleness as took away my breath and drove all thoughts o'
+brambles and honey-bees clean out o' my pate, he jumps aside o' her, and
+gets her about th' middle, as he did that day under th' pear-tree, and
+quoth he, "Lass," quoth he, "dunnot break my heart! dunnot break th'
+heart that loves ye more than a' that's in the earth, or th' heavens
+above, or th' waters below! Say ye love me, and ha' done with 't."
+
+Then gives she up herself to him for one beat o' her own breaking heart,
+the poor madcap, and she leans on him with all her pretty self, as
+though begging him to take her against her own will, and then a cry
+breaks from her, half human, and half like th' cry o' a hurt beast, and
+she saith,
+
+"Shame on ye, shame on ye, to forsake th' lass ye ha' sworn to wed! Get
+thee back to her straightway, or ne'er look me i' th' face again!" And
+she leaps back from him, and points with her arm--as stiff and steady as
+th' tail o' a sportsman's dog--towards th' village, and she saith again,
+"Get thee back to her; get thee back to Ruth Visor, and wed with her ere
+this month be out o' the year!"
+
+Then lifts he his sullen head, and looks at her from under his brows
+like a smitten blood-hound. And he saith back o' his clamped teeth, like
+as 'twere a dog gnarling in his throat, "curse ye for a false jade!"
+saith he; "Curse ye for as black-hearted a jade as e'er set an honest
+man on th' road to hell!" And he turned, and cleared th' style with one
+hand on 't, and went his ways.
+
+And th' lass stood and looked after him as still as though she were
+turned into a pillar o' summat, after th' manner o' th' woman i' th'
+holy book, and both her hands grasping her breast. But anon there comes
+a trouble o'er her face, like as when a little wind doth run across a
+gray pool at eventide, and her lips begin to tremble, like as though
+some red flower a-growing on th' bank was shaken by 't, and her eyes all
+full o' woe, like th' eyes o' some dumb thing as cannot word its sorrow;
+and all at once she falls upon her knees, and thence upon her forehead
+on the ground, and afterwards to her whole length, with her strong hands
+grasping th' flowers and grass on either side o' her, and tearing them
+up with th' crackling noise that a horse makes when 't grazes. But no
+sound escapes her, whether a sigh or a groan. Well, well, comrade, I cry
+thee patience if I do stumble here a bit: I cannot think on 't now
+without a tightness i' my throat, any more than a man can think o' th'
+day his first child was born to him without his heart leaping hot in 's
+throat like the flame to th' bellows. Well, well! Fill up, I say; fill
+up. Remember th' old days, when thou wast more ale-washed than th'
+bottle itself. Where be I i' th' narrative? Yea, yea, 'tis there--'tis
+there; I mind me o't now.
+
+No sound 'scaped her, but presently she lifts herself up upon her knees
+again, with such heaviness as a horse overburdened doth get him to his
+feet, and she holds out both her arms i' th' direction where th' lad
+hath vanished, wi' th' grass and flowers yet fast in her clinched hands;
+and she saith twice, i' th' voice o' a woman in travail,
+
+"Never will he know, never will he know," she saith; and then, "Oh,
+God!" she saith, a-lifting her hands again to her breast. "Summat's
+broke here," she saith, full meek, like a body that's looked a many time
+on pain--"summat's broke, summat's broke," o'er and o'er again, as
+though she would use herself to th' sound, as 'twere. Then all at once
+did a deep cry break from her. "God, O God," she saith, "show me how to
+bear 't! My God, my God, show me how to bear 't." And she got to her
+feet, and sped down th' lane like one blind, running first into th'
+hawthorn bushes o' this side, then into th' quickset hedge o' th' other,
+and tearing out her loosened tresses on th' low-hanging branches o' th'
+pear-trees, so that I traced her by her hair i' th' twigs, like as thou
+wouldst trace any poor lost lamb by its wool on the brambles. Now, it
+did almost break my own heart to say naught to her concerning all o't,
+but I knew that 'twould but grieve without comforting her; and rather
+would I 'a' had my old heart split in twain than bring one more ache
+into her true breast. So naught say I. Never a word, comrade, from then
+till now have I e'er said to her about that time.
+
+Well, for all 's fine talk, Master Hacket went no more to hell than do
+any other men that marry--an' less than some, seeing as how a did not
+marry a scold, which (God forgive me, or her, or both o' us) I have
+done. Yea, comrade, I will commemorate this our first meeting in eight
+years by confessing to thee that my wife (in thy ear, comrade)--that my
+wife was a scold. Sometimes I do verily think as how women like Mistress
+Lemon be sent unto men to keep 'em from pondering too heavily concerning
+the absence o' marriage in heaven. By cock and pye, man, as I live, I do
+honestly believe that I would rather be a bachelor in hell, than the
+husband o' Mistress Lemon in heaven!
+
+But to come back to th' lass. And, now that I think o' th' lass,
+comrade, I am not so sure that a scolding wife is not well paid for by a
+duteous daughter. Nay, I am sure o't. Methinks I would 'a' been wed
+twice, and each time to a shrew, could I but 'a' had my Keren o' one o'
+'em. Ay, even so, even so.
+
+Well, as I said--or as I meant to say--Master Hacket wedded th' Visor
+hussy within two weeks o' th' day whereon he and my Keren had 't so
+fierce i' Sweethearts' Way. And therein are two meanings: they fell out,
+as is the way with sweethearts, and they fell out i' th' lane so called.
+
+Well, well, let me crack a quart o' sack with thee, comrade, and a joke
+at th' same time.
+
+A married Ruth Visor, and they went to Lunnon Town. And on th' night o'
+their wedding, as I sat by the fireside i' th' kitchen a-mending my
+tools (for 'twas on a Saturday night), and Keren abed, and Mistress
+Lemon a-peeling o' leather-jackets to make th' Sunday pie,
+
+"Wife," saith I to her (a-mending my tools, as I ha' said), "wife,"
+quoth I, "would 'twere our lass were wed to-day!"
+
+"For why?" saith she. No more, no less.
+
+"For why?" saith I. "For the why I think a lass is happier wed to th'
+man she loves," saith I.
+
+"'Tis not so I've found it," quoth she, a-peeling of an apple so that
+thou couldst 'a' put his whole coat back and not 'a' known 't had e'er
+come off.
+
+Then quoth I, a-chuckling in my throat at having so snared her, "Right
+glad am I to find out that thou lovest me!" quoth I.
+
+"If thou'st found out that," quoth she, "thou'rt greater than Columbus,"
+quoth she, "for thou'st discovered something that never was," quoth she.
+
+"Bodykins, woman!" saith I, a-losing of my temper--"then for what didst
+thou marry me?"
+
+"For a fool," quoth she. "And I will say as I ha' got the full o' my
+bargain," quoth she.
+
+Whereat so wroth was I that I said naught, knowing that if I did open my
+lips or move my hand 'twould be to curse her with th' one and cuff her
+with t'other.
+
+By-and-by saith she, "And where, by'r lay'kin, wilt thou find a man good
+enough in thy eyes for th' lass?" saith she.
+
+"Not on earth," quoth I. "Neither in this land nor that other across the
+sea," quoth I.
+
+"Ay, ay," quoth she. "Very like thou wouldst have th' wench to wed with
+an angel," quoth she; "to have all thy grandchildren roosting on a gold
+bar, and their dad a-teaching of 'em how to use their wings," quoth she.
+"Or with one o' th' red men i' th' new country, to have them piebald red
+and white, like a cock-horse at Banbury Cross," quoth she. And with that
+up she gets, and flings the apple-parings into th' fire, and gets her to
+bed without more ado. Whereupon day doth again find me i' this very
+tavern.
+
+Well, well, a year had passed, and things were jogging very peaceful
+like, and Keren settled down as quiet as a plough-broken mare, when one
+day as I sit i' th' kitchen, while th' lass mends my apron, there comes
+a fumbling at th' latch like as though a child made shift to open it.
+Then quoth I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble, or one o' the Mouldy
+lads over th' way;" for the babes all loved Keren, and, now that she was
+waxed so quiet, th' lads left her more to herself, and she would sit on
+th' bench by the cottage door and make little kickshaws by th'
+hour--elder-wood whistles, and dolls o' forked radishes, and what not.
+So quoth I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble," quoth I, and th' lass
+having her lap full o' my apron, I went and opened th' door. And there,
+comrade, a-kneeling in th' grass outside, with her head all hid in her
+kirtle, as she had kneeled two years agone on t'other side o' that very
+door, was Mistress Ruth Hacket; and she was a-sobbing as though her
+heart would break. And while I stand staring, ere I could find a word
+to my tongue, comes that lass o' mine and pushes me aside like as though
+I had been little Marjory Pebble--ha! ha! And down goes she on her knees
+beside th' lass, and gets an arm about her, and presses down her head,
+all hid as 'tis in her kirtle, against her breast, and she saith to her,
+
+"What troubles thee? Tell Keren, honey. So so! What troubles thee? Tell
+Keren."
+
+And from beneath her kirtle th' poor jade sobs out, "He's gone! he's
+gone! he's gone! They've taken him to work on th' big seas--and our
+child not yet born--and me so ailing; and, oh! I want to die! I want to
+die!"
+
+Then saith that lass o' mine, saith she, "Father, do thou fetch some o'
+th' birch wine out o' th' cupboard and bring it to me in a cup;" and to
+the girl she saith, "Come, then; come, then," like as though she had
+been coaxing some little spring lambkin to follow her unto its dam; and
+she half pulls and half carries th' wench into th' house, and seats her
+on a low stool i' th' chimney-corner, and kneels down aside of her. And
+when I be come with th' drink, she takes the cup out o' my hand, and
+makes th' wench drink 't, holding it to her lips with one hand, while
+with the other she cossets her hair and cheek. And, by-and-by, seeing
+myself forgotten, I do withdraw into the room beyond, and wait till I be
+called, that th' lasses may have 't out together.
+
+Now, Ruth's folks were aye so poor that scarce could they keep clothes
+on their backs and food i' their bellies; and it hath some time occurred
+to me how that the Lord might 'a' given such as could not provide for
+themselves a coat o' wool or o' hair that would 'a' covered their
+bodies, after the manner of a sheep or goat--the righteous being clad i'
+th' first fashion, and the wicked after th' last.
+
+Well, well, I must on. I see thou art waxing restless, comrade. Not so?
+Well, drink, drink, then, that I may feel thou art well occupied while
+that my old tongue wags.
+
+So poor, then, were Ruth's folks that I said to myself, said I, "What i'
+th' name o' pity," so saith I--"what i' th' name o' pity is to become o'
+the poor lass?" But I had scarce asked myself th' question when my lass
+answers it for me.
+
+"Father," saith she, a-coming and standing afore me, with the empty cup
+turning on her long fingers--"father," saith she, keeping those
+gold-colored eyes o' hers on mine (methinks they were coined o' th' same
+wedge as her heart o' gold)--"father," saith she, just so, "considering
+all things," saith she, "I'm going to keep th' lass in my room till her
+child be born," so saith she.
+
+Then saith I, pulling her down into my arms, "Lass," saith I, "verily do
+I believe that not only is every hair o' thy sweet head numbered, but
+that each one is blessed with a separate blessing!" And what with my
+love for her, and my admiring of her goodness, and my pride in her, and
+what with her pity for the poor girl in th' other room, we did shed
+enough tears between us to ha' o'erflowed th' empty cup in her hands.
+
+So she held me about th' neck with both arms, and like to ha' run me mad
+with kissing th' back o' my neck (for I was e'er one o' your ticklish
+sort). I stood it bravely, however, seeing how she loved me, and kissed
+her too whensoever I could get a chance for th' tightness o' her
+hugging. And so we settled it. But Mistress Lemon was yet to be
+consulted.
+
+Ready enough was I to shift that job on my lass's broad shoulders
+(seeing as how a reputation for courage with his wife is ne'er believed
+o' a man, at any rate, and as how th' wench had a way o' managing her
+mother which sure none could 'a' had that were not of her own flesh).
+And that night, when her mother was returned from a round o' gossiping,
+th' lass tells her all (having i' th' mean time put Ruth to bed atween
+her own sheets). Well, ne'er saw I my wife in such a rage.
+
+"What!" saith she, "thou hast ta'en it on thyself to offer my bread and
+meat to a good-for-naught hussy as ne'er had a civil word for any o' us!
+Thou hast given her bed-room under my roof without so much as 'by your
+leave!' Thou godless hussy, thou! Where be th' jade? I say, where be
+she? Where be she?"
+
+"Where thou shalt not come at her in thy present humor, mother," saith
+the lass, standing with one arm reached out across the door-way, like as
+though in verity she had been the mother and her dam a naughty child.
+
+"How? Dost word me? dost word me?" saith my wife. "How? dost take any
+stray cat to kitten in my house an' then word me too?"--so saith she.
+
+Then saith th' lass, "Well can I understand," saith she, "how, if thou
+canst speak i' this fashion o' thy sister's child, thou canst also speak
+to thy own as sure no mother e'er spoke ere this." Then, changing all
+suddenly her tone, and dropping down her arm from the door, "Go an thou
+like," saith she, "to abuse the poor creature who hath come to ask thy
+help in time o' trouble; but just so surely as thou dost turn her out o'
+door to lie i' th' straw like any common callet, just so sure do I
+follow her, to fare as she fares, and all the village shall know what
+thou hast done."
+
+Then for some minutes did they twain stand and gaze upon one another,
+and at last down flumps my wife into a chair, as though she would break
+it in pieces for very rage; but being waxed sulky, and her own wrath
+cowed, as 'twere, by her daughter's more righteous wrath, she saith
+nothing more of 't, good or bad.
+
+In three weeks' time th' child is born, and as sound and as pretty a
+babe as e'er I clapt eyes on, and Keren a-dangling of him as natural as
+though she herself had been a mother, time and again.
+
+"What say'st thou now, lass?" quoth she. "Wilt trust Keren after this?"
+
+"Is he sound, verily?" saith the poor little dame, looking shyly upon
+him.
+
+"Never a spot so big as the splash on a guinea-flower!" saith Keren.
+"And ears like sea-shells."
+
+So, after a-kissing of them both, and th' top o' th' babe's head (as
+'twas permitted me to do), I steals out and leaves them together.
+
+Well, ne'er saw thou a child grow as did that child. Meseemed he
+sprouted like corn after a rain; and in five months a was waxed so
+strong a could stand on 's feet a-holding to his mother's kirtle. But,
+strange to say or not, as thou wilt have 't, he did seem to love Keren
+more than he did th' mother that bore him, a-crying for her did she but
+so much as turn her back, and not sleeping unless that she would croon
+his lullabies to him. Mayhap it was because her strong arms and round
+bosom made a more cosey nest for him than did th' breast and arms o' his
+little dam; but so was 't, and nearly all o' her time did th' lass give
+to him. Neither did it seem to rouse aught o' jealousy in Ruth's heart:
+she was too busy a-looking for th' return o' 's father to bother her
+pretty pate o'ermuch concerning him. And she would sit and talk o'
+Robin, and o' Robin's goodness, and o' Robin's sweet ways and words and
+doings, until I thought sometimes my poor lass's heart would just break
+within her, if 't had not been broken already these two years. And one
+day, as she kneels beside th' cradle--Ruth having gone to see her folks
+for th' day--I come in unknown to her, and stand to watch th' pretty
+sight. There kneels she, and Ruth's red shawl o'er her head to please
+th' child (Keren ne'er had any bright colors o' her own those
+days)--there kneels she, I say, beside the cradle, and kittles him with
+her nimble fingers, and digs him i' th' ribs after a fashion that would
+sure 'a' run me crazy (though it hath ne'er yet been proven what a young
+babe cannot endure at the hands o' women), and punches and pokes and
+worries him, for all th' world like a kitten worrying a flower. And he,
+lying on his back, kicks with both feet at her face, and winds all his
+hands in her long hair, and laughs, and bubbles, and makes merry, after
+the fashion o' a spring stream among many stones. And by-and-by a change
+falls o'er her, and she waxes very solemn, and sits down on th' floor by
+th' edge o' th' cradle, with one arm upon 't and her head on her hand,
+and she looks at the babe. In vain doth he clutch at her hair and at her
+kerchief, and reach, with pretty broken murmurings, as of water through
+crowding roots, after his little bare toes: never so much as a motion
+makes she towards him. But at last up gets she to her knees, and takes
+him fiercely into her strong hands, and holds him off at arm's-length,
+looking at him; and she saith in a deep voice (such as I had not heard
+her use for two years), saith she, "For that thou art not mine," saith
+she, "I hate thee; but--" and here came a change o'er all her face and
+voice and manner, like as when April doth suddenly wake in the midst o'
+a wintry day in springtide--"but," saith she, "for that thou art his, I
+love thee!" And she took him to her bosom, and bowed down her head over
+him so that he was hidden all in her long hair; but the bright shawl
+covered it, so that, what with her stooping and the hiding of her
+tresses, a body coming in suddenly at the door might 'a' easily mistaken
+her for Ruth.
+
+It was thus with th' man who at that moment strode past me and caught up
+child and woman into his embrace. "I have come back to thee," he
+said--"I have come back to thee. Look up, wife! Ruth, look up!" But when
+she did look up, and he saw her face as white as morning, and her hair
+as black as night, and her tall figure like to a young elm-tree--ay,
+when she looked up, ne'er saw I a man not dead seem so like death. He
+drops down his arms from about them, as though smitten from behind by a
+sword, and he staggers and leans against th' table, and lets fall his
+head upon his breast, staring straight in front o' him. But she stands
+looking upon him. And I got me out with all speed; so ne'er knew I more
+o' what passed between 'em, saving that he did take away Ruth with him
+th' next day, and she as happy as a bird whose mate hath come back to 't
+with the springtide. But a knew how that my lass had taken his wife into
+her bed, and nursed her through her sickness night and day, after the
+hard words he had spoken unto her and the ill names he had called her.
+And that was all I cared to know. He had set th' iron in my lass's
+heart, and now 'twas in his own; and for th' rust, it did but hurt him
+more. Ay, ay, comrade, thou knowest what I do mean.
+
+Well, the winter passed, and spring came on again, and 'twas in the May
+o' that year that I did break my hammer-arm. God above us only knows
+what would 'a' befallen us had 't not been for my Keren. Wilt believe
+'t? (but then I think thou'lt believe a'most anything o' that lass o'
+mine now--eh, comrade?)--th' lass did set to work, and in two weeks'
+time a was as good a farrier as was e'er her daddy afore her. Bodykins,
+man! thou shouldst 'a' seen her at it: clad from throat to feet she was
+in a leathern apron, looking as like mine own as though th' mare's skin
+whereof mine was fashioned had, as 'twere, foaled a smaller one for th'
+lass--ha! ha!--and her sleeves rolled up from her brown arms, and th'
+cords a-standing out on them like th' veins in a horse's shoulder. And
+so would she stand, and work th' bellows at th' forge, until, what with
+th' red light from the fire on her face, and on her hair, and on her
+bare arms, I was minded o' th' angel that walked i' the fiery furnace
+with th' men in holy writ. And when a pounded away at a shoe, and her
+young arm going like a flail--chink, chank--chink, chank--and th' white
+spatters o' hot iron flying this way and that from th' anvil, meseemed
+'twas as though Dame Venus (for thou knowest how in th' masque twelve
+year gone this Yuletide 'twas shown as how a great dame called Venus did
+wed wi' a farrier called Vulcan--I wot thou rememberest?)--as though
+Dame Venus had taken away her hammer from her goodman Vulcan to do 's
+work for him. By my troth, 'twas a sight to make a picture of--that
+'twas, comrade.
+
+Well, ne'er saw I such trouble as that arm gave me (and 't has ne'er
+been strong since). First 'twould not knit, and then when 't did 'twas
+all wrong, and had to be broken and set o'er again. But th' lass ne'er
+gave out once. Late and early, fair weather or foul, a was at th' forge;
+and a came to be known for as good a smith as there was in all
+Warwickshire. But, for that none had e'er heard tell o' a woman at such
+work, or for some other reason, they did come to call her, moreover,
+"The Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth."
+
+One day, as we sat i' th' door o' th' shop, a-resting, and talking
+together--after a way we had with us even when she was a little
+lass--there rides up a young gallant, all dressed out in velvet and
+galloon, and a feather in 's hat, and long curls hanging about his
+shoulders. Oh ay, a was bonny enough to look upon. So a draws rein at
+th' door. And saith he,
+
+"Art thou th' Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth?" saith he.
+
+Saith she, arising to her feet, and standing with crossed arms like any
+man--saith she,
+
+"Folks call me so," saith she. "But my name is Keren Lemon."
+
+"A sour name for so sweet a lass," saith th' gallant.
+
+"Would thou hadst sweetened that old jest with some new wit!" quoth she.
+
+"Thou art sharp o' tongue," saith he.
+
+"I shoe horses with my arms, not with my tongue," saith she.
+
+"As I live, a witty jade!" quoth he. "Thou dost much amuse me, maiden."
+
+"My wit was not fashioned any more for thy amusement than for the
+shoeing o' thy horse," quoth she. "So, if thou dost not purpose to have
+him shod, ride on!" saith she.
+
+Then saith he, to himself, as 'twere, "Verily," saith he, "they should
+call thee the _harrier_ lass, for thou hast run down and found my
+manners when that old hounds have failed." And to her he saith, "I do
+purpose to have my horse shod, maiden; and I cry thee pardon for having
+given thee offence."
+
+"It is easier to give offence than pardon," saith she. "Howbeit, thou
+art pardoned. Say no more." Whereupon she sets to work and, taking th'
+horse's foot atween her knees, falls to filing his hoof in such wise
+that I could not 'a' done better in her place, though the Queen should
+ask me to sup afterwards at St. James's. But the stranger could not hold
+his tongue; and when he saw her working th' bellows, and a-making of th'
+shoe, and th' way she swung th' great hammer, "By my troth," saith he,
+"I would I could paint thee as Sally Mander to give to th' Queen," saith
+he.
+
+Then saith my lass, "I know not of any wench called Sally Mander," saith
+she, a-burning of th' horse's hoof with th' hot shoe; "but if she
+consorts familiarly with such as be above her," so saith she, "methinks
+'tis as well for both o' us that I know her not," saith she--every word
+o't just as I tell thee.
+
+Then saith the gallant, clapping hand to thigh, so that it made such a
+sound as when a young child is trounced, "By my troth," saith he, "an
+thy brows be not worthy o' a coronet, ne'er saw I any that merited to
+wear one. What wouldst thou if thou wert a lady, lass?"
+
+She saith, a-rolling up of her sleeves a little tighter, and looking up
+at him as he sate again upon his horse, "Meanest thou if I were the wife
+o' a lord?" saith she.
+
+"Even so," saith he, laughing. "Verily thou hast come at my meaning with
+a commendable quickness. Well, and if thou wert the wife o' a lord, what
+wouldst thou do?"
+
+Then saith she, speaking very slowly, and crossing of her arms again
+upon her breast--saith she,
+
+"I would bring up such sons as were born to me to behave worthily o'
+their station in life, and not to forget their manhood by speaking with
+insolence unto such honest maids as had never offered them affront."
+Whereupon she did up with her kit o' tools, and pass by me into th'
+forge; and th' man rode on with a reddened visage.
+
+But it befell only two days later that a came again to th' forge, his
+horse having cast another shoe.
+
+And again th' lass sets all to right for him, he keeping a civil tongue
+in 's head this time; and o' that we thought naught one way or th'
+other. But when a comes a third time, and yet a fourth and a fifth and a
+sixth, "Father," saith th' lass--"father," saith she, "this must be
+stopt," saith she.
+
+"Ay, verily," saith I. "But how wilt do 't?" saith I.
+
+"I'll do 't, never fear," saith she.
+
+And a did, comrade. Ha! ha! I'd trust that wench to make Satan keep to
+heel like any well-broke puppy. 'Twas in this way. The next time th'
+gallant comes riding up (that being th' seventh time in all, ye
+mind)--well, the next time up comes riding he, and he saith to her,
+saith he, "I have come to ask thy service yet again, damsel," saith he;
+"but Merrylegs hath cast another shoe."
+
+Then saith th' lass--ha! ha!--every word as I tell thee, comrade--saith
+she, "Methinks, my lord, if my work hold no better than that--methinks,"
+saith she, "'twere as well thou went for th' shoeing o' thy horse to
+Timothy Makeshift, as lives in Marigold Lane," saith she. "For if it
+come to th' ears o' others how that I will shoe a horse one day, and th'
+next how that he will cast th' shoe--if it so be known," saith she, "no
+more custom will I get to keep my father and mother in their old age."
+
+Then doth he leap down from his horse, and he doffs his hat as though
+my lass had been any fine lady; and quoth he,
+
+"Well and justly hast thou spoken; and I do stand confessed of my fault.
+But, maiden, thou wast not born unto th' life thou leadest; and here in
+thy presence I do ask thy father to bestow upon me thy hand. I am Sir
+Dagonet Balfour, of Balfour Hall; and if thou art willing I will make
+thee my lady."
+
+Now, I was struck dumb as though my tongue had jumped forth o' my mouth,
+and never a blessed thing could I do saving stare, comrade. But that
+lass o' mine--that lass o' mine, comrade--she stands and looks at him,
+and never so much as a glint o' red in her face. And saith she, "My
+lord," saith she, "if that thou meanest what thou hast said, thou hast
+forgotten thine estate and not remembered mine. Since God hath not made
+me a lady, methinks it is not in the power o' one o' His creatures so to
+do. But I do thank thee for seeking to honor me, and wish thee joy when
+thou shalt take in wedlock some highborn maiden."
+
+Then saith he, "An I wed not thee, ne'er will I be wed. What! dost thou
+think I can look on in patience and see a woman such as thou following
+the trade of a farrier?"
+
+Then saith she, "If Jesus Christ followed th' trade o' a carpenter,"
+saith she, "sure," saith she, "Keren Lemon can follow th' trade o' a
+farrier," saith she--every blessed word as I tell thee, comrade. And no
+more would she have to do with him, but got her into th' forge and left
+him standing there.
+
+Well, thou might 'a' thought that was th' end o't. Not a bit--not a bit,
+comrade. Th' knight would be a-riding up at all times and in all
+weather, and somehow 't gets out i' th' village (though not through my
+lass, I warrant ye) as how he doth in verity seek to espouse my Keren.
+Well, o' all th' tirrits and to-do's as e'er you heard on!
+
+Methought when Mistress Lemon found out that th' girl had refused th'
+gallant's offer th' house would be a tighter fit for us three than its
+shell for an unhatched chick. 'Twas worry, worry, worry, from morn till
+night, and from night till morn it was worry, worry, worry, till I
+scarce knew whether 'twould be better to murder my wife and hang for 't,
+or leave her alone and live with her.
+
+"Th' hussy!" quoth she--"th' ungrateful hussy! a ought to be tossed in a
+blanket," quoth she, "and thou along with her, thou jack-pudding, thou
+ravelling!" quoth she.
+
+"If I be a jack-pudding," saith I, "I ha' more descendants than most
+such," saith I.
+
+"Yea," quoth she, "verily," quoth she; "and all nine o' th' lads be
+jacks," saith she, "and th' wench as very a pudding as e'er fell to
+pieces for want o' being held together," saith she. "Out on ye both!
+I'm done with ye!"
+
+"For that, God be praised!" saith I, and left ere she could answer.
+
+But one day as I sate i' th' kitchen, a-cosseting o' my lame arm as
+though 't had been a babe, I hear a sound o' wheels and a clatter o'
+horses' hoofs; and, lo! there be a chariot pulled up afore the door,
+with four gray horses a-making play with their trappings, and a
+coachman, all wig and gilding, a-sitting on th' box. And ere a could
+move, out steps a fine dame, with her hair all in hillocks, as 'twere,
+and a paling o' lace round about her head, like as 't had been a
+flower-garden, and a farthingale to 'a' covered th' big malt-pot with as
+little to-do as a hen covers an egg. And up comes she to th' door, and
+her tire-woman a-holding of her robes, and two footmen going before, and
+in she comes--like as though Riches and Death had a' th' same right to
+enter a poor man's house without knocking. And saith she to me, saith
+she, a-filling up o' the room with her finery, like a cuckoo ruffling
+out its feathers in another bird's nest, saith she,
+
+"Be this th' cottage o' Humfrey Lemon th' farrier?" saith she.
+
+"It be so; and I be he," saith I.
+
+"And be thou th' father o' th' wench they call th' Farrier Lass o'
+Piping Pebworth?" saith she.
+
+"I be, an' proud o't," say I, a-beginning to think that she might 'a'
+knocked at th' door, for all her greatness.
+
+"Where's th' lass?" saith she, as she might 'a' said "Where's my glove?"
+
+Then saith I, "Madam," saith I, "most like she's gone about her
+business," saith I.
+
+"My good man," saith she, after a fashion that did cause me to feel
+aught but good--"my good man," saith she, "dost thou know to whom thou
+speakest?"
+
+"Verily," saith I, "thou art ahead o' me there, madam."
+
+"Boor," saith she, "I am the Lady o' Balfour Hall."
+
+"An' so could my lass 'a' been, had she willed it," saith I; but ere I
+could further forget myself, in comes Keren by another door, and she
+saith,
+
+"Father, do thou go out, and leave me to speak with this lady." Then to
+th' dame she saith, "Your ladyship," saith she, "I am Keren Lemon, that
+be called th' Farrier Lass. What wouldst thou with me?"
+
+Then I got me out o' th' room, but not out o' hearing distance; and this
+is what followed:
+
+"I have heard," saith th' dame, "these reports concerning my son Sir
+Dagonet and thee, and, to my sorrow, I find upon inquiry," saith she,
+"that they be true. Moreover, though it doth shame me to the dust to
+confess it, I have had an interview with my son Sir Dagonet," so saith
+she--every word o't as I tell thee--"and he is determined in his
+purpose o' ruining his life and th' happiness o' his mother. Therefore I
+have come to thee, to ask that thou persistest in the course which thou
+hast begun," saith she. "And here," saith she, "is gold to hold thy
+tongue concerning my visit unto thee." And therewith she did count down
+ten broad gold pieces upon th' kitchen table. "I must also ask thee,"
+then continued she, ere my lass could answer her, "to allow me to remain
+under thy roof until my carriage be returned from th' other end o' the
+village, where it hath been sent with my tire-woman to purchase some
+ribbon to tie my parrot to 's perch."
+
+Never a word saith my lass, but she goes to th' door and opens it, and
+lifting up her voice, she halloos to a little ragged urchin who is at
+some spot on th' other side o' th' street; and he being come as fast as
+his little shanks would bring him, she bids him enter, and taking him up
+in her arms, she lifts him up so that a can reach th' gold on th'
+table, and saith she,
+
+"Thou'rt not o'er-clean to touch, my good little mouse," saith she, "but
+thou'rt cleaner than that stuff thou seest. There, lad, that's for thee,
+if an thou'lt run to th' other end o' th' village and bid them return at
+once with my lady Balfour's carriage," so saith she. Then, th' lad
+having stuffed all 's doublet with th' gold, she sets him on 's feet,
+and off a scuttles on th' best-paid errand e'er chanced since th' world
+began. And my lass, having courtesied to the thunder-stricken dame, gets
+her outside (where I go nigh to smothering her with kisses), and leaves
+her ladyship in possession o' th' kitchen.
+
+Well, comrade, right sure am I that thou dost think that was the end on
+'t. Not a bit. Sir Dagonet did himself come to th' cottage th' very next
+day to see th' lass, and they had many words together, and at last he
+did accuse her o' false pride and proud humility. And saith he,
+
+"Wouldst thou make misery for the man who loves thee best of all the
+world, merely to satisfy a notion o' thine own? Greatness and goodness,"
+saith he, "dwell in the heads and hearts o' mankind, not in their birth
+or purses. I do ask thee, with all respect, to be my wife, and I am
+prepared to face th' anger o' my mother and o' th' Queen. Ay," saith he,
+his face gone red as a girl's, and comes nigh to her--"ay, maiden,"
+saith he, "I am even ready to seek th' new country with thee as my wife,
+and to leave title and lands and Queen and mother behind me."
+
+Then saith she--and I had not seen tears in her eyes for many a day--
+
+"My lord," saith she, "well and nobly hast thou spoken, and with all my
+soul do I honor thee for it, and I thank thee with all my heart and
+soul. But, my lord, even were there not thy rank and position atween
+us, there is atween us," saith she, "which would hold us as far apart as
+the sea doth hold this England which we live in and th' new country o'
+which thou didst speak. For," saith she--and she speaks in a steady
+voice, howbeit 'tis very low, and she keeps her sun-like eyes on
+his--"for, my lord," saith she, "all the love that was mine to give hath
+been another man's these many years."
+
+Then saith he never another word, but bends his knee and kisses her long
+brown hand as though 't had been th' Queen's; and he gets him from th'
+cottage.
+
+Now, two more years were sped since that Ruth had left us, and sometimes
+would we hear through friends o' th' little lad and 's mother and
+father, and always was Ruth a-sending of pretty messages to Keren--her
+love, and her thanks, and how happy she was, and th' boy so like his
+father--and more than I remember.
+
+A full year had th' lass been at work in my shop, and my arm no more
+fit to hammer than afore. So I looks about to get a lad to help her in
+her work, seeing as 'twere too much for one wench. And, Lord! th'
+trouble I had! Ten lads did I try, one right after th' other; and one
+would be saucy, and another dull, and another would take 't into his
+pumpkin head to fall in love wi' th' lass; and all o' 'em lazy. But,
+God-a-mercy! how's a man to tell a lazy lad till he ha' tried
+him?--unless it be old Butter. Ha! ha! I ha' just minded me o' th' way
+he used to treat th' lads that came to Amhurste to hire for
+under-gardeners. He would stand with 's owlish old visage a-set on 's
+hoe-handle, for all th' world like a fantastic head carved out o' a
+turnip and set on a stick, and a would let th' lad go on with 's story
+o' how Dame This commended him for that, and o' how Dame That commended
+him for this, and o' how a had worked under my lord So-and-So's
+head-gardener and in my lady So-and-So's own hot-houses; and when a had
+got through, never a word would old Butter say, but a would just step
+round behind th' lad, as solemn as a gravedigger on a cold day, and a
+would lift up th' tail o' 's doublet and look at th' seat o' 's
+breeches. And if they were fairly worn a would hire th' lad; but if an
+they were much worn a would say, "No work dost thou get from me, my
+lad," would a say, "thou sittest down too often to work for Anthony
+Butter"--so would a say--every word o't just as I ha' told thee. Ha! ha!
+And all the time as sober as a coroner inspecting a corse. Ha! ha! ha!
+Methinks I can see him now--th' old zany.
+
+Well, well, a was a good man, was Anthony Butter; and if a was a bit
+puffed up with 's own importance, a's charity ne'er got in a like
+condition that it did not bring forth some kind act.
+
+Well, th' months swung round, and 'twas nigh to Martlemas in that same
+year, and one day as I sat i' th' forge door, a-swearing roundly to
+myself concerning my lame arm, and how that 'twould not mend, up comes
+galloping a man, like one distraught, and a child on th' saddle afore
+him, and a flings himself down with th' child in 's arms (making no
+shift whate'er to hold th' horse, which gallops on with th' reins
+swinging), and a cries out, a-setting of th' child on my knee--a cries
+out,
+
+"For God's sake, help me! My child hath been bit by a mad dog! Help me
+in some way, for th' love of God!"
+
+And I saw that 'twas Robert Hacket that crouched and quivered at my knee
+like a hurt hound, and th' child as like to him as one leaf on a tree is
+to th' other. But ere I could do or say aught, comes that lass o' mine,
+and ups with th' babe in her arms, and he roaring as lustily as any
+bull-calf with th' wound in 's little brown arm, and she sees where the
+beast hath bitten him. Then sets she him down again on my lap, and runs
+and fetches a bar o' iron and heats it i' th' forge till 'tis white-hot,
+and all th' time th' poor father a-sobbing, and kissing of th' babe, and
+calling on me to help him, like as though I were God Almighty. And while
+he was so doing, and the babe like to burst with weeping, and I gone mad
+with not knowing what to be at, comes that wench, comrade, and jerks up
+th' babe, and sets th' white-hot metal in 's soft flesh.
+
+Ay, comrade, a did, and a held it there till where th' dog's fangs had
+been was burned as black as th' anvil. And then, when 'tis done, and th'
+babe again upon 's feet, and we two for praising and blessing o' her,
+down drops she all in a heap on th' floor atween us, like a hawk that
+hath been smitten in mid-heaven. Then 'twas, comrade, that th' babe was
+left to endure his pain as best he might; never thought more did 's
+father give him that day; but he runs and lifts th' lass in 's strong
+arms, and bears her out into th' fresh air, and he calls her his
+"dear," and his "own," and "his life," and his "Keren," till, had 't not
+been for my lass's coming back to life, I would 'a' struck him on th'
+mouth for a-speaking so unto her, and he th' husband o' another woman.
+
+But no sooner opes she her eyes than he hath both her hands hid in one
+o' his, and close against his breast, and she lying back in 's arms as
+though she were any chrisom child, and her big eyes wide on his, and he
+saith to her,
+
+"Lass! lass!" saith he, "I ha' come to marry thee, an thou wilt have
+me," quoth he. "I ha' come to marry thee; and may God bless thee for
+saving th' child!"
+
+Then did I understand; but she saith, with her great eyes not
+moving--saith she--only one word--"Ruth?" saith she, even so, once, low
+like that--"Ruth?"
+
+"Ay, lass, I know," he saith unto her. "I know," he saith. "But all's
+well with Ruth. Ruth is in heaven."
+
+Then saith she, while a light leaps out o' her tearful eyes, like as
+when the sun doth shine suddenly through April rain--saith she, as she
+were breathing her life into th' words,
+
+"Methinks I be there too."
+
+And also did I understand her, how that she meant that to be lying in
+th' arms o' him she loved, after all those weary years, was like being
+in heaven; but he questions her.
+
+"How, lass?" saith he. "Where dost thou think thou art? Thou art in thy
+true love's arms," saith he.
+
+"Ay, there is heaven," she saith.
+
+And I stole away to get th' babe some kickshaws i' th' village, that
+they twain might be alone together.
+
+Well, well, all that was two year ago, comrade--two year ago; and now
+that lass o' mine hath a babe o' her own, and as valiant a rogue as ever
+bellowed. Thou must come and sup with us to-night. Na, na, I'll take no
+refusal--dost hear? I will not. And a word o' persuasion i' thy ear,
+comrade: Mistress Lemon hath been dead this twelvemonth, comrade. Ah ha!
+Wilt a-come the now? That's well. And thou shalt hear that lass o' mine
+troll thee "Jog on, jog on," and "Mistress mine, where art thou
+roaming?" and "Listen, Robin, while I woo." Come, comrade, come. But
+stay; let's crack another drink together ere we go. Joel! What there!
+Joel, I say! Another quart o' sack for Master Turnip!
+
+
+
+
+NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY.
+
+        _Time._--A bitter January night in the year of
+          Grace 1669.
+
+        _Scene._--Sunderidge Castle--The great hall--A
+          monstrous fire burning in the big fireplace--Nurse
+          Crumpet discovered seated on a settle--At her
+          either knee lean the little Lady Dorothy and her
+          brother, the young Earl of Sunderidge, Lord
+          Humphrey Lennox.
+
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--Nay, now, Lady Dorothy, why wilt thou be at the pains
+o' such a clamoring? Sure thou hast heard that old tale o'er a hundred
+times; and thou too, my lord? Fie, then! Wouldst seek to flatter thy old
+nurse with this seeming eagerness? Go to! I say thou canst not in truth
+want to hear me drone o'er that ancient narrative. Well, then, an I
+must, I must. Soft! Hold my fan betwixt thy dainty cheeks and the
+blaze, sweetheart, lest the fire-fiend witch thy roses into very poppy
+flowers. And thou, my lord, come closer to my side, lest the draught
+from the bay-window smite thee that thou howlest o' th' morrow with a
+crick i' thy neck. Well, well, be patient. All in time, in time. Soft,
+now! Ye both mind that I was but a little lass when thy grandmother, the
+Lady Elizabeth Lennox, did take me to train as her maid-in-waiting. I
+was just turned sixteen that Martlemas, and not a fair-sized wench for
+my years either. Would ye believe? I could set my two thumbs together at
+my backbone in those days, and my ring-fingers would all but kiss too.
+
+_Lord Humphrey._--Ha! ha! Nurse, thy fingers would be but ill satisfied
+lovers under those conditions nowadays. Eh, Dolly?
+
+_Lady Dorothy._--Hold thy tongue for an unmannerly lad, Humphrey. Do not
+thou heed him, nurse, but go on with thy story.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--For all thy laughter, my lord, I'd a waist my garter
+would bind in those days, and was as light on my toes as those flames
+that dance i' th' chimney. Lord! Lord! how well I mind me o' th' first
+time that e'er I clapt eyes on Jock Crumpet! I was speeding home with a
+jug o' water from the spring, and what with his staring as he stood at
+the road-side to let me pass, and what with a root i' th' way, I all but
+lost my footing. Yet did I swing round alone, holding fast my jug, and
+ne'er one blessed drop o' water spilled I, for all my tripping. "By'r
+lay'kin!" quoth he, "thou'rt as light on thy feet as a May wind, and as
+I live I will dance the Barley Break with thee this harvesting or I will
+dance with none!" And i' faith a was as good as his word, for by hook or
+by crook, and much scheming and planning, and bringing o' gewgaws to my
+mother, and a present o' a fine yearling to my father, that harvesting
+did I dance the Barley Break with Jock Crumpet. And a was a feather-man
+in a round reel.
+
+Well, 'twas the year o' my meeting with Jock, thou mindst. (And a cold
+winter that was--Christ save us! There be ne'er such winters nowadays.
+This night is as a summer noon i' th' comparison.) 'Twas the year o' my
+first meeting with Jock, and my lady, your grandmother, sent for me to
+the castle, to be her waiting-maid. Lord! 'twas a troublous time! What
+with joy at my good fortune, and sorrow at quitting my mother, I was
+fain to smile with one corner o' my mouth and look grievously with the
+other, like a zany at a village fair. And Jock, he would not that I
+went, for that he could not see me, or consort wi' me so often: Jock was
+aye honey-combed wi' th' thing ye call "sentiment." A would grin on a
+flower I had wov'n in my locks by th' hour together. And 'tis my belief
+a could a spun him a warm doublet out o' the odds and ends o' ribbon and
+what not he had filched from me when my eyes were elsewhere. And
+Jock--but 'tis neither here nor there o' Jock. In those days thy
+grandmother had only one child, a little lass, the Lady Patience. And
+ne'er was man or maid worse named; for to call such a flibbertigibbet
+"Patience" were as though one should name a frisksome colt "Slumber," or
+christen a spring brook "Quiet." Patience, quotha! 'Twas patience in
+truth a body had need of, who was thrown at all with her little
+ladyship. But there was ne'er so beautiful a maiden born in all the
+broad land of England; nor will be again--not though London Tower be
+standing when the last trump sounds. Meseemed she was an elf-sprite, so
+tiny was she; and her face like a fair flower, so fresh and pure. Her
+hair was shed about her face like sunlight on thistle-down, and her eyes
+made a shining behind it, like the big blue gems in her mother's
+jewel-box. When she laughed, it was as water falling into water from a
+short height, with ripples, and little murmurs, and a clear tinkling
+sound. But she was ne'er more at rest than the leaves on an aspen-tree.
+Hither and thither would she flit, this way and that, up and down, round
+and round, backward and forward, about and about. I' faith, ofttimes
+would I be right dizzy come nightfall, with following of her; for ere I
+had been at the castle a day, she took so mighty a fancy to me, that
+naught would do but she must have me for her maid; and so my lady, who
+(God pardon my boldness!) did utterly spoil her in all things, gave me
+unto her as a nurse-maid.--But sure ye are a-weary o' this old tale!
+
+_Lady Dorothy and Lord Humphrey in a breath._--Nay, go on, go on.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--Well, well, o' all the story-loving bairns! But I must
+invent me a new history for the next time o' telling.
+
+_Lord Humphrey._--Nay, that thou shalt not. We will ne'er like any as
+well as we like this one. So despatch.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--But my lady had also an adopted daughter, a niece o'
+my lord's--one Mistress Marian Every--and she walked beside the little
+Lady Patience as night might walk beside day, for she was as brown o'
+skin as a mountain stream, and her hair like a cloud at even-tide, dark,
+but of no certain color, albeit as soft as ravelled silk, and marvellous
+hard to comb on account o' its fineness. Mistress Marian was full head
+and shoulders taller than her cousin, the Lady Patience, and she could
+lift her aloft in her arms, and swing her from side to side, as a supple
+bough swings a bird. And her eyes were dark, and cool to gaze into, like
+a pool o' clear water o'er autumn leaves, and sometimes there were
+glints o' light in them, like the spikes i' th' evening-star when thou
+dost gaze steadily upon it. Black and white were not more different than
+were they, and they resembled even less in mind than they did in body.
+When Lady Patience waxed wroth, her cheeks burned like two coals, and
+thou couldst hear her little teeth grinding together, like pebbles
+squeezed i' th' palm o' thy hand; but when Mistress Marian was
+an-angered, the blood rushed back to her heart, and she was whiter than
+a lamb at the shearing, and her lips like white threads. Then would the
+light shoot and spin in her eyes, and her nostrils suck in and out, like
+those of a fretful horse. And she was fierce after the manner of a man
+rather than of a maid. Moreo'er, she was full a year younger than the
+Lady Patience; but she looked it not; rather did her ladyship look full
+two years younger than Mistress Marian. And I loved them both, and tried
+as a Christian not to prefer one before the other; but what with my
+lady's stealings of her arms about my neck as I sat at my stitchery, and
+popping of comfits in my pocket when I would be otherwise engaged, and
+teasings, and ticklings, and sundry other pretty witcheries which I do
+not at this day recall, I was fairly cozened into loving her the best.
+(Honey, I charge thee hold my fan betwixt thee and the fire.) But to
+continue.--Mistress Marian was aye courteous and kindly to me as heart
+could wish, and every night did she thank me i' th' prettiest fashion,
+when I had combed and unpinned her for the night; but, Lord! I had much
+ado to get Lady Patience combed or unpinned at all! First would she jump
+with both knees upon mine, and hug my very breath away; then, when I had
+at last coaxed her to get down, first she would perch on one leg and
+then o' the other, and then be a-twisting her head now over this
+shoulder, now over that, to see how I came on with the unpinning, that
+it was with a prayer to God that I finally set her night-gown over her
+shoulders, and led her to bed. As for her prayers--Jesu aid me and
+pardon her!--'twas a matter of hours to get her to say "Our Father"
+straight through, what with her vowing that she wished not bread every
+day, and how that if his lordship her father forgave not trespassers
+(for I could ne'er draw the difference between trespass_es_ and
+trespass_ers_ into her pretty pate), neither would she; and how she did
+not believe God would lead her into temptation at any time, but that it
+was the Devil; and how it must anger God even to think of such doings on
+His part--what, I say, with all this, methought sometimes it would be
+cock-crow ere I got her safely to sleep. And all this time Mistress
+Marian would be lying as quiet as any mouse, with her big plait of hair
+between her fingers, for so she always slept, with her hair fast in her
+hands, as though she loved its beauty; and in truth it was the one great
+beauty she had, for my little lady put her out with her glitter as the
+sunlight doth extinguish a morning moon.
+
+Now I had been at the castle scarce two months when one day it chances
+that I hear my lady a-telling o' my lord how as her brother, Lord
+Charles Radnor, dying wifeless, had left his only son to her care until
+he should come of age. And on that Tuesday the little lord set foot in
+the castle; and my lady was down at the door-way to meet him, in a new
+velvet gown, with her wimple sewn in fine pearls, and my lord with her;
+but my two nurslings waxed shy at the last minute, and would not come
+down, but leaned and peered through the posts o' the stair-rail, and my
+little lady let fall one o' her shoes in her eagerness to glimpse at her
+new cousin. And straightway ran the lad and lifted the wee shoe, and
+looked upward, laughing, and my lord and lady having retired into the
+dining-hall, to see that some cold viands were in readiness (it being
+then near to nightfall, though not yet supper hour).--"Ho! thou little
+cinder witch," cried he; "I am the prince that has found thy shoe, and
+when I shall have found thee, if that thy temper be as small as thy
+shoe, fear not but that I will kiss thee too!" With that, he ran up the
+stair-way, two and three steps at a leap.
+
+And I followed, for I knew not what would happen an he claimed his kiss
+as he had threatened (knowing as did I, that in verity my lady's shoe
+would a been a tight fit for her temper).
+
+But when he was arrived at the top, lo! they had both fled, neither had
+they left so much as a ribbon behind them. Then the lad laughed again,
+as pleasant a laugh as e'er I heard in all my days, and quoth he, "I
+would be but a poor prince an I had not to search for my little
+princess." So off he starts, and I after him, up and down corridors, in
+at half-open doors, out upon balconies, hither and thither, after the
+manner o' my little lady on her most unquiet days, till at last, for the
+sake o' peace, I did slyly lead him in the direction o' the great
+nursery. There, catching sight o' a little red petticoat, he enters,
+where stand my truant elves confessed, Mistress Marian frowning and
+biting o' her dark hair, but my little lady like to stifle, with both
+hands over her mouth to hide her smiles, and her blue eyes dancing a
+very Barley Break o' mirth among the yellow sheaves o' her tresses.
+
+Then there was much parley o'er the fitting o' the shoe, as both damsels
+did straightway sit down upon their feet, neither for a long time would
+they move an eyelash, till his lordship, with a twink o' his eye at me,
+did suggest corns and bunions as a reason for their 'havior--and, Lord!
+then 'twas pretty to mark how like little chicks beneath their dam's
+feathers, first one little foot and then the other did steal out from
+the rich lace o' their petticoats. And ere one could cry "Oh!" for a
+pinch, he had slipt the shoe on my little lady's wee foot, and had
+kissed her right heartily. Moreo'er, what I did most marvel at, was that
+she neither cuffed nor sought to cuff him, but dropt down her head until
+her hair made a veil before her face, and moved that foot whereon he had
+set her shoe, gently back and forth as though the leather was stiff to
+her ankle, and I saw that she looked at it from under her heavy hair.
+But Mistress Marian still held aloof, and chewed upon her dark locks
+like a heifer on its cud. And her eyes were every whit as dark and
+solemn as a very cow's. Then the young lord laughed again, and cried
+out, "Ha! the ox-eyed June!" or some such apery, and went and kneeled
+before her in mock fashion, as before a queen, and quoth he, "Fair
+goddess" (for 'twas afterwards explained to me what manner of being was
+a goddess, namely, some kind of a foreign fairy)--"Fair goddess," quoth
+he, "show me how I may dispel thy wrath." And still she scowled on him,
+but spoke no word. And he continued, and said, "I prithee, fair lady,
+cast but one smile upon thy humble knight" (thou mind'st their pretty
+foolery has stuck i' my old pate unto this day).
+
+Then she answered and saith, "Thou silly lad, how can I be a goddess and
+a lady both in one? Thou hast not even enough wit to make a good fool.
+So!" (for Mistress Marian had a sharp tongue at times).
+
+But he was not so much as ruffled, and laughed even again, most
+heartily. And he said, "I do perceive that thou art not fashioned either
+as goddess or lady, therefore be my comrade, and we will fight together
+for the weal o' yon fairy princess." All at once she laughed too, and
+yielded him her hand, and said, "I like thee. What is thy name?"
+
+He said, "My name is Ernle; and I like thee too; therefore, I pray thee,
+tell me thine."
+
+So she told him, and my little lady sidling up, the three fell presently
+a-chattering like linnets at sunrise, and from that hour on I had no
+trouble with them.
+
+'Twas pretty to mark them at their fantasies. They were aye out-o'-door
+save when 'twas rainy weather, and then methought the castle had scarce
+room enough for them. In all their games Mistress Marian was the little
+lord's comrade, and wore a helmet o' silvered wood, and carried a wooden
+sword silvered to match her head-gear, and the little lord was likewise
+apparelled. And he called her ever "Comrade," and clapped her o' th'
+shoulder, as mankind will clap one the other when conversing.
+
+But my little lady, they both agreed, was a fairy princess; and, Lord,
+Lord! 'twould take me from now 'til Martlemas next to name the perilous
+'scapes that did befall her. They fished her out of moats, they bore her
+from blazing castles, they did drag her from the maws o' dragons and
+other wild beasts I know not how to name. Thrice was the little Lord of
+Radnor in dire straits at the claws o' goblin creatures. Three times
+did his comrade rescue him by thwacking upon the chair which did
+represent the dreadful beast, till I was in sore dread there would be no
+mending of it, and me, mayhap, dismissed from the castle for
+carelessness. And always when 'twas all o'er, and the little princess in
+safety, I was called upon to act parson and wed my little lady to the
+little lord, while Mistress Marian leaned on her sword to witness the
+doings.
+
+One day, in their rovings through the park, they came by chance upon a
+door in the hill-side, but so o'ergrown with creeping vines that, had
+not the little lord stumbled upon it, 'twas very like it had been there
+to this day without discovery. Well, no sooner do they see the door than
+they must needs open it, spite o' all my scolding, and peer within.
+'Twas but a darksome hole, after all--a kind o' cave i' th' hill-side,
+which they did afterwards find out from thy grandfather was used in days
+gone by for concealing treasures in time of war. And indeed it seemed a
+safe place, for there were two rusty bolts as big as my arm, one o' th'
+inside and one o' th' outside, and the creeping things hid all. As thou
+mightst think, it grew to be their favorite coigne for playing their
+dragon and princess trickeries. I would sit with my stitchery on a
+fallen log in the sunshine, while they ran in and out o' th' grewsome
+hole. But in all their frolicking my little lady could ne'er abide the
+sight o' their swords, and she pleaded ever for gentler games. One day
+(I shall ne'er forget, though I live to see doomsday) they did crown her
+a queen, and then my lord would have it that she dubbed him her knight.
+She pleaded that prettily against it methought the veriest boor in
+Christendom would a given in to her, but my little lord was stanch. So
+they made her a throne o' flowers, and when she was seated thereon,
+Mistress Marian handed her the great wooden sword, and my lord,
+kneeling, bade her strike him on the shoulder with the flat side o' th'
+sword, saying, "Rise, Sir Ernle, my knight for evermore!"
+
+She got out the words as he bade her, but when 't came to the stroke,
+what with her natural fright, and what with the sunlight on the silver,
+she brought down the heavy blade edgewise on the boy's pate, laying wide
+quite a gash above his left eyebrow, so that the blood trickled down his
+cheek. When she saw that, meseemed all the blood in her body went to
+keep his company, for she turned whiter than her smock, and ran and got
+her arm about him and saith, o'er and o'er again, "Ernle! Ernle! I have
+killed thee!"
+
+He laughed, to comfort her, and made light of it, and wetting his finger
+in the blood, drew a cross on his brow and said, "Nay, thou hast not
+killed me. And moreo'er, I am not only thy knight, but thy Red Cross
+Knight into the bargain, and thou my lady forever. See! I will seal thee
+with my very blood!" and ere she could draw back, he had set also a
+cross on her white brow. She shuddered and fell a-weeping, and drew her
+hand across her brow to wipe away the ugly stain; and when she saw that
+she had but smeared it on her hand, she trembled more than ever, and it
+was not for some days that I could quiet her.
+
+I do but relate this story, to show in what horror my little lady did
+ever hold swords and bloodshed.
+
+Well, to continue--
+
+This could not last for aye, and when two more years were sped, his
+uncle sent the little lord to a place o' learning; and afterwards to
+travel to and fro upon the earth, after the manner of Satan in the Book
+of Job (God forgive me! but 't has ever seemed like that to me). And we
+set not eyes on him for eight years. Now in that time, lo! I was
+married, and my little lady and Mistress Marian in long kirtles, and
+their hair looped up upon their heads. Mistress Marian was yet full
+head and shoulders above my little lady, and her skin as brown as ever.
+But my little lady was as bright and slender as a sun-ray.
+
+They would speak to me sometimes of Lord Radnor, and how that great
+folks were saying great things of him, and how he was become a soldier
+and a marvellous person altogether; but as the years went by they seemed
+not so ready to talk o' him, only sometimes my little lady would pull
+down my head as I smoothed the bedclothes over her at night, and quoth
+she, "Nurse, dost think he will be much changed? My hair hath not
+darkened much, hath it? Dost think his curls will be different from what
+they were when he was a lad?" And I would have to tell her "No" a dozen
+times ere she would let me go. But Mistress Marian said never a word.
+
+One day I learned of my lady how that Lord Radnor was to return the next
+week, and meseemed in truth the whole castle was waxed distraught.
+
+It is not in my power to tell o' th' doings, but suffice it to say, my
+lord did cozen them all, and come a full day ere he was expected.
+
+When he came, Mistress Marian was standing i' th' great door o' th'
+castle, in her hawking gown o' green velure cloth laced all with silver
+cord; her plumed hat was on her curls, and her hawk, Beryl, on her fist.
+And she turned and beheld him. Ne'er did I see verier light in earth or
+sky, than flashed into her face as their eyes met. And he doffed his
+hat, and came up beside her on the step, and saith, with the old laugh,
+but gentler, "Well met, comrade."
+
+Now when he called her "comrade," 'twas as when Jock did call me
+"sweetheart" in the days o' our wooing. She went red as the ribbon in
+his sleeves; and when the falcon fretted and shook its bells, he did put
+out his hand and stroke it, and, lo! it was still, and seemed to feel
+him as its master. And I wondered all this time where could be my little
+lady.
+
+To this day I have ne'er seen so handsome a man as the young lord. He
+was tall and straight as an oak, with curls the color of frost-touched
+oak-leaves i' th' sunlight, and eyes like the amber drink when men hold
+it aloft ere quaffing, and his whole countenance bright and eager, and
+narrow like that o' a fox, but without a fox's cunning. Then he seemed
+fashioned to run, and ride, and war, as doth become all men, whether of
+high or low estate.
+
+Then went I within to inquire after my little lady; and Jock, who was
+become a footman i' th' castle, did tell me of how he had seen her set
+forth to walk i' th' park an hour gone. So straightway I went in search
+of her.
+
+I had gone some six hundred paces when, at a sudden turning, I came upon
+her, where she held a little urchin a-straddle of her big deer-hound
+"Courage." The child gave chuckles o' delight as he slipped from side to
+side, and the sun through the beech-leaves made their heads as like as
+two crown pieces. Even as I was about to lift up my voice to halloo unto
+her, lo! my lord doth part the thick branches, and steps forth a little
+behind her, and stands watching her. And as he did stand there, behold,
+a look came o'er his face, that was stranger than any look I had e'er
+seen on th' face of man or of woman, and his eyes were no more bright
+and eager, but deep and soft. Then she turned and went direct towards
+him unknowing.
+
+When she was beside him, still laughing and half out o' breath with
+balancing o' th' heavy boy, he saith these two words, "My lady," and
+methought there was a whole year's love-making o' ordinary men crammed
+into them. Quoth I to myself: "Ah, my little lord, so thou hast that
+trick with thee! God keep my little ladies! for if the tongue be a
+fire, how must it burn when such a wit doth wag it!" And I determined in
+my heart that by some means I would warn my little lady of his sweet
+speecheries. Yet was I tender towards him for the sake o' by-gone days.
+Mayhap, moreover, his comely face had something to do with it, for, i'
+fecks, ne'er saw I a goodlier countenance on Roundhead or Cavalier.
+
+Now when my lady heard his voice at her ear, first gives she such a
+start as doth a mettlesome filly when a hare jumps out before it, then
+stock-still stands she, and her face whiter than a wind-flower, and her
+lips a-tremble as if to speak, but no word comes from them.
+
+He saith again, "My lady."
+
+I saw by the moving of her lips that she fashioned the words "My God!"
+but still she spoke not. And the child began to whimper and clutch at
+her kirtle, for she had loosened her hold of him, and he feared falling
+off of the big dog. So she put one arm about him to hold him, but her
+eyes were yet upon his lordship.
+
+Then he came and lifted her hand to his breast, and it lay upon his
+dark-green doublet, as a white flower-leaf doth upon grass, and he saith
+to her, "Sweetheart, dost thou not know me?"
+
+All at once, for what, God only knoweth, she fell a-weeping, and he had
+her in his arms. And being some two years a mother, my care was all for
+the poor little rogue on the deer-hound; 'twas as much as I could do to
+hold back from running and snatching him in my arms to soothe his
+terror.
+
+Howbeit, ere that I could commit this madness, the frighted babe set up
+such a howl as only a man-child can utter, and my lady turned to him in
+great haste, and my lord also did set about comforting him. Then they
+walked slowly on, and my lord held the little lad on one side, and my
+lady coaxed him o' th' other. Ever and anon my lord would look from the
+babe to my lady, and then from my lady to the babe. And a smile just
+lifted the corners o' his mouth, as sometimes a wind will just stir the
+leaves ere shaking them as with jollity. I followed cautiously at some
+distance, and by-and-by his lordship said, "How was it that thou didst
+not know me, coz? Faith thou art shot up like a lily i' th' sun, but
+lilies are aye lilies, and leaving thee a lily, I find thee a lily
+still, though blooming on a taller stem."
+
+And she answered him: "Yea, cousin, and oaks are aye oaks, though first
+they be saplings, then trees. And in truth I knew thee by thy voice ere
+I looked at thee; but 'twas all so sudden, that i' faith I was
+frightened at thee."
+
+And he said, "But thou art glad to see me?"
+
+And being busy with the child, she answered him without lifting her
+head, "Thou knowest that I am."
+
+Then did he laugh a little, and saith, "How should I know, coz? Proof,
+proof, I pray thee. Wilt thou not give me the kiss o' welcome after all
+these years?"
+
+Now he had not offered to kiss Mistress Marian. Therefore I waited right
+curiously to see what my little lady would say unto his offer, and Jock
+having dinned it into my ears ever since our wedding-day, that all women
+were by nature eavesdroppers, I was of a mind to prove his theory for
+him; so I not only listened with all my ears, but I looked with all my
+eyes.
+
+My lady waxed first ruddy, then like to milk, then ruddy again, and she
+reached out her hand to him across the hound. "In truth I will, cousin,"
+quoth she.
+
+He did take the little hand in his, putting down his other hand softly
+over it, as when one holds a frighted bird, and he looked at her as
+though he would pierce her lids with his gaze, for her eyes were down,
+and he saith, "Sweetheart, right gladly will I give this pretty hand
+the kiss o' an eternal welcome; but methinks thou hast begged the
+question. I pleaded to receive a kiss rather than to bestow one."
+
+And her face was like a bended rose. Then did he step round quickly
+beside her, and once more was the poor babe left in dire terror o' his
+life, and he made up a piteous face, but the dog standing still, he fell
+to rattling its collar, and soon waxed merry with the jingle o' th'
+silver. So I looked again at my lady and Lord Radnor.
+
+He had taken her about her waist with one arm, and with the other hand
+he lifted gently upward her fair face, as doth a gardener a rain-beaten
+flower, while his eyes looked down into hers. And slowly, slowly, almost
+as rose-leaves unfurl i' th' sun, her white lids curled upward, and her
+blue eyes peered softly from her yellow locks like corn-flowers through
+ripe corn, there being a tear in each, as when a rain-bead doth tremble
+i' th' real corn-flowers. And, to be the more like nature, there ran
+big waves throughout her loosened tresses, like as when the wind doth
+steal across a field o' grain on summer noons.
+
+Then he bended down his tall head, and their lips met. God alone knows
+what their first words would a been, for ere the kiss was well ended,
+down falls the poor little rogue off of the hound's back, and lifts up
+his voice loud enow to be heard across the sea by the red men i' the new
+continent. And my lady runs and lifts him in her arms. Lord! such an ado
+as they had a-comforting him! First my lady, then my lord, then my lady
+again--and at last my lord tosses him to his shoulder, and saith he,
+
+"Ho! thou little Jack Pudding! an thou art not still o' th' instant,
+I'll swear thou art a girl, an' thou shalt ne'er have a sword such as
+men have."
+
+And as I live, the child stinted, and waxed as solemn as an owl! Not
+another tear did he shed. My lord saith, "Now thou art a good lad,
+therefore thou shalt have my sword to play with." And he unbinds it from
+his side, scabbard and all, and holds it while the urchin gets astride
+o't and pretends to ride. When my lord is tired o' stooping, he lifts
+the child again to his shoulder, and so do they conduct him back to his
+mother, the gardener's wife. From thence they return to the castle, and
+are met by my lord and lady and all the servants, while I haste me in by
+a side door to get on my Sunday kirtle and appear with the rest.
+
+As time wore on, the three were as much together as when he was a little
+lad and they lassies, and sometimes from a window, and sometimes from a
+quiet coigne in the great hall (this very hall, ye mind, dears), I would
+sit with my stitchery and mark them at their bright chatter.
+
+But often Mistress Marian would come and sit against my knee, even as
+thou art sitting now, sweetheart, and ask me to stroke her hair, and
+when she would coax Lord Ernle's big blood-hound "Valor" to come and lie
+beside her, she would sit more quiet, almost as though she were asleep.
+And she would ask me ever and again, "Nurse, wherefore are women at any
+time born with dark hair, to mar ev'n such small comeliness as they
+might otherwise have?"
+
+And always I would answer, "Tut! thou knowest not of what thou speakest,
+my honey; in the sight o' some, dark hair is more comely than fair
+hair." And always she would shake her head, and smile i' th' fashion o'
+one who knows better than another. But she was a wondrous fair woman, in
+spite o' her own thinking, and shaped like the brown metal wench over
+yonder with the bow and arrows. Diana, say ye? Why, even so; so it was
+that his lordship called her when he did not call her "comrade."
+
+Now young Sir Rowland Nasmyth (him who was father to that Sir Rowland
+who wedded your sister the Lady Anne last Michaelmas, ye mind, dears),
+he would be often over for a day, or maybe several days, at the castle;
+and all four would ride a-hawking, or ramble together, two by two,
+through the park; or Lord Ernle and Sir Rowland would play at rackets,
+and i' fecks 'twas a sight to see 'em at it! One day my little lady and
+Sir Rowland (who was a fair stripling, with curls near the color o'
+Mistress Marian's, and eyes the tinting o' the far sea on a rainy day)
+did wander off together, and Mistress Marian and my lord were left
+alone, seated on a rude bench under one o' th' great beech-trees that
+flank the hall door. He leaned forward and rested an elbow on either
+knee, and did let his racket swing back and forth between them, and sat
+looking down on it. Mistress Marian's gaze was upon him, but her big hat
+made so deep a shadow o'er her eyes withal that I could not note them
+clearly. So stayed they for some moments.
+
+Then all in a breath did Lord Ernle start erect and push back his heavy
+locks and speak. "Comrade," saith he, "wilt thou call me an ass for my
+pains, I wonder, an I tell thee o' something that is troubling me
+sorely?"
+
+She, having in no wise moved from her first position, and her eyes still
+in shadow, saith, "I pray thee say on, Ernle, for such words as thou
+hast just spoken to me are idle."
+
+And he leaned forward and took one of her long brown hands in his, but
+'twas different from the way in which he had ta'en my little lady's hand
+at their first meeting, and he saith, "Comrade, for thou hast e'er been
+my true and loyal comrade, Marian--sweet comrade-cousin--this is the
+matter that doth eat my heart. Dost think there is aught between
+Patience and that young coxcomb?"
+
+There came a red mark all across her brow, as though he had smitten her,
+for with her sudden movement her hat had fallen upon the ground at her
+feet. And she put up her hand to her side as if in pain, but snatched it
+back quickly. And for one heart-beat she shut her eyes. My lord, who had
+stooped forward to lift her hat, saw none o' this, and when the hat was
+again upon her brow and its shadow over her face, she seemed the same as
+ever. But I knew the shaft was in her heart, and my heart seemed to feel
+it, for I loved her dearly. When he could wait no longer, he said,
+"Well, comrade?"
+
+And she spoke, for from the hair that crowned her to the feet that
+carried her she was as brave as any Cavalier that ever swung sword for
+the King, and she said, "Well indeed, cousin, for thee."
+
+He said, "How dost thou mean for me?"
+
+Then stooped she and gathered a handful of grass, and held it aloft and
+opened her hand, palm downward, that the falling blades were blown this
+way and that by the wind.
+
+"I mean," quoth she, "that Rowland Nasmyth is no more to Patience
+than--I am to thee." And she laughed a little.
+
+He came closer to her, and laid his arm about her shoulders, drawing her
+to him, and he said, "Nay, thou knowest how dear thou art to me,
+comrade; but thou meanest in different wise--is't so?"
+
+She said, "Yea; but call me Marian to-day. It is to my whim."
+
+He answered, "Dear Marian," and would have kissed her cheek, but she
+started up with a little cry, saying, "By'r lay'kin! there was a
+honey-bee tangled in my locks."
+
+And when he had sought for the bee to kill it with his hat, but could
+not find it, they did seat themselves again, he laughing and saying that
+"the bee was a bee o' much discretion and wondrous good taste."
+
+That night when I crept to my little ladies to see that all was quiet,
+I, pausing in the door-way, did note them as they lay--my little lady
+with her head on Mistress Marian's breast, and a smile on her lips, and
+Mistress Marian with her arms wrapped close about her, and her dark hair
+swept out over the pillow, and thence to the floor, like a stream o'
+water that reflects a black cloud, but her eyes wide open, looking
+straight forward, as though at a ghost. And I stole off and sobbed
+myself to sleep, but not before I had awakened Jock, who did grunt,
+after the uncourteous, pig-like manner of a suddenly wakened man,
+be-thump his pillow as though 't had been an anvil, and in turning over,
+twist the bedclothes half off of me, so that what with the cold (it
+being then the fall o' th' year), and what with my distress, I slept but
+uneasily.
+
+And the next thing I knew o' th' matter, there was a wedding, and my
+little lady wedded to Lord Ernle, and Mistress Marian her bridemaid.
+Surely if the good God e'er sent happiness on earth, He did send it to
+my little lady and to his lordship. 'Twas at this time that Sir Rowland
+asked Mistress Marian to be his spouse. And 'twas even i' th' same spot
+where Lord Ernle had discovered his love for my little lady, that he
+asked her.
+
+Again it was as though some one had smitten her--her face deadly white
+and the red line across her brow. She put out one hand to keep him from
+her, and let it rest on his shoulder, and she said, "Rowland, I love
+thee well, but no man will ever call me wife."
+
+He said, "Is this the end?"
+
+She said, "Though we should both live to see the last day, it is the
+end."
+
+Then he went, with his head bowed down. And when he was gone, for the
+first time in all her life she wept aloud.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some time passed, and matters waxed ever hotter and hotter 'twixt
+Cavaliers and Roundheads, till one night there rode up a man to the
+castle gate with papers for Lord Ernle, and the long and the short o't
+was this: His lordship was ordered to ride forth to war, and my little
+lady only three months his wife. Now when this blow fell upon them they
+were all at meat in this very hall, for ofttimes in cold weather they
+dined here, even as thy father and mother do now, on account o' th'
+greater warmth.
+
+And when my lord had glimpsed at the papers he did start to his feet,
+saying, "Where is the man who brought these papers?"
+
+Jock answered him, "He is gone, my lord."
+
+Then snatching up a flagon of wine that was near at hand, he drank more
+than half that was in it. And again he turned over the papers in his
+hand. But all they, my little lady, and Mistress Marian, and your
+grandfather and grandmother, seemed turned to stone. All at once my
+little lady started up as from a spell, and went and got her arms about
+him, as in years gone by when she had hurt him with his own mock sword,
+and she cried out, "What is it? what is it?" Anon came Mistress Marian
+to his other side, and looked over his shoulder, while he stood between
+them like one bewitched, and whiter than a man just dead. When Mistress
+Marian noted the contents o' th' papers, up went her hand to her heart
+as on that day under the beech-tree, and she caught at his arm to stay
+herself.
+
+He turned from his wife to her as though for help, saying, "Tell her,
+tell her, comrade." And he sank into a chair near by, and dropped down
+his head into his hand.
+
+Lord! Lord! that was a fearful night! When they made my little lady to
+understand, she set up one cry after another, each loud enough to pierce
+the very floor of heaven. Ne'er since have I heard a woman utter such
+cries as those. And no one but Mistress Marian could in any wise
+appease her, for she would not have my lord come unto her, but drove him
+away with waving of her hands, saying, "Thou dost not love _me_, but the
+King! thou dost not love _me_, but the King!"
+
+And when Mistress Marian sought to reason with her, 'twas even the same.
+Naught could she do but sit and hold her, and comfort her with soft
+words and noises such as mothers make o'er their young babes. By-and-by
+she was calmer, and asked to see her lord. So Mistress Marian went out,
+but I remained on a low stool at the bed's foot. Lord Ernle entered, and
+she crept into his arms like a fawn into the hollow of a rock when the
+hail is falling. And they clung to each other in silence. Presently he
+saith, "Darling, darling, that I should have brought thee to grief!"
+
+She answered, "Nay, not thou, but God. O love, dost truly think that God
+is aye a good God?"
+
+And he hushed and soothed her even more tenderly than did Mistress
+Marian.
+
+Afterwhile she saith, almost in a whisper, "But thou needst not go?"
+
+He said, "Darling, how dost thou mean?"
+
+And she whispered more low and said, "I will go with thee to the new
+continent to-morrow, and there we can live the rest o' our days in peace
+and love." And she broke out all at once wilder than ever: "Ernle!
+Ernle! take me! I will go with thee! I will leave father, and mother,
+and home, and country, and friends, and King for thee! Only go not to
+war! go not to war!"
+
+He said but two words back of his teeth, "I must!" and then again, "_I
+must!_"
+
+But when he looked at her for answer, lo! she had swooned away.
+
+He was to set forth in two days after the morrow; and on the morning of
+that day, behold! we could not believe our own eyes for astonishment
+when we saw the Lady Patience step quietly forth, composed and gentle,
+though very pale. She saith good-morrow to every one, and after a while
+she doth slip her arm through her husband's arm, and saith she, "Come
+for a walk, Ernle; I have much to say to thee." So they started forth
+together. Now I, fearful of many things, did follow at a little
+distance. As they walked she besought him again that he would take her
+and set sail for the new continent. And when again he told her how that
+it could not be, she fell down upon her knees before him, and clasped
+him with her arms, and she said, "If thou dost not love me, let me be
+the first to die by thy sword. Slay me, as I kneel, for the love I bear
+thee."
+
+He said, "Patience, Patience, thou wilt break mine heart."
+
+And she, still kneeling, did cry out with a wild voice, "They lied who
+named me, for in an ill hour was I born, and I have not patience to
+support it! I thought that thou didst love me, and lo! thou lovest the
+husband of another woman more than thou lovest me!"
+
+He bent to lift her up, groaning, but she would not; whereat he trembled
+from head to foot, and she shook with his trembling as the leaves of a
+tree when the shaft is smitten by lightning. And she cried out again,
+and said, "As there is a God in heaven, thou dost not love me, an thou
+canst go to war and leave me to die o' grief." Then, as though 'twas
+torn from him, he burst forth, "Now as there is a God, thou dost not
+love _me_, to torture me thus!"
+
+And all at once she was quiet. So he stooped and lifted her, and called
+her his "bride," and his "wife," and his "darling," and his "heart's
+blood," and more wild, fond, foolish names than at this day I can
+remember. 'Twas near sundown, and that night he was to ride. Over
+against the dark jags o' th' hills there ran a narrow streak of light,
+like a golden ribbon. And the brown clouds above and below it were like
+locks o' hair made wanton by the wind, which it as a fillet did seek to
+bind. But they twain walked ever on, till by-and-by they neared that
+cave o' which I did tell ye. As they came in front o't my lady turned,
+and smiling piteously, "Ernle," saith she, "wilt thou go with me into
+the cave and kiss me there, that when thou art gone I may come hither
+and think o' thee?"
+
+And he said, "Oh, my heart! what would I not for thee?" And he kissed
+her again and again.
+
+Presently she said, "Do not think me foolish, but wilt thou enter
+first?--it is so dark." And she stood in the door-way, with her hand on
+the door, while he entered.
+
+He said, "There is nothing here, sweetheart, but a monstrous damp odor."
+
+And she answered, "Nay, but go to the very end; there may be toads; and
+when thou art there, halloo to me." So she waited with her hand on the
+door.
+
+He called to her, "There is nothing, love. Wait until I return to thee."
+But, ere he had ceased speaking, she clapped to the door with all her
+might, and did push forward the great iron bolt, so that he was a
+prisoner in the cave; I being rooted to the ground with astonishment, as
+fast as was ever the oak-tree under which I stood. At first he thought
+'twas but one o' her pretty trickeries, and I heard his gay laugh as he
+came to the shut door, and he called out, and said, "So, sweetheart, I
+am in truth a prisoner o' war; but art thou not an unmerciful general to
+confine the captured in so rheumatic a cavern?"
+
+She sat down and leaned her head against the door, but said not a word.
+
+And he spoke again, saying, "Darling, I pray thee waste not what little
+time doth yet remain to us."
+
+Still she answered not; and again he spake, and his voice began to be
+sorrowful.
+
+"Oh, my wife," he said, "canst thou jest at such a time?"
+
+At last she answered him, saying, "I jest not."
+
+His voice changed somewhat, and he said, "What dost thou, then?"
+
+She answered, "I keep what is mine. Where my forefathers did hide their
+treasure, there hide I mine."
+
+He said, in a loud voice, "God will not suffer it."
+
+Then fell a silence between them. But by-and-by he spoke again.
+"Darling," he saith, "surely thou dost not mean to do this thing?"
+
+And she saith, like a child when 'tis naughty, and knoweth well that it
+is, but likes not to say so, "What thing?"
+
+He answered, "Thou canst not truly mean to shut me here to bring
+dishonor upon me, who have loved thee better than man ever loved woman"
+(for so do all men say, and truly think).
+
+She said, "Thy life is more to me than thy honor."
+
+And he groaned aloud, crying, "Oh God! that I have lived to hear thee
+say it!" and again there fell a silence, save for the whispering of the
+night in the trees above us and the creeping of small creatures through
+the dry grass. 'Twas almost curfew-time, and there was one star in the
+black front o' th' night, like the star on the forehead of a black
+stallion.
+
+When he spake again his voice was very fierce, and he saith, "Patience,
+I do command thee to release me."
+
+But she spake never a word.
+
+And again he said, "Better let me out to love thee, than keep me here
+until I hate thee."
+
+She shivered, leaning against the door, until the big bolt rattled in
+its braces.
+
+And he said yet again, "By the Lord God, an thou dost keep me here to
+sully my good name, and that of thy father and mother, who have been to
+me even as my own flesh and blood, I will never live with thee again as
+man with wife, but will go forth into the New World to live and to die
+with thy handmaid dishonor!"
+
+And she was silent.
+
+Again he spoke, and lifted up his voice in a cry exceeding sorrowful and
+bitter, so that my heart froze to hear it.
+
+"Woman! woman! was it for this I gave thee my fair fame to cherish? Or
+was it for this that I put my name into thy keeping? Oh, child, listen
+while there is yet time! Wilt thou with thy own hands take his manhood
+from thy husband to drag it through the mire? Patience, as I have shared
+thy childhood, as I have loved and cherished thy girlhood, as I have
+held thee in my arms as bride and wife, give me back my honor while
+there is yet time. Oh, my wife! my darling!" And I heard him sobbing
+like a little lad.
+
+At that sound she put both hands over her ears, and started to her
+feet, looking from right to left like a hunted thing, and I could bear
+it no longer, but leaped forward and fell on my knees before her, and
+grasped her kirtle with both hands. I could scarce speak for tears, but
+with all the strength that was in me did I plead with her to draw back
+the bolt, but she would not. Now to this day when I do think of the fool
+that I was, not to run without her knowledge and bring the old lord, thy
+grandfather, or bide my time and unbar the door when she had gone, it
+seems as though I must hate myself for evermore. But as I pleaded with
+her, all at once there was something cold against my throat, and I
+seemed to know that 'twas a dagger, and the steel cowed me, as it doth
+sometimes cow strong men, and I stirred not, neither spoke I a word
+more. Her face was over me, like a white flower in the purple dusk, but
+her eyes bright and terrible. And when she spoke, 'twas not my little
+lady's voice, but rather the voice o' a fiend. And she said,
+
+"Swear that thou sayest nothing of all this to man, or to woman, or to
+child, else will I kill thee as thou kneelest."
+
+And I knew that for the time she was mad, and would kill me even as she
+had said, did I not swear. So I did take that fearful oath, coward as I
+was, and to this day am I a craven when I think on 't. When I had sworn,
+she turned from me as though there were no such woman in all the earth,
+and went once more to the door o' th' cave, and called his
+name--"Ernle!"
+
+He answered straightway, and said, "This once will I speak to thee, but
+if thou dost not unbar the door o' th' instant, I will never hold speech
+with thee again, nor touch so much as the hem of thy garments, by the
+living God!"
+
+She said, "I cannot! I cannot! But oh! say not such dreadful words. We
+will be happy. 'Tis for that I keep thee here. Speak to me! Ernle!
+Ernle! Ernle! Call me thy love once more! Just once! just once!"
+
+But she might as well have plead at the door o' a tomb for all the
+answer she got. Again and again she called him, but a dead man speaks no
+more than spoke her lord. And at last she sprang to her feet, and rushed
+away into the darkness towards the castle, and I after her.
+
+And when I was entered in by a side door, and had changed my apparel and
+gone forth to inquire after her, lo! she was raving as with fever, and
+all they, her father, and mother, and Mistress Marian, thought that he
+had ridden away and left her i' th' park, having said farewell to them
+ere he and my lady did set forth to walk. And they strove to comfort
+her.
+
+The morrow was scarce dawned when she was up and dressed, and stealing
+through the covert to the door o' th' cave. I followed her, for she
+heeded me no more, now that I had taken the oath, knowing that I would
+be torn in pieces ere I would betray my trust. When she was come to the
+door, she kneeled down and leaned her head against it, and called to
+him, with a voice so exquisite low, 'twas almost as though one should
+hear the spirit when it speaks within, and she saith, "Ernle--my
+love--my love."
+
+And all was still as death. And she said, "Darling, feel with thy hands
+for the bread and wine. It is near thee on the right o' th' door as thou
+enterest in. Two bottles o' wine and some loaves o' bread."
+
+But he answered her neither by word or sighing. And she said, "Wouldst
+thou break my heart?" Then, when she saw that he would not answer her,
+she cast herself face down along the ground, and tore up the grass with
+her hands, and pressed down her face into the damp earth. And after a
+while (for th' looks o't) she rose and went back to the castle.
+
+At nightfall there rode a man to the castle gate with papers, wherein
+my Lord Falkland did question wherefore Lord Radnor had not answered the
+summons. And all they were amazed and looked at one another. The
+messenger said, moreover, "If that it cannot be proven ere to-morrow
+night that the Lord Radnor hath been the victim o' foul play, he will be
+branded as a deserter throughout the land."
+
+Thy grandfather gave one cry, "Murdered!" and the sound of it stilled
+the life in me that I fell down as one dead. And when I had once more
+come to the possession o' my wits, Jock did tell me as how 'twas already
+whispered in the village that the young lord had deserted the cause, and
+had set sail in secret for the New World. Upon this, I straightway
+swooned again. And when I was recovered enough to stand upon my feet and
+go forth from my chamber, behold! there was a silence over all the
+house, as in a house where the best beloved has died in the night.
+
+Men scoured the country far and near, in search o' th' murdered body o'
+th' young lord. And 'twas now the evening o' th' third day. But my lady
+meant not to open the door until the morrow, for if she opened it ere
+then, she knew not but what matters might be righted, and her lord ride
+to the wars in spite o' all. When it was nigh to sunset she did creep
+forth and kneel at the door o' th' cave, and call to him in that
+beautiful, gentle voice, "Ernle! Ernle! my love! my darling!"
+
+And when he did not answer her, she ceased not, as on the day before,
+but went on: "To-morrow I will set thee free. As I live, thou shall be
+free to-morrow. An thou wilt but let me be near thee like thy dog, I
+will ask no more. Neither will I fret thee with my sorrow. Oh, love, I
+do beseech thee speak to me, whose only sin was in loving thee too
+dearly. Let the kisses that as a bride I have set upon thy lips plead
+with them that they speak to me. Oh, my heart! oh, my husband, have
+pity! If thou wilt never speak to me again, speak to me now. Say but my
+name, my silly, ill-bestowed name, 'Patience.' Nay, curse me, so I but
+hear thy voice. Call me what names thou wilt. In God's name, Ernle! In
+the name o' her who was once thy wife!" And as she knelt and pleaded as
+a woman with her God, behold! there stepped forth from the coppice
+Mistress Marian. She stood there like a figure cut in snow, for her
+kirtle was all of white sémé, and her hair was as a cloud fallen round
+about her. When she saw my lady she drew in her breath with a sharp
+sound, and set both hands against her bosom. And she bended forward from
+her loins and listened, but in none otherwise moved she. And my lady
+went on, "To-morrow I will set thee free--I do swear it. With the rising
+o' th' morrow's sun thou shalt be free as air. Only speak to me now.
+Only speak to me now. Just once, Ernle--just once."
+
+With one spring Mistress Marian was upon her, and had pinned her arms to
+her sides. And the two women stood and gazed into each other's faces,
+with their throats stretched forward, as serpents stretch their throats
+ere springing upon each other.
+
+Mistress Marian spake first, and her voice was as a voice that I had
+never heard, and she said, "So _this_ is the truth, then?"
+
+My lady said no word, but her eyes were aflame.
+
+And Mistress Marian gazed on her for an instant more, then dashed her
+aside, and turned towards the cave.
+
+"Ernle," she said, "take heart. I will set thee free--I, Marian!" But
+ere her hand did touch the bolt, my lady was upon her like a little
+tiger, and she wound her hands in Mistress Marian's thick tresses, and
+dragged her backward.
+
+And they rolled over and over on the ground, even as do men when they
+fight, saying no word from first to last. The horror of it smote me
+that I fell down upon my knees and was dumb. Now my little lady was
+uppermost, now Mistress Marian. And had not my lady been strong with
+despair, Mistress Marian could 'a' mastered her o' th' instant. But she
+fought like a she-wolf brought to bay, with teeth and talons too, and
+'twas almost as though two of a size had fought there. Howbeit, with a
+sudden move, Mistress Marian flung my lady down, and set her knee upon
+her, and held her, and looked from side to side, as though at a loss,
+and my lady's strength was fast failing.
+
+When I saw that, I could bide still no longer, but ran forward, crying
+to Mistress Marian to be gentle with her.
+
+She answered but these words, "Nurse, take off my girdle and bind thy
+lady's hands with it." And there was that in her voice I dared not
+disobey. So I bound my lady's hands, she saying never a word, and when
+the girdle was fast knotted, Mistress Marian helped her gently enough to
+rise, and bidding me have a care o' her, turned and drew back the bolt
+from the door o' the cave.
+
+The last light o' the sun fell like a golden lance across the threshold,
+and across my lord as he lay there, face down, with his hands against
+the sill o' th' door.
+
+And she stooped down over him, saying, "He hath fainted for lack o'
+food," but I knew that there was both wine and bread i' th' cave. And
+she called his name, but he was silent. And she called him again and
+again. And at last she bade me come to her side, and when we had turned
+him upon his side so that his face was towards us, behold, he was dead.
+But Mistress Marian saith again, "He hath swooned away." And she put her
+hand upon his brow, but no sooner did she touch it than she cried out at
+its coldness, and shook the dead man in her frenzy, crying,
+
+"Ernle! Ernle! thou art free! Wake, man! thou art free!"
+
+I said, "Mistress, mistress, for love of God! Dost thou not see that
+neither thou nor any other can wake him more?"
+
+Thereat she fell back upon her knees, leaning upon one arm. And she
+said, "Dost thou mean--"
+
+I bowed down mine head, for I could not meet her eyes. And she fell upon
+his body, and stirred no more, so that when they came to bear the poor
+young lord to the castle, they did bear her also. And for some hours we
+thought her dead.
+
+Now when my lady saw them how they lay there, and the sunlight red upon
+them like to blood, she came and kneeled down in front o' me, and lifted
+up her poor fettered hands meekly, like a little child. And she said,
+"Nurse, I pray you tell me what it doth mean, for methinks I am waxing
+foolish, like poor Marjory i' th' village whose man fell from the
+cliff."
+
+I could not answer her for sobbing.
+
+And she said, "Do they sleep?"
+
+And I nodded my head, for I could say no word.
+
+She said, "Pray you, do not wake them. An they sleep till the morrow,
+all will be well." Suddenly her wits came back upon her with a rush, as
+doth a wind that hath seemed to be gone for aye. And she snapt the
+girdle on her wrists like as it had been a thread o' silk, and ran and
+laid hold on him with her hands, and dragged him forth upon the grass.
+And she saith,
+
+"Ernle! Ernle! Ernle! What! wilt thou not answer me, now that thou art
+free? See! thou mayest ride to war. It is not yet too late. What there,
+nurse! My lord's charger! Run! run!" Then leaped she to her feet with
+one cry that methought would 'a' cracked the welkin in twain above our
+heads.
+
+"Dead! Oh God in heaven!"
+
+So for an instant she stood, with her arms reached high above her head,
+and her eyes upon him as he lay at her feet, even as a flame doth poise
+for a breath ere sinking again upon the coals. But anon she dropped down
+beside him, and beat her forehead with the lower palms o' her hands, and
+she saith, "Well didst thou sign me with thy blood! well didst thou sign
+me with thy blood!" Then all at once did she peep up at me over her
+shoulder with one o' her winsome ways, and fell a-laughing softly.
+
+"Nurse," saith she, "hath he not found a pretty way to punish me? He
+feigns it well--by'r lay'kin--doth he not, nurse?"
+
+And she rocked to and fro, as she knelt beside him, laughing softly to
+herself, and ever and again she would reach forth one little hand, all
+scarred in her struggle with Mistress Marian, and would touch a stray
+lock into place, and once she bent over and kissed him, laughing softly,
+and nodding to herself very wisely. And she would sit that way, and rock
+herself to and fro, and smile upon the ground, and laugh softly, until
+the very day that she did die. And the last words that she did ever say
+were, "Just once, Ernle--just once."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+(Nurse Crumpet rises and stirs the fire, amid a heavy silence, broken
+only by the little Lady Dorothy's sobs and the rushing of the wind
+outside the great hall.)
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TONY, THE MAID.
+
+A Novelette. BY BLANCHE WILLIS HOWARD. Illustrated by CHARLES S.
+REINHART. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.
+
+
+          "'Tony, the Maid,' is not only one of the best
+          pieces of work Miss Howard has yet done, but it is
+          one of the very best short stories of the year.
+          Tony herself is an original creation. There is no
+          maid like Tony in all fiction; and she is,
+          moreover, the only good thing, which is neither
+          superlatively beautiful nor emphatically a bore,
+          or both, that has come out of the Canton of
+          Lucerne since the days of William Tell. Even the
+          insatiate archer, when he is not mythical, is a
+          trifle wearing to the average mind, but Tony is
+          never tiresome and always grand.
+
+          "As a short story Miss Howard's 'Tony, the Maid'
+          has but one fault. It is too short. There is not
+          enough of Tony. She makes her exit too suddenly
+          and too completely. It is consoling to know,
+          however, that Miss Zschorcher is some day coming
+          to America as Mrs. Eduard Maler. Perhaps Tony the
+          Maid may figure as Tony the Matron and Tony the
+          Mother. Knowing her duty to her gracious Fräulein,
+          no doubt she will."
+
+          A bright and lively sketch of an American woman
+          abroad, and characterized throughout by keen and
+          forcible phraseology and a very symmetrical
+          construction.--_N. Y. Commercial Advertiser._
+
+          This is a very clever satire on one of the phases
+          of modern society, and the tale is told in a most
+          charming manner.--_Albany Press._
+
+          It is a long time since we have met with anything
+          so charming, so refreshing, so droll. . . . Read
+          this book once, and one wants to turn back and read
+          it again.--_N. Y. Star._
+
+          Mr. Reinhart's illustrations greatly enhance the
+          interest of the novelette.--_Buffalo Commercial
+          Advertiser._
+
+          A story written in a style as simple as that which
+          Miss Howard has adopted in this novelette is sure
+          to find many readers. The story is well told and
+          attractive.--_Troy Press._
+
+          "Tony, the Maid," is safe for a great success with
+          the lovers of the bright and dainty in literature.
+          It is prettily bound, and uncommonly cleverly
+          illustrated.--_N. Y. Graphic._
+
+          The story is told with infinite humor and with not
+          a little pathos, and it will well repay
+          perusal.--_Philadelphia Telegraph._
+
+          The plot is new, the characters are fresh, and the
+          handling is spirited and brisk. No one who
+          commences this little book will stop reading until
+          the end is reached.--_Chicago Journal._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
+
+  [Illustration: Hand pointing] _The above work sent by mail, postage
+       prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on
+                 receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+BY CONSTANCE F. WOOLSON.
+
+EAST ANGELS. pp. 592. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.
+
+ANNE. Illustrated. pp. 540. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.
+
+FOR THE MAJOR. pp. 208. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.
+
+CASTLE NOWHERE. pp. 386. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (_A New Edition._)
+
+RODMAN THE KEEPER. Southern Sketches. pp. 340. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (_A
+New Edition._)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          There is a certain bright cheerfulness in Miss
+          Woolson's writing which invests all her characters
+          with lovable qualities.--_Jewish Advocate, N. Y._
+
+          Miss Woolson is among our few successful writers
+          of interesting magazine stories, and her skill and
+          power are perceptible in the delineation of her
+          heroines no less than in the suggestive pictures
+          of local life.--_Jewish Messenger, N. Y._
+
+          Constance Fenimore Woolson may easily become the
+          novelist laureate.--_Boston Globe._
+
+          Miss Woolson has a graceful fancy, a ready wit, a
+          polished style, and conspicuous dramatic power;
+          while her skill in the development of a story is
+          very remarkable.--_London Life._
+
+          Miss Woolson never once follows the beaten track
+          of the orthodox novelist, but strikes a new and
+          richly loaded vein, which so far is all her own;
+          and thus we feel, on reading one of her works, a
+          fresh sensation, and we put down the book with a
+          sigh to think our pleasant task of reading it is
+          finished. The author's lines must have fallen to
+          her in very pleasant places; or she has, perhaps,
+          within herself the wealth of womanly love and
+          tenderness she pours so freely into all she
+          writes. Such books as hers do much to elevate the
+          moral tone of the day--a quality sadly wanting in
+          novels of the time.--_Whitehall Review, London._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
+
+  [Illustration: Hand pointing] _The above works sent by mail, postage
+      prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt
+                          of the price._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page 112, "desert" changed to "dessert" (dessert, I'll warrant)
+
+Page 187, "Mistres" changed to "Mistress" (Mistress Marion in long)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other
+Old-time Tales, by Amelie Rives
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BROTHER TO DRAGONS ***
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time
+Tales, by Amelie Rives
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time Tales
+
+Author: Amelie Rives
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2008 [EBook #26356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BROTHER TO DRAGONS ***
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+
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+Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
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+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 388px;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="388" height="600" alt="Cover: A Brother to Dragons" title="Cover: A Brother to Dragons" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>A BROTHER TO DRAGONS</h1>
+
+<h3>AND</h3>
+
+<h2><i>OTHER OLD-TIME TALES</i></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">By</span> AM&Eacute;LIE RIVES</h2>
+
+<div class='center'><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+NEW YORK<br />
+<small>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE</small><br />
+1888<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='copyright'>
+Copyright, 1888, by <span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span>.<br />
+<br />
+<i>All rights reserved.</i><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class='center'>
+<b>Dedicated</b><br />
+<br />
+<small>WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE</small><br />
+<br />
+<small>TO</small><br />
+<br />
+THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH<br />
+<br />
+<small>MY FIRST EDITOR</small><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class='blockquot'><p><span class="smcap">Of</span> the tales published in this volume,
+"A Brother to Dragons" appeared in the
+<i>Atlantic Monthly</i> for March, 1886; "The
+Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth" in <i>Lippincott's
+Magazine</i> for July, 1887; and "Nurse
+Crumpet tells the Story" in <i>Harper's Magazine</i>
+for September, 1887.</p></div>
+
+<div class='sig'>
+<span class="smcap">Am&eacute;lie Rives.</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A BROTHER TO DRAGONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING PEBWORTH&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_81"><ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '82'">81</ins></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>A BROTHER TO DRAGONS.</h2>
+
+
+<h3><br />I.</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year of grace, 1586, on the last
+day of the month of May, to all who may
+chance to read this narrative, these:</p>
+
+<p>I will first be at the pains of stating
+that had it not been for Marian I had
+never indited these or any other papers,
+true or false. Secondly, that the facts herein
+set down be true facts; none the less
+true that they are strange. I will furthermore
+explain that Marian is the Christian
+name of my lawful wife, and that our surname
+is Butter.</p>
+
+<p>My wife had nursed the Lady Margaret
+from the moment of her birth; and here I
+must make another digression. The Lady<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+Margaret was the twin sister of the then
+Lord of Amhurste, Lord Robert, and my
+lady and his lordship had quarrelled&mdash;Marian
+saith, with a great cause, but I cannot
+herein forbear also expressing my opinion,
+which is to the effect that for that quarrel
+there was neither cause, justice, nor reason.
+Therefore, before those who may
+chance to read these words, I will lay bare
+the facts pertaining to the said quarrel.</p>
+
+<p>It concerned the family ghost, which
+ghost was said to haunt a certain blue
+chamber in the east wing of the castle.
+Now I myself had never gainsaid these
+reports; for although I do not believe in
+ghosts, I have a certain respect for them, as
+they have never offered me any affront, either
+by appearing to me or otherwise maltreating
+me. But Marian, who like many
+of her sex seemed to consort naturally with
+banshees, bogies, apparitions, and the like,
+declared to me that at several different and
+equally inconvenient times this ghost had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+presented itself to her, startling her on two
+occasions to such an extent that she once
+let fall the contents of the broth-bowl on
+Herne the blood-hound, thereby causing that
+beast to maliciously devour two breadths of
+her new black taffeta Sunday gown; again,
+a hot iron wherewith she was pressing out
+the seams of Lady Margaret's night-gown.
+On the second occasion, she fled along the
+kitchen hall, shrieking piteously, and preceded
+by Doll, the kitchen wench, the latter
+having in her seeming a certain ghostly appearance,
+as she was clad only in her shift,
+which the draughts in the hall inflated to a
+great size. The poor maid fled affrighted
+into her room and locked the door behind
+her; yet when I did essay to assuage the
+terror of Mistress Butter, identifying Doll
+and the blue-room ghost as one and the
+same, she thanked me not, but belabored
+me in her frenzy with the yet warm iron,
+which she had instinctively snatched up in
+her flight; demanding of me at the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+time if I had ever seen Doll's nose spout
+fire, and her eyes spit in her head like hot
+coals. I being of a necessity compelled to
+reply "No," Marian further told me that it
+was thus that the ghost had comported itself;
+that, moreover, it was clad all in a livid
+blue flame from top to toe, and that it had
+a banner o' red sarcenet that streamed out
+behind like forked lightning. She then
+said that this malevolent spirit had struck
+her with its blazing hand, and that, did I
+not believe her, I could see the burn on
+her wrist. Upon my suggesting that this
+wound might have been inflicted by the
+iron in its fall, she did use me in so unwifely
+a manner that I sought my bed in
+much wrath and vexation of spirit. Nay,
+I do fear me that I cursed the day I was
+wed, the day on which my wife was born,
+wishing all women to the d&mdash;l; and that,
+moreover, out loud, which put me to much
+shame afterwards for some days; although,
+be it said to my still greater shame, it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+full a fortnight e'er I confessed my repentance
+unto the wife whom I had so
+abused.</p>
+
+<p>But meseems I have in this digression
+transgressed in the matter o' length; therefore,
+to return to the bare facts.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the subject of this ghost that
+my lord and the Lady Margaret had disagreed.
+My lord, being a flighty lad, although
+a marvellous fine scholar and well-disposed,
+did agree with my wife in the
+matter of the ghost; while my lady was of
+a like mind with myself.</p>
+
+<p>It doth seem but yesterday that she came
+to me as I was training the woodbine o'er
+the arbor that led to her little garden, and
+put her white hand on my shoulder. (My
+lady was never one for wearing gloves, yet
+the sun seemed no more to think o' scorching
+her fair hands than the leaves of a day-lily.)
+She comes to me and lays her hand
+on my shoulder, and her long eyes they
+laugh at me out of the shadow of her hat;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+but her mouth is grave as though I were a
+corse.</p>
+
+<p>Quoth she:</p>
+
+<p>"Butter, dost thou believe in this ghost?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, my lady," answered I, hoping to
+shift her to better soil; "I ne'er meddle
+with ghosts or goblins. Why, an there be
+such things, should they wish me harm?
+O' my word, my brain is no more troubled
+with ghosts, black or white, than our gracious
+Queen's"&mdash;here I doffed my cap&mdash;"is
+with snails and slugs;" and here I
+plucked a slug from a vine-leaf and set
+my heel on't.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, nay!" quoth she, a-shutting of her
+white eyelids so tight that all the long black
+hairs on them stood straight out, like the
+fringe on Marian's Sunday mantle in a
+high wind. "Butter! thou nasty man!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;for how dost thou mean, my
+lady?" quoth I.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, for mashing that poor beast to
+a pap." And then a-holding of her hand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+level below her eyes, so that she might
+not discern the ground, "Is he dead?"
+quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead?" asked I, for I was somewhat
+puzzled in my mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, the slug; is he dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"That he is, verily," said I; for in truth
+he was naught but a jelly, and therewith I
+drew a pebble over him with my foot, that
+the sight o' his misfortune should not disturb
+her tender heart.</p>
+
+<p>"How if I were to crush you 'neath my
+heel, Master Butter?" quoth she at last, having
+peered about for the sight she dreaded,
+and, not seeing it, returning to her discourse.
+"How wouldst thou like that, excellent
+Master Butter?" But somehow, as
+I looked at her foot, my mouth, for all I
+could do, went into a smile. For though
+she was as fine a maiden as any in all
+Warwickshire, her foot, methinks, was of
+so dainty a make 'twould scarce have dealt
+death to a rose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But truly, my lady," continued I, seeing
+that she was making up a face at me,
+"thou knowest I've naught in common with
+ghosts."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay," quoth she. "And thou knowest
+the like of me. But"&mdash;and here stops she,
+with the slyest tip of her frowzed curls towards
+the house&mdash;"thou knowest also this,
+Butter, that his lordship, my brother, thinks
+as doth Marian, thy wife, and that therein
+we four cannot agree."</p>
+
+<p>So I look at my hoe-handle, and say I,
+"My lady, it is known to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now, Butter," she goes on, "thou
+most wise, most excellent, most cunning,
+most delectable of Butters, I have concocted
+a plan. I' fecks, Butter" (for my
+lady, like her Majesty the Queen, was somewhat
+given to swearing, though more modest
+oaths, as should become a subject)&mdash;"I'
+fecks, Butter," saith she, "'tis a most
+lustick plot. But I would not thy mome
+heard us;" and with that she makes me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+send away Joe, the under-gardener. He
+being gone, she whispers in my ear how
+she hath plotted to fright his lordship and
+Marian into very convulsions of further
+conviction, by appearing to them at the
+door o' the blue room in her night-gown,
+with a taper in her hand and her face
+chalked. What she desired o' me was,
+that I should come to the blue room with
+her, and there remain while she played off
+this pretty fantasy on my lord and Marian.</p>
+
+<p>To be truthful in these my last days o'
+earth, I liked not my proffered office o'er-well.
+Howbeit, that night did I do the bidding
+o' my young mistress, and&mdash;loath am
+I to speak of it, even at this late day&mdash;'twas
+the cause of my young master's leaving
+his home and going to bide in foreign
+countries.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, bitter tears did his sister weep, and
+with mine own eyes I saw her, on the day
+he set forth, cling to his neck, and when he
+shook her thence, hang about his loins, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+when at last he pushed her to the ground,
+she laid her hands about his feet and wept;
+and between every sob it was, "Go not,
+brother, for my fault! Go not, brother, for
+my fault!" or else, "Robin, Robin, dost not
+love me enough to forgive me so little?"
+and then, "If thou didst but love me a little,
+thou couldst forgive me much." But
+he stepped free of her hands and went
+his ways, and my lady lay with her head
+where his feet had been, and was still.</p>
+
+<p>Then Marian, who was very wroth with
+me for my part in the matter, did up with
+her nursling in her own proper strong arms
+(for she was aye a strong lass, that being
+one o' the chief reasons for which I had
+sought her in marriage&mdash;having had, as
+should all men, an eye to my posterity.
+It was a great cross to me, as may be
+thought, to find that all my forethought
+had been in vain, and that while Turnip,
+the farrier, had eight as fine lads as one
+would care to father, of a puny wench<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+that my Marian could have slipped in her
+pocket, Mistress Butter presented me with
+no children, weakly or healthy). But, as
+I have said, Marian, in her own arms, did
+carry my lady up-stairs to her chamber,
+and laid her on the day-bed.</p>
+
+<p>And by-and-by she opes her eyes (for
+Marian agreed that I sate on the threshold),
+and says she, putting out her hand half-fearful-like,
+"Is't thou, brother?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, honey," saith Marian; "it is I,
+thy Marian, thy nurse."</p>
+
+<p>Then said my lady, "Ay, nurse; but my
+brother, he is below&mdash;is't not so?" But
+when Marian shook her head, my lady sate
+up on the day-bed and caught hold of her
+short curls, and cried out, "I have banished
+him! I have made him an outlaw! I have
+banished him!" And for days she lay like
+one whose soul was sped.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the young lord came not back, nor
+would he write; so we knew not whether
+he were alive or dead. Yet were Marian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+and myself not unhopeful, for full oft did
+the heady boy find some such cause of disagreement
+with his sister to abide apart
+from her. But when we saw that in truth
+he came not back, and that week sped
+after week, and month did follow month,
+and still no tidings, we had perforce to acknowledge
+that the young lord was indeed
+gone to return no more.</p>
+
+<p>The Lady Margaret, in her loneliness,
+grew into many strange ways. She did
+outride any man in the county, and she had
+a blue-roan by the name of Robin Hood;
+which same, methinks, no man in or out o'
+th' county would 'a' cared to bestride. She
+would walk over to Pebworth ('piping Pebworth,'
+as Master Shakespeare hath dubbed
+it) and back again, a distance o' some six
+miles; and afterwards set forth for a gallop
+on Robin Hood, and be no more a-weary,
+come eventide, than myself from a trip
+'round the gardens. She swam like a sea-maid,
+she had fenced even better than her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+brother, and methinks she was the bonniest
+shot with a long-bow of any woman in
+all England. She was but fifteen when
+my lord left Amhurste for aye, and in the
+years since she had grown mightily, and
+was waxed as strong as Marian, and full
+a head taller. But she had long, curved
+flanks that saved her from buxomness;
+and her head was set high and light on
+her shoulders, like a bird that floats on
+a wave, and o'er it ran her bright curls,
+the one o'er the other, like little wavelets.
+Her eyes were as gray as a sword, and
+as keen, and she had broad lids as white
+as satin-flowers, and there was a fine
+black ring around them, made by her
+long lashes.</p>
+
+<p>My lady was courted by many a fine
+lord, and more than three youngsters have
+I seen weep because of her coldness towards
+them; speeding them away out o'
+the sight o' mankind (as they thought), and
+casting themselves along the lush grass in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+my lady's garden, there to bleat and bleat,
+like moon-calves for the moon.</p>
+
+<p>For one lad did my heart bleed, verily.
+'Twas for the young Lord of Mallow&mdash;but
+a lad with buttercup curls and speedwell
+eyes, and a smile to win the love o' any
+maid in her reason (though, to be sure, my
+lady was in her reason). He comes to me
+and gets between my knees, like any little
+eanling that might 'a' been mine own, and
+quoth he:</p>
+
+<p>"Butter, Butter, she loves thee! Wilt
+thou not speak to her, and tell her that she
+shall be the richest lady in all England,
+and maid of honor to the Queen, and have
+more jewels than the Queen herself? Oh,
+Butter!" cried he.</p>
+
+<p>Then said I, a-stroking of the yellow
+gossamer that bestrewed his shoulders, as
+he knelt, head bowed, between my knees,
+"Nay, my lord, 'tis not so that thou shalt
+win the Lady Margaret. She careth no
+more for jewels than she doth for the beads<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+in a rainbow; nor doth she care for riches.
+And methinks a maid who would marry
+just to be maid of honor to a queen would
+not be an honorable maid either to herself
+or to her sovereign;" for so indeed
+I thought.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith he, "Butter, dost thou believe
+in love-philters?"</p>
+
+<p>And I asked his meaning, for verily I
+was ignorant of 't, albeit I was not ignorant
+in all matters. And he explained to
+me that it was a drink or potion to cause
+love.</p>
+
+<p>Then I answered, and said, "Calamint
+doth make a good brew, likewise sage,
+and some flax is soothing, but methinks
+none o' these would cause love."</p>
+
+<p>On this he wept again, but said that I
+was a good old man, and that on his return
+to Mallow he would send me a gift; and so
+he did&mdash;a pair o' silk hose, such as my lady
+and the Queen do wear; but being mindful
+of my station, I laid them aside for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+sake o' th' poor lad, and yesterday Marian
+did bring them to me, with her ten fingers
+through as many moth-holes. Whereupon
+I was minded o' th' text concerning that
+we lay not up treasures where moth and
+rust do corrupt, and at my behest Marian
+read me the whole of that chapter. But
+to return to bare facts.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a certain night in March that
+there occurred the conversation which was
+the cause of this narrative. There had
+been news of the return of one Lord Denbeigh
+to Warwickshire&mdash;by report as wild a
+cavalier as ever fought, and a godless body
+to boot. Marian, who, as I have said, had
+always a certain knack for ghost stories and
+the like, froze me with her accounts o' this
+wild lord's doings. Quoth she:</p>
+
+<p>"Fire-brace is a suiting name for him,
+inasmuch as 'tis a family name, and he a
+fire-brand to peace wheresome'er he shall
+go."</p>
+
+<p>"Peace&mdash;peace thyself!" quoth I, hearing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+my lady's foot along the hall. And,
+o' my word, Marian had but just ceased,
+and given her attention to the fire, when
+in clatters my lady, with her riding-whip
+stuck in her glove, and her blood-hound
+Hearn in a leash. She was much wrought,
+either with riding or rage, for there was a
+quick red in her cheek, and she had set
+her red lips until they were white. Then
+took she the hound between her knees, and
+plucked off her gloves. Here I did find it
+my duty to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"My lady," cried I, "'tis not in your mind
+to baste the dog?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, that it is," quoth she, and her lips
+went tighter, and she jerked at her glove.</p>
+
+<p>Then said I, "How if he leap at thy
+throat?" And she answered, "Nay, he
+knows better;" and with that she gripped
+his collar, and let swing her whip. Then
+did I bid Marian that she leave the room.
+As for me, it was my duty to stay, though,
+as I have given an oath to tell but the truth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+in this narrative, I must confess that I was
+in a sweat from head to foot with fear.</p>
+
+<p>But the great hound crouched as though
+he knew he got but what he deserved, and
+when my lady had given him ten or twenty
+lashes she flung wide the door, and said she,
+"Get thee gone, coward! Go fare as fares
+the poor beggar thou sought'st to bite!"
+and the hound slunk out. Then turned my
+mistress to me, and&mdash;"Butter," saith she,
+"yon beast sought to bite an old beggar as
+we came through the park, so I whipped
+him. But for naught save cruelty or disobedience
+will I ever whip a dog; so, Butter,
+the next time that thou seest me about
+to lash one, keep thy counsel." (This was
+the harshest that my lady e'er spoke, either
+to me or to Marian.) Then went she
+to the door and called Marian.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, nurse," quoth she, "I am a-weary.
+Fling me some skins on the settle, and I
+will lie down, and thou shalt card out my
+locks with thy fingers." So we heaped the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+settle with the skins o' white bears, and
+thereon my lady cast herself, like a flower
+blown down upon a snow-bank; and by-and-by,
+what with the warmth and Marian's
+strokings, she fell into a deep sleep. But
+we two sate and gazed on her.</p>
+
+<p>She was all clad in a tight riding-dress
+of green velour cloth, and her white face
+seemed to come from the close collar like a
+white lily from its sheath. She was e'er
+flower-like, asleep or waking, as I have said,
+and her pretty head was sleek and yellow,
+like a butterfly's wing. She was so sound
+that it appeared to me and Marian as
+though one longer breath might transform
+the mimicry into the actual thing&mdash;death.
+But by-and-by awe fell from us, as it doth
+ever fall, even in the presence of that which
+hath awed us, and my wife and I did return
+to our discourse concerning my Lord Denbeigh.</p>
+
+<p>Quoth I to Marian, "But, wife, may not
+malice invent these tales?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Nay, nay," said she, shaking her head;
+"as bloody a rogue as ever lived&mdash;as bloody
+a rogue as ever lived. They do say as how
+he'll set a whole tavern in a broil ere he be
+entered in for three minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"But," quoth I, "may he not be provoked?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I tell thee," said she; "but he'll
+jump at a body's head, and cleave 't open
+ere a body can say 'Jesus.'"</p>
+
+<p>At this I said, firmly, "I doubt not but
+what the poor man is most surely maligned."
+Whereupon Mistress Butter did
+wax exceeding wroth.</p>
+
+<p>"Why wilt thou e'er be seeking to plead
+the cause o' villains?" cried she. "First
+that bloody beast o' my lady's, now this
+bloody villain o' th' devil's. I do wonder at
+thee, Anthony Butter." Whereat I did put
+in that I sometimes wondered at myself.</p>
+
+<p>"For why?" quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that I ever married to be worded
+by a wench," said I. And at this I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+most entirely sure that she would have cast
+her joint-stool at me, had she not been sitting
+on 't, and my lady's head against her
+knee. So she called me a "zany," and then
+after a little a "toad," but went on stroking
+my lady's hair.</p>
+
+<p>And, by-and-by, back we come to his
+lordship.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis not alone his bloody tricks and
+murderous ways," quoth my wife, "that
+causes all Christian folk to abhor him, but
+he consorts with no other women than
+drabs and callets. Dost excuse that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said I, with sufficient gravity,
+"then is this earl no longer a man, but
+a swine, and not fit for men's discussion,
+much less that of women."</p>
+
+<p>At this reproof I saw anger again in
+her eye, but she was so pleased withal at
+having got me to call Lord Denbeigh a
+swine that she forebore any further personal
+affront.</p>
+
+<p>"And yet," she went on, "they do say he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+be as fine a man as a wench will walk
+through the rain to glimpse at, and a brave
+and a learned; but that he wed a Spanish
+maid, and she betrayed him, and so
+he hath vowed to hate women, one and
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"Hast thou seen him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, but I've had him itemized to me
+by the wife o' Humfrey Lemon. A blue
+eye, a hooked nose, a&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, wife," quoth I, "if a blue eye
+and a hooked nose be as bad signs in a
+man as they be in a horse, methinks this
+thy villain is a very round villain."</p>
+
+<p>"And so he is," affirmed she.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet," said I, "there is somewhere in
+me a something that doth pity him."</p>
+
+<p>"By my troth!" cried my wife. "I do
+believe, Master Butter, that thou'dst pity
+the Devil's wife in childbirth."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, that I would!" I made answer, with
+a great calmness, for I saw that she sought
+to rouse my spleen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, do not bellow," blurted she, "for
+my mistress is as sound as a gold-piece."</p>
+
+<p>Then quoth my lady, a-rising up on her
+elbow,</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, that she is not. And, moreover,
+she would hear all the stories concerning
+this bad and bloody Lord of Denbeigh!"</p>
+
+
+<h3><br />II.</h3>
+
+<p>When Marian heard my lady so speak,
+methought she would have swooned in verity;
+for she knew my lady's contempt for
+gossip. E'en for the first time in all her
+life, Marian could not find a word to her
+tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"La! my lady," said she, and then stopped
+and was silent. My lady laughed at
+her, with her deep eyes; but as was her
+wont, her mouth was wondrous solemn.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, nurse," quoth she, "thou thought'st
+me safe i' th' Land o' Nod, but one hath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+ears to hear there as elsewhere." Then
+she reaches out one hand and plays with
+Marian's ruff. "Go to, nurse," says she.
+"Dost thou not see I am even i' th' same
+case with thyself? I too would gossip a little.
+Come, word it&mdash;word it!"</p>
+
+<p>So Marian told her all that she had
+heard, together with a little prophesying
+here and there, which boded no good to
+my Lord Denbeigh. She told how he
+had e'en been a brave lad, but how in
+Spain he had wed with a wife who played
+him false; how then he had vowed vengeance
+on all womankind, becoming a brawler
+and a haunter o' taverns; how death
+was in his sword and lightnings in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>My lady listened, and now and again she
+would pinch her eyelids softly with her
+thumb and ring-finger, as one who is deep
+in thought. But when Marian paused for
+breath, she turned to her, and quoth she,</p>
+
+<p>"Nurse, thou hast often preached unto
+me; listen now to my preachings. Thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+shalt often hear a man abused, nurse, but
+chiefly for that which he hath never done.
+This wild lord, I doubt not, hath been guilty
+of sorry deeds. What man hath not?
+But the half that thou hast told me is not
+to be believed."</p>
+
+<p>Then went she to her room, taking Marian
+with her, but I saw that she was
+moved.</p>
+
+<p>It was but the next day that my lady's
+uncle, Sir John Trenyon, came riding into
+the court. He often came in such wise, to
+bide for a day or two with his niece. A
+most courteous gentleman; red of face,
+blue of eye, and blithe of tongue. He
+had a jest for each tick o' th' clock, and
+a kind word for all.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Butter," saith he, "and where is thy
+mistress? And thy wife, the good Dame
+Marian&mdash;where is she? And how about
+thy family? Hast thou no better prospects
+than of yore?"</p>
+
+<p>Whereat I looked sorrowful enough, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+doubt not, for he did bid me take heart, as
+my first-born might have had a hare-lip or
+a crook-back. Then did he toss me his
+bridle-reins, and my lady, having heard his
+voice, came forth to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>"So, lady-bird!" quoth he, clasping her.
+"I am come for no less than three reasons
+this time. First, to see thy bonny
+face. Second, to ride thy bonny Robin.
+Third, to inquire and seek out a certain
+villain of mine acquaintance, of whom you
+have doubtless heard;" and forthwith did
+he say to her of how the wicked Lord
+Denbeigh was the son of a friend and
+comrade, and of how he had known him
+when a lad, together with much more, at
+which my lady pricked up her ears, as
+'twere, having all a lady's love for stories
+of wicked men who are not yet either old
+or ill-favored.</p>
+
+<p>"By my troth," declared the old knight
+in ending, "I will take but a mouthful to
+stay me, and then set forth straightway in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+quest o' th' rascal." So having dined right
+heartily, he rode forth again.</p>
+
+<p>Now, having related this hap to Marian,
+she was devoured of so great a curiosity
+that, as I am an honest man, I looked to
+see her consumed even unto her bones, as
+some men who burn of drink. She would
+have it that I must hazard a guess on the
+shape of Lord Denbeigh's nose, the color
+of his hair, and the height of his body.
+She forced me to wonder whether he were
+civil or rude of tongue. She pressed me
+to say whether I thought there was aye
+a chance of his returning with Sir John.
+She questioned me, in a word, until, having
+no answers, I was like to lose my wits,
+or my temper, or both together. At last
+comes she and sits on my knee, and tickles
+the back of my neck right playfully, as in
+the days of our wooing.</p>
+
+<p>"As I live, Tony," quoth she, "we are
+like to have a strange story under our
+very noses. What if"&mdash;and here she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+takes my face in her two hands, and sets
+her chin against mine, so that I see four
+round blue eyes against her white brow,
+and am like to go blind with her thoughtlessness&mdash;"what
+if it turns out that the
+Lord hath set upon our lady to be the
+saviour of this wicked earl?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay," cried I. "And what if the Lord
+hath set upon me to be the founder of
+a nation, like Abraham? What then?"
+At which she boxed my ears right soundly.
+But I could not blame her, for in
+the wrong I was, without doubt, although
+verily she had plagued me into it. So
+I sued for pardon, and got it, and a
+kiss into the bargain. But she would
+not leave me in peace concerning Lord
+Denbeigh.</p>
+
+<p>When that same afternoon there comes
+Sir John a-riding past, and the bad earl at
+his side, "What dost thou say now?" quoth
+Marian, a-plucking me in a way that did
+not serve to increase good feeling betwixt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+us. "Ah ha! Are not women prophetesses
+by nature?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, by ill-nature," answered I; and for
+this quip I was not forgiven for two days.</p>
+
+<p>It was towards the setting of the sun
+when Sir John and Lord Denbeigh rode
+up to the door of Amhurste, and my lady,
+knowing naught, came out at the sound of
+the horses' feet, thinking only to greet her
+uncle. The red light from the west shone
+on her, and dabbled her white kirtle as
+with blood, and her face was like one of
+the red roses in her garden. So she put
+up her hand to shield it, and saw the
+stranger standing at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>There was ne'er a nobler-looking man,
+for all he might outblack Satan in his
+soul: straight of body, and strong of limb,
+and lofty of head. His hair was the color
+of my lady's, and there seemed to be
+ever some sunshine in it, as he moved
+his head. Methought his face was fair
+and goodly to look upon, albeit his lips<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+went downward at the corners, and there
+was a droop in his broad lids. He was
+clad all in a close suit of dark velvet, and
+in his hand he held a black hat with a knot
+of heron-plumes.</p>
+
+<p>My lady stood and looked down at him
+from under her long, white hand, and he
+stood and looked up at my lady, as one
+looks upward at a fair picture. And the
+evening light crept between them. I was
+ashamed of my own folly, when I did catch
+myself remembering Marian's silly sayings;
+but for all that, they did come back to me,
+as the words of a foolish woman will return
+to the wisest of men. And in truth he did
+gaze up at her, as though she were more
+holy than the heavens above her. And
+for all her hand, the sunset found its way
+unto her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>What I now relate was told me by
+Marian some three days after. 'Twas on
+the night of the day on which Sir John
+had brought the stranger to Amhurste,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+and Marian was carding out my lady's
+tresses before her bedroom fire.</p>
+
+<p>Quoth my lady, suddenly, "Nurse, didst
+thou see Lord Denbeigh ere he went?"</p>
+
+<p>And Marian said that she had seen him.</p>
+
+<p>"He hath a strange face, nurse."</p>
+
+<p>"How 'strange,' my lady?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it seems to me that each feature
+in it doth contradict the other. His brow
+is stern, and saith to his eyes, 'Ye shall
+not be gentle.' His eyes say to his nose,
+'Spread not thy nostrils so proudly.' His
+nose commands his lips that they smile
+not; but, nurse, there was ne'er a sweeter
+smile on the lips o' a saint!"</p>
+
+<p>Marian fell a-thinking, and pulled my
+lady's hair. My lady heeded it not, so
+Marian fell a-thinking yet more deeply.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not a face that tells of a bad
+heart," continued my lady. "Rather it
+speaks of rebellion and misfortune. A
+sad story&mdash;a sad story."</p>
+
+<p>"What is, my lady?" asked Marian; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+my lady was far away, whither Marian
+could not follow.</p>
+
+<p>"Nurse," she saith, presently, "that were
+a soul worth saving." Then got she suddenly
+to her feet, and turned and took her
+nurse's hands with hers. "It shall be saved,"
+she saith, "God helping."</p>
+
+<p>And she kissed Marian, and lay down
+upon her bed. But Marian did tell me how
+that no sleep visited her lady's eyes that
+night. Through the darkness she could
+hear her turn, first on this side, then on
+that; then sigh and move her pillow, and
+sigh again.</p>
+
+<p>Methought Marian would have split in
+sunder with importance, when Lord Denbeigh
+took to coming sometimes to Amhurste.
+'Twas never for even an hour
+that he stayed; and 'twas always some
+question of business that brought him.
+But my lady and he touched hands full
+oft during a week, and always he would
+look at her with a different look from that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+which his eyes did wear at other times.
+And she spoke to him e'er courteously
+and kindly, even as though he had been
+a holy man and worthy of all reverence.</p>
+
+<p>One day it chanced that my lady rode
+the blue-roan out into the woods, towards
+the hut of old Joan Gobble, who was crippled
+by reason of age. My lady had me
+follow her on Dumble, th' white nag, with
+a pat o' butter and some wine. I was taken
+up with pondering as to why my lady should
+go in person to Dame Gobble's, seeing she
+might have sent me alone on Dumble as
+well. Be that as it may, as we rode along
+by a brook-side, under the thick leaves, whom
+should we come upon but my Lord Denbeigh.
+He was kneeling beside the water,
+and holding down his hand into the brook.
+As I looked I saw that his hand was befouled
+with gore, and that the brown stream
+did rush away ruddily from beneath his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>My lady did not wait for me to hold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+Robin Hood, but did swing herself from
+her saddle, and was beside the earl in a
+trice. He looked up, and seeing her, did
+start upon his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said she, putting out her hand,
+"but tell me if I can aid thee."</p>
+
+<p>And he strove to hide his hand at his
+side, saying. "Tis but a scratch;" but
+the blood ran down like water on the
+grass.</p>
+
+<p>"Think not to spare me the sight o'
+blood," said my lady, "for I am learned in
+bandaging wounds." And certes she was,
+seeing that every soul at Amhurste did
+come to her for healing, let a cat but
+scratch them. And she took his hand between
+her two fair hands (having drawn off
+her gloves), and saw that his wrist was deeply
+severed as with a knife. But she asked
+him no questions, telling him only to stoop
+while she cleansed his hand sufficiently to
+bind it. And as she laid it in the water,
+and pressed the lips of the wound together,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+he said unto her in a low tone, not meaning
+that I should hear him,</p>
+
+<p>"Would that thou couldst wash my soul
+as thou hast washed my hand!"</p>
+
+<p>She looked straight into his eyes, with
+her own so clear and honest, like a dog's
+(meaning no disrespect to my lady, as God
+knows), and she answered him and saith,</p>
+
+<p>"It were well worth the washing, my lord;
+but an higher than I must cleanse it."</p>
+
+<p>And he saith, "There is none higher."</p>
+
+<p>At that my lady's blood rose in her
+cheek, but she besought him that he would
+not speak to her in such wise. When
+she had made a compress of the napkins
+in the basket wherein I was carrying
+Dame Gobble's butter, and had stanched
+the blood, she unwound the ribbon
+from her silver hunting-horn, and cast it
+about his neck for a rest to his wounded
+arm. Then he did bend down his
+head and kissed the ribbon, and my lady
+turned quickly, and got upon the roan,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+and rode away at so smart a pace that
+methinks Dame Gobble's butter and wine
+did reach her in a closer conjunction than
+she could have found pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>When I told Marian of this encounter,
+merely by the way of a bit of gossip, she
+did smile in such a wise that I was minded
+to cuff a woman for the first time in
+a long life.</p>
+
+<p>It was that same night that Marian did
+tell me how that she feared the earl was
+in danger of some sort, judging by certain
+words that my lady had let fall in her
+sleep. I noticed how that my lady seemed
+restless, and would start at the clap o'
+a door, or when Herne did come suddenly
+upon her. And one day she leaned from
+a window, as I swept up the rose-leaves
+from the grass on the east terrace, and
+called to me to come thither. She was as
+white as her kirtle, and her gray eyes were
+dark like water before a storm. She did
+not look at me, but beyond into the air.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+So I waited, having plucked off my cap,
+and my lady stood looking, looking; and
+after a while she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast aye been a true and faithful
+servant unto me: therefore I am about to
+give unto thee a great charge."</p>
+
+<p>And I said, "My lady, thou knowest that
+thou canst trust me;" and in truth I could
+say no more, for my throat was stiff.</p>
+
+<p>And she continued and said,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou must be to-night at the Red
+Deer, and that by nine of the clock. One
+will be there in whom we have both deep
+interest. I cannot tell thee more. Take
+thy sword with thee, but have no fear&mdash;thou
+wilt have no cause to use it. Yet,
+lest thou be fearful, take it with thee."
+And she said, "Thou wilt remember?"</p>
+
+<p>"My lady, when have I e'er forgotten
+word of thine?" Whereat she did put
+out her fair hand to me, saying, "Never,"
+and there were tears in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>So that night (for the first time in many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+years) did I find myself within the doors
+of the Red Deer. A cosey place it was,
+despite the wine-bibbers that did profane it;
+and the inn-keeper's wife, a most buxom,
+eye-pleasing wench, with three sturdy boys
+aye clambering about her. As I looked,
+some hard and sinful thoughts did visit
+my heart concerning the bounty that the
+Lord had lavished upon one who was a
+barterer of wine, when I, who had lived
+ever a temperate and (in so far as was in
+my power) a godly life, should remain childless.
+But I did conquer at last, bidding
+Satan get behind me, and was left in peace
+to toast my feet, and to ponder as to who
+it was that my lady had sent me thither to
+mark. Had I not loved my lady with all
+my heart, methinks I could not have stood
+the terms that were heaped upon me by
+the brawlers. I will not repeat the foul
+slanders; suffice it to say, I sustained for
+one half hour what few men are called
+upon to endure throughout a lifetime.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At last, the newness being gone, they left
+me in peace, and I, being settled safely in
+my corner, did set to work to watch the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Who should enter at that very moment
+but my Lord Denbeigh! He was wrapped
+in a long brown cloak, and wore a broad
+hat, unornamented by plume or buckle,
+pulled down over his eyes. He came and
+tossed himself into a chair near the fire,
+and sat there pondering upon the coals,
+with his legs out in front of him. Now,
+I have ever had a woman-weakness for
+a goodly leg in man, and the splendid
+limbs of Lord Denbeigh did witch me into
+a steadier gaze than that which civility
+doth permit. This by-and-by he did notice,
+and so spoke to me.</p>
+
+<p>"At what art thou staring, ancient?"
+quoth he, not unkindly. So I told him,
+whereupon he laughed somewhat.</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks thou art but a doting body,"
+he said, "and yet is thy face familiar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+What now? Hast thou e'er met with me
+before?"</p>
+
+<p>Then did I lie right roundly, being, to
+confess the truth, not a little afraid.</p>
+
+<p>"Out on thee," saith his lordship; "the
+truth is not in thee. I ne'er forget a face;
+how, then, shall I forget a face such as
+thine? Certes I have seen thee before.
+Wilt thou colt me?"</p>
+
+<p>And again lied I&mdash;blackly, most abominably.</p>
+
+<p>"As thou wilt," quoth he; "but thy face
+is known to me, for all that."</p>
+
+<p>It was at this time that the door opened
+again, and there did enter a stripling, clad
+all in dark maroon velvet, wrapped also
+about with a long cloak, and having a velvet
+bonnet pulled down over his brows i' th'
+manner o' Lord Denbeigh's. One could see
+naught o' his visage for the shadow from
+his head-gear. The revelers scarce noted
+his entrance, being far gone in drink, and
+some having departed, and others asleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+The lad came and stood near the fire, and
+I saw that he looked at Lord Denbeigh
+from under his drooping bonnet&mdash;the earl
+having withdrawn unto a table apart, with
+a glass of wine and some papers, and his
+sword across the table. Even as I looked
+the boy turned, and went over, and leaned
+on the table to finger the heavy sword. My
+heart was afraid within me, for there was a
+dark light in the eyes that flashed up at the
+youth from under Lord Denbeigh's stern
+brows. I was nigh unto them, being but a
+stride or two apart, and so marked all that
+passed between them.</p>
+
+<p>"By my troth," quoth his lordship, "a valiant
+crack!"</p>
+
+<p>"Meaning me?" quoth the lad, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, meaning thee, Sir Insolence. Dost
+thou know how to handle thine own sword,
+that thou handlest a stranger's so freely?"</p>
+
+<p>"Even so. But I meant not to vex thee.
+In truth, I am come to thee on an errand
+of life and death;" and as he spoke, he did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+doff his bonnet and toss it upon the table,
+and the firelight and candlelight did leap
+upon his fair curls, and as I saw his face it
+was the face of my lady. The earl did start
+half-way to his feet, and his face was first
+like fire and then like snow.</p>
+
+<p>"Margaret!" he saith, back of his teeth,
+as 'twere.</p>
+
+<p>And the lad smiled, leaning still upon
+the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay; my sister is called so," he said,
+"but my name is Robert, and I am the
+Lord of Amhurste and her brother. Haply
+she hath mentioned me unto your lordship."</p>
+
+<p>The earl stared as one who sees a ghost
+(though I believe not in them myself), and
+he saith, "Whence comest thou? All think
+that thou art dead."</p>
+
+<p>And the boy said,</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, but I would not that any besides
+thee knew of my whereabouts. As to thee,
+I know more concerning thee even than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+my sister, and it is for her sake that I
+come to thee to-night."</p>
+
+<p>And my lord saith, "For her sake?"</p>
+
+<p>"Even so. I am come to persuade
+thee that thou wilt not go on the errand
+thou wottest of two nights hence. There
+are those who do mean thee death. It
+is certain that thy life is plotted against.
+Surely thou wilt be warned?" And as I
+looked, the color left the lad's face, and he
+grew white as any woman. Almost I could
+have sworn it was my lady's face. Line
+for line, eyelash for eyelash, look for look.
+And methought no mother's heart e'er
+yearned towards her new-born babe as
+yearned my heart towards the youth. It
+seemed as though I must cry out to
+him. To see him thus after five weary
+years; to be so near him, and yet unable
+to touch even the latchet of his
+shoes, or to hear his voice calling my
+name. I trembled and was blind with
+longing. When at last I did look up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+he said again, "Surely, thou wilt be advised?"</p>
+
+<p>The earl leaned with his forehead set in
+his clasped hands, and by-and-by he said,</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible. Would that I could!"</p>
+
+<p>And the lad said,</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, it is not impossible. Thou canst
+save thine own life with a word."</p>
+
+<p>And Lord Denbeigh answered him:</p>
+
+<p>"My life is not worth even a word," and
+he did not lift up his forehead from his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>Then said my master, "Thy life may be
+worth less than naught to thee, but to others
+its price is above their own." And
+again he was as pale as any girl.</p>
+
+<p>And he spoke again and said, "Thou
+wilt not go? Thou wilt be warned?"</p>
+
+<p>And again did the man answer, saying,
+"Impossible."</p>
+
+<p>Then saith my master,</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Denbeigh, if thou goest to London
+on the morrow, I will follow thee there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+Nay, thou canst not prevent me. And
+think you my sister's heart will be warmer
+towards thee if her brother's blood be
+spilled at thy behest?"</p>
+
+<p>And the earl sat with his stern eyes on
+the lad, and he said,</p>
+
+<p>"Thy blood will ne'er be spent at my behest.
+I do forbid thee to follow me."</p>
+
+<p>And the lad said,</p>
+
+<p>"I am not to be forbidden." So they
+stood and looked at one another. And all
+at once the boy put out his hand ('twas
+my lady's very gesture) and took the earl's
+sleeve, and saith he in a gentle voice,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou wert a man after God's own heart
+did not thou let Satan consort with thee."</p>
+
+<p>Then turned Lord Denbeigh with a
+laugh that was not merry. And he saith,</p>
+
+<p>"As thou quotest Scripture to me, select
+thy texts with greater care. Even to my
+mind there doth come one more suiting;
+for even as Job, 'I am a brother to dragons,
+and a companion to owls.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then saith the lad, still with his hand
+on the man's arm,</p>
+
+<p>"Is it not the more to thy discredit that
+thou, who couldst be brother to Christ, do
+make brothers of dragons? Verily, my
+lord, I am bold through my sister, for methinks
+it is thus that she would have answered
+thee."</p>
+
+<p>And the man turned away as though to
+hide his face.</p>
+
+
+<h3><br />III.</h3>
+
+<p>Lord Robert spoke with Lord Denbeigh
+at some length, but he was not to be
+turned from his purpose (which, methought,
+must be a very strange and grewsome one,
+judging by their words). So finally they
+went out separately, and I got me back to
+Amhurste.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning I did relate to my
+lady all that had passed, but mentioning no
+names, as I saw that she wished it not.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+And when I was finished she bade me go
+straightway to London and find out the
+whereabouts of Lord Denbeigh. Moreover,
+she told me that she herself would be
+there shortly with Marian, and that they
+two would lodge at the house of Marian's
+aunt, one Mistress Pepper, a linen-draper's
+wife. At this I wondered greatly, the more
+that she should keep silent concerning her
+brother than that she should follow him to
+London. And all that I could think was
+that Lord Robert was in some dire conspiracy,
+likewise the earl, and that she feared
+for the lives of one or both. So we all
+go to London, I earlier than my lady and
+Marian.</p>
+
+<p>For a day I lost sight of Lord Denbeigh
+(whom I had followed closely all the way
+from Warwickshire), but the next afternoon
+I marked him as he passed along a by-way,
+and heard him speak with some one of his
+friends, naming a tavern where he would
+meet him at a certain hour that night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So first I found out where the tavern
+was, then straight to my lady and acquainted
+her with all that I had discovered.</p>
+
+<p>She said naught but to commend my
+diligence, and she went whiter than a just
+washed sheep at shearing-time. Quoth I
+to myself, "Butter, there is more here than
+thou wottest of;" which was very true.</p>
+
+<p>That night, a little before the hour set
+upon, I did get me to the tavern, and
+lurked quietly in the shadows where none
+might observe; and there, verily, was the
+earl and him with whom he had spoken in
+the afternoon. He had but said a word or
+so when Lord Robert entered, and went
+and stood at his elbow, but did not touch
+him or pluck at his cloak. Albeit, the earl
+seemed to feel his presence, for shortly he
+turned and saw the lad.</p>
+
+<p>"How!" quoth he. "Thou here?"</p>
+
+<p>And the boy said, "I told thee I would
+follow thee."</p>
+
+<p>And Lord Denbeigh answered him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+"Dost thou know of what thou speakest?"</p>
+
+<p>And the lad said, "Verily I know, and
+thou mayest trust me;" and with that he
+muttered two or three words under his
+breath, which, because of mine old ears, I
+could not catch. And the two men started
+and looked at one another. Then the earl
+did turn to his friend, saying to him that
+they could indeed trust the lad. So they
+three clasped hands. When that was done,
+Lord Denbeigh turns to my master, and
+saith he, "Hast thou thy dirk with thee?"
+and the lad answered that he had both
+sword and dagger.</p>
+
+<p>"Not that there is any danger," quoth
+the earl, "but that thou mayest feel easy."</p>
+
+<p>But the lad said, "There is danger, as I
+have told thee; and thou art putting thy
+life in jeopardy." At this Lord Denbeigh
+only laughed; but as they went out into the
+street I marked that he kept the lad close at
+his side, almost as a mother keeps a child.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The night was still and cold, and the
+sky full of little white clouds that lapped
+the one over the other, like shells on a seashore.
+Now and again the moon would
+strike through, in a long, bright ray, that
+seemed like a keen blade or lance severing
+the misty air. The three went on and on,
+through many winding ways, and still I followed,
+for I knew not into what danger the
+lad might be hastening.</p>
+
+<p>All at once, in a dark turning, there
+came the clang of swords and a rushing
+and scuffling, but no cry of any kind;
+and methought the silence was more hideous
+than sound. Stiff as were my old
+joints with disuse, I drew my sword and
+lay about me lustily, striving to get between
+the villains and my young master
+(which is no credit to me, as I was so
+wrought with rage that I verily believe I
+would have no more felt the thrust of a
+rapier than Marian's housewife the prick
+of a needle). But there was no method in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+aught, neither could anything be seen; for
+the moon had withdrawn behind the clouds,
+and we seemed to be fighting underneath
+clear water, so pale and ghastly was the
+light shed about us from the pale clouds.
+And as I struck out with my sword I saw
+a fellow in a mask close with Lord Denbeigh,
+lifting a dagger high in his hand,
+while another rascal pinned the earl's hands
+to his sides. And even as I looked, the lad
+leaped between, and the thin knife went
+deep into his breast. At the same time
+there was a louder clash of swords, and
+a thudding of men's bodies together, and
+the masked wretches turned about and did
+take to their heels with a good will. So
+I sheathed my sword and ran forward.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Denbeigh and his friend were bending
+over the lad, who lay out-stretched between
+them, with his white face turned up
+to the white sky, looking like the face of
+a dead man at the bottom of a clear pool.
+Then could I not withhold my grief, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+cried aloud, "My master, my master!" and
+tried to feel with my trembling old hands
+for the wound.</p>
+
+<p>Then said the earl, "Not here! I will
+carry him to a place of safety." And he
+lifted the boy in his arms, as though he
+had been a hurt child.</p>
+
+<p>When the other saw that, he laid hold
+on Lord Denbeigh's arm, saying, "What
+mean you? are you distraught? There is
+but scarce time by the clock."</p>
+
+<p>And the earl said, "Go you on. I must
+take this boy where his wound can be
+bound."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said the man. "I tell you, you
+are mad!"</p>
+
+<p>And Lord Denbeigh turned on him, and
+spoke in a harsh voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I have said I will not go. I have done
+with thee and thine. Go thy ways ere it
+be too late;" and he passed on and left the
+man to swallow the moonshine with his
+great gaping mouth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And he saith unto me, "Follow closely."
+So by-and-by we came to a great gray
+house, and Lord Denbeigh opened the door
+and bade me enter with him.</p>
+
+<p>We passed through a vast hall, and up a
+ponderous staircase, and into a room. A
+fire was burning on the hearth, and there
+was a fantastic kind of lamp swinging from
+a silver chain above the bed's foot.</p>
+
+<p>I guessed rightly that this was his lordship's
+own apartment. He laid the lad on
+the bed, and fell to undoing his doublet of
+black velvet. I did see him set to shivering,
+as 'twere, when he noted the red stains
+on the shirt underneath, and my heart
+stood still within me. Then he opened
+the red linen, and did put in his hand gently
+to feel if the heart were yet beating;
+but no sooner had he done this than he
+gave a strange cry, and drew out his hand
+dripping with blood, and stood staring and
+trembling. At the same moment the lad
+stirred, and opened his eyes, and began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+clutch feebly at his doublet, drawing it together.
+I made naught of it until Lord
+Denbeigh did turn to me, with the face of
+a dead man, and quoth he, "Stay here while
+I fetch women," and so rushed out like one
+in truth distraught.</p>
+
+<p>Then did it all come upon me, and I
+knew that the face upon which I looked
+was the face of my lady.</p>
+
+<p>Ere another second had passed I heard
+the earl's voice without, and he spoke with
+a woman:</p>
+
+<p>"Do thou go instantly and clothe the
+lady within in some of thy garments; and
+have care that thou say no word to any of
+what hath happened, else will it not be
+well for thee."</p>
+
+<p>When I heard the tone in which he
+spoke, methought in truth it would not be
+well for her did she not heed his commands.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly there entered a woman most
+marvellous fair, with hair that seemed spun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+of black taffetas, and a skin like a white
+jasmine. When she saw the blood her lips
+whitened, and she did close them more
+closely, but no cry escaped her. Whereat
+I was much ashamed, remembering the
+hullabaloo that I had raised.</p>
+
+<p>I turned aside while she disrobed my
+lady and clothed her in clean linen, and
+drew down the sheets, placing her between
+them. But the blood still flowed in spite
+of all bandages, and the fair linen was soon
+crimson.</p>
+
+<p>And when all was prepared, the woman
+went to the door and said, "You can enter,"
+and the earl came into the chamber again.
+When, however, he did see my lady he
+cried out, "God in heaven! she will bleed
+to death!" and he called the woman, and
+showed her how to stanch the wound.
+Then, when the steps of the surgeon were
+heard in the hall without, he said unto
+her, "Remember. She is thy sister, and
+thieves have stabbed her for the jewels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+on her neck." And she answered him, "I
+will remember."</p>
+
+<p>And all this time methought I was in
+an evil dream, and that Marian, for some
+spite, would not awaken me.</p>
+
+<p>How it came about, to this day I recollect
+not, but ere two weeks had sped we
+were again at Amhurste, and my lady in
+her own bower, under Marian's care. As
+to that, Marian had been with my lady
+ever since the fatal night whereon she was
+nigh done to death by that masked ruffian.</p>
+
+<p>The earl did go himself to fetch her
+from Mistress Pepper's, and after that she
+came neither of us saw the sloe-eyed
+woman any more.</p>
+
+<p>None had known of my lady's stay in
+town, saving my lady herself, Lord Denbeigh,
+the black-eyed woman (who never
+uttered word more, good or bad, after that
+she had said, "I will remember"), Marian,
+and me. So besides us five no one was
+the wiser.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was towards the last of May that my
+lady did beg that we would lift her out to
+sit in a long-chair on the east terrace.
+The birds were at their morning gossiping
+in the shrubbery, and the air was most
+sweet with the breath of the white lilacs.
+My lady looked like a snow-wreath fallen
+suddenly among the greenery of spring,
+but her eyes did peep softly, like bluebells,
+from the snows of her face. Methought
+she was all white and blue, like the
+heavens above her, and her hair made sunshine
+over all. Herne, the blood-hound,
+lay at her feet, and would not be stirred,
+though for sport my lady had Marian to
+tempt him with some comfits.</p>
+
+<p>While we were all there, and my lady
+showing us how the light shined through
+her thin hands, and discoursing right merrily,
+there came a page and handed her a
+letter. Back fell she among her pillows,
+and her eyelids dropped over her eyes,
+like snow-flakes fallen on violets. Anon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+she opened the letter, and having read it,
+said unto Marian, "Nurse, go bid him
+hither." So Marian beckoned me, and we
+left her. As we entered the house, who
+should pass us but my Lord of Denbeigh,
+and o' my word he was whiter than my
+lady, if anything, and wrapped as usual in
+a long cloak. He seemed not to see us,
+and we went on in silence.</p>
+
+<p>Here transpires the only part of this
+narrative concerning which I am reluctant
+to write. I will out with it, however,
+and the Almighty knows that I have not
+done with repentance even yet. So be it.
+There was a window overhanging the terrace
+where my lady sat (the window out
+of which she had leaned to speak to me
+about repairing to the Red Deer). But
+let me not defer longer. I, Anthony Butter,
+of respectable parents, and counted
+among my fellows and betters an honest
+man, did go to this window, and did most
+deliberately listen to the words that passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+between my mistress and the Earl of Denbeigh.
+In fact (for I have sworn to keep
+back no jot or tittle of the truth), I did
+speed me so fast that I was at the window
+ere his lordship reached my lady's side.</p>
+
+<p>He came slowly, but his look went before
+him, and was fast upon my lady's face
+ere he himself was within ten yards of her.
+When at last he was come to her side,
+he did stand and look down on her, but
+uttered no word. And also my lady did
+look down, and there was a light like sunset
+on her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly did he drop upon his
+knees beside her, and bowed down his
+head upon her knee and was silent. Then
+my lady (God forever keep her!) did turn
+her eyes quickly, and stole a look to see
+that no one was nigh (God forgive my
+dastardly presence!), and did reach out
+one pale hand, half fearfully as 'twere, and
+did let it rest upon the man's bowed head,
+as a white rose-leaf falls and rests on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+earth. And she said but two words, "My
+friend;" yet methought all love was in
+them. Whereat he raised his head and
+looked at her, and it is so that men look
+upward when they pray. He took her
+hands with his and held them to his breast,
+and he saith, "Dear saint, if thou forgivest
+me, wilt thou but kiss my brow?" And
+she bended forward and kissed him; and
+he trembled, calling her by name; and she
+asked him what he would with her. Then
+kneeling at her side, he spoke to her, and
+his words were as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast heard of my life and of my
+misfortunes, but all hath not been told
+thee. Grant me but patience for a moment,
+that I myself may tell thee all."</p>
+
+<p>And she saith unto him, "Say on."</p>
+
+<p>So he spoke and said, "There is much
+that I may not tell thee, yet part I will tell
+thee, for that I must. Thou hast heard
+how that my wife&mdash;" But he could not
+continue, so dropped his face into my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+lady's hands, and she waited for him, saying
+softly,</p>
+
+<p>"I will understand what thou dost not
+say. Be not troubled, but speak out thy
+soul to me;" and presently he told her
+more. As I do live, never listened I to
+sadder story. So piteous it was that my
+tears fell down like rain, and I was sore
+afraid that my sighing would discover my
+whereabouts. But the Almighty is merciful
+even to sinners, and I remained unnoted.
+'Twas the old tale of love and
+treachery; a false wife and a friend who
+was a villain.</p>
+
+<p>The earl had killed the man (but in fair
+encounter), and his wife he had brought
+back, never to be as husband to her more,
+but to preserve her from further sin. And
+I do maintain that 'twas a noble act, and
+I did quite forgive him the blood of his
+betrayer. Methought my lady did forgive
+him too, for she did but stroke his hair
+softly, saying ever and anon, "Poor soul!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+or "God help thee!" And by-and-by he
+lifted his face, and saith, "But the worst is
+yet to tell thee."</p>
+
+<p>And she said again, "Say on."</p>
+
+<p>And he trembled again, but spoke out
+bravely: "My wife yet lives. It was she
+who bound thy wounds."</p>
+
+<p>Now at this I thought to see my lady
+swoon; but she only smiled, though better
+had one seen her weep than smile in
+such wise. And she saith, "I have known
+that these many days;" and she leaned towards
+him, and placed both hands upon his
+head, saying, "Weep not. I hold thee
+guiltless. Do not weep."</p>
+
+<p>But he sobbed, clasping her knees, as
+one whose heart is broken, saying now
+and again below his breath, "O God! O
+God!"</p>
+
+<p>If there be this side the stars a more
+awful sight than the sight of a strong man
+in tears, God grant I may ne'er behold it,
+for surely I should die of pity. Doth it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+please God that I resemble Abraham in
+the matter of age, if in none other, ne'er
+will that scene fade from my memory&mdash;my
+lady, so wan and white and narrow, like a
+tall lily over which a rude wind hath swept,
+and at her knee the strong man, bowed as
+a little lad that saith his prayers, clasping
+her kirtle and her hands, as though one
+sinking in deep waters were to grasp at a
+floating stem of flowers for support. And
+after a while, when the violence of his grief
+was spent, he saith unto her,</p>
+
+<p>"I sail for Spain with Essex on the morrow,
+as thou knowest; but it doth remain
+for me to tell thee why I go. It is for that
+I think the lad, thy brother, hath been a
+prisoner of war these many years, and I go
+to bring him to thee."</p>
+
+<p>And she sat and looked at him as
+though her heart had leaped from her
+breast into his body; but she spake no
+words save only, "God keep thee; God go
+with thee."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And suddenly he saith unto her, as
+though the words would forth,</p>
+
+<p>"I loved thee from the moment that I
+saw thee. Let me but tell thee that."</p>
+
+<p>She whispered, saying, "It was even so
+with me." And he lifted his eyes and
+looked at her. Then fled I, as though I
+had drawn away the veil from the sanctuary,
+for I thought that God would surely
+smite me for having beheld that look.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>So Lord Denbeigh sailed with the Earl
+of Essex for the war in Spain, and my
+lady's soul left her body and went with
+him; for surely 'twas but her body that
+remained at Amhurste. All day long
+would she sit silent, nor move, nor look,
+and her hands the one upon the other before
+her, as who should say, "I am done
+with all things, whether of work or of
+play." So passed the months, and ever
+and anon some report would reach the village
+of the wild earl's deeds in Spain, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+of how he would fight ten men with one
+arm wounded and the blood in his eyes,
+and such like tales. But no word came
+direct, either through letters or friends.
+So passed the months, and it was nigh to
+August, and the fighting was over for the
+time, when one day, with a clattering as
+of a horsed army, there comes dashing into
+the court two cavaliers on horseback, and
+one of them was my Lord of Denbeigh.
+Ere I could look at the other he had leaped
+to the ground, and had me about the
+neck a-kissing me as roundly as ever a
+wench in the market-place. And lo! when
+I looked, it was Lord Robert in very truth.
+He was grown out of all knowledge, and
+as brown as a nut, but as big and as bonny
+a lad as ever clapped hand to sword.</p>
+
+<p>When I could turn my eyes from him
+upon the earl, I saw that he was waxed
+as pale as death, and wore his arm in a
+kerchief, and that there was a great red
+streak adown his temple, clean through his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+right eyebrow. And his splendid flanks
+and chest were hollow, like those of a good
+steed that lacketh fodder. But when he
+stood and leaned against his horse's neck
+and smiled at us, methought he was by far
+the goodliest man that ever I had looked
+upon. His teeth were as white as the foam
+on his horse's bit, and there was a deep nick
+at the corner of his mouth, like that at the
+mouth of a girl.</p>
+
+<p>Then must I call Marian, and send her
+to break the news to my lady. So in a
+moment she comes rushing down along the
+stair-way, like a branch that is blown suddenly
+from the top o' a tall tree, and so
+into Lord Robert's arms; and he catches
+her to his heart, and so stands holding
+her; and they make no motion nor
+any sound whatever. Then turns the earl
+away, and leaves them together. But I
+marked that his eyes were brimming, and
+that there was a quiver in his lip.</p>
+
+<p>Ere night all is known to us: how Lord<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+Robert had been a prisoner in Spain all
+these years, yet was he treated with courtesy
+at the behest o' some wench. But he
+did not love her, God be praised! And
+'tis in my mind to this day how he might
+have wed her, and how the earl did relate
+to him his bitter experiences with a Spanish
+wife. Ay, that is my firm opinion. All
+this and more did we hear, laughing and
+weeping by turns. But it was not until
+Lord Robert saw my lady alone that she
+heard of how the earl had saved him at
+the risk of his own life, all but bearing him
+in his arms through the enemy, hewing his
+way right and left. And, moreover, Lord
+Robert did tell how that the blood from
+that cut on the earl's temple did in truth
+run down into his eyes and blind him, but
+how that he dashed it back and slew the
+man who wounded him, and so they escaped.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, as I did sally forth
+with my cross-bow to have a shot at a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+screech-owl which for some nights past
+had disturbed Marian's slumbers, she in
+her turn having disturbed mine, I did see
+Lord Denbeigh come out upon the terrace
+and throw himself down along the grass,
+beneath a tulip-tree, with a book. But he
+read not, lying very quiet, with his head
+raised up upon one hand and his elbow
+sunk in the soft turf. And as the sunlight
+struck through the leaves upon his
+glittering hair, and his face like marble,
+I could not but pause to gaze on him, so
+noble looked he. But his eyes were far
+away, and his thoughts with them.</p>
+
+<p>It was for this that he did not hear my
+lady coming until she stood beside him,
+and her white gown brushed his cheek.
+But seeing her, he leaped to his feet, and
+the blood ran along his face, and then seemed
+all to settle in the long wound, leaving
+him more pale than before. And she said
+to him,</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, do not rise, for thou art weak yet;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+but he would not be seated, so they stood
+there, side by side in the fair morning light.
+And presently she puts out her hand (no
+one ere reached out their hand as did my
+lady), and she just lays it on his sleeve, and
+saith she, "I am come to thank you&mdash;to
+thank you with all my heart and soul&mdash;"
+and there a sob chokes her, and she can
+say no more.</p>
+
+<p>Again the blood swept up across his
+brow; and he said, "For God's love, say
+no more."</p>
+
+<p>But she answered, saying, "Nay, I have
+so much to say." And she came nearer
+to him for a little space; and her head
+drooped downward, like a flower full of
+rain. And she did knit and unknit her
+white fingers as they hung before her.
+And she saith, "There is no guerdon worthy
+such a knight, but if an thou&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Then all on a sudden did she reach out
+both arms towards him, and her fair hands,
+palms upward, and the scarlet leaped to her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+very brow; but she lifted her little head
+proudly, albeit her eyes were dropped downward,
+and she said unto him, "Take me, for
+I am thine."</p>
+
+<p>And he trembled from head to foot, and
+parting his lips as though to speak, reached
+out his arms and clasped her.</p>
+
+<p>And when I realized what I had done, I
+did drop my cross-bow and took to my
+heels, like one followed by goblins.</p>
+
+<p>Now, even as I hope to be saved, I but
+just come to recognize that this was my
+second eavesdropping. So be it. I have
+vowed, and must keep my vow.</p>
+
+<p>It was all made clear to me that night,
+when Marian did relate to me how that the
+Spanish woman had slain herself by swallowing
+flame. At which (though mightily
+pleased, God forgive me, on account of my
+lady and the earl) I was more than ever
+thankful that Lord Robert had escaped
+alive and unwed out o' th' clutches o' th'
+Spanish wench. And here it occurreth to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+me that I have not yet told that Marian
+did know from the first of my lady's going
+up to town dressed as her brother. This
+I record more on account of its being a
+marvellous instance of a woman's keeping
+her tongue than to shame Marian, who
+hath often read how that wives should
+submit themselves unto their husbands as
+unto the Lord. Howbeit, all ended so happily
+that I had not the heart to scold her.</p>
+
+<p>With the first frosts of October my lady
+and the earl were wed. Methought the
+queen herself could not have had a finer
+wedding, and certes no woman could have
+had a nobler spouse. He was yet pale
+from his wounds, but most soldierly of
+bearing and proud of carriage. He was
+clad all in white, like my lady. A more
+beauteous apparel I have never seen.</p>
+
+<p>His doublet was of cloth of silver, with
+a close jerkin of white satin embroidered
+in silver and little pearls. His girdle and
+the scabbard of his sword were of cloth of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+silver, with golden buckles. His poniard
+and sword were hilted and mounted in
+gold, together with many blazing orders
+and richer devices that I know not how
+to enumerate.</p>
+
+<p>My lady's gown was all of white satin,
+sewn down the front with little pearls, like
+those on my lord's jerkin, and her ruff was
+of soft lace, not stiff, as was the fashion,
+but falling about her bosom most modestly
+and becomingly. Lord Robert, methinks,
+was eke as goodly, after his way, as either
+his sister or Lord Denbeigh, being close
+clad from head to foot in crimson sarcenet,
+slashed all with cloth of gold. My lady had
+given me some suiting clothes for the occasion;
+and as for Marian, methought in her
+new gown of sea-green taffeta, with her
+new ruff and head-gear, that she looked as
+fair a matron as any mother of fine lads in
+all England.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3><br />IV.</h3>
+
+<p>Seven months they had been wed, and it
+was May again. Methought such love had
+never been on earth since Eden. 'Twas
+gladness but to see them. And all, moreo'er,
+was so well with Lord Robert, who,
+folks did say, was in mighty great favor at
+court, and like to become a shining light in
+the land.</p>
+
+<p>'Twas on a May morning. The trees
+were a-lilt with birds, and the sound of
+waters set all the winds a-singing. All at
+once comes my lord, and sets his hand on
+my shoulder. Then know I that something
+dire hath happened. And he saith,
+"Friend, where is thy mistress?"</p>
+
+<p>And I tell him that she is out among
+her roses.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith he all at once, "The Queen
+hath sent for me&mdash;I must to war."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And I could do naught but stare at him.
+And he said to me: "In an hour I must
+be gone. Say naught to thy mistress. I
+will go don a suiting dress, and do thou
+bring me my sword and give it into my
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>And he went, returning shortly, and I
+gave him the sword. It was then that we
+heard the voice of my lady without, and
+she sang a song of the spring-tide. The
+words I have ne'er forgot, though I did
+but hear them once:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'>"For O! For O!<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The cowslips blow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And the ground's all gold below me;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The speedwell's eye</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Peers up so bli'</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I swear it seems to know me!</span><br />
+<br />
+"The lady-smocks<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In silver frocks</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Do flout the sonsy clover;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The humble bee</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Consorts wi' me</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And hails me for a rover.</span><br />
+<br />
+"Then trip, then trip,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And if ye slip</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Your lad will lend a hand O;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The lass in green</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">With black, black een,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Is the fairest in the land O."</span><br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>And as the earl listened methought he
+would have fallen, grasping my shoulder,
+old man as I was, and bending down
+his head upon it. And I did stay him
+with my arm, as though he had been
+my very son&mdash;for old age is father to all
+men.</div>
+
+<p>So my lady comes in, with her gold hair
+blowing, and her white kirtle full of red
+roses, and seeing her lord goes to meet
+him. But when she noted the soldierly
+fashioning of his dress, and the sword girt
+at his thigh, she opened her lips as though
+to cry out, but no sound escaped them.
+And her kirtle slipped from her hold, and
+the red roses lay between them like a pool
+of blood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then she saith unto him, "Tell me.
+Quick, quick!"</p>
+
+<p>And he lifts her to him, and saith,
+"Sweetheart, my Queen hath bidden me
+come fight for her and for my country."</p>
+
+<p>And she saith naught, only clasps him.</p>
+
+<p>But by-and-by she cries out, saying, "Go
+not! Go not! Else wilt thou kill me."
+And so speaking, falls like one dead at
+her lord's feet.</p>
+
+<p>Then I, running like one distraught to
+fetch Marian, do tilt pell-mell into Lord
+Robert, who hath come down to Amhurste
+for a week or so of rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Heydey!" quoth he. "What Jack-a-lent
+hath frighted thee?" And I told him all.
+Never a word said he, but went straightway
+and got upon his horse, and clapped
+spurs to its sides, and so out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>And all that night my lady lay nigh to
+death, so that there was ne'er a thought in
+the breast of any for another soul. Therefore
+Lord Robert was not missed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ere two days were past came a man with
+despatches, and we found out how that Lord
+Robert had substituted himself for the earl
+(having acquainted the Queen with the circumstances&mdash;and
+he being, moreover, so
+great a favorite), and how the Queen had
+granted Lord Denbeigh leave to remain in
+England a while longer.</p>
+
+<p>And so his lordship was with his lady
+when their child was born, but Lord Robert
+was killed in the wars.</p>
+
+<p>They grieved sore for him, and for many
+weeks would not be comforted. And even
+it was said that the Queen mourned for
+him, and did banish all festivities from
+court for the space of several days.</p>
+
+<p>But like as the stars do pale in the morning
+sky, so pales the orb of sorrow before
+the rays of the great sun, happiness.</p>
+
+<p>And though he was ne'er forgotten, and
+though the tears would spring to my lady's
+eyes heard she but his name mentioned,
+yet she did smile again and was happy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It chanced but this morning that Marian
+and I, leaning from the window that overlooks
+the east terrace, did see a most winsome
+sight.</p>
+
+<p>'Twas a fair morning, and May again,
+and on such mornings as these my lady
+would go forth on the east terrace with the
+child. And there grow all such sweet flowers
+as my lady loves&mdash;the red mule-pinks,
+and dame's-violets, such as are sweet o' evenings,
+but marvellous fair to look upon both
+by sunlight and moonlight. And the south
+wall was all thick with the yellow violets, so
+that my lady's head looked like the head
+o' a saint against a golden platter. And
+there did my lady sit, on a quaintly
+wrought bench, with the little lord.</p>
+
+<p>And this morning, when she was seated,
+and the babe curled against her bosom, and
+Marian and myself thinking o' the pictures
+o' the Virgin Mary and the blessed Jesus
+(saving that my lady's kirtle was all of
+white and gold, like the lilies, knotted in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+her waistband), she looked up on a sudden,
+and lo! there was the master coming along
+over the grass towards her. When he saw
+who it was that sat there, he doffed his
+plumed hat like as though it had been the
+Virgin Mary for very truth, and he paused
+a minute, but then came on.</p>
+
+<p>When my lady saw him who he was,
+there came a fair red o'er all the white o'
+her throat and face; ay, and withal over
+her very bosom. And she put up one
+white hand, with her wedding-ring on't,
+and made as though she would shield the
+sun from the babe's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>And all this time my lord came slowly
+over the grass, as though the sweet sight
+did pleasure him both far and near. And
+when he was approached, he stood, still
+with his hat in his hand, and looked down
+at the babe and its mother, and was silent.</p>
+
+<p>Then the child, feeling mayhap that its
+father was near, twisted over towards him,
+reaching out its waxen arm, and smiled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+right knowingly; whereat my lord did pluck
+the great plume out o' his hat and lay it
+across my lady's bosom; moreover, he knelt
+and put an hand on the babe, but his arm
+he held about his wife.</p>
+
+<p>Then did she draw both my lord and the
+child to her, and pressed them against her,
+but her face she lifted Godwards.</p>
+
+<p>And something spoke within our hearts
+that we turned and left the window.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING<br />
+PEBWORTH.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Humfrey Lemon</span>, meeting Bered Turnip,
+before the "Red Deer," doth speak
+as follows:<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+
+<p>Whom have we here? Well, well, by
+my troth! 'tis none other than Bered Turnip,
+the farrier, as I do live! Come for
+an alms-drink, comrade. Would I had as
+many gold-pieces as we have burnt alnights
+i' this very tavern! And is it thus
+we meet after all these years? It doth
+seem but yesterday that we supped under
+this very roof as juvenals. Dost thou
+mind thee o' the night that we gave old
+Gammer Lick-the-Dish a bath in his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+sack, for that he served us in a foul jerkin?
+By'r lay'kin, those were days! Well, well,
+to meet thee thus! Though, believe it or
+not, as thou wilt, I had such a pricking i'
+my thumbs but an hour gone that I was of
+a mind to roar you like any babe with a
+pin in his swaddling-bands. Thou wast
+my beau-peer i' those times; and we are
+kin by profession, moreover. How be Mistress
+Turnip and thy eight lads? Ha!
+ha! Dost remember how old Anthony
+Butter&mdash;him who was gardener at Amhurste
+Castle, ye mind&mdash;dost thou remember
+in what spite he held thee because o'
+those eight little salads o' thine? A always
+said a married with an eye to a's
+posterity; and o' my word a's been cockeyed
+e'er since, for's posterity has e'er kept
+him on the lookout: never chick or child
+hath Mistress Butter given him.</p>
+
+<p>Quoth he to me one day, a-setting of
+'s chin in 's thumb and forefinger (thou
+mind'st his solemn ways)&mdash;quoth he to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+"Lemon," quoth he, "would I knew why
+the Lord doth seem to look with a more
+bounteous favor on such as are farriers,
+than on such as be followers of other
+trades; for methinks, what with thee, and
+Turnip, and Job Long-pate, who bides in
+Dancing Marston, England will owe the
+chief o' her future population to blacksmiths."
+I quoth, to humor him, quoth I,
+"Belike, Master Butter," quoth I, "the Almighty
+hath gotten wisdom by experience,
+and doth purpose to put no further trust
+in gardeners." Whereat he waxed so
+wrathful, that for the sake o' my breeches
+I took to my heels. But, Lord! it doth
+seem as though a had a spite against th'
+very children o' others. Thou mindest
+my Keren? By'r lay'kin, 'twill not stick i'
+my old pate how that thou hast not been
+in these parts since my Keren could 'a'
+walked under a blackberry-bramble without
+so much as tousling her tresses. Well, a
+grew up a likely lass, I can tell thee!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+Sure thou mindest why we&mdash;my wife and
+I&mdash;did come to call her Keren? Go to!
+Thou dost! 'Tis the jest o' th' place to
+this day. Well, then, if thou dost not, I'll
+be at the pains o' telling thee; for methinks
+'twas a wise thought. We did
+christen her Keren-Happuch; "for," quoth
+my wife, "when that we be pleased with
+her, we can call her Keren&mdash;which is as
+sweet-sounding a name as a maid can have;
+and, on the other hand, when we be wroth
+with her, we can call her Happuch&mdash;which
+sure would be a rough name even for thy
+trotting mare Bellibone." Ha! ha! And
+thereby, comrade, hangs another tale, as
+Master Shakespeare was wont to say. My
+wife, thou must know, hath e'er been a
+loyal admirer o' our gracious Queen, and
+it comes to her ears one day as how her
+Majesty did ride a-horseback most excellent
+well. Naught would do but that I must
+let Mistress Lemon mount for a ride upon
+my gray mare Bellibone. Now Bellibone,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+though as willing a nag as ever ambled,
+did think far more o' getting to her journey's
+end than o' the manner in which she
+did accomplish the journey; and, I will say,
+a trotted as though a was for breaking
+th' stones on th' Queen's highway, instead
+o' getting o'er 'em. Well, I did what I
+could to dissuade Mistress Lemon from
+her enterprise, but a was as firm as one o'
+my surest driven nails in a new shoe. So
+a let her go. Couldst thou but 'a' seen her
+when she was returned an hour after!
+Ha! ha! ha! a was for breaking my head
+with my own pincers.</p>
+
+<p>"Dost thou call that devil's-riding-horse
+'Bellibone?'" quoth she, with what breath
+there was left to her. "By my troth, I think
+she hath not another bone in her whole
+body besides her backbone!"</p>
+
+<p>But I spake o' Keren. Thou knowest
+that even as a lass she had a sharp tongue
+o' her own&mdash;as keen as a holly leaf, by my
+troth. So be it. 'Twas one day nigh unto<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+Martlemas that old Butter did undertake to
+chide her for conducting herself after the
+manner o' a lad rather than o' a lass.</p>
+
+<p>Quoth she to him, a-setting of her little
+black pate to one side, and of her little
+brown arms akimbo&mdash;quoth she, "Since the
+Lord hath not made me a lad," quoth she,
+"I cannot more than act like one; and so
+I will do!"</p>
+
+<p>Quoth he, "Thou hast a sour name,
+a bitter tongue, and a peppery temper,
+jade; and the two last be not gifts o' the
+Lord."</p>
+
+<p>"And thou," quoth she, "hast a mustard
+conceit, for right sure am I that 'tis big
+enough for a goose to roost in! And
+whether th' Lord hath given it to thee or
+not, I'm glad I have 't not," quoth she;
+for she had heard it read, in some meeting
+whither her mother would sometimes
+take her, of how the fowls o' the air did
+lodge i' th' branches o' the mustard-plant.
+Well, by'r lay'kin, th' village hath ne'er forgot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+that to this day, and that I'll prove
+thee when we be through drinking!</p>
+
+<p>What hath become o' her? Go to!
+Sure thou knowest that? Well, well 'tis a
+tale to make a play of. I've often thought,
+had Master Shakespeare known of 't, how
+he would 'a' fashioned it into a jolly play.
+Tell thee of 't? What! art in earnest?
+By the mass, then, thou must drink again.
+Come, fill up, fill up. What there! a cup
+o' the amber drink for Master Turnip!</p>
+
+<p>Let me see: how old was th' lass when
+thou didst set forth on thy jauntings?
+Some two years, methinks. And she was
+fourteen on the first day o' March i' that
+year wherein she did sauce old Butter with
+some o' 's own wit for gibing at her for a
+tomboy. O' my word, man, th' old fellow
+was not far i' th' wrong. If e'er th' angel
+o' life did make an error i' th' distributing
+o' souls, 'twas on the night Keren was
+brought into this world. And a say that
+with a cause, moreover; for th' same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+night, mark you, one Mistress Mouldy,
+over the way, was brought to bed o' a
+man-child. That's neither here nor there.
+Herein doth lie the singularity. That
+child did grow up to knit stockings i' th'
+door-way like any wench; Peter Mouldy's
+th' name, and a plays a part i' th' story I'm
+about to relate to thee. Ne'er in all thy
+travels hast thou e'er seen so crack-brain a
+wench as my Keren! Lord! it set thy
+head to swimming did she but enter a
+room. She had no more stability o' motion
+than a merry-go-round; and she was
+that brown, a bun looked pale i' th' comparison,
+when she did lift it to her mouth to
+eat it. A strapping jade, and strong as
+any lad o' her age i' th' village. In her
+seeming she took neither after her mother
+nor after me, though she was a comely
+wench as wenches go&mdash;hair as black as a
+January night in stormy weather, and eyes
+as big and as bright and as yellow (o' my
+word)&mdash;as yellow as two crown pieces!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+They looked out from under her thick eyebrows
+like sunlight peeping from a heavy
+cloud. And she was made like a lad for
+suppleness. Taller than her mother by
+head and shoulders, and within a full inch
+o' my forelock. By'r lay'kin! how she
+could sing too! She would troll thee a
+ditty i' th' voice o' a six-foot stripling, but
+for a' that, as sweet as bells far away on a
+still noon in summer-tide. And she was
+always getting hold o' saucy songs, and putting
+them to tunes o' her own invention.
+A could 'a' had aye the lads i' th' village,
+had a wanted 'em; but, Lord! a had one
+sweetheart one day, and another the next,
+till they were one and all for murdering
+or marrying her. But she would none o'
+'em. 'Twas one summer's day, her mother
+being gone to th' village, that she did set
+about to brew some sack; and as she did
+stand by the big pot while it cooled, to see
+that naught fell into 't, up comes Master
+Peter Mouldy with his knitting, and grins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+at her across the caldron, after the fashion
+o' a horse eating briers. She not noticing
+him, quoth he,</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morrow, sweet Mistress Lemon."</p>
+
+<p>Saith she, not looking at him,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou liest."</p>
+
+<p>"How, mistress?" saith he, with his
+mouth as wide as a church door on a
+Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, for calling a lemon sweet," saith
+she, "when all the world doth know that it
+is sour."</p>
+
+<p>Thereat he did fall a-grinning again.</p>
+
+<p>"Sweet, sweet mistress Keren," quoth he,
+"'tis thee I praise, and not thy name. And
+I will wager that thou art not sour, Mistress
+Keren."</p>
+
+<p>"How wilt thou find out, either to lose
+or to win thy wager?" quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus!" quoth he. And, o' my word,
+the homespun got his arms about her, knitting
+and all (though I would 'a' laid two
+cows and a lamb they couldn't 'a' reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+about her pretty waist), and smacked her
+right heartily full on her red mouth.</p>
+
+<p>Well, comrade, that something would
+happen I knew full well; but when she did
+up with him by the seat o' his breeches
+and the collar o' his jerkin, and did souse
+him head first into the pot o' sack, methought
+I would 'a' burst in sunder, like
+Judas Iscariot (meaning no blasphemy).</p>
+
+<p>And when he was climbed out, spluttering
+and white with terror, she did fish out
+his hat with his big knitting-needles, and
+did set it upon his head, and did thrust
+him outside, and did shut the door in 's
+face. But never a word said she from first
+to last. Then methought in verity I would
+'a' split in twain from top to toe, like the
+veil o' the temple (meaning no blasphemy,
+as I will swear on th' book). And when
+she caught sight o' me she too fell a-laughing,
+and quoth she to me, "I have spoiled
+a good brew for thee, father, but 'twas
+worth the paying for." And therewith she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+did out with the worth o' the sack from
+her purse, which she always carried in her
+bosom, after a fashion inherited from her
+mother, and counted down the silver into
+my hand. I took it, for I ever strove to
+bring up my children in the ways o' honesty;
+and certes she had spoiled the contents
+o' the caldron by turning it into a
+bath-tub for Master Mouldy. Well, 'twas
+th' talk o' th' village for full a month;
+scarce did young Mouldy dare put out his
+nose from behind the lattice o' his mother's
+cottage. But th' other lads seemed to fall
+more daft about the lass than aye afore.</p>
+
+<p>Now, my wife's sister had a daughter,
+called Ruth, and in all things was she most
+different from my Keren. A'd a head as
+yellow as Keren's eyes, and eyes as brown
+as Keren's skin, and a skin as white as
+Keren's teeth; and a was slim and tender-looking,
+like a primrose that hath but just
+ventured out on a day in early spring.
+Moreover, she was a timid, sweet-voiced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+creature&mdash;the kind o' wench that makes
+even a weak man feel strong, ye mind,
+comrade. But a was ne'er o'er-civil to my
+lass. Neither did Keren waste much love
+upon her; she said from th' very start that
+th' hussy had a sly tongue; "and a sly
+tongue," saith she, "doth ever mate with a
+false heart," saith she; "and from such a
+marriage what offspring can ye look for,
+unless it be for mischief?" saith she.</p>
+
+<p>They had not much to do the one with
+the other, however, until the coming of
+Robert Hacket to Pebworth. And a was
+as fine a lad as e'er caused a lass to don
+her Sunday kirtle on a Saturday. 'Twas
+said as how he had met with Ruth while
+that she was on a visit to her aunt in
+Dancing Marston, and that he had come
+to Pebworth to wed with her. All would
+'a' been well had not it come to Keren's
+ears how that Mistress Ruth said that she
+would bring Master Hacket to see her
+cousin Keren, but that she did not want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+her sweetheart to be out with her family
+ere that he had married into it; meaning
+neither more nor less than that my Keren
+was a shame unto her name by reason o'
+her romping ways.</p>
+
+<p>"The cat!" quoth Keren, waxing as red
+as any damask rose for very anger; "the
+little, spiteful cat! But I'll cut her claws
+for her! Do thou bide and mark me, father.
+Ay, I'll serve her and her Robert in
+such wise they'll go to their graves remembering."</p>
+
+<p>Now, 'twas the very next day that the
+lads and lasses o' the village did crown her
+harvest-queen, and all Bidford was out to
+see 't. And very queen she looked, too,
+borne aloft in a throne made all o' dark red
+roses, and her dark curls crowned with a
+wreath o' corn and o' poppies, that shined
+in the sunlight like to gold strewn all with
+rubies. She wore a new kirtle of white
+wool, and her brown throat rose from her
+white kerchief like as a frozen wood-dove's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+dusky breast doth peep from new-fallen
+snow.</p>
+
+<p>And Mistress Ruth walked beside her
+as one o' her maids o' honor. And they
+twain did remind me of naught so much
+as of a lamb trotting by the side of a forest
+doe&mdash;the one so meek and white, and the
+other so free and brown, with great eyes
+ever moving, and head aloft.</p>
+
+<p>There, moreover, walked Master Hacket.
+He was as brown as my Keren, and nearly
+half as tall again; and he had eyes like
+pools o' water under a night heaven,
+wherein two stars have drowned themselves,
+as 'twere, and brows as black and
+straight as a sweep o' cloud across an evening
+sky. Ruth walked at his side, all glittering
+with her unbound hair, like to a
+sunbeam that follows a dark stream. And
+I saw that they talked together, and nodded
+as though agreeing on something, and
+looked together at my lass where she sat
+on her flower-throne with her poppy-crown,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+and her lips like poppies. And all at once
+she turned and saw them, and her lips
+parted over her white teeth in a sudden
+smile, as when a kirtle o' red silk doth tear
+over a white petticoat beneath; and she
+turned away; but I could see that she
+laughed in her brown throat, as a bird
+sings sometimes for its own hearkening
+ere trolling for the whole forest. So I said
+to myself, "'Ware, 'ware, my little spring
+lamb; there is trouble ahead for thee.
+Thou wilt not win thy Boaz so easily as
+thou dost think, my little Ruth."</p>
+
+<p>Now, when they were come to the
+fields, and the maids seated under some
+elm-trees, and all the lads fallen to 't with
+their sickles, while that they were reaping
+the glistening corn my Keren doth leap
+to her feet, and she calls out,</p>
+
+<p>"I know not the name o' yonder man,
+but I do know that I can give him a lesson
+in reaping!"</p>
+
+<p>So forthwith up jumps she, and, striding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+out into the sunlit meadow, jerks young
+Hacket's sickle from his hand, and, having
+turned back the sleeves o' her smock,
+stands well upon her shapely legs and begins
+to reap.</p>
+
+<p>Now, methought I had ne'er in all my
+life seen anything more pleasing to look
+upon. The wind blew down her thick
+locks about her, so that she was wrapped
+in a mantle worthy any queen; while with
+every sweep o' her strong brown arms the
+tumbling grain did fall like gold about her,
+so that she seemed to be trampling upon
+her treasures after a manner truly royal.
+Also a red came into her shadowy cheeks,
+like as though a scarlet flower tossed into
+a clear brown stream should rise slowly
+upward beneath the limpid surface and
+shine a-through. And all at once she
+ceased, and came back towards the young
+man, and returned his sickle unto him.
+And she said, smiling,</p>
+
+<p>"Take thou thy blade, for I have not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+only reaped the grain, but I have reaped
+the reward of my bragging as well." And,
+behold! when I was come up to them with
+a drink o' water in a gourd, there was the
+blood falling down upon her white kirtle,
+as though the poppies in her crown had
+melted in the sunlight and did stain her
+garment.</p>
+
+<p>He did cry out, saying, "O' my word,
+lass, thou art deeply hurt. Let me but
+look at it."</p>
+
+<p>She saith unto him (winding her arm
+about in her long hair), "Nay, 'tis nothing,
+and belike if thou look upon it 'twill spoil
+thy dinner: so here's to thy health, and my
+father will bind it for me."</p>
+
+<p>Then, when we were retired again into
+the shade, and I had torn a strip off of her
+kirtle wherewith to stanch the blood, she
+laughed outright, and saith,</p>
+
+<p>"By my troth, father! I do verily believe
+thou thinkest me awkward without a
+purpose."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Purpose!" saith I; for I could not believe
+my ears. "How dost thou mean&mdash;purpose?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's neither here nor there," saith
+she, still laughing. "But I'll lay thee my
+heifer, father, that Mistress Ruth's sweetheart
+cometh on the morrow to inquire
+after Mistress Ruth's cousin Keren."</p>
+
+<p>Wherewith she did make me a deep
+courtesy, and did get her back to the other
+lasses ere I could reply.</p>
+
+<p>Well, as I live, and must some day die,
+and do hope when I do die to get to
+heaven, I was so taken aback with the
+hussy's cunning I could do naught but
+stand and stare after her for some minutes.</p>
+
+<p>And on the morrow he did come, and
+on the day after that he came, and yet a
+third day and he was under my roof again.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith my wife, after that his third
+visit was o'er, and speaking to Keren as
+she sat spinning i' th' door-way,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+"Happuch," saith she, "thou art serving
+thy cousin Ruth a very jade's trick."</p>
+
+<p>Then, hearing as how she did call her
+"Happuch," I did prick up my ears, as
+'twere; for I knew there was anger brewing.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art very free with thy words to-day,
+mother," quoth the maid, a-spinning
+very quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Not so free as thou art with thy favors
+to the sweetheart o' another lass," replied
+her mother.</p>
+
+<p>"How dost thou know he is the sweetheart
+o' another lass?" saith Keren.</p>
+
+<p>"If an he be not," quoth her mother,
+who, though not half so big as her child,
+was in nowise less valiant&mdash;"if an he be
+not," quoth she, "'tis time he were."</p>
+
+<p>"And for why?" saith Keren.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou knowest as well as I do, Happuch,"
+saith my wife; whereat up started
+my crack-brain in a fine fury.</p>
+
+<p>"Why wilt thou call me that vile name,
+when thou knowest how it maddens me?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+saith she, hurling her spindle upon the
+floor, and tightening both her pretty hands
+so that they looked like balls o' her own
+brown yarn.</p>
+
+<p>"For that I am not pleased with thee,
+Happuch," saith her mother, with all composure,
+looking at the linen as she washed
+it, with her head cocked to one side.</p>
+
+<p>"There again!" shouted my wildfire,
+stamping with her foot. "Why didst thou
+not call me Beelzebub and have done
+with 't?"</p>
+
+<p>"For the reason," quoth her mother,
+calmly, "that neither Beel nor Zebub is a
+suiting name for a woman, and, furthermore,
+that thou art not the Devil, though
+thou dost act like him on occasions."</p>
+
+<p>"Wife, wife," put in I, seeing that the
+girl was like to split with rage, "speak
+gentler to Keren."</p>
+
+<p>"To Happuch," saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak gentler to the girl," saith I, hoping
+to compromise, as 'twere.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Happuch," saith my wife again.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well," saith I, still hoping to split
+the difference, so that I would have neither
+my wife nor my daughter upon me, "if
+thou wouldst only speak gentler to Keren-Happuch,
+thou&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"To Happuch," saith my wife a third
+time; whereat the lass did bounce out o'
+the house without more ado, and spent that
+night with a friend o' her own, by name
+one Mistress Meg Titmouse.</p>
+
+<p>"Wife," saith I unto her later, hoping
+to draw her into converse concerning
+Keren, so that I might reason with her
+as to her treatment o' th' lass&mdash;"wife,"
+saith I, amiably, and, as I thought, in a
+manner most winsome, "wherefore didst
+thou speak to Keren as thou didst this
+morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"I spake to Happuch," saith my wife,
+"because I did choose so to do. And as
+for the why o' that wherefore, though thou
+shouldst smirk till doomsday like a dog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+scratching his ear, ne'er wilt thou get it
+out o' me!"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith I, being justly angered, as I
+think thou wilt admit, comrade&mdash;saith I,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art welcome to keep thy counsel!"
+saith I.</p>
+
+<p>And I followed the example set me by
+my vixen, and did spend more than half
+the night at this very tavern.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the next morning, as I did pass
+out on my way to my forge, whom should
+I see in the garden but my Keren and
+Master Robert Hacket! and if e'er a woman
+was possessed o' a devil, 'twas just that
+lass o' mine then, comrade. She had
+caused young Hacket to climb up into a
+pear-tree, and while that he was up there
+she did bear away the ladder by which he
+had mounted, and she saith to him,</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Master Robin, I am going to
+sing thee a song. Wilt thou listen?"</p>
+
+<p>"With all my heart," saith he. So he
+leaned on his elbow, stretched out like a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+young panther along the limb o' th' tree,
+and looked down on her. Now, as I live,
+down went that jade on her knees in the
+grass, and she lifts up her two pretty hands
+to him as though in prayer, and thus sings
+she (I knew the song by heart):</p>
+
+<div class='poem'>
+"'Listen, Robin, while I woo.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">This world's stale with repetition:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I'll not do as others do;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Haste thee, love, to my tuition.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Robin, I'll make love to you,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">As men to other maidens do.</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Oh, what eyes my Robin hath!<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">April fields own no such blue;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In the luscious aftermath</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">There's no flower so fair to view.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Robin, Robin, hear me woo.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">All my soul's in love with you!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Robin, will you marry me?&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thus upon my knees I sue:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">O' my word I'll harry thee</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Like as men their sweethearts do.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Robin, as I live I'm true:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Will you wed me, Robin?&mdash;Will you?'"</span><br />
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now, what chanced thereupon I think
+thou wilt agree with me, comrade, in saying
+it did but serve her right. Down falls
+he like a ripe pomewater at her side, and
+takes her about the waist, and sets his
+mouth to hers (all in a twink, comrade;
+thou hadst not time to shape thy mouth
+for a whistle ere 'twas all done, or verily
+my mouth had given forth something besides
+whistling), and saith he,</p>
+
+<p>"That will I, lass; an' if thou be not
+my wife ere that snail-coming new moon
+doth thrust out her horns, my name is not
+Hacket, nor will thine be!"</p>
+
+<p>Now, comrade, though it doth shame me
+verily so to speak o' mine own flesh, I saw
+by her pretending to push him away that
+she did mightily relish his kisses; for, by
+my troth! had she sought to scuffle with
+him 'twould 'a' been as snug an encounter
+as when day and night wrestle for the last
+bit o' a June sky.</p>
+
+<p>And she saith to him, feigning to scowl,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+"How now, thou rapscallion! dost thou
+dare?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay," quoth he, "in verity I do!"
+quoth he. And in verity a did, too.</p>
+
+<p>But just as I was consulting with the
+Lord how to act, He having had even
+a greater experience with wayward children
+than myself (may He pardon me
+if I be too free with His holy name!)&mdash;just,
+I say, as I was asking Him to show
+me in what wise to proceed, up goes her
+hand, and she gives him a sound cuff o' th'
+ear (young Hacket's ear&mdash;not the Lord's;
+may He pardon me if so it sounded), and
+she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Take that for striving to make a fool
+out o' an honest girl! I know thy goings
+on with Ruth Visor," saith she. "Thou'lt
+ne'er blind me with thy pretty speecheries."
+And a was o'er th' palings and out
+o' sight like a wind-blown leaf.</p>
+
+<p>Then did young Hacket come to th'
+fence and lean upon it with both his arms,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+and support his chin with a thumb on
+either side o't, and saith he,</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks she'd 'a' made a better warrior
+than a wife," saith he; "but when she
+hath ta'en off the edge o' her warlike spirit
+in fighting for her freedom," saith he, "why,
+then," saith he, "I'll marry her!" So saith
+he&mdash;every word o't. By my troth, comrade,
+an I had not had so much the advantage
+by having my nippers in my hand, I would
+'a' thrashed him then and there. But,
+"fair play" being my motto, and having
+my nippers, as I saith, I forbore; yea, I
+forbore, and walked away unseen of him.
+And, o' my word, I was much angered
+with myself for not being more angry with
+th' wench.</p>
+
+<p>"For," saith I, out loud, that I might
+be impressed by the sound as well as by
+the knowledge o' th' fact&mdash;"for," saith I,
+a-hammering away on a shoe for Joe Pebbles's
+brown nag King Edward (though I
+had often reasoned with Joe on account o'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+th' name, first because o' its irreverence,
+second on account o' th' horse not being
+that kind o' a horse, as 'twas a mare)&mdash;"for,"
+saith I, as I made th' shoe, saith I,
+"'tis sure a great wickedness to steal a
+lass's sweetheart away from her!" saith I.
+And so 'twas; but, for all I could do, I
+could not feel angered with the hussy.</p>
+
+<p>But that day when she did fetch me my
+dinner, being finished, I did pull down th'
+sleeves o' my shirt, and wiped off my leathern
+apron, and quoth I to her,</p>
+
+<p>"Lass, come here and sit upon my knee."</p>
+
+<p>So she comes right willingly, being fond
+o' me to an extent that did oft seem to
+astony the mother that bore her (seeing
+that <i>she</i> was fond o' naught save her own
+way); she comes, and she perches upon my
+knee (as sometimes thou shalt see a hawk
+rest wings on a bull's back), and she kittles
+my throat with her long brown fingers,
+and hugs me about the neck (the jade! a
+knew I was for scolding her), and saith she,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+"Well, father, here be I." Methinks I
+can hear her say it now, as soft as any
+little toddler come for a kiss. "Here be
+I," she saith; and with that she fills all my
+face with her curls (the jade! a saw that
+in my eye which a did not care to face).
+"Here be I," saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay," saith I, speaking in a gruff voice;
+"and now that here thou be," saith I, "I'll
+tell thee what I want of thee."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou canst want naught that I will
+not do," saith she. (The jade! a had a
+way with her to 'a' made Bess herself yearn
+for matrimony.) But I was stanch; I was
+stanch, comrade. Saith I,</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks thy mother was right to speak
+to thee as yesternight she did," saith I; "for
+I saw thee strive to graft a pear-tree with a
+branch o' th' tree o' knowledge," saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"Then," saith she, hot as my forge all in
+a breath, and bouncing from my knee&mdash;"then
+thou wast an eavesdropper!" saith
+she.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Even as the Lord afore me," saith I,
+not over-pleased at her sauciness. "And
+being in some sort thy Creator, and thou
+having set up for thyself an Eden in my
+garden," saith I, "who hath a greater right
+than I to watch over thee?" saith I.</p>
+
+<p>Then she not answering me, thus did I
+continue:</p>
+
+<p>"Why dost thou not take unto thyself
+an husband," quoth I, "to do both thyself
+and thy parents a credit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Show me such an one," saith she, "and
+I do promise thee to wed him."</p>
+
+<p>"There, then," quoth I, "is Davy Short hose,
+the poulterer&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"A bangled-eared buffoon as ever lived!"
+quoth she; "and a fool into the bargain."</p>
+
+<p>"So be it," saith I; for I was set upon
+keeping my temper. "What dost thou say
+to Beryamen Piggin, the brewer?"</p>
+
+<p>"A say if ever a piggin was in sore need o'
+a new link, 'tis that one," saith she. "And,
+what's more, I'll not serve for 't," saith she.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How, then, of Nanfan Speckle, the tanner?"</p>
+
+<p>"A's as pied as a's name," quoth she,
+"both soul and body."</p>
+
+<p>"There be Jezreel Spittlewig, the joiner."</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks," quoth she, "if a'd do a little
+joining to a's own shackling body, a might
+hold together long enough to go through
+the marriage ceremony," saith she. "Howbeit,
+I'm not a-sure of 't."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Jack Stirthepot, the chair-mender."</p>
+
+<p>"A'd have to stir th' pot with a witch
+ere a brewed a wedding with me," quoth
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"What sayest to Reuben Puff, the
+tinker?"</p>
+
+<p>"If I say so much as a word to any one
+o' em," cried she, snatching up the pail
+wherein she had brought my victuals,
+"may thy first grandchild be born without
+a tongue!" saith she. And out she
+went.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then quoth I to myself, quoth I, "Lemon,"
+quoth I, "the jade's in love with th'
+crack&mdash;no more, no less." And I said further,
+said I, "Bodykins!" said I, a-shoeing
+of King Edward with all my might, "by
+cock and pye!" said I, "an a wants him
+let a have him. 'Tis more than his <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'desert'">dessert</ins>,
+I'll warrant," so quoth I. "And as for
+Dame Visor's hussy, let her learn to bridle
+her tongue," quoth I. And 'twas just here
+that wench Keren did creep up and take
+me about the neck, as I was a-filing of King
+Edward's hoof.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," saith she, "I cry thee pardon
+if I have sauced thee; but dost not mind
+the rhyme thou art so fond of?&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class='poem'>
+"'Shoe the horse, and shoe the mare,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But let the little colt go bare.'</span><br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>Seek not to chide me, father, and ne'er will
+my heels bring hurt to any."</div>
+
+<p>Then off was she again ere I had spat
+forth my mouthful o' nails to answer her.</p>
+
+<p>But that evening as I came home, about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+the going down o' th' sun, I did hear voices
+i' th' kitchen, and, looking in at th' window,
+behold, there was that hussy Ruth a-plucking
+of Keren by th' kirtle, and Keren a-holding
+of a pan o' milk above her head, as
+though she had half a mind to souse her
+cousin in 't.</p>
+
+<p>And saith she, "Get to thy feet, wench.
+This is neither a church, nor am I th' Lord."</p>
+
+<p>But th' girl (who seemed to be in trouble
+o' some sort) fell a-sobbing, and saith she,</p>
+
+<p>"Cousin, cousin, I know I have used
+thee ill, but all my joy is in him. If thou
+takest him from me, better didst thou take
+my life, for he is more to me than life."</p>
+
+<p>Then quoth my lass, "Shame on thee
+to say it o' any man, worthy or unworthy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, shame enough have I, cousin!"
+quoth the poor wench&mdash;"shame to 'a' lost
+him, and shame that I should plead with
+another to give him back to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Go to!" saith Keren; "go to! I have
+not got him to give him back to thee."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast!" saith Ruth; "thou hast!&mdash;he
+is thine, soul and body&mdash;soul and body!
+And thou dost not care; and I care&mdash;oh, I
+care so that I know not how to word it!"</p>
+
+<p>(Every word that passed between 'em is
+as clear in my mind as though 'twere but
+yesterday it all happened.)</p>
+
+<p>"I say shame on thee to say so," saith
+my lass again.</p>
+
+<p>But the wench still hung about her, and
+would not let go, and she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, cousin, cousin, cousin, doth it not
+show thee in what straits I am, that I come
+to thee for succor? Rather had I died,
+one week agone, than ask thee for thy
+hand though I were drowning. And sure
+'tis less than thy hand for which I ask thee
+now, sith it be for a man who is less to
+thee than the littlest finger on that hand,
+but who is more to me than the heart in
+my wretched body! And a had vowed to
+wed me; and 'twas next month we were to
+be wed; and all so happy&mdash;my father and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+my mother so pleased, and his folks do like
+me well; and my wedding-gown all sewn
+and lain away, and the ribbons for my
+shoes, and some kickshaws for th' new
+house; and all we so glad, and all going
+so smooth, and we twain so loving; for,
+oh, he did love me the once! he did love
+me the once! And now&mdash;now&mdash;now&mdash;"
+And here did she fall a-weeping in such
+wise that never another word could she
+say. And she sate down on the kitchen
+floor, and hid all her pretty head (for
+pretty 'twas, though I liked her not)&mdash;hid
+it all in the skirt o' her kirtle.</p>
+
+<p>Then stood my lass quite still, and her
+face like the milk in her pan, and she looks
+down on th' hussy, as a horse might look
+down on a kitten which it hath unwitting
+trampled on, and she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"I would I knew whether or no thou
+speakest the truth!"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith the wench, a-reaching up her
+clasped hands to heaven&mdash;saith she,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+"May God forever curse me an I do
+not!"</p>
+
+<p>"Take not God's name in vain," saith
+my lass, sharply, and went and set down
+her pan o' milk on the cupboard. And
+again she stands, slowly wiping her hands
+on her apron, and looking down at th' girl,
+who hath once more covered all her face
+in her petticoat; and by-and-by she saith
+to her,</p>
+
+<p>"What is 't thou wouldst have me do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Give me back my Robin! give me
+back my Robin!" saith the maid.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art welcome to him for me," saith
+Keren.</p>
+
+<p>Then fell the maid a-weeping more bitterly
+than ever, and she huddled herself on
+the hard floor, like a young bird that hath
+fallen out o' its nest, and sobbed piteously.
+And presently gets she to her feet without
+a word, still a-hiding of her face in her
+kirtle, and turns to go, a-feeling her way
+with one o' her little hands. But when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+she hath reached th' door, and hath got
+one foot on the threshold, up strides that
+lass o' mine, and, taking her by the arm,
+swings her back into th' room; and she
+makes her sit down on a settle and take
+down her kirtle from her face. And while
+she is snooding up her ruffled locks, she
+saith unto her,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art a little fool to cry so; dost
+hear? What! at it again? Well, well,
+God patience me! What's a body to do
+with such a little ninny? There! dry your
+eyes. Ye shall have your Robin, never
+fear. God-a-mercy! at what art blubbering
+now?" But down slipped Ruth on her
+knees, and caught Keren about hers, and
+she saith unto her,</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven bless thee! thou art a good
+woman! May Heaven forgive me for all
+such words as e'er I have said against
+thee! Bless thee! bless thee!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bodykins!" saith my lass (having learned
+some round oaths from me, I do grieve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+to say)&mdash;"bodykins!" saith she, "wilt a-hear
+th' lass? I say scamper, scamper; my father'll
+be coming home to sup erelong,
+and I would not he found thee thus.
+Away with thee! and fret no more: dost
+hear? If I hear that thou hast moped any
+further from this hour on, I'll not answer
+either for my doings or for those o' others:
+dost hear? Now scamper!" And scamper
+a did, like a hare with th' hounds
+upon 't.</p>
+
+<p>So full was I o' praising my lass on her
+good 'havior that I had got me from th'
+lattice and was half in at the door ere I
+saw what had befallen.</p>
+
+<p>There was my madcap comrade, down
+on her knees afore the settle, wi' both
+hands gripped in her thick locks, and her
+head bent forward on th' wooden seat;
+and she made no sound, neither uttered
+she any word, but a shook like water when
+a heavy weight rolls past. And a drew
+long breaths ever and anon, like one that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+hath been half drowned and is coming
+back to life. And I knew then, I knew
+then, comrade. I had thought a loved th'
+boy; and I knew then. So I got me out,
+without making any clatter, and I sat me
+down on a bench outside th' kitchen door
+to think 't over; and, by cock and pye,
+man, ne'er a thought could I think for th'
+tears in my eyes. Th' poor lass! th' poor
+lass! It fetches th' salt into my een now
+to think on 't. Well, well, what's past is
+past, and God himself cannot undo 't; and
+what's coming's coming, and God wunnot
+hinder it an he could; so there's an end
+on 't. Fill up, man, fill up! What there,
+I say! Joel, I say! A quart o' sack for
+Master Turnip.</p>
+
+<p>Well, when I had thought it well o'er,
+I did determine to say naught to th' lass
+whatsoever; neither did I; but meseems
+I was bound to o'erhear heart-breaking
+words atween somebody, for th' very next
+day, as I was henting th' style as leads<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+into th' lane (thou knowest the lane I
+mean, comrade: 't lies atween Cowslip
+Meadow and th' pool i' th' hollow&mdash;Sweethearts'
+Way, they call 't)&mdash;well, as I was
+getting o'er th' style&mdash;as I had just got
+me o'er by one leg, after this fashion, ye
+mind; as though this chair here were th'
+style, and yonder chimney-place th' lane&mdash;Sweethearts'
+Way, ye mind&mdash;well, as I was
+half over, and Mumble, th' turnspit pup,
+half under, as 'twere, I heard voices&mdash;voices,
+comrade&mdash;one o' them th' voice o'
+that lass o' mine, and t'other th' voice o'
+young Hacket.</p>
+
+<p>"Here be a coil," say I. "What's to do?"</p>
+
+<p>Now the pup seemed to be filled with
+the spirit o' th' Lord all on a sudden, after
+th' fashion o' th' talking jackass i' th'
+Scriptures; for if a didna talk a did th' next
+thing to 't&mdash;a tried to. And after pulling
+at my heels like as though a fiend had got
+him, a scuttles into th' thicket, for no cause,
+as I could see, but to give me th' benefit o'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+example. So in goes I after him. Scarce
+was I settled, with a bramble down th'
+back o' my neck, and some honey-bees at
+work too nigh to my legs for my peace o'
+mind, when they come, and both a-chattering
+at th' same time like two magpies
+with slit tongues.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou didst!" quoth he. "That did I
+not!" quoth she. "Thou didst, and I can
+prove 't on thee!" quoth he, louder than
+afore. "I tell thee I did not, and thou
+canst sooner prove that Bidford Mill turns
+the Avon than that I did!" quoth she.
+"Wilt thou stand there and tell me i' th'
+eyes that thou hast so oft looked love
+into," quoth he, like a man choked with
+spleen&mdash;"I say, wilt thou, Keren Lemon,
+stand there and face me, Robert Hacket,
+and say thou hast ne'er given me reason
+to believe that thou didst love me?"
+quoth he. "No more cause than I've given
+to twenty better than thee!" quoth she.
+"Shame on thee to say 't, thou bold-faced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+jig!" saith he; "shame on thee, I say! and
+so will say all honest folk when I tell
+'em o' 't." "An thou tell it, the more fool
+thou," saith she; and a draws up her red
+lips into a circle as though a'd had a drawstring
+in 'em, and a stands and looks at
+him as a used to stand and look at her
+dam when she chid her for a romp. Then
+all on a sudden, with such a nimbleness
+as took away my breath and drove all
+thoughts o' brambles and honey-bees clean
+out o' my pate, he jumps aside o' her, and
+gets her about th' middle, as he did that
+day under th' pear-tree, and quoth he,
+"Lass," quoth he, "dunnot break my heart!
+dunnot break th' heart that loves ye more
+than a' that's in the earth, or th' heavens
+above, or th' waters below! Say ye love
+me, and ha' done with 't."</p>
+
+<p>Then gives she up herself to him for
+one beat o' her own breaking heart, the
+poor madcap, and she leans on him with
+all her pretty self, as though begging him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+to take her against her own will, and then
+a cry breaks from her, half human, and half
+like th' cry o' a hurt beast, and she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Shame on ye, shame on ye, to forsake
+th' lass ye ha' sworn to wed! Get thee
+back to her straightway, or ne'er look me
+i' th' face again!" And she leaps back from
+him, and points with her arm&mdash;as stiff and
+steady as th' tail o' a sportsman's dog&mdash;towards
+th' village, and she saith again,
+"Get thee back to her; get thee back to
+Ruth Visor, and wed with her ere this
+month be out o' the year!"</p>
+
+<p>Then lifts he his sullen head, and looks
+at her from under his brows like a smitten
+blood-hound. And he saith back o' his
+clamped teeth, like as 'twere a dog gnarling
+in his throat, "curse ye for a false
+jade!" saith he; "Curse ye for as black-hearted
+a jade as e'er set an honest man
+on th' road to hell!" And he turned, and
+cleared th' style with one hand on 't, and
+went his ways.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And th' lass stood and looked after him
+as still as though she were turned into a
+pillar o' summat, after th' manner o' th'
+woman i' th' holy book, and both her
+hands grasping her breast. But anon
+there comes a trouble o'er her face, like
+as when a little wind doth run across a
+gray pool at eventide, and her lips begin
+to tremble, like as though some red flower
+a-growing on th' bank was shaken by 't,
+and her eyes all full o' woe, like th' eyes
+o' some dumb thing as cannot word its
+sorrow; and all at once she falls upon her
+knees, and thence upon her forehead on
+the ground, and afterwards to her whole
+length, with her strong hands grasping th'
+flowers and grass on either side o' her, and
+tearing them up with th' crackling noise
+that a horse makes when 't grazes. But
+no sound escapes her, whether a sigh or a
+groan. Well, well, comrade, I cry thee patience
+if I do stumble here a bit: I cannot
+think on 't now without a tightness i' my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+throat, any more than a man can think o'
+th' day his first child was born to him without
+his heart leaping hot in 's throat like
+the flame to th' bellows. Well, well! Fill
+up, I say; fill up. Remember th' old days,
+when thou wast more ale-washed than th'
+bottle itself. Where be I i' th' narrative?
+Yea, yea, 'tis there&mdash;'tis there; I mind me
+o't now.</p>
+
+<p>No sound 'scaped her, but presently she
+lifts herself up upon her knees again, with
+such heaviness as a horse overburdened
+doth get him to his feet, and she holds out
+both her arms i' th' direction where th' lad
+hath vanished, wi' th' grass and flowers yet
+fast in her clinched hands; and she saith
+twice, i' th' voice o' a woman in travail,</p>
+
+<p>"Never will he know, never will he
+know," she saith; and then, "Oh, God!"
+she saith, a-lifting her hands again to her
+breast. "Summat's broke here," she saith,
+full meek, like a body that's looked a many
+time on pain&mdash;"summat's broke, summat's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+broke," o'er and o'er again, as though she
+would use herself to th' sound, as 'twere.
+Then all at once did a deep cry break from
+her. "God, O God," she saith, "show me
+how to bear 't! My God, my God, show me
+how to bear 't." And she got to her feet,
+and sped down th' lane like one blind, running
+first into th' hawthorn bushes o' this
+side, then into th' quickset hedge o' th' other,
+and tearing out her loosened tresses on
+th' low-hanging branches o' th' pear-trees, so
+that I traced her by her hair i' th' twigs,
+like as thou wouldst trace any poor lost
+lamb by its wool on the brambles. Now,
+it did almost break my own heart to say
+naught to her concerning all o't, but I
+knew that 'twould but grieve without comforting
+her; and rather would I 'a' had my
+old heart split in twain than bring one
+more ache into her true breast. So naught
+say I. Never a word, comrade, from then
+till now have I e'er said to her about that
+time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Well, for all 's fine talk, Master Hacket
+went no more to hell than do any other
+men that marry&mdash;an' less than some, seeing
+as how a did not marry a scold, which
+(God forgive me, or her, or both o' us) I
+have done. Yea, comrade, I will commemorate
+this our first meeting in eight years
+by confessing to thee that my wife (in thy
+ear, comrade)&mdash;that my wife was a scold.
+Sometimes I do verily think as how women
+like Mistress Lemon be sent unto men
+to keep 'em from pondering too heavily
+concerning the absence o' marriage in
+heaven. By cock and pye, man, as I live,
+I do honestly believe that I would rather
+be a bachelor in hell, than the husband o'
+Mistress Lemon in heaven!</p>
+
+<p>But to come back to th' lass. And, now
+that I think o' th' lass, comrade, I am not
+so sure that a scolding wife is not well
+paid for by a duteous daughter. Nay, I
+am sure o't. Methinks I would 'a' been
+wed twice, and each time to a shrew, could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+I but 'a' had my Keren o' one o' 'em. Ay,
+even so, even so.</p>
+
+<p>Well, as I said&mdash;or as I meant to say&mdash;Master
+Hacket wedded th' Visor hussy
+within two weeks o' th' day whereon he
+and my Keren had 't so fierce i' Sweethearts'
+Way. And therein are two meanings:
+they fell out, as is the way with
+sweethearts, and they fell out i' th' lane so
+called.</p>
+
+<p>Well, well, let me crack a quart o' sack
+with thee, comrade, and a joke at th' same
+time.</p>
+
+<p>A married Ruth Visor, and they went
+to Lunnon Town. And on th' night o'
+their wedding, as I sat by the fireside i' th'
+kitchen a-mending my tools (for 'twas on
+a Saturday night), and Keren abed, and
+Mistress Lemon a-peeling o' leather-jackets
+to make th' Sunday pie,</p>
+
+<p>"Wife," saith I to her (a-mending my
+tools, as I ha' said), "wife," quoth I, "would
+'twere our lass were wed to-day!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"For why?" saith she. No more, no less.</p>
+
+<p>"For why?" saith I. "For the why I
+think a lass is happier wed to th' man she
+loves," saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis not so I've found it," quoth she,
+a-peeling of an apple so that thou couldst
+'a' put his whole coat back and not 'a'
+known 't had e'er come off.</p>
+
+<p>Then quoth I, a-chuckling in my throat
+at having so snared her, "Right glad am I
+to find out that thou lovest me!" quoth I.</p>
+
+<p>"If thou'st found out that," quoth she,
+"thou'rt greater than Columbus," quoth
+she, "for thou'st discovered something that
+never was," quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>"Bodykins, woman!" saith I, a-losing of
+my temper&mdash;"then for what didst thou
+marry me?"</p>
+
+<p>"For a fool," quoth she. "And I will
+say as I ha' got the full o' my bargain,"
+quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>Whereat so wroth was I that I said
+naught, knowing that if I did open my lips<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+or move my hand 'twould be to curse her
+with th' one and cuff her with t'other.</p>
+
+<p>By-and-by saith she, "And where, by'r
+lay'kin, wilt thou find a man good enough
+in thy eyes for th' lass?" saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"Not on earth," quoth I. "Neither in
+this land nor that other across the sea,"
+quoth I.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay," quoth she. "Very like thou
+wouldst have th' wench to wed with an
+angel," quoth she; "to have all thy grandchildren
+roosting on a gold bar, and their
+dad a-teaching of 'em how to use their
+wings," quoth she. "Or with one o' th'
+red men i' th' new country, to have them
+piebald red and white, like a cock-horse at
+Banbury Cross," quoth she. And with
+that up she gets, and flings the apple-parings
+into th' fire, and gets her to bed
+without more ado. Whereupon day doth
+again find me i' this very tavern.</p>
+
+<p>Well, well, a year had passed, and things
+were jogging very peaceful like, and Keren<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+settled down as quiet as a plough-broken
+mare, when one day as I sit i' th' kitchen,
+while th' lass mends my apron, there comes
+a fumbling at th' latch like as though a
+child made shift to open it. Then quoth
+I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble, or one
+o' the Mouldy lads over th' way;" for the
+babes all loved Keren, and, now that she
+was waxed so quiet, th' lads left her more
+to herself, and she would sit on th' bench
+by the cottage door and make little kickshaws
+by th' hour&mdash;elder-wood whistles,
+and dolls o' forked radishes, and what not.
+So quoth I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble,"
+quoth I, and th' lass having her lap
+full o' my apron, I went and opened th'
+door. And there, comrade, a-kneeling in
+th' grass outside, with her head all hid in
+her kirtle, as she had kneeled two years
+agone on t'other side o' that very door,
+was Mistress Ruth Hacket; and she was
+a-sobbing as though her heart would break.
+And while I stand staring, ere I could find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+a word to my tongue, comes that lass o'
+mine and pushes me aside like as though
+I had been little Marjory Pebble&mdash;ha! ha!
+And down goes she on her knees beside
+th' lass, and gets an arm about her, and
+presses down her head, all hid as 'tis in
+her kirtle, against her breast, and she saith
+to her,</p>
+
+<p>"What troubles thee? Tell Keren, honey.
+So so! What troubles thee? Tell
+Keren."</p>
+
+<p>And from beneath her kirtle th' poor
+jade sobs out, "He's gone! he's gone! he's
+gone! They've taken him to work on th'
+big seas&mdash;and our child not yet born&mdash;and
+me so ailing; and, oh! I want to die! I
+want to die!"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith that lass o' mine, saith she,
+"Father, do thou fetch some o' th' birch
+wine out o' th' cupboard and bring it to me
+in a cup;" and to the girl she saith, "Come,
+then; come, then," like as though she had
+been coaxing some little spring lambkin to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+follow her unto its dam; and she half pulls
+and half carries th' wench into th' house,
+and seats her on a low stool i' th' chimney-corner,
+and kneels down aside of her. And
+when I be come with th' drink, she takes
+the cup out o' my hand, and makes th'
+wench drink 't, holding it to her lips with
+one hand, while with the other she cossets
+her hair and cheek. And, by-and-by, seeing
+myself forgotten, I do withdraw into
+the room beyond, and wait till I be called,
+that th' lasses may have 't out together.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Ruth's folks were aye so poor that
+scarce could they keep clothes on their
+backs and food i' their bellies; and it hath
+some time occurred to me how that the
+Lord might 'a' given such as could not
+provide for themselves a coat o' wool or
+o' hair that would 'a' covered their bodies,
+after the manner of a sheep or goat&mdash;the
+righteous being clad i' th' first fashion, and
+the wicked after th' last.</p>
+
+<p>Well, well, I must on. I see thou art<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+waxing restless, comrade. Not so? Well,
+drink, drink, then, that I may feel thou art
+well occupied while that my old tongue
+wags.</p>
+
+<p>So poor, then, were Ruth's folks that I
+said to myself, said I, "What i' th' name
+o' pity," so saith I&mdash;"what i' th' name o'
+pity is to become o' the poor lass?" But I
+had scarce asked myself th' question when
+my lass answers it for me.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," saith she, a-coming and standing
+afore me, with the empty cup turning
+on her long fingers&mdash;"father," saith she,
+keeping those gold-colored eyes o' hers on
+mine (methinks they were coined o' th'
+same wedge as her heart o' gold)&mdash;"father,"
+saith she, just so, "considering all
+things," saith she, "I'm going to keep th'
+lass in my room till her child be born," so
+saith she.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith I, pulling her down into my
+arms, "Lass," saith I, "verily do I believe
+that not only is every hair o' thy sweet head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+numbered, but that each one is blessed with
+a separate blessing!" And what with my
+love for her, and my admiring of her goodness,
+and my pride in her, and what with
+her pity for the poor girl in th' other room,
+we did shed enough tears between us to
+ha' o'erflowed th' empty cup in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>So she held me about th' neck with both
+arms, and like to ha' run me mad with kissing
+th' back o' my neck (for I was e'er one
+o' your ticklish sort). I stood it bravely,
+however, seeing how she loved me, and
+kissed her too whensoever I could get
+a chance for th' tightness o' her hugging.
+And so we settled it. But Mistress Lemon
+was yet to be consulted.</p>
+
+<p>Ready enough was I to shift that job on
+my lass's broad shoulders (seeing as how a
+reputation for courage with his wife is ne'er
+believed o' a man, at any rate, and as how
+th' wench had a way o' managing her mother
+which sure none could 'a' had that were
+not of her own flesh). And that night,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+when her mother was returned from a
+round o' gossiping, th' lass tells her all
+(having i' th' mean time put Ruth to bed
+atween her own sheets). Well, ne'er saw I
+my wife in such a rage.</p>
+
+<p>"What!" saith she, "thou hast ta'en it
+on thyself to offer my bread and meat to a
+good-for-naught hussy as ne'er had a civil
+word for any o' us! Thou hast given her
+bed-room under my roof without so much
+as 'by your leave!' Thou godless hussy,
+thou! Where be th' jade? I say, where
+be she? Where be she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Where thou shalt not come at her in
+thy present humor, mother," saith the lass,
+standing with one arm reached out across
+the door-way, like as though in verity she
+had been the mother and her dam a naughty
+child.</p>
+
+<p>"How? Dost word me? dost word me?"
+saith my wife. "How? dost take any stray
+cat to kitten in my house an' then word me
+too?"&mdash;so saith she.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then saith th' lass, "Well can I understand,"
+saith she, "how, if thou canst speak
+i' this fashion o' thy sister's child, thou canst
+also speak to thy own as sure no mother
+e'er spoke ere this." Then, changing all
+suddenly her tone, and dropping down her
+arm from the door, "Go an thou like," saith
+she, "to abuse the poor creature who hath
+come to ask thy help in time o' trouble;
+but just so surely as thou dost turn her out
+o' door to lie i' th' straw like any common
+callet, just so sure do I follow her, to fare
+as she fares, and all the village shall know
+what thou hast done."</p>
+
+<p>Then for some minutes did they twain
+stand and gaze upon one another, and at
+last down flumps my wife into a chair, as
+though she would break it in pieces for
+very rage; but being waxed sulky, and her
+own wrath cowed, as 'twere, by her daughter's
+more righteous wrath, she saith nothing
+more of 't, good or bad.</p>
+
+<p>In three weeks' time th' child is born,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+and as sound and as pretty a babe as e'er
+I clapt eyes on, and Keren a-dangling of
+him as natural as though she herself had
+been a mother, time and again.</p>
+
+<p>"What say'st thou now, lass?" quoth
+she. "Wilt trust Keren after this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is he sound, verily?" saith the poor
+little dame, looking shyly upon him.</p>
+
+<p>"Never a spot so big as the splash on
+a guinea-flower!" saith Keren. "And ears
+like sea-shells."</p>
+
+<p>So, after a-kissing of them both, and th'
+top o' th' babe's head (as 'twas permitted
+me to do), I steals out and leaves them together.</p>
+
+<p>Well, ne'er saw thou a child grow as did
+that child. Meseemed he sprouted like
+corn after a rain; and in five months a
+was waxed so strong a could stand on 's
+feet a-holding to his mother's kirtle. But,
+strange to say or not, as thou wilt have 't,
+he did seem to love Keren more than he
+did th' mother that bore him, a-crying for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+her did she but so much as turn her back,
+and not sleeping unless that she would
+croon his lullabies to him. Mayhap it was
+because her strong arms and round bosom
+made a more cosey nest for him than did
+th' breast and arms o' his little dam; but
+so was 't, and nearly all o' her time did th'
+lass give to him. Neither did it seem to
+rouse aught o' jealousy in Ruth's heart:
+she was too busy a-looking for th' return
+o' 's father to bother her pretty pate o'ermuch
+concerning him. And she would sit
+and talk o' Robin, and o' Robin's goodness,
+and o' Robin's sweet ways and words
+and doings, until I thought sometimes my
+poor lass's heart would just break within
+her, if 't had not been broken already these
+two years. And one day, as she kneels
+beside th' cradle&mdash;Ruth having gone to
+see her folks for th' day&mdash;I come in unknown
+to her, and stand to watch th' pretty
+sight. There kneels she, and Ruth's
+red shawl o'er her head to please th' child<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+(Keren ne'er had any bright colors o' her
+own those days)&mdash;there kneels she, I say,
+beside the cradle, and kittles him with her
+nimble fingers, and digs him i' th' ribs after
+a fashion that would sure 'a' run me
+crazy (though it hath ne'er yet been proven
+what a young babe cannot endure at the
+hands o' women), and punches and pokes
+and worries him, for all th' world like a
+kitten worrying a flower. And he, lying
+on his back, kicks with both feet at her
+face, and winds all his hands in her long
+hair, and laughs, and bubbles, and makes
+merry, after the fashion o' a spring stream
+among many stones. And by-and-by a
+change falls o'er her, and she waxes very
+solemn, and sits down on th' floor by th'
+edge o' th' cradle, with one arm upon 't
+and her head on her hand, and she looks
+at the babe. In vain doth he clutch at her
+hair and at her kerchief, and reach, with
+pretty broken murmurings, as of water
+through crowding roots, after his little bare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+toes: never so much as a motion makes
+she towards him. But at last up gets she
+to her knees, and takes him fiercely into
+her strong hands, and holds him off at
+arm's-length, looking at him; and she saith
+in a deep voice (such as I had not heard
+her use for two years), saith she, "For that
+thou art not mine," saith she, "I hate thee;
+but&mdash;" and here came a change o'er all her
+face and voice and manner, like as when
+April doth suddenly wake in the midst o'
+a wintry day in springtide&mdash;"but," saith
+she, "for that thou art his, I love thee!"
+And she took him to her bosom, and bowed
+down her head over him so that he was
+hidden all in her long hair; but the bright
+shawl covered it, so that, what with her
+stooping and the hiding of her tresses,
+a body coming in suddenly at the door
+might 'a' easily mistaken her for Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>It was thus with th' man who at that
+moment strode past me and caught up
+child and woman into his embrace. "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+have come back to thee," he said&mdash;"I have
+come back to thee. Look up, wife! Ruth,
+look up!" But when she did look up, and
+he saw her face as white as morning, and
+her hair as black as night, and her tall
+figure like to a young elm-tree&mdash;ay, when
+she looked up, ne'er saw I a man not dead
+seem so like death. He drops down his
+arms from about them, as though smitten
+from behind by a sword, and he staggers
+and leans against th' table, and lets fall his
+head upon his breast, staring straight in
+front o' him. But she stands looking upon
+him. And I got me out with all speed;
+so ne'er knew I more o' what passed between
+'em, saving that he did take away
+Ruth with him th' next day, and she as
+happy as a bird whose mate hath come
+back to 't with the springtide. But a knew
+how that my lass had taken his wife into
+her bed, and nursed her through her sickness
+night and day, after the hard words
+he had spoken unto her and the ill names<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+he had called her. And that was all I
+cared to know. He had set th' iron in
+my lass's heart, and now 'twas in his own;
+and for th' rust, it did but hurt him more.
+Ay, ay, comrade, thou knowest what I do
+mean.</p>
+
+<p>Well, the winter passed, and spring
+came on again, and 'twas in the May o'
+that year that I did break my hammer-arm.
+God above us only knows what would 'a'
+befallen us had 't not been for my Keren.
+Wilt believe 't? (but then I think thou'lt
+believe a'most anything o' that lass o' mine
+now&mdash;eh, comrade?)&mdash;th' lass did set to
+work, and in two weeks' time a was as
+good a farrier as was e'er her daddy afore
+her. Bodykins, man! thou shouldst 'a'
+seen her at it: clad from throat to feet
+she was in a leathern apron, looking as like
+mine own as though th' mare's skin whereof
+mine was fashioned had, as 'twere, foaled
+a smaller one for th' lass&mdash;ha! ha!&mdash;and
+her sleeves rolled up from her brown arms,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+and th' cords a-standing out on them like
+th' veins in a horse's shoulder. And so
+would she stand, and work th' bellows at
+th' forge, until, what with th' red light from
+the fire on her face, and on her hair, and
+on her bare arms, I was minded o' th'
+angel that walked i' the fiery furnace with
+th' men in holy writ. And when a pounded
+away at a shoe, and her young arm
+going like a flail&mdash;chink, chank&mdash;chink,
+chank&mdash;and th' white spatters o' hot iron
+flying this way and that from th' anvil, meseemed
+'twas as though Dame Venus (for
+thou knowest how in th' masque twelve
+year gone this Yuletide 'twas shown as
+how a great dame called Venus did wed
+wi' a farrier called Vulcan&mdash;I wot thou
+rememberest?)&mdash;as though Dame Venus
+had taken away her hammer from her
+goodman Vulcan to do 's work for him.
+By my troth, 'twas a sight to make a picture
+of&mdash;that 'twas, comrade.</p>
+
+<p>Well, ne'er saw I such trouble as that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+arm gave me (and 't has ne'er been strong
+since). First 'twould not knit, and then
+when 't did 'twas all wrong, and had to be
+broken and set o'er again. But th' lass
+ne'er gave out once. Late and early, fair
+weather or foul, a was at th' forge; and a
+came to be known for as good a smith as
+there was in all Warwickshire. But, for
+that none had e'er heard tell o' a woman
+at such work, or for some other reason,
+they did come to call her, moreover, "The
+Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth."</p>
+
+<p>One day, as we sat i' th' door o' th' shop,
+a-resting, and talking together&mdash;after a
+way we had with us even when she was a
+little lass&mdash;there rides up a young gallant,
+all dressed out in velvet and galloon, and
+a feather in 's hat, and long curls hanging
+about his shoulders. Oh ay, a was bonny
+enough to look upon. So a draws rein
+at th' door. And saith he,</p>
+
+<p>"Art thou th' Farrier Lass o' Piping
+Pebworth?" saith he.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Saith she, arising to her feet, and standing
+with crossed arms like any man&mdash;saith she,</p>
+
+<p>"Folks call me so," saith she. "But my
+name is Keren Lemon."</p>
+
+<p>"A sour name for so sweet a lass," saith
+th' gallant.</p>
+
+<p>"Would thou hadst sweetened that old
+jest with some new wit!" quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art sharp o' tongue," saith he.</p>
+
+<p>"I shoe horses with my arms, not with
+my tongue," saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"As I live, a witty jade!" quoth he.
+"Thou dost much amuse me, maiden."</p>
+
+<p>"My wit was not fashioned any more
+for thy amusement than for the shoeing o'
+thy horse," quoth she. "So, if thou dost
+not purpose to have him shod, ride on!"
+saith she.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith he, to himself, as 'twere,
+"Verily," saith he, "they should call thee
+the <i>harrier</i> lass, for thou hast run down
+and found my manners when that old
+hounds have failed." And to her he saith,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+"I do purpose to have my horse shod,
+maiden; and I cry thee pardon for having
+given thee offence."</p>
+
+<p>"It is easier to give offence than pardon,"
+saith she. "Howbeit, thou art pardoned.
+Say no more." Whereupon she
+sets to work and, taking th' horse's foot
+atween her knees, falls to filing his hoof
+in such wise that I could not 'a' done better
+in her place, though the Queen should
+ask me to sup afterwards at St. James's.
+But the stranger could not hold his
+tongue; and when he saw her working th'
+bellows, and a-making of th' shoe, and th'
+way she swung th' great hammer, "By my
+troth," saith he, "I would I could paint
+thee as Sally Mander to give to th' Queen,"
+saith he.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith my lass, "I know not of any
+wench called Sally Mander," saith she, a-burning
+of th' horse's hoof with th' hot
+shoe; "but if she consorts familiarly with
+such as be above her," so saith she, "methinks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+'tis as well for both o' us that I
+know her not," saith she&mdash;every word o't
+just as I tell thee.</p>
+
+<p>Then saith the gallant, clapping hand
+to thigh, so that it made such a sound as
+when a young child is trounced, "By my
+troth," saith he, "an thy brows be not
+worthy o' a coronet, ne'er saw I any that
+merited to wear one. What wouldst thou
+if thou wert a lady, lass?"</p>
+
+<p>She saith, a-rolling up of her sleeves a
+little tighter, and looking up at him as he
+sate again upon his horse, "Meanest thou
+if I were the wife o' a lord?" saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"Even so," saith he, laughing. "Verily
+thou hast come at my meaning with a commendable
+quickness. Well, and if thou
+wert the wife o' a lord, what wouldst thou
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith she, speaking very slowly,
+and crossing of her arms again upon her
+breast&mdash;saith she,</p>
+
+<p>"I would bring up such sons as were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+born to me to behave worthily o' their
+station in life, and not to forget their manhood
+by speaking with insolence unto such
+honest maids as had never offered them
+affront." Whereupon she did up with her
+kit o' tools, and pass by me into th' forge;
+and th' man rode on with a reddened
+visage.</p>
+
+<p>But it befell only two days later that a
+came again to th' forge, his horse having
+cast another shoe.</p>
+
+<p>And again th' lass sets all to right for
+him, he keeping a civil tongue in 's head
+this time; and o' that we thought naught
+one way or th' other. But when a comes
+a third time, and yet a fourth and a fifth
+and a sixth, "Father," saith th' lass&mdash;"father,"
+saith she, "this must be stopt," saith
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, verily," saith I. "But how wilt do
+'t?" saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do 't, never fear," saith she.</p>
+
+<p>And a did, comrade. Ha! ha! I'd trust<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+that wench to make Satan keep to heel
+like any well-broke puppy. 'Twas in this
+way. The next time th' gallant comes riding
+up (that being th' seventh time in all,
+ye mind)&mdash;well, the next time up comes
+riding he, and he saith to her, saith he, "I
+have come to ask thy service yet again,
+damsel," saith he; "but Merrylegs hath
+cast another shoe."</p>
+
+<p>Then saith th' lass&mdash;ha! ha!&mdash;every
+word as I tell thee, comrade&mdash;saith she,
+"Methinks, my lord, if my work hold no
+better than that&mdash;methinks," saith she,
+"'twere as well thou went for th' shoeing o'
+thy horse to Timothy Makeshift, as lives
+in Marigold Lane," saith she. "For if it
+come to th' ears o' others how that I will
+shoe a horse one day, and th' next how that
+he will cast th' shoe&mdash;if it so be known,"
+saith she, "no more custom will I get to
+keep my father and mother in their old
+age."</p>
+
+<p>Then doth he leap down from his horse,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+and he doffs his hat as though my lass had
+been any fine lady; and quoth he,</p>
+
+<p>"Well and justly hast thou spoken; and
+I do stand confessed of my fault. But,
+maiden, thou wast not born unto th' life
+thou leadest; and here in thy presence I
+do ask thy father to bestow upon me thy
+hand. I am Sir Dagonet Balfour, of Balfour
+Hall; and if thou art willing I will
+make thee my lady."</p>
+
+<p>Now, I was struck dumb as though my
+tongue had jumped forth o' my mouth, and
+never a blessed thing could I do saving
+stare, comrade. But that lass o' mine&mdash;that
+lass o' mine, comrade&mdash;she stands and
+looks at him, and never so much as a glint
+o' red in her face. And saith she, "My
+lord," saith she, "if that thou meanest what
+thou hast said, thou hast forgotten thine
+estate and not remembered mine. Since
+God hath not made me a lady, methinks it
+is not in the power o' one o' His creatures
+so to do. But I do thank thee for seeking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+to honor me, and wish thee joy when
+thou shalt take in wedlock some highborn
+maiden."</p>
+
+<p>Then saith he, "An I wed not thee, ne'er
+will I be wed. What! dost thou think I
+can look on in patience and see a woman
+such as thou following the trade of a farrier?"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith she, "If Jesus Christ followed
+th' trade o' a carpenter," saith she,
+"sure," saith she, "Keren Lemon can follow
+th' trade o' a farrier," saith she&mdash;every
+blessed word as I tell thee, comrade. And
+no more would she have to do with him,
+but got her into th' forge and left him
+standing there.</p>
+
+<p>Well, thou might 'a' thought that was th'
+end o't. Not a bit&mdash;not a bit, comrade.
+Th' knight would be a-riding up at all
+times and in all weather, and somehow 't
+gets out i' th' village (though not through
+my lass, I warrant ye) as how he doth in
+verity seek to espouse my Keren. Well,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+o' all th' tirrits and to-do's as e'er you heard
+on!</p>
+
+<p>Methought when Mistress Lemon found
+out that th' girl had refused th' gallant's
+offer th' house would be a tighter fit for us
+three than its shell for an unhatched chick.
+'Twas worry, worry, worry, from morn till
+night, and from night till morn it was worry,
+worry, worry, till I scarce knew whether
+'twould be better to murder my wife and
+hang for 't, or leave her alone and live with
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Th' hussy!" quoth she&mdash;"th' ungrateful
+hussy! a ought to be tossed in a blanket,"
+quoth she, "and thou along with her,
+thou jack-pudding, thou ravelling!" quoth
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"If I be a jack-pudding," saith I, "I ha'
+more descendants than most such," saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"Yea," quoth she, "verily," quoth she;
+"and all nine o' th' lads be jacks," saith she,
+"and th' wench as very a pudding as e'er
+fell to pieces for want o' being held together,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+saith she. "Out on ye both! I'm
+done with ye!"</p>
+
+<p>"For that, God be praised!" saith I, and
+left ere she could answer.</p>
+
+<p>But one day as I sate i' th' kitchen, a-cosseting
+o' my lame arm as though 't had
+been a babe, I hear a sound o' wheels and
+a clatter o' horses' hoofs; and, lo! there be
+a chariot pulled up afore the door, with
+four gray horses a-making play with their
+trappings, and a coachman, all wig and
+gilding, a-sitting on th' box. And ere a
+could move, out steps a fine dame, with her
+hair all in hillocks, as 'twere, and a paling
+o' lace round about her head, like as 't had
+been a flower-garden, and a farthingale to
+'a' covered th' big malt-pot with as little
+to-do as a hen covers an egg. And up
+comes she to th' door, and her tire-woman
+a-holding of her robes, and two footmen
+going before, and in she comes&mdash;like as
+though Riches and Death had a' th' same
+right to enter a poor man's house without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+knocking. And saith she to me, saith she,
+a-filling up o' the room with her finery, like
+a cuckoo ruffling out its feathers in another
+bird's nest, saith she,</p>
+
+<p>"Be this th' cottage o' Humfrey Lemon
+th' farrier?" saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"It be so; and I be he," saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"And be thou th' father o' th' wench
+they call th' Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth?"
+saith she.</p>
+
+<p>"I be, an' proud o't," say I, a-beginning
+to think that she might 'a' knocked at th'
+door, for all her greatness.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's th' lass?" saith she, as she
+might 'a' said "Where's my glove?"</p>
+
+<p>Then saith I, "Madam," saith I, "most
+like she's gone about her business," saith I.</p>
+
+<p>"My good man," saith she, after a fashion
+that did cause me to feel aught but
+good&mdash;"my good man," saith she, "dost
+thou know to whom thou speakest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Verily," saith I, "thou art ahead o' me
+there, madam."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Boor," saith she, "I am the Lady o'
+Balfour Hall."</p>
+
+<p>"An' so could my lass 'a' been, had she
+willed it," saith I; but ere I could further
+forget myself, in comes Keren by another
+door, and she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Father, do thou go out, and leave me
+to speak with this lady." Then to th'
+dame she saith, "Your ladyship," saith she,
+"I am Keren Lemon, that be called th'
+Farrier Lass. What wouldst thou with
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>Then I got me out o' th' room, but not
+out o' hearing distance; and this is what
+followed:</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard," saith th' dame, "these
+reports concerning my son Sir Dagonet
+and thee, and, to my sorrow, I find upon
+inquiry," saith she, "that they be true.
+Moreover, though it doth shame me to
+the dust to confess it, I have had an interview
+with my son Sir Dagonet," so saith
+she&mdash;every word o't as I tell thee&mdash;"and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+he is determined in his purpose o' ruining
+his life and th' happiness o' his mother.
+Therefore I have come to thee, to ask
+that thou persistest in the course which
+thou hast begun," saith she. "And here,"
+saith she, "is gold to hold thy tongue concerning
+my visit unto thee." And therewith
+she did count down ten broad gold
+pieces upon th' kitchen table. "I must
+also ask thee," then continued she, ere my
+lass could answer her, "to allow me to remain
+under thy roof until my carriage be
+returned from th' other end o' the village,
+where it hath been sent with my tire-woman
+to purchase some ribbon to tie my
+parrot to 's perch."</p>
+
+<p>Never a word saith my lass, but she goes
+to th' door and opens it, and lifting up her
+voice, she halloos to a little ragged urchin
+who is at some spot on th' other side o' th'
+street; and he being come as fast as his
+little shanks would bring him, she bids him
+enter, and taking him up in her arms, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+lifts him up so that a can reach th' gold
+on th' table, and saith she,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou'rt not o'er-clean to touch, my
+good little mouse," saith she, "but thou'rt
+cleaner than that stuff thou seest. There,
+lad, that's for thee, if an thou'lt run to th'
+other end o' th' village and bid them return
+at once with my lady Balfour's carriage,"
+so saith she. Then, th' lad having stuffed
+all 's doublet with th' gold, she sets him
+on 's feet, and off a scuttles on th' best-paid
+errand e'er chanced since th' world
+began. And my lass, having courtesied to
+the thunder-stricken dame, gets her outside
+(where I go nigh to smothering her with
+kisses), and leaves her ladyship in possession
+o' th' kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>Well, comrade, right sure am I that
+thou dost think that was the end on
+'t. Not a bit. Sir Dagonet did himself
+come to th' cottage th' very next day to
+see th' lass, and they had many words
+together, and at last he did accuse her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+o' false pride and proud humility. And
+saith he,</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldst thou make misery for the man
+who loves thee best of all the world, merely
+to satisfy a notion o' thine own? Greatness
+and goodness," saith he, "dwell in the
+heads and hearts o' mankind, not in their
+birth or purses. I do ask thee, with all
+respect, to be my wife, and I am prepared
+to face th' anger o' my mother and o' th'
+Queen. Ay," saith he, his face gone red
+as a girl's, and comes nigh to her&mdash;"ay,
+maiden," saith he, "I am even ready to
+seek th' new country with thee as my wife,
+and to leave title and lands and Queen and
+mother behind me."</p>
+
+<p>Then saith she&mdash;and I had not seen
+tears in her eyes for many a day&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," saith she, "well and nobly
+hast thou spoken, and with all my soul
+do I honor thee for it, and I thank thee
+with all my heart and soul. But, my lord,
+even were there not thy rank and position<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+atween us, there is atween us," saith she,
+"which would hold us as far apart as the
+sea doth hold this England which we live
+in and th' new country o' which thou didst
+speak. For," saith she&mdash;and she speaks
+in a steady voice, howbeit 'tis very low,
+and she keeps her sun-like eyes on his&mdash;"for,
+my lord," saith she, "all the love that
+was mine to give hath been another man's
+these many years."</p>
+
+<p>Then saith he never another word, but
+bends his knee and kisses her long brown
+hand as though 't had been th' Queen's;
+and he gets him from th' cottage.</p>
+
+<p>Now, two more years were sped since
+that Ruth had left us, and sometimes
+would we hear through friends o' th' little
+lad and 's mother and father, and always
+was Ruth a-sending of pretty messages to
+Keren&mdash;her love, and her thanks, and how
+happy she was, and th' boy so like his father&mdash;and
+more than I remember.</p>
+
+<p>A full year had th' lass been at work in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+my shop, and my arm no more fit to hammer
+than afore. So I looks about to get
+a lad to help her in her work, seeing as
+'twere too much for one wench. And,
+Lord! th' trouble I had! Ten lads did I
+try, one right after th' other; and one
+would be saucy, and another dull, and another
+would take 't into his pumpkin head
+to fall in love wi' th' lass; and all o' 'em
+lazy. But, God-a-mercy! how's a man to
+tell a lazy lad till he ha' tried him?&mdash;unless
+it be old Butter. Ha! ha! I ha' just
+minded me o' th' way he used to treat th'
+lads that came to Amhurste to hire for under-gardeners.
+He would stand with 's
+owlish old visage a-set on 's hoe-handle, for
+all th' world like a fantastic head carved
+out o' a turnip and set on a stick, and a
+would let th' lad go on with 's story o' how
+Dame This commended him for that, and
+o' how Dame That commended him for
+this, and o' how a had worked under my
+lord So-and-So's head-gardener and in my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+lady So-and-So's own hot-houses; and
+when a had got through, never a word
+would old Butter say, but a would just step
+round behind th' lad, as solemn as a gravedigger
+on a cold day, and a would lift up
+th' tail o' 's doublet and look at th' seat o'
+'s breeches. And if they were fairly worn
+a would hire th' lad; but if an they were
+much worn a would say, "No work dost
+thou get from me, my lad," would a say,
+"thou sittest down too often to work for
+Anthony Butter"&mdash;so would a say&mdash;every
+word o't just as I ha' told thee. Ha! ha!
+And all the time as sober as a coroner
+inspecting a corse. Ha! ha! ha! Methinks
+I can see him now&mdash;th' old zany.</p>
+
+<p>Well, well, a was a good man, was Anthony
+Butter; and if a was a bit puffed up
+with 's own importance, a's charity ne'er
+got in a like condition that it did not bring
+forth some kind act.</p>
+
+<p>Well, th' months swung round, and 'twas
+nigh to Martlemas in that same year, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+one day as I sat i' th' forge door, a-swearing
+roundly to myself concerning my lame
+arm, and how that 'twould not mend, up
+comes galloping a man, like one distraught,
+and a child on th' saddle afore him, and a
+flings himself down with th' child in 's
+arms (making no shift whate'er to hold
+th' horse, which gallops on with th' reins
+swinging), and a cries out, a-setting of th'
+child on my knee&mdash;a cries out,</p>
+
+<p>"For God's sake, help me! My child
+hath been bit by a mad dog! Help me in
+some way, for th' love of God!"</p>
+
+<p>And I saw that 'twas Robert Hacket
+that crouched and quivered at my knee
+like a hurt hound, and th' child as like to
+him as one leaf on a tree is to th' other.
+But ere I could do or say aught, comes
+that lass o' mine, and ups with th' babe in
+her arms, and he roaring as lustily as any
+bull-calf with th' wound in 's little brown
+arm, and she sees where the beast hath
+bitten him. Then sets she him down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+again on my lap, and runs and fetches a
+bar o' iron and heats it i' th' forge till 'tis
+white-hot, and all th' time th' poor father
+a-sobbing, and kissing of th' babe, and calling
+on me to help him, like as though I
+were God Almighty. And while he was
+so doing, and the babe like to burst with
+weeping, and I gone mad with not knowing
+what to be at, comes that wench, comrade,
+and jerks up th' babe, and sets th'
+white-hot metal in 's soft flesh.</p>
+
+<p>Ay, comrade, a did, and a held it there
+till where th' dog's fangs had been was
+burned as black as th' anvil. And then,
+when 'tis done, and th' babe again upon 's
+feet, and we two for praising and blessing
+o' her, down drops she all in a heap on th'
+floor atween us, like a hawk that hath been
+smitten in mid-heaven. Then 'twas, comrade,
+that th' babe was left to endure his
+pain as best he might; never thought more
+did 's father give him that day; but he
+runs and lifts th' lass in 's strong arms, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+bears her out into th' fresh air, and he calls
+her his "dear," and his "own," and "his life,"
+and his "Keren," till, had 't not been for my
+lass's coming back to life, I would 'a' struck
+him on th' mouth for a-speaking so unto her,
+and he th' husband o' another woman.</p>
+
+<p>But no sooner opes she her eyes than he
+hath both her hands hid in one o' his, and
+close against his breast, and she lying back
+in 's arms as though she were any chrisom
+child, and her big eyes wide on his, and he
+saith to her,</p>
+
+<p>"Lass! lass!" saith he, "I ha' come to
+marry thee, an thou wilt have me," quoth
+he. "I ha' come to marry thee; and may
+God bless thee for saving th' child!"</p>
+
+<p>Then did I understand; but she saith,
+with her great eyes not moving&mdash;saith she&mdash;only
+one word&mdash;"Ruth?" saith she, even
+so, once, low like that&mdash;"Ruth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, lass, I know," he saith unto her. "I
+know," he saith. "But all's well with Ruth.
+Ruth is in heaven."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then saith she, while a light leaps out o'
+her tearful eyes, like as when the sun doth
+shine suddenly through April rain&mdash;saith
+she, as she were breathing her life into th'
+words,</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks I be there too."</p>
+
+<p>And also did I understand her, how that
+she meant that to be lying in th' arms o'
+him she loved, after all those weary years,
+was like being in heaven; but he questions
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"How, lass?" saith he. "Where dost
+thou think thou art? Thou art in thy true
+love's arms," saith he.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, there is heaven," she saith.</p>
+
+<p>And I stole away to get th' babe some
+kickshaws i' th' village, that they twain
+might be alone together.</p>
+
+<p>Well, well, all that was two year ago,
+comrade&mdash;two year ago; and now that lass
+o' mine hath a babe o' her own, and as valiant
+a rogue as ever bellowed. Thou must
+come and sup with us to-night. Na, na, I'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+take no refusal&mdash;dost hear? I will not.
+And a word o' persuasion i' thy ear, comrade:
+Mistress Lemon hath been dead
+this twelvemonth, comrade. Ah ha! Wilt
+a-come the now? That's well. And thou
+shalt hear that lass o' mine troll thee "Jog
+on, jog on," and "Mistress mine, where art
+thou roaming?" and "Listen, Robin, while
+I woo." Come, comrade, come. But stay;
+let's crack another drink together ere we
+go. Joel! What there! Joel, I say! Another
+quart o' sack for Master Turnip!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p>
+<h2>NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE<br />
+STORY.</h2>
+
+<div class="hang1"><i>Time.</i>&mdash;A bitter January night in the year of Grace
+1669.</div>
+
+<div class="hang1"><i>Scene.</i>&mdash;Sunderidge Castle&mdash;The great hall&mdash;A monstrous
+fire burning in the big fireplace&mdash;Nurse
+Crumpet discovered seated on a settle&mdash;At her
+either knee lean the little Lady Dorothy and her
+brother, the young Earl of Sunderidge, Lord Humphrey
+Lennox.</div>
+
+
+<p><i>Nurse Crumpet.</i>&mdash;Nay, now, Lady Dorothy,
+why wilt thou be at the pains o' such
+a clamoring? Sure thou hast heard that
+old tale o'er a hundred times; and thou
+too, my lord? Fie, then! Wouldst seek
+to flatter thy old nurse with this seeming
+eagerness? Go to! I say thou canst not
+in truth want to hear me drone o'er that
+ancient narrative. Well, then, an I must,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+I must. Soft! Hold my fan betwixt thy
+dainty cheeks and the blaze, sweetheart,
+lest the fire-fiend witch thy roses into very
+poppy flowers. And thou, my lord, come
+closer to my side, lest the draught from the
+bay-window smite thee that thou howlest o'
+th' morrow with a crick i' thy neck. Well,
+well, be patient. All in time, in time. Soft,
+now! Ye both mind that I was but a little
+lass when thy grandmother, the Lady
+Elizabeth Lennox, did take me to train as
+her maid-in-waiting. I was just turned sixteen
+that Martlemas, and not a fair-sized
+wench for my years either. Would ye believe?
+I could set my two thumbs together
+at my backbone in those days, and my
+ring-fingers would all but kiss too.</p>
+
+<p><i>Lord Humphrey.</i>&mdash;Ha! ha! Nurse, thy
+fingers would be but ill satisfied lovers under
+those conditions nowadays. Eh, Dolly?</p>
+
+<p><i>Lady Dorothy.</i>&mdash;Hold thy tongue for an
+unmannerly lad, Humphrey. Do not thou
+heed him, nurse, but go on with thy story.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Nurse Crumpet.</i>&mdash;For all thy laughter,
+my lord, I'd a waist my garter would bind
+in those days, and was as light on my toes
+as those flames that dance i' th' chimney.
+Lord! Lord! how well I mind me o' th'
+first time that e'er I clapt eyes on Jock
+Crumpet! I was speeding home with a jug
+o' water from the spring, and what with his
+staring as he stood at the road-side to let
+me pass, and what with a root i' th' way, I
+all but lost my footing. Yet did I swing
+round alone, holding fast my jug, and ne'er
+one blessed drop o' water spilled I, for all
+my tripping. "By'r lay'kin!" quoth he,
+"thou'rt as light on thy feet as a May wind,
+and as I live I will dance the Barley Break
+with thee this harvesting or I will dance
+with none!" And i' faith a was as good
+as his word, for by hook or by crook, and
+much scheming and planning, and bringing
+o' gewgaws to my mother, and a present
+o' a fine yearling to my father, that
+harvesting did I dance the Barley Break<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+with Jock Crumpet. And a was a feather-man
+in a round reel.</p>
+
+<p>Well, 'twas the year o' my meeting with
+Jock, thou mindst. (And a cold winter
+that was&mdash;Christ save us! There be ne'er
+such winters nowadays. This night is as
+a summer noon i' th' comparison.) 'Twas
+the year o' my first meeting with Jock, and
+my lady, your grandmother, sent for me to
+the castle, to be her waiting-maid. Lord!
+'twas a troublous time! What with joy at
+my good fortune, and sorrow at quitting
+my mother, I was fain to smile with one
+corner o' my mouth and look grievously
+with the other, like a zany at a village fair.
+And Jock, he would not that I went, for
+that he could not see me, or consort wi'
+me so often: Jock was aye honey-combed
+wi' th' thing ye call "sentiment." A would
+grin on a flower I had wov'n in my locks
+by th' hour together. And 'tis my belief
+a could a spun him a warm doublet out
+o' the odds and ends o' ribbon and what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+not he had filched from me when my eyes
+were elsewhere. And Jock&mdash;but 'tis neither
+here nor there o' Jock. In those days
+thy grandmother had only one child, a little
+lass, the Lady Patience. And ne'er was
+man or maid worse named; for to call such
+a flibbertigibbet "Patience" were as though
+one should name a frisksome colt "Slumber,"
+or christen a spring brook "Quiet."
+Patience, quotha! 'Twas patience in truth
+a body had need of, who was thrown at all
+with her little ladyship. But there was
+ne'er so beautiful a maiden born in all the
+broad land of England; nor will be again&mdash;not
+though London Tower be standing
+when the last trump sounds. Meseemed
+she was an elf-sprite, so tiny was she; and
+her face like a fair flower, so fresh and
+pure. Her hair was shed about her face
+like sunlight on thistle-down, and her eyes
+made a shining behind it, like the big blue
+gems in her mother's jewel-box. When
+she laughed, it was as water falling into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+water from a short height, with ripples, and
+little murmurs, and a clear tinkling sound.
+But she was ne'er more at rest than the
+leaves on an aspen-tree. Hither and thither
+would she flit, this way and that, up and
+down, round and round, backward and forward,
+about and about. I' faith, ofttimes
+would I be right dizzy come nightfall, with
+following of her; for ere I had been at the
+castle a day, she took so mighty a fancy
+to me, that naught would do but she must
+have me for her maid; and so my lady,
+who (God pardon my boldness!) did utterly
+spoil her in all things, gave me unto her
+as a nurse-maid.&mdash;But sure ye are a-weary
+o' this old tale!</p>
+
+<p><i>Lady Dorothy and Lord Humphrey in a
+breath.</i>&mdash;Nay, go on, go on.</p>
+
+<p><i>Nurse Crumpet.</i>&mdash;Well, well, o' all the
+story-loving bairns! But I must invent
+me a new history for the next time o' telling.</p>
+
+<p><i>Lord Humphrey.</i>&mdash;Nay, that thou shalt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+not. We will ne'er like any as well as we
+like this one. So despatch.</p>
+
+<p><i>Nurse Crumpet.</i>&mdash;But my lady had also
+an adopted daughter, a niece o' my lord's&mdash;one
+Mistress Marian Every&mdash;and she
+walked beside the little Lady Patience as
+night might walk beside day, for she was
+as brown o' skin as a mountain stream, and
+her hair like a cloud at even-tide, dark,
+but of no certain color, albeit as soft as ravelled
+silk, and marvellous hard to comb on
+account o' its fineness. Mistress Marian
+was full head and shoulders taller than her
+cousin, the Lady Patience, and she could
+lift her aloft in her arms, and swing her
+from side to side, as a supple bough swings
+a bird. And her eyes were dark, and cool
+to gaze into, like a pool o' clear water o'er
+autumn leaves, and sometimes there were
+glints o' light in them, like the spikes i' th'
+evening-star when thou dost gaze steadily
+upon it. Black and white were not more
+different than were they, and they resembled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+even less in mind than they did in
+body. When Lady Patience waxed wroth,
+her cheeks burned like two coals, and thou
+couldst hear her little teeth grinding together,
+like pebbles squeezed i' th' palm o'
+thy hand; but when Mistress Marian was
+an-angered, the blood rushed back to her
+heart, and she was whiter than a lamb
+at the shearing, and her lips like white
+threads. Then would the light shoot and
+spin in her eyes, and her nostrils suck in
+and out, like those of a fretful horse. And
+she was fierce after the manner of a man
+rather than of a maid. Moreo'er, she was
+full a year younger than the Lady Patience;
+but she looked it not; rather did
+her ladyship look full two years younger
+than Mistress Marian. And I loved them
+both, and tried as a Christian not to prefer
+one before the other; but what with
+my lady's stealings of her arms about my
+neck as I sat at my stitchery, and popping
+of comfits in my pocket when I would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+otherwise engaged, and teasings, and ticklings,
+and sundry other pretty witcheries
+which I do not at this day recall, I was
+fairly cozened into loving her the best.
+(Honey, I charge thee hold my fan betwixt
+thee and the fire.) But to continue.&mdash;Mistress
+Marian was aye courteous and
+kindly to me as heart could wish, and
+every night did she thank me i' th' prettiest
+fashion, when I had combed and unpinned
+her for the night; but, Lord! I
+had much ado to get Lady Patience combed
+or unpinned at all! First would she
+jump with both knees upon mine, and hug
+my very breath away; then, when I had
+at last coaxed her to get down, first she
+would perch on one leg and then o' the
+other, and then be a-twisting her head now
+over this shoulder, now over that, to see
+how I came on with the unpinning, that
+it was with a prayer to God that I finally
+set her night-gown over her shoulders,
+and led her to bed. As for her prayers&mdash;Jesu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+aid me and pardon her!&mdash;'twas a
+matter of hours to get her to say "Our
+Father" straight through, what with her
+vowing that she wished not bread every
+day, and how that if his lordship her father
+forgave not trespassers (for I could ne'er
+draw the difference between trespass<i>es</i> and
+trespass<i>ers</i> into her pretty pate), neither
+would she; and how she did not believe
+God would lead her into temptation at any
+time, but that it was the Devil; and how
+it must anger God even to think of such
+doings on His part&mdash;what, I say, with all
+this, methought sometimes it would be cock-crow
+ere I got her safely to sleep. And
+all this time Mistress Marian would be lying
+as quiet as any mouse, with her big plait of
+hair between her fingers, for so she always
+slept, with her hair fast in her hands, as
+though she loved its beauty; and in truth it
+was the one great beauty she had, for my
+little lady put her out with her glitter as the
+sunlight doth extinguish a morning moon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now I had been at the castle scarce
+two months when one day it chances that
+I hear my lady a-telling o' my lord how
+as her brother, Lord Charles Radnor, dying
+wifeless, had left his only son to her
+care until he should come of age. And
+on that Tuesday the little lord set foot
+in the castle; and my lady was down at
+the door-way to meet him, in a new velvet
+gown, with her wimple sewn in fine
+pearls, and my lord with her; but my two
+nurslings waxed shy at the last minute, and
+would not come down, but leaned and peered
+through the posts o' the stair-rail, and
+my little lady let fall one o' her shoes in
+her eagerness to glimpse at her new cousin.
+And straightway ran the lad and lifted
+the wee shoe, and looked upward, laughing,
+and my lord and lady having retired
+into the dining-hall, to see that some cold
+viands were in readiness (it being then near
+to nightfall, though not yet supper hour).&mdash;"Ho!
+thou little cinder witch," cried he;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+"I am the prince that has found thy shoe,
+and when I shall have found thee, if that
+thy temper be as small as thy shoe, fear
+not but that I will kiss thee too!" With
+that, he ran up the stair-way, two and three
+steps at a leap.</p>
+
+<p>And I followed, for I knew not what
+would happen an he claimed his kiss as
+he had threatened (knowing as did I, that
+in verity my lady's shoe would a been a
+tight fit for her temper).</p>
+
+<p>But when he was arrived at the top, lo!
+they had both fled, neither had they left
+so much as a ribbon behind them. Then
+the lad laughed again, as pleasant a laugh
+as e'er I heard in all my days, and quoth
+he, "I would be but a poor prince an I
+had not to search for my little princess."
+So off he starts, and I after him, up and
+down corridors, in at half-open doors, out
+upon balconies, hither and thither, after the
+manner o' my little lady on her most unquiet
+days, till at last, for the sake o' peace,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+I did slyly lead him in the direction o' the
+great nursery. There, catching sight o' a
+little red petticoat, he enters, where stand
+my truant elves confessed, Mistress Marian
+frowning and biting o' her dark hair, but
+my little lady like to stifle, with both hands
+over her mouth to hide her smiles, and her
+blue eyes dancing a very Barley Break o'
+mirth among the yellow sheaves o' her
+tresses.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was much parley o'er the
+fitting o' the shoe, as both damsels did
+straightway sit down upon their feet, neither
+for a long time would they move an
+eyelash, till his lordship, with a twink o' his
+eye at me, did suggest corns and bunions
+as a reason for their 'havior&mdash;and, Lord!
+then 'twas pretty to mark how like little
+chicks beneath their dam's feathers, first
+one little foot and then the other did steal
+out from the rich lace o' their petticoats.
+And ere one could cry "Oh!" for a pinch,
+he had slipt the shoe on my little lady's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+wee foot, and had kissed her right heartily.
+Moreo'er, what I did most marvel at, was
+that she neither cuffed nor sought to cuff
+him, but dropt down her head until her hair
+made a veil before her face, and moved that
+foot whereon he had set her shoe, gently
+back and forth as though the leather was
+stiff to her ankle, and I saw that she looked
+at it from under her heavy hair. But
+Mistress Marian still held aloof, and chewed
+upon her dark locks like a heifer on its cud.
+And her eyes were every whit as dark and
+solemn as a very cow's. Then the young
+lord laughed again, and cried out, "Ha! the
+ox-eyed June!" or some such apery, and
+went and kneeled before her in mock fashion,
+as before a queen, and quoth he, "Fair
+goddess" (for 'twas afterwards explained to
+me what manner of being was a goddess,
+namely, some kind of a foreign fairy)&mdash;"Fair
+goddess," quoth he, "show me how I
+may dispel thy wrath." And still she scowled
+on him, but spoke no word. And he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+continued, and said, "I prithee, fair lady,
+cast but one smile upon thy humble knight"
+(thou mind'st their pretty foolery has stuck
+i' my old pate unto this day).</p>
+
+<p>Then she answered and saith, "Thou silly
+lad, how can I be a goddess and a lady both
+in one? Thou hast not even enough wit to
+make a good fool. So!" (for Mistress Marian
+had a sharp tongue at times).</p>
+
+<p>But he was not so much as ruffled, and
+laughed even again, most heartily. And he
+said, "I do perceive that thou art not fashioned
+either as goddess or lady, therefore
+be my comrade, and we will fight together
+for the weal o' yon fairy princess." All at
+once she laughed too, and yielded him her
+hand, and said, "I like thee. What is thy
+name?"</p>
+
+<p>He said, "My name is Ernle; and I like
+thee too; therefore, I pray thee, tell me
+thine."</p>
+
+<p>So she told him, and my little lady sidling
+up, the three fell presently a-chattering like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+linnets at sunrise, and from that hour on I
+had no trouble with them.</p>
+
+<p>'Twas pretty to mark them at their fantasies.
+They were aye out-o'-door save
+when 'twas rainy weather, and then methought
+the castle had scarce room enough
+for them. In all their games Mistress Marian
+was the little lord's comrade, and wore
+a helmet o' silvered wood, and carried a
+wooden sword silvered to match her head-gear,
+and the little lord was likewise apparelled.
+And he called her ever "Comrade,"
+and clapped her o' th' shoulder, as mankind
+will clap one the other when conversing.</p>
+
+<p>But my little lady, they both agreed, was
+a fairy princess; and, Lord, Lord! 'twould
+take me from now 'til Martlemas next to
+name the perilous 'scapes that did befall her.
+They fished her out of moats, they bore her
+from blazing castles, they did drag her from
+the maws o' dragons and other wild beasts
+I know not how to name. Thrice was the
+little Lord of Radnor in dire straits at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+claws o' goblin creatures. Three times did
+his comrade rescue him by thwacking upon
+the chair which did represent the dreadful
+beast, till I was in sore dread there would
+be no mending of it, and me, mayhap, dismissed
+from the castle for carelessness.
+And always when 'twas all o'er, and the little
+princess in safety, I was called upon to
+act parson and wed my little lady to the little
+lord, while Mistress Marian leaned on
+her sword to witness the doings.</p>
+
+<p>One day, in their rovings through the
+park, they came by chance upon a door in
+the hill-side, but so o'ergrown with creeping
+vines that, had not the little lord stumbled
+upon it, 'twas very like it had been there to
+this day without discovery. Well, no sooner
+do they see the door than they must
+needs open it, spite o' all my scolding, and
+peer within. 'Twas but a darksome hole,
+after all&mdash;a kind o' cave i' th' hill-side, which
+they did afterwards find out from thy grandfather
+was used in days gone by for concealing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+treasures in time of war. And indeed
+it seemed a safe place, for there were
+two rusty bolts as big as my arm, one o' th'
+inside and one o' th' outside, and the creeping
+things hid all. As thou mightst think,
+it grew to be their favorite coigne for playing
+their dragon and princess trickeries. I
+would sit with my stitchery on a fallen log
+in the sunshine, while they ran in and out
+o' th' grewsome hole. But in all their frolicking
+my little lady could ne'er abide the
+sight o' their swords, and she pleaded ever
+for gentler games. One day (I shall ne'er
+forget, though I live to see doomsday) they
+did crown her a queen, and then my lord
+would have it that she dubbed him her
+knight. She pleaded that prettily against
+it methought the veriest boor in Christendom
+would a given in to her, but my little
+lord was stanch. So they made her a
+throne o' flowers, and when she was seated
+thereon, Mistress Marian handed her the
+great wooden sword, and my lord, kneeling,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+bade her strike him on the shoulder with
+the flat side o' th' sword, saying, "Rise, Sir
+Ernle, my knight for evermore!"</p>
+
+<p>She got out the words as he bade her,
+but when 't came to the stroke, what with
+her natural fright, and what with the sunlight
+on the silver, she brought down the
+heavy blade edgewise on the boy's pate, laying
+wide quite a gash above his left eyebrow,
+so that the blood trickled down his
+cheek. When she saw that, meseemed all
+the blood in her body went to keep his company,
+for she turned whiter than her smock,
+and ran and got her arm about him and
+saith, o'er and o'er again, "Ernle! Ernle!
+I have killed thee!"</p>
+
+<p>He laughed, to comfort her, and made
+light of it, and wetting his finger in the
+blood, drew a cross on his brow and said,
+"Nay, thou hast not killed me. And moreo'er,
+I am not only thy knight, but thy Red
+Cross Knight into the bargain, and thou my
+lady forever. See! I will seal thee with my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+very blood!" and ere she could draw back,
+he had set also a cross on her white brow.
+She shuddered and fell a-weeping, and drew
+her hand across her brow to wipe away the
+ugly stain; and when she saw that she had
+but smeared it on her hand, she trembled
+more than ever, and it was not for some
+days that I could quiet her.</p>
+
+<p>I do but relate this story, to show in what
+horror my little lady did ever hold swords
+and bloodshed.</p>
+
+<p>Well, to continue&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>This could not last for aye, and when two
+more years were sped, his uncle sent the
+little lord to a place o' learning; and afterwards
+to travel to and fro upon the earth,
+after the manner of Satan in the Book of
+Job (God forgive me! but 't has ever seemed
+like that to me). And we set not eyes
+on him for eight years. Now in that time,
+lo! I was married, and my little lady and
+<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Mistres'">Mistress</ins> Marian in long kirtles, and their
+hair looped up upon their heads. Mistress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+Marian was yet full head and shoulders
+above my little lady, and her skin as brown
+as ever. But my little lady was as bright
+and slender as a sun-ray.</p>
+
+<p>They would speak to me sometimes of
+Lord Radnor, and how that great folks
+were saying great things of him, and how
+he was become a soldier and a marvellous
+person altogether; but as the years went
+by they seemed not so ready to talk o' him,
+only sometimes my little lady would pull
+down my head as I smoothed the bedclothes
+over her at night, and quoth she,
+"Nurse, dost think he will be much
+changed? My hair hath not darkened
+much, hath it? Dost think his curls will
+be different from what they were when he
+was a lad?" And I would have to tell her
+"No" a dozen times ere she would let me
+go. But Mistress Marian said never a
+word.</p>
+
+<p>One day I learned of my lady how that
+Lord Radnor was to return the next week,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+and meseemed in truth the whole castle
+was waxed distraught.</p>
+
+<p>It is not in my power to tell o' th' doings,
+but suffice it to say, my lord did cozen
+them all, and come a full day ere he was
+expected.</p>
+
+<p>When he came, Mistress Marian was
+standing i' th' great door o' th' castle, in
+her hawking gown o' green velure cloth
+laced all with silver cord; her plumed hat
+was on her curls, and her hawk, Beryl, on
+her fist. And she turned and beheld him.
+Ne'er did I see verier light in earth or sky,
+than flashed into her face as their eyes met.
+And he doffed his hat, and came up beside
+her on the step, and saith, with the old
+laugh, but gentler, "Well met, comrade."</p>
+
+<p>Now when he called her "comrade,"
+'twas as when Jock did call me "sweetheart"
+in the days o' our wooing. She
+went red as the ribbon in his sleeves; and
+when the falcon fretted and shook its bells,
+he did put out his hand and stroke it, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+lo! it was still, and seemed to feel him as
+its master. And I wondered all this time
+where could be my little lady.</p>
+
+<p>To this day I have ne'er seen so handsome
+a man as the young lord. He was
+tall and straight as an oak, with curls the
+color of frost-touched oak-leaves i' th' sunlight,
+and eyes like the amber drink when
+men hold it aloft ere quaffing, and his
+whole countenance bright and eager, and
+narrow like that o' a fox, but without a
+fox's cunning. Then he seemed fashioned
+to run, and ride, and war, as doth become
+all men, whether of high or low estate.</p>
+
+<p>Then went I within to inquire after my
+little lady; and Jock, who was become a
+footman i' th' castle, did tell me of how he
+had seen her set forth to walk i' th' park
+an hour gone. So straightway I went in
+search of her.</p>
+
+<p>I had gone some six hundred paces
+when, at a sudden turning, I came upon
+her, where she held a little urchin a-straddle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+of her big deer-hound "Courage." The
+child gave chuckles o' delight as he slipped
+from side to side, and the sun through the
+beech-leaves made their heads as like as
+two crown pieces. Even as I was about to
+lift up my voice to halloo unto her, lo! my
+lord doth part the thick branches, and steps
+forth a little behind her, and stands watching
+her. And as he did stand there, behold,
+a look came o'er his face, that was
+stranger than any look I had e'er seen on
+th' face of man or of woman, and his eyes
+were no more bright and eager, but deep
+and soft. Then she turned and went direct
+towards him unknowing.</p>
+
+<p>When she was beside him, still laughing
+and half out o' breath with balancing
+o' th' heavy boy, he saith these two words,
+"My lady," and methought there was a
+whole year's love-making o' ordinary men
+crammed into them. Quoth I to myself:
+"Ah, my little lord, so thou hast that trick
+with thee! God keep my little ladies! for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+if the tongue be a fire, how must it burn
+when such a wit doth wag it!" And I determined
+in my heart that by some means
+I would warn my little lady of his sweet
+speecheries. Yet was I tender towards him
+for the sake o' by-gone days. Mayhap,
+moreover, his comely face had something
+to do with it, for, i' fecks, ne'er saw I a goodlier
+countenance on Roundhead or Cavalier.</p>
+
+<p>Now when my lady heard his voice at
+her ear, first gives she such a start as doth
+a mettlesome filly when a hare jumps out
+before it, then stock-still stands she, and her
+face whiter than a wind-flower, and her lips
+a-tremble as if to speak, but no word comes
+from them.</p>
+
+<p>He saith again, "My lady."</p>
+
+<p>I saw by the moving of her lips that she
+fashioned the words "My God!" but still
+she spoke not. And the child began to
+whimper and clutch at her kirtle, for she
+had loosened her hold of him, and he feared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+falling off of the big dog. So she put one
+arm about him to hold him, but her eyes
+were yet upon his lordship.</p>
+
+<p>Then he came and lifted her hand to his
+breast, and it lay upon his dark-green doublet,
+as a white flower-leaf doth upon grass,
+and he saith to her, "Sweetheart, dost thou
+not know me?"</p>
+
+<p>All at once, for what, God only knoweth,
+she fell a-weeping, and he had her in his
+arms. And being some two years a mother,
+my care was all for the poor little rogue
+on the deer-hound; 'twas as much as I could
+do to hold back from running and snatching
+him in my arms to soothe his terror.</p>
+
+<p>Howbeit, ere that I could commit this
+madness, the frighted babe set up such a
+howl as only a man-child can utter, and my
+lady turned to him in great haste, and my
+lord also did set about comforting him.
+Then they walked slowly on, and my lord
+held the little lad on one side, and my lady
+coaxed him o' th' other. Ever and anon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+my lord would look from the babe to my
+lady, and then from my lady to the babe.
+And a smile just lifted the corners o' his
+mouth, as sometimes a wind will just stir
+the leaves ere shaking them as with jollity.
+I followed cautiously at some distance, and
+by-and-by his lordship said, "How was it
+that thou didst not know me, coz? Faith
+thou art shot up like a lily i' th' sun, but
+lilies are aye lilies, and leaving thee a lily,
+I find thee a lily still, though blooming on
+a taller stem."</p>
+
+<p>And she answered him: "Yea, cousin,
+and oaks are aye oaks, though first they be
+saplings, then trees. And in truth I knew
+thee by thy voice ere I looked at thee;
+but 'twas all so sudden, that i' faith I was
+frightened at thee."</p>
+
+<p>And he said, "But thou art glad to see
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>And being busy with the child, she answered
+him without lifting her head, "Thou
+knowest that I am."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then did he laugh a little, and saith,
+"How should I know, coz? Proof, proof,
+I pray thee. Wilt thou not give me the
+kiss o' welcome after all these years?"</p>
+
+<p>Now he had not offered to kiss Mistress
+Marian. Therefore I waited right curiously
+to see what my little lady would say unto
+his offer, and Jock having dinned it into
+my ears ever since our wedding-day, that
+all women were by nature eavesdroppers, I
+was of a mind to prove his theory for him;
+so I not only listened with all my ears, but
+I looked with all my eyes.</p>
+
+<p>My lady waxed first ruddy, then like to
+milk, then ruddy again, and she reached
+out her hand to him across the hound. "In
+truth I will, cousin," quoth she.</p>
+
+<p>He did take the little hand in his, putting
+down his other hand softly over it, as
+when one holds a frighted bird, and he
+looked at her as though he would pierce
+her lids with his gaze, for her eyes were
+down, and he saith, "Sweetheart, right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+gladly will I give this pretty hand the kiss
+o' an eternal welcome; but methinks thou
+hast begged the question. I pleaded to receive
+a kiss rather than to bestow one."</p>
+
+<p>And her face was like a bended rose.
+Then did he step round quickly beside her,
+and once more was the poor babe left in
+dire terror o' his life, and he made up a
+piteous face, but the dog standing still, he
+fell to rattling its collar, and soon waxed
+merry with the jingle o' th' silver. So I
+looked again at my lady and Lord Radnor.</p>
+
+<p>He had taken her about her waist with
+one arm, and with the other hand he lifted
+gently upward her fair face, as doth a gardener
+a rain-beaten flower, while his eyes
+looked down into hers. And slowly, slowly,
+almost as rose-leaves unfurl i' th' sun,
+her white lids curled upward, and her blue
+eyes peered softly from her yellow locks
+like corn-flowers through ripe corn, there
+being a tear in each, as when a rain-bead
+doth tremble i' th' real corn-flowers. And,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+to be the more like nature, there ran big
+waves throughout her loosened tresses, like
+as when the wind doth steal across a field
+o' grain on summer noons.</p>
+
+<p>Then he bended down his tall head, and
+their lips met. God alone knows what
+their first words would a been, for ere the
+kiss was well ended, down falls the poor little
+rogue off of the hound's back, and lifts
+up his voice loud enow to be heard across
+the sea by the red men i' the new continent.
+And my lady runs and lifts him in
+her arms. Lord! such an ado as they had
+a-comforting him! First my lady, then my
+lord, then my lady again&mdash;and at last my
+lord tosses him to his shoulder, and saith he,</p>
+
+<p>"Ho! thou little Jack Pudding! an thou
+art not still o' th' instant, I'll swear thou art
+a girl, an' thou shalt ne'er have a sword
+such as men have."</p>
+
+<p>And as I live, the child stinted, and
+waxed as solemn as an owl! Not another
+tear did he shed. My lord saith,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+"Now thou art a good lad, therefore
+thou shalt have my sword to play with."
+And he unbinds it from his side, scabbard
+and all, and holds it while the urchin gets
+astride o't and pretends to ride. When my
+lord is tired o' stooping, he lifts the child
+again to his shoulder, and so do they conduct
+him back to his mother, the gardener's
+wife. From thence they return to the castle,
+and are met by my lord and lady and
+all the servants, while I haste me in by a
+side door to get on my Sunday kirtle and
+appear with the rest.</p>
+
+<p>As time wore on, the three were as much
+together as when he was a little lad and
+they lassies, and sometimes from a window,
+and sometimes from a quiet coigne in the
+great hall (this very hall, ye mind, dears), I
+would sit with my stitchery and mark them
+at their bright chatter.</p>
+
+<p>But often Mistress Marian would come
+and sit against my knee, even as thou art
+sitting now, sweetheart, and ask me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+stroke her hair, and when she would coax
+Lord Ernle's big blood-hound "Valor" to
+come and lie beside her, she would sit more
+quiet, almost as though she were asleep.
+And she would ask me ever and again,
+"Nurse, wherefore are women at any time
+born with dark hair, to mar ev'n such small
+comeliness as they might otherwise have?"</p>
+
+<p>And always I would answer, "Tut! thou
+knowest not of what thou speakest, my
+honey; in the sight o' some, dark hair is
+more comely than fair hair." And always
+she would shake her head, and smile i' th'
+fashion o' one who knows better than another.
+But she was a wondrous fair woman,
+in spite o' her own thinking, and shaped
+like the brown metal wench over yonder
+with the bow and arrows. Diana, say ye?
+Why, even so; so it was that his lordship
+called her when he did not call her "comrade."</p>
+
+<p>Now young Sir Rowland Nasmyth (him
+who was father to that Sir Rowland who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+wedded your sister the Lady Anne last
+Michaelmas, ye mind, dears), he would be
+often over for a day, or maybe several
+days, at the castle; and all four would ride
+a-hawking, or ramble together, two by two,
+through the park; or Lord Ernle and Sir
+Rowland would play at rackets, and i' fecks
+'twas a sight to see 'em at it! One day my
+little lady and Sir Rowland (who was a fair
+stripling, with curls near the color o' Mistress
+Marian's, and eyes the tinting o' the
+far sea on a rainy day) did wander off together,
+and Mistress Marian and my lord
+were left alone, seated on a rude bench under
+one o' th' great beech-trees that flank
+the hall door. He leaned forward and rested
+an elbow on either knee, and did let his
+racket swing back and forth between them,
+and sat looking down on it. Mistress Marian's
+gaze was upon him, but her big hat
+made so deep a shadow o'er her eyes withal
+that I could not note them clearly. So
+stayed they for some moments.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then all in a breath did Lord Ernle
+start erect and push back his heavy locks
+and speak. "Comrade," saith he, "wilt
+thou call me an ass for my pains, I wonder,
+an I tell thee o' something that is troubling
+me sorely?"</p>
+
+<p>She, having in no wise moved from her
+first position, and her eyes still in shadow,
+saith, "I pray thee say on, Ernle, for such
+words as thou hast just spoken to me are
+idle."</p>
+
+<p>And he leaned forward and took one of
+her long brown hands in his, but 'twas different
+from the way in which he had ta'en
+my little lady's hand at their first meeting,
+and he saith, "Comrade, for thou hast e'er
+been my true and loyal comrade, Marian&mdash;sweet
+comrade-cousin&mdash;this is the matter
+that doth eat my heart. Dost think there
+is aught between Patience and that young
+coxcomb?"</p>
+
+<p>There came a red mark all across her
+brow, as though he had smitten her, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+with her sudden movement her hat had
+fallen upon the ground at her feet. And
+she put up her hand to her side as if in
+pain, but snatched it back quickly. And
+for one heart-beat she shut her eyes. My
+lord, who had stooped forward to lift her
+hat, saw none o' this, and when the hat was
+again upon her brow and its shadow over
+her face, she seemed the same as ever.
+But I knew the shaft was in her heart, and
+my heart seemed to feel it, for I loved her
+dearly. When he could wait no longer, he
+said, "Well, comrade?"</p>
+
+<p>And she spoke, for from the hair that
+crowned her to the feet that carried her
+she was as brave as any Cavalier that ever
+swung sword for the King, and she said,
+"Well indeed, cousin, for thee."</p>
+
+<p>He said, "How dost thou mean for
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>Then stooped she and gathered a handful
+of grass, and held it aloft and opened
+her hand, palm downward, that the falling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+blades were blown this way and that by the
+wind.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean," quoth she, "that Rowland
+Nasmyth is no more to Patience than&mdash;I
+am to thee." And she laughed a little.</p>
+
+<p>He came closer to her, and laid his arm
+about her shoulders, drawing her to him,
+and he said, "Nay, thou knowest how dear
+thou art to me, comrade; but thou meanest
+in different wise&mdash;is't so?"</p>
+
+<p>She said, "Yea; but call me Marian to-day.
+It is to my whim."</p>
+
+<p>He answered, "Dear Marian," and would
+have kissed her cheek, but she started up
+with a little cry, saying, "By'r lay'kin!
+there was a honey-bee tangled in my locks."</p>
+
+<p>And when he had sought for the bee to
+kill it with his hat, but could not find it,
+they did seat themselves again, he laughing
+and saying that "the bee was a bee o' much
+discretion and wondrous good taste."</p>
+
+<p>That night when I crept to my little ladies
+to see that all was quiet, I, pausing in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+the door-way, did note them as they lay&mdash;my
+little lady with her head on Mistress
+Marian's breast, and a smile on her lips,
+and Mistress Marian with her arms wrapped
+close about her, and her dark hair swept
+out over the pillow, and thence to the floor,
+like a stream o' water that reflects a black
+cloud, but her eyes wide open, looking
+straight forward, as though at a ghost.
+And I stole off and sobbed myself to sleep,
+but not before I had awakened Jock, who
+did grunt, after the uncourteous, pig-like
+manner of a suddenly wakened man, be-thump
+his pillow as though 't had been an
+anvil, and in turning over, twist the bedclothes
+half off of me, so that what with
+the cold (it being then the fall o' th' year),
+and what with my distress, I slept but uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>And the next thing I knew o' th' matter,
+there was a wedding, and my little lady
+wedded to Lord Ernle, and Mistress Marian
+her bridemaid. Surely if the good God<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+e'er sent happiness on earth, He did send
+it to my little lady and to his lordship.
+'Twas at this time that Sir Rowland asked
+Mistress Marian to be his spouse. And
+'twas even i' th' same spot where Lord
+Ernle had discovered his love for my little
+lady, that he asked her.</p>
+
+<p>Again it was as though some one had
+smitten her&mdash;her face deadly white and the
+red line across her brow. She put out one
+hand to keep him from her, and let it rest
+on his shoulder, and she said, "Rowland, I
+love thee well, but no man will ever call me
+wife."</p>
+
+<p>He said, "Is this the end?"</p>
+
+<p>She said, "Though we should both live
+to see the last day, it is the end."</p>
+
+<p>Then he went, with his head bowed
+down. And when he was gone, for the first
+time in all her life she wept aloud.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Some time passed, and matters waxed
+ever hotter and hotter 'twixt Cavaliers and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+Roundheads, till one night there rode up a
+man to the castle gate with papers for Lord
+Ernle, and the long and the short o't was
+this: His lordship was ordered to ride forth
+to war, and my little lady only three months
+his wife. Now when this blow fell upon
+them they were all at meat in this very
+hall, for ofttimes in cold weather they dined
+here, even as thy father and mother do
+now, on account o' th' greater warmth.</p>
+
+<p>And when my lord had glimpsed at the
+papers he did start to his feet, saying,
+"Where is the man who brought these papers?"</p>
+
+<p>Jock answered him, "He is gone, my
+lord."</p>
+
+<p>Then snatching up a flagon of wine that
+was near at hand, he drank more than half
+that was in it. And again he turned over
+the papers in his hand. But all they, my
+little lady, and Mistress Marian, and your
+grandfather and grandmother, seemed turned
+to stone. All at once my little lady<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+started up as from a spell, and went and
+got her arms about him, as in years gone
+by when she had hurt him with his own
+mock sword, and she cried out, "What is
+it? what is it?" Anon came Mistress Marian
+to his other side, and looked over his
+shoulder, while he stood between them like
+one bewitched, and whiter than a man just
+dead. When Mistress Marian noted the
+contents o' th' papers, up went her hand to
+her heart as on that day under the beech-tree,
+and she caught at his arm to stay herself.</p>
+
+<p>He turned from his wife to her as though
+for help, saying, "Tell her, tell her, comrade."
+And he sank into a chair near by,
+and dropped down his head into his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Lord! Lord! that was a fearful night!
+When they made my little lady to understand,
+she set up one cry after another,
+each loud enough to pierce the very floor
+of heaven. Ne'er since have I heard a
+woman utter such cries as those. And no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+one but Mistress Marian could in any wise
+appease her, for she would not have my
+lord come unto her, but drove him away
+with waving of her hands, saying, "Thou
+dost not love <i>me</i>, but the King! thou dost
+not love <i>me</i>, but the King!"</p>
+
+<p>And when Mistress Marian sought to
+reason with her, 'twas even the same.
+Naught could she do but sit and hold her,
+and comfort her with soft words and noises
+such as mothers make o'er their young
+babes. By-and-by she was calmer, and
+asked to see her lord. So Mistress Marian
+went out, but I remained on a low stool at
+the bed's foot. Lord Ernle entered, and
+she crept into his arms like a fawn into the
+hollow of a rock when the hail is falling.
+And they clung to each other in silence.
+Presently he saith, "Darling, darling, that
+I should have brought thee to grief!"</p>
+
+<p>She answered, "Nay, not thou, but God.
+O love, dost truly think that God is aye a
+good God?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And he hushed and soothed her even
+more tenderly than did Mistress Marian.</p>
+
+<p>Afterwhile she saith, almost in a whisper,
+"But thou needst not go?"</p>
+
+<p>He said, "Darling, how dost thou mean?"</p>
+
+<p>And she whispered more low and said,
+"I will go with thee to the new continent
+to-morrow, and there we can live the rest
+o' our days in peace and love." And she
+broke out all at once wilder than ever:
+"Ernle! Ernle! take me! I will go with
+thee! I will leave father, and mother, and
+home, and country, and friends, and King
+for thee! Only go not to war! go not to
+war!"</p>
+
+<p>He said but two words back of his teeth,
+"I must!" and then again, "<i>I must!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>But when he looked at her for answer,
+lo! she had swooned away.</p>
+
+<p>He was to set forth in two days after the
+morrow; and on the morning of that day,
+behold! we could not believe our own eyes
+for astonishment when we saw the Lady<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+Patience step quietly forth, composed and
+gentle, though very pale. She saith good-morrow
+to every one, and after a while she
+doth slip her arm through her husband's
+arm, and saith she, "Come for a walk, Ernle;
+I have much to say to thee." So they
+started forth together. Now I, fearful of
+many things, did follow at a little distance.
+As they walked she besought him again
+that he would take her and set sail for the
+new continent. And when again he told
+her how that it could not be, she fell down
+upon her knees before him, and clasped him
+with her arms, and she said, "If thou dost
+not love me, let me be the first to die by
+thy sword. Slay me, as I kneel, for the love
+I bear thee."</p>
+
+<p>He said, "Patience, Patience, thou wilt
+break mine heart."</p>
+
+<p>And she, still kneeling, did cry out with
+a wild voice, "They lied who named me,
+for in an ill hour was I born, and I have
+not patience to support it! I thought that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+thou didst love me, and lo! thou lovest the
+husband of another woman more than thou
+lovest me!"</p>
+
+<p>He bent to lift her up, groaning, but she
+would not; whereat he trembled from head
+to foot, and she shook with his trembling
+as the leaves of a tree when the shaft is
+smitten by lightning. And she cried out
+again, and said, "As there is a God in heaven,
+thou dost not love me, an thou canst go
+to war and leave me to die o' grief." Then,
+as though 'twas torn from him, he burst
+forth, "Now as there is a God, thou dost
+not love <i>me</i>, to torture me thus!"</p>
+
+<p>And all at once she was quiet. So he
+stooped and lifted her, and called her his
+"bride," and his "wife," and his "darling,"
+and his "heart's blood," and more wild, fond,
+foolish names than at this day I can remember.
+'Twas near sundown, and that
+night he was to ride. Over against the
+dark jags o' th' hills there ran a narrow
+streak of light, like a golden ribbon. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+the brown clouds above and below it were
+like locks o' hair made wanton by the wind,
+which it as a fillet did seek to bind. But
+they twain walked ever on, till by-and-by
+they neared that cave o' which I did tell ye.
+As they came in front o't my lady turned,
+and smiling piteously, "Ernle," saith she,
+"wilt thou go with me into the cave and
+kiss me there, that when thou art gone I
+may come hither and think o' thee?"</p>
+
+<p>And he said, "Oh, my heart! what would
+I not for thee?" And he kissed her again
+and again.</p>
+
+<p>Presently she said, "Do not think me
+foolish, but wilt thou enter first?&mdash;it is so
+dark." And she stood in the door-way, with
+her hand on the door, while he entered.</p>
+
+<p>He said, "There is nothing here, sweetheart,
+but a monstrous damp odor."</p>
+
+<p>And she answered, "Nay, but go to the
+very end; there may be toads; and when
+thou art there, halloo to me." So she waited
+with her hand on the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He called to her, "There is nothing, love.
+Wait until I return to thee." But, ere he
+had ceased speaking, she clapped to the
+door with all her might, and did push forward
+the great iron bolt, so that he was a
+prisoner in the cave; I being rooted to the
+ground with astonishment, as fast as was
+ever the oak-tree under which I stood. At
+first he thought 'twas but one o' her pretty
+trickeries, and I heard his gay laugh as he
+came to the shut door, and he called out,
+and said, "So, sweetheart, I am in truth a
+prisoner o' war; but art thou not an unmerciful
+general to confine the captured in
+so rheumatic a cavern?"</p>
+
+<p>She sat down and leaned her head against
+the door, but said not a word.</p>
+
+<p>And he spoke again, saying, "Darling, I
+pray thee waste not what little time doth
+yet remain to us."</p>
+
+<p>Still she answered not; and again he
+spake, and his voice began to be sorrowful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my wife," he said, "canst thou jest
+at such a time?"</p>
+
+<p>At last she answered him, saying, "I jest
+not."</p>
+
+<p>His voice changed somewhat, and he said,
+"What dost thou, then?"</p>
+
+<p>She answered, "I keep what is mine.
+Where my forefathers did hide their treasure,
+there hide I mine."</p>
+
+<p>He said, in a loud voice, "God will not
+suffer it."</p>
+
+<p>Then fell a silence between them. But
+by-and-by he spoke again. "Darling," he
+saith, "surely thou dost not mean to do this
+thing?"</p>
+
+<p>And she saith, like a child when 'tis
+naughty, and knoweth well that it is, but
+likes not to say so, "What thing?"</p>
+
+<p>He answered, "Thou canst not truly
+mean to shut me here to bring dishonor
+upon me, who have loved thee better than
+man ever loved woman" (for so do all men
+say, and truly think).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She said, "Thy life is more to me than
+thy honor."</p>
+
+<p>And he groaned aloud, crying, "Oh God!
+that I have lived to hear thee say it!" and
+again there fell a silence, save for the whispering
+of the night in the trees above us
+and the creeping of small creatures through
+the dry grass. 'Twas almost curfew-time,
+and there was one star in the black front o'
+th' night, like the star on the forehead of a
+black stallion.</p>
+
+<p>When he spake again his voice was very
+fierce, and he saith, "Patience, I do command
+thee to release me."</p>
+
+<p>But she spake never a word.</p>
+
+<p>And again he said, "Better let me out to
+love thee, than keep me here until I hate
+thee."</p>
+
+<p>She shivered, leaning against the door,
+until the big bolt rattled in its braces.</p>
+
+<p>And he said yet again, "By the Lord
+God, an thou dost keep me here to sully
+my good name, and that of thy father and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+mother, who have been to me even as my
+own flesh and blood, I will never live with
+thee again as man with wife, but will go
+forth into the New World to live and to
+die with thy handmaid dishonor!"</p>
+
+<p>And she was silent.</p>
+
+<p>Again he spoke, and lifted up his voice
+in a cry exceeding sorrowful and bitter, so
+that my heart froze to hear it.</p>
+
+<p>"Woman! woman! was it for this I gave
+thee my fair fame to cherish? Or was it
+for this that I put my name into thy keeping?
+Oh, child, listen while there is yet
+time! Wilt thou with thy own hands take
+his manhood from thy husband to drag
+it through the mire? Patience, as I have
+shared thy childhood, as I have loved and
+cherished thy girlhood, as I have held thee
+in my arms as bride and wife, give me back
+my honor while there is yet time. Oh, my
+wife! my darling!" And I heard him sobbing
+like a little lad.</p>
+
+<p>At that sound she put both hands over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+her ears, and started to her feet, looking
+from right to left like a hunted thing, and
+I could bear it no longer, but leaped forward
+and fell on my knees before her, and
+grasped her kirtle with both hands. I could
+scarce speak for tears, but with all the
+strength that was in me did I plead with
+her to draw back the bolt, but she would
+not. Now to this day when I do think of
+the fool that I was, not to run without her
+knowledge and bring the old lord, thy grandfather,
+or bide my time and unbar the door
+when she had gone, it seems as though I
+must hate myself for evermore. But as I
+pleaded with her, all at once there was something
+cold against my throat, and I seemed
+to know that 'twas a dagger, and the steel
+cowed me, as it doth sometimes cow strong
+men, and I stirred not, neither spoke I a
+word more. Her face was over me, like a
+white flower in the purple dusk, but her
+eyes bright and terrible. And when she
+spoke, 'twas not my little lady's voice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+but rather the voice o' a fiend. And she
+said,</p>
+
+<p>"Swear that thou sayest nothing of all
+this to man, or to woman, or to child, else
+will I kill thee as thou kneelest."</p>
+
+<p>And I knew that for the time she was
+mad, and would kill me even as she had
+said, did I not swear. So I did take that
+fearful oath, coward as I was, and to this day
+am I a craven when I think on 't. When I
+had sworn, she turned from me as though
+there were no such woman in all the earth,
+and went once more to the door o' th' cave,
+and called his name&mdash;"Ernle!"</p>
+
+<p>He answered straightway, and said, "This
+once will I speak to thee, but if thou dost
+not unbar the door o' th' instant, I will never
+hold speech with thee again, nor touch so
+much as the hem of thy garments, by the
+living God!"</p>
+
+<p>She said, "I cannot! I cannot! But oh!
+say not such dreadful words. We will be
+happy. 'Tis for that I keep thee here.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+Speak to me! Ernle! Ernle! Ernle!
+Call me thy love once more! Just once!
+just once!"</p>
+
+<p>But she might as well have plead at the
+door o' a tomb for all the answer she got.
+Again and again she called him, but a dead
+man speaks no more than spoke her lord.
+And at last she sprang to her feet, and rushed
+away into the darkness towards the castle,
+and I after her.</p>
+
+<p>And when I was entered in by a side
+door, and had changed my apparel and
+gone forth to inquire after her, lo! she was
+raving as with fever, and all they, her
+father, and mother, and Mistress Marian,
+thought that he had ridden away and left
+her i' th' park, having said farewell to them
+ere he and my lady did set forth to walk.
+And they strove to comfort her.</p>
+
+<p>The morrow was scarce dawned when she
+was up and dressed, and stealing through
+the covert to the door o' th' cave. I followed
+her, for she heeded me no more, now that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+had taken the oath, knowing that I would
+be torn in pieces ere I would betray my
+trust. When she was come to the door,
+she kneeled down and leaned her head
+against it, and called to him, with a voice
+so exquisite low, 'twas almost as though one
+should hear the spirit when it speaks within,
+and she saith, "Ernle&mdash;my love&mdash;my love."</p>
+
+<p>And all was still as death. And she said,
+"Darling, feel with thy hands for the bread
+and wine. It is near thee on the right o'
+th' door as thou enterest in. Two bottles
+o' wine and some loaves o' bread."</p>
+
+<p>But he answered her neither by word
+or sighing. And she said, "Wouldst thou
+break my heart?" Then, when she saw
+that he would not answer her, she cast herself
+face down along the ground, and tore
+up the grass with her hands, and pressed
+down her face into the damp earth. And
+after a while (for th' looks o't) she rose and
+went back to the castle.</p>
+
+<p>At nightfall there rode a man to the castle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+gate with papers, wherein my Lord Falkland
+did question wherefore Lord Radnor
+had not answered the summons. And all
+they were amazed and looked at one another.
+The messenger said, moreover, "If
+that it cannot be proven ere to-morrow
+night that the Lord Radnor hath been the
+victim o' foul play, he will be branded as a
+deserter throughout the land."</p>
+
+<p>Thy grandfather gave one cry, "Murdered!"
+and the sound of it stilled the life
+in me that I fell down as one dead. And
+when I had once more come to the possession
+o' my wits, Jock did tell me as how
+'twas already whispered in the village that
+the young lord had deserted the cause, and
+had set sail in secret for the New World.
+Upon this, I straightway swooned again.
+And when I was recovered enough to stand
+upon my feet and go forth from my chamber,
+behold! there was a silence over all
+the house, as in a house where the best beloved
+has died in the night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Men scoured the country far and near,
+in search o' th' murdered body o' th' young
+lord. And 'twas now the evening o' th'
+third day. But my lady meant not to open
+the door until the morrow, for if she opened
+it ere then, she knew not but what matters
+might be righted, and her lord ride to the
+wars in spite o' all. When it was nigh to
+sunset she did creep forth and kneel at the
+door o' th' cave, and call to him in that beautiful,
+gentle voice, "Ernle! Ernle! my love!
+my darling!"</p>
+
+<p>And when he did not answer her, she
+ceased not, as on the day before, but went
+on: "To-morrow I will set thee free. As I
+live, thou shall be free to-morrow. An thou
+wilt but let me be near thee like thy dog, I
+will ask no more. Neither will I fret thee
+with my sorrow. Oh, love, I do beseech
+thee speak to me, whose only sin was in
+loving thee too dearly. Let the kisses that
+as a bride I have set upon thy lips plead
+with them that they speak to me. Oh, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+heart! oh, my husband, have pity! If thou
+wilt never speak to me again, speak to me
+now. Say but my name, my silly, ill-bestowed
+name, 'Patience.' Nay, curse me,
+so I but hear thy voice. Call me what names
+thou wilt. In God's name, Ernle! In the
+name o' her who was once thy wife!" And
+as she knelt and pleaded as a woman with
+her God, behold! there stepped forth from
+the coppice Mistress Marian. She stood
+there like a figure cut in snow, for her kirtle
+was all of white s&eacute;m&eacute;, and her hair was as
+a cloud fallen round about her. When she
+saw my lady she drew in her breath with a
+sharp sound, and set both hands against
+her bosom. And she bended forward from
+her loins and listened, but in none otherwise
+moved she. And my lady went on,
+"To-morrow I will set thee free&mdash;I do
+swear it. With the rising o' th' morrow's
+sun thou shalt be free as air. Only speak
+to me now. Only speak to me now. Just
+once, Ernle&mdash;just once."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With one spring Mistress Marian was
+upon her, and had pinned her arms to her
+sides. And the two women stood and gazed
+into each other's faces, with their throats
+stretched forward, as serpents stretch their
+throats ere springing upon each other.</p>
+
+<p>Mistress Marian spake first, and her voice
+was as a voice that I had never heard, and
+she said, "So <i>this</i> is the truth, then?"</p>
+
+<p>My lady said no word, but her eyes were
+aflame.</p>
+
+<p>And Mistress Marian gazed on her for
+an instant more, then dashed her aside, and
+turned towards the cave.</p>
+
+<p>"Ernle," she said, "take heart. I will set
+thee free&mdash;I, Marian!" But ere her hand
+did touch the bolt, my lady was upon her
+like a little tiger, and she wound her hands
+in Mistress Marian's thick tresses, and
+dragged her backward.</p>
+
+<p>And they rolled over and over on the
+ground, even as do men when they fight,
+saying no word from first to last. The horror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+of it smote me that I fell down upon my
+knees and was dumb. Now my little lady
+was uppermost, now Mistress Marian. And
+had not my lady been strong with despair,
+Mistress Marian could 'a' mastered her o'
+th' instant. But she fought like a she-wolf
+brought to bay, with teeth and talons too,
+and 'twas almost as though two of a size
+had fought there. Howbeit, with a sudden
+move, Mistress Marian flung my lady down,
+and set her knee upon her, and held her, and
+looked from side to side, as though at a loss,
+and my lady's strength was fast failing.</p>
+
+<p>When I saw that, I could bide still no
+longer, but ran forward, crying to Mistress
+Marian to be gentle with her.</p>
+
+<p>She answered but these words, "Nurse,
+take off my girdle and bind thy lady's hands
+with it." And there was that in her voice
+I dared not disobey. So I bound my lady's
+hands, she saying never a word, and when
+the girdle was fast knotted, Mistress Marian
+helped her gently enough to rise, and bidding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+me have a care o' her, turned and
+drew back the bolt from the door o' the
+cave.</p>
+
+<p>The last light o' the sun fell like a golden
+lance across the threshold, and across my
+lord as he lay there, face down, with his
+hands against the sill o' th' door.</p>
+
+<p>And she stooped down over him, saying,
+"He hath fainted for lack o' food," but I
+knew that there was both wine and bread i'
+th' cave. And she called his name, but he
+was silent. And she called him again and
+again. And at last she bade me come to
+her side, and when we had turned him upon
+his side so that his face was towards us, behold,
+he was dead. But Mistress Marian
+saith again, "He hath swooned away." And
+she put her hand upon his brow, but no sooner
+did she touch it than she cried out at its
+coldness, and shook the dead man in her
+frenzy, crying,</p>
+
+<p>"Ernle! Ernle! thou art free! Wake,
+man! thou art free!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I said, "Mistress, mistress, for love of
+God! Dost thou not see that neither thou
+nor any other can wake him more?"</p>
+
+<p>Thereat she fell back upon her knees,
+leaning upon one arm. And she said,
+"Dost thou mean&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>I bowed down mine head, for I could not
+meet her eyes. And she fell upon his body,
+and stirred no more, so that when they came
+to bear the poor young lord to the castle,
+they did bear her also. And for some hours
+we thought her dead.</p>
+
+<p>Now when my lady saw them how they
+lay there, and the sunlight red upon them
+like to blood, she came and kneeled down
+in front o' me, and lifted up her poor fettered
+hands meekly, like a little child. And
+she said, "Nurse, I pray you tell me what it
+doth mean, for methinks I am waxing foolish,
+like poor Marjory i' th' village whose
+man fell from the cliff."</p>
+
+<p>I could not answer her for sobbing.</p>
+
+<p>And she said, "Do they sleep?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And I nodded my head, for I could say
+no word.</p>
+
+<p>She said, "Pray you, do not wake them.
+An they sleep till the morrow, all will be
+well." Suddenly her wits came back upon
+her with a rush, as doth a wind that hath
+seemed to be gone for aye. And she snapt
+the girdle on her wrists like as it had been
+a thread o' silk, and ran and laid hold on
+him with her hands, and dragged him forth
+upon the grass. And she saith,</p>
+
+<p>"Ernle! Ernle! Ernle! What! wilt thou
+not answer me, now that thou art free?
+See! thou mayest ride to war. It is not
+yet too late. What there, nurse! My lord's
+charger! Run! run!" Then leaped she to
+her feet with one cry that methought would
+'a' cracked the welkin in twain above our
+heads.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead! Oh God in heaven!"</p>
+
+<p>So for an instant she stood, with her
+arms reached high above her head, and her
+eyes upon him as he lay at her feet, even as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+a flame doth poise for a breath ere sinking
+again upon the coals. But anon she dropped
+down beside him, and beat her forehead with
+the lower palms o' her hands, and she saith,
+"Well didst thou sign me with thy blood!
+well didst thou sign me with thy blood!"
+Then all at once did she peep up at me over
+her shoulder with one o' her winsome ways,
+and fell a-laughing softly.</p>
+
+<p>"Nurse," saith she, "hath he not found a
+pretty way to punish me? He feigns it well&mdash;by'r
+lay'kin&mdash;doth he not, nurse?"</p>
+
+<p>And she rocked to and fro, as she knelt
+beside him, laughing softly to herself, and
+ever and again she would reach forth one
+little hand, all scarred in her struggle with
+Mistress Marian, and would touch a stray
+lock into place, and once she bent over and
+kissed him, laughing softly, and nodding to
+herself very wisely. And she would sit that
+way, and rock herself to and fro, and smile
+upon the ground, and laugh softly, until the
+very day that she did die. And the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+words that she did ever say were, "Just
+once, Ernle&mdash;just once."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>(Nurse Crumpet rises and stirs the fire,
+amid a heavy silence, broken only by the
+little Lady Dorothy's sobs and the rushing
+of the wind outside the great hall.)</p>
+
+
+<h3>THE END.</h3><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TONY, THE MAID.</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>A Novelette. <span class="smcap">By Blanche Willis Howard.</span> Illustrated
+by <span class="smcap">Charles S. Reinhart</span>. 16mo, Cloth, $1&nbsp;00.</div>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"'Tony, the Maid,' is not only one of the best pieces of work Miss
+Howard has yet done, but it is one of the very best short stories of the
+year. Tony herself is an original creation. There is no maid like
+Tony in all fiction; and she is, moreover, the only good thing, which
+is neither superlatively beautiful nor emphatically a bore, or both, that
+has come out of the Canton of Lucerne since the days of William Tell.
+Even the insatiate archer, when he is not mythical, is a trifle wearing
+to the average mind, but Tony is never tiresome and always grand.</p>
+
+<p>"As a short story Miss Howard's 'Tony, the Maid' has but one
+fault. It is too short. There is not enough of Tony. She makes her
+exit too suddenly and too completely. It is consoling to know, however,
+that Miss Zschorcher is some day coming to America as Mrs.
+Eduard Maler. Perhaps Tony the Maid may figure as Tony the Matron
+and Tony the Mother. Knowing her duty to her gracious Fr&auml;ulein,
+no doubt she will."</p>
+
+<p>A bright and lively sketch of an American woman abroad, and characterized
+throughout by keen and forcible phraseology and a very
+symmetrical construction.&mdash;<i>N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.</i></p>
+
+<p>This is a very clever satire on one of the phases of modern society,
+and the tale is told in a most charming manner.&mdash;<i>Albany Press.</i></p>
+
+<p>It is a long time since we have met with anything so charming, so
+refreshing, so droll.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Read this book once, and one wants to turn
+back and read it again.&mdash;<i>N. Y. Star.</i></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Reinhart's illustrations greatly enhance the interest of the novelette.&mdash;<i>Buffalo
+Commercial Advertiser.</i></p>
+
+<p>A story written in a style as simple as that which Miss Howard has
+adopted in this novelette is sure to find many readers. The story is
+well told and attractive.&mdash;<i>Troy Press.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Tony, the Maid," is safe for a great success with the lovers of the
+bright and dainty in literature. It is prettily bound, and uncommonly
+cleverly illustrated.&mdash;<i>N. Y. Graphic.</i></p>
+
+<p>The story is told with infinite humor and with not a little pathos,
+and it will well repay perusal.&mdash;<i>Philadelphia Telegraph.</i></p>
+
+<p>The plot is new, the characters are fresh, and the handling is spirited
+and brisk. No one who commences this little book will stop reading
+until the end is reached.&mdash;<i>Chicago Journal.</i></p></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<div class='center'>
+<span class="smcap">Published by HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, New York.</span><br />
+<br /></div>
+<p><img src="images/hand.png" width="29" height="13" alt="Hand pointing" title="Hand pointing" />
+<i>The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the
+United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.</i><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><span class="smcap">By</span> CONSTANCE F. WOOLSON.</h2>
+
+<div class='hang1'>EAST ANGELS. pp. 592. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.</div>
+
+<div class='hang1'>ANNE. Illustrated. pp. 540. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.</div>
+
+<div class='hang1'>FOR THE MAJOR. pp. 208. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.</div>
+
+<div class='hang1'>CASTLE NOWHERE. pp. 386. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (<i>A New Edition.</i>)</div>
+
+<div class='hang1'>RODMAN THE KEEPER. Southern Sketches. pp. 340. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (<i>A New Edition.</i>)</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>There is a certain bright cheerfulness in Miss Woolson's writing
+which invests all her characters with lovable qualities.&mdash;<i>Jewish Advocate,
+N. Y.</i></p>
+
+<p>Miss Woolson is among our few successful writers of interesting
+magazine stories, and her skill and power are perceptible in the delineation
+of her heroines no less than in the suggestive pictures of
+local life.&mdash;<i>Jewish Messenger, N. Y.</i></p>
+
+<p>Constance Fenimore Woolson may easily become the novelist
+laureate.&mdash;<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+<p>Miss Woolson has a graceful fancy, a ready wit, a polished style, and
+conspicuous dramatic power; while her skill in the development of a
+story is very remarkable.&mdash;<i>London Life.</i></p>
+
+<p>Miss Woolson never once follows the beaten track of the orthodox
+novelist, but strikes a new and richly loaded vein, which so far is all
+her own; and thus we feel, on reading one of her works, a fresh sensation,
+and we put down the book with a sigh to think our pleasant
+task of reading it is finished. The author's lines must have fallen to
+her in very pleasant places; or she has, perhaps, within herself the
+wealth of womanly love and tenderness she pours so freely into all
+she writes. Such books as hers do much to elevate the moral tone of
+the day&mdash;a quality sadly wanting in novels of the time.&mdash;<i>Whitehall
+Review, London.</i></p></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<div class='center'>
+<span class="smcap">Published by HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, New York.</span><br />
+</div>
+<p><img src="images/hand.png" width="29" height="13" alt="Hand pointing" title="Hand pointing" />
+ <i>The above works sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the
+United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.</i><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
+<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p>
+
+<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other
+Old-time Tales, by Amelie Rives
+
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@@ -0,0 +1,4536 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time
+Tales, by Amelie Rives
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Brother To Dragons and Other Old-time Tales
+
+Author: Amelie Rives
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2008 [EBook #26356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BROTHER TO DRAGONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from scans of public domain material produced by
+Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover: A Brother to Dragons]
+
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER TO DRAGONS
+
+AND
+
+_OTHER OLD-TIME TALES_
+
+BY AMELIE RIVES
+
+          NEW YORK
+          HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
+          1888
+
+
+
+
+          Copyright, 1888, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+          _All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+          =Dedicated=
+
+          WITH GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
+
+          TO
+
+          THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
+
+          MY FIRST EDITOR
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+OF the tales published in this volume, "A Brother to Dragons" appeared
+in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for March, 1886; "The Farrier Lass o' Piping
+Pebworth" in _Lippincott's Magazine_ for July, 1887; and "Nurse Crumpet
+tells the Story" in _Harper's Magazine_ for September, 1887.
+
+                                                        AMELIE RIVES.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                  PAGE
+
+          A BROTHER TO DRAGONS                       1
+
+          THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING PEBWORTH       82
+
+          NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY            168
+
+
+
+
+A BROTHER TO DRAGONS.
+
+
+I.
+
+IN the year of grace, 1586, on the last day of the month of May, to all
+who may chance to read this narrative, these:
+
+I will first be at the pains of stating that had it not been for Marian
+I had never indited these or any other papers, true or false. Secondly,
+that the facts herein set down be true facts; none the less true that
+they are strange. I will furthermore explain that Marian is the
+Christian name of my lawful wife, and that our surname is Butter.
+
+My wife had nursed the Lady Margaret from the moment of her birth; and
+here I must make another digression. The Lady Margaret was the twin
+sister of the then Lord of Amhurste, Lord Robert, and my lady and his
+lordship had quarrelled--Marian saith, with a great cause, but I cannot
+herein forbear also expressing my opinion, which is to the effect that
+for that quarrel there was neither cause, justice, nor reason.
+Therefore, before those who may chance to read these words, I will lay
+bare the facts pertaining to the said quarrel.
+
+It concerned the family ghost, which ghost was said to haunt a certain
+blue chamber in the east wing of the castle. Now I myself had never
+gainsaid these reports; for although I do not believe in ghosts, I have
+a certain respect for them, as they have never offered me any affront,
+either by appearing to me or otherwise maltreating me. But Marian, who
+like many of her sex seemed to consort naturally with banshees, bogies,
+apparitions, and the like, declared to me that at several different and
+equally inconvenient times this ghost had presented itself to her,
+startling her on two occasions to such an extent that she once let fall
+the contents of the broth-bowl on Herne the blood-hound, thereby causing
+that beast to maliciously devour two breadths of her new black taffeta
+Sunday gown; again, a hot iron wherewith she was pressing out the seams
+of Lady Margaret's night-gown. On the second occasion, she fled along
+the kitchen hall, shrieking piteously, and preceded by Doll, the kitchen
+wench, the latter having in her seeming a certain ghostly appearance, as
+she was clad only in her shift, which the draughts in the hall inflated
+to a great size. The poor maid fled affrighted into her room and locked
+the door behind her; yet when I did essay to assuage the terror of
+Mistress Butter, identifying Doll and the blue-room ghost as one and the
+same, she thanked me not, but belabored me in her frenzy with the yet
+warm iron, which she had instinctively snatched up in her flight;
+demanding of me at the same time if I had ever seen Doll's nose spout
+fire, and her eyes spit in her head like hot coals. I being of a
+necessity compelled to reply "No," Marian further told me that it was
+thus that the ghost had comported itself; that, moreover, it was clad
+all in a livid blue flame from top to toe, and that it had a banner o'
+red sarcenet that streamed out behind like forked lightning. She then
+said that this malevolent spirit had struck her with its blazing hand,
+and that, did I not believe her, I could see the burn on her wrist. Upon
+my suggesting that this wound might have been inflicted by the iron in
+its fall, she did use me in so unwifely a manner that I sought my bed in
+much wrath and vexation of spirit. Nay, I do fear me that I cursed the
+day I was wed, the day on which my wife was born, wishing all women to
+the d--l; and that, moreover, out loud, which put me to much shame
+afterwards for some days; although, be it said to my still greater
+shame, it was full a fortnight e'er I confessed my repentance unto the
+wife whom I had so abused.
+
+But meseems I have in this digression transgressed in the matter o'
+length; therefore, to return to the bare facts.
+
+It was on the subject of this ghost that my lord and the Lady Margaret
+had disagreed. My lord, being a flighty lad, although a marvellous fine
+scholar and well-disposed, did agree with my wife in the matter of the
+ghost; while my lady was of a like mind with myself.
+
+It doth seem but yesterday that she came to me as I was training the
+woodbine o'er the arbor that led to her little garden, and put her white
+hand on my shoulder. (My lady was never one for wearing gloves, yet the
+sun seemed no more to think o' scorching her fair hands than the leaves
+of a day-lily.) She comes to me and lays her hand on my shoulder, and
+her long eyes they laugh at me out of the shadow of her hat; but her
+mouth is grave as though I were a corse.
+
+Quoth she:
+
+"Butter, dost thou believe in this ghost?"
+
+"Nay, my lady," answered I, hoping to shift her to better soil; "I ne'er
+meddle with ghosts or goblins. Why, an there be such things, should they
+wish me harm? O' my word, my brain is no more troubled with ghosts,
+black or white, than our gracious Queen's"--here I doffed my cap--"is
+with snails and slugs;" and here I plucked a slug from a vine-leaf and
+set my heel on't.
+
+"Nay, nay!" quoth she, a-shutting of her white eyelids so tight that all
+the long black hairs on them stood straight out, like the fringe on
+Marian's Sunday mantle in a high wind. "Butter! thou nasty man!"
+
+"Why--for how dost thou mean, my lady?" quoth I.
+
+"Why, for mashing that poor beast to a pap." And then a-holding of her
+hand level below her eyes, so that she might not discern the ground,
+"Is he dead?" quoth she.
+
+"Dead?" asked I, for I was somewhat puzzled in my mind.
+
+"Ay, the slug; is he dead?"
+
+"That he is, verily," said I; for in truth he was naught but a jelly,
+and therewith I drew a pebble over him with my foot, that the sight o'
+his misfortune should not disturb her tender heart.
+
+"How if I were to crush you 'neath my heel, Master Butter?" quoth she at
+last, having peered about for the sight she dreaded, and, not seeing it,
+returning to her discourse. "How wouldst thou like that, excellent
+Master Butter?" But somehow, as I looked at her foot, my mouth, for all
+I could do, went into a smile. For though she was as fine a maiden as
+any in all Warwickshire, her foot, methinks, was of so dainty a make
+'twould scarce have dealt death to a rose.
+
+"But truly, my lady," continued I, seeing that she was making up a face
+at me, "thou knowest I've naught in common with ghosts."
+
+"Ay," quoth she. "And thou knowest the like of me. But"--and here stops
+she, with the slyest tip of her frowzed curls towards the house--"thou
+knowest also this, Butter, that his lordship, my brother, thinks as doth
+Marian, thy wife, and that therein we four cannot agree."
+
+So I look at my hoe-handle, and say I, "My lady, it is known to me."
+
+"Well, now, Butter," she goes on, "thou most wise, most excellent, most
+cunning, most delectable of Butters, I have concocted a plan. I' fecks,
+Butter" (for my lady, like her Majesty the Queen, was somewhat given to
+swearing, though more modest oaths, as should become a subject)--"I'
+fecks, Butter," saith she, "'tis a most lustick plot. But I would not
+thy mome heard us;" and with that she makes me send away Joe, the
+under-gardener. He being gone, she whispers in my ear how she hath
+plotted to fright his lordship and Marian into very convulsions of
+further conviction, by appearing to them at the door o' the blue room in
+her night-gown, with a taper in her hand and her face chalked. What she
+desired o' me was, that I should come to the blue room with her, and
+there remain while she played off this pretty fantasy on my lord and
+Marian.
+
+To be truthful in these my last days o' earth, I liked not my proffered
+office o'er-well. Howbeit, that night did I do the bidding o' my young
+mistress, and--loath am I to speak of it, even at this late day--'twas
+the cause of my young master's leaving his home and going to bide in
+foreign countries.
+
+Ah, bitter tears did his sister weep, and with mine own eyes I saw her,
+on the day he set forth, cling to his neck, and when he shook her
+thence, hang about his loins, and when at last he pushed her to the
+ground, she laid her hands about his feet and wept; and between every
+sob it was, "Go not, brother, for my fault! Go not, brother, for my
+fault!" or else, "Robin, Robin, dost not love me enough to forgive me so
+little?" and then, "If thou didst but love me a little, thou couldst
+forgive me much." But he stepped free of her hands and went his ways,
+and my lady lay with her head where his feet had been, and was still.
+
+Then Marian, who was very wroth with me for my part in the matter, did
+up with her nursling in her own proper strong arms (for she was aye a
+strong lass, that being one o' the chief reasons for which I had sought
+her in marriage--having had, as should all men, an eye to my posterity.
+It was a great cross to me, as may be thought, to find that all my
+forethought had been in vain, and that while Turnip, the farrier, had
+eight as fine lads as one would care to father, of a puny wench that my
+Marian could have slipped in her pocket, Mistress Butter presented me
+with no children, weakly or healthy). But, as I have said, Marian, in
+her own arms, did carry my lady up-stairs to her chamber, and laid her
+on the day-bed.
+
+And by-and-by she opes her eyes (for Marian agreed that I sate on the
+threshold), and says she, putting out her hand half-fearful-like, "Is't
+thou, brother?"
+
+"Nay, honey," saith Marian; "it is I, thy Marian, thy nurse."
+
+Then said my lady, "Ay, nurse; but my brother, he is below--is't not
+so?" But when Marian shook her head, my lady sate up on the day-bed and
+caught hold of her short curls, and cried out, "I have banished him! I
+have made him an outlaw! I have banished him!" And for days she lay like
+one whose soul was sped.
+
+Well, the young lord came not back, nor would he write; so we knew not
+whether he were alive or dead. Yet were Marian and myself not
+unhopeful, for full oft did the heady boy find some such cause of
+disagreement with his sister to abide apart from her. But when we saw
+that in truth he came not back, and that week sped after week, and month
+did follow month, and still no tidings, we had perforce to acknowledge
+that the young lord was indeed gone to return no more.
+
+The Lady Margaret, in her loneliness, grew into many strange ways. She
+did outride any man in the county, and she had a blue-roan by the name
+of Robin Hood; which same, methinks, no man in or out o' th' county
+would 'a' cared to bestride. She would walk over to Pebworth ('piping
+Pebworth,' as Master Shakespeare hath dubbed it) and back again, a
+distance o' some six miles; and afterwards set forth for a gallop on
+Robin Hood, and be no more a-weary, come eventide, than myself from a
+trip 'round the gardens. She swam like a sea-maid, she had fenced even
+better than her brother, and methinks she was the bonniest shot with a
+long-bow of any woman in all England. She was but fifteen when my lord
+left Amhurste for aye, and in the years since she had grown mightily,
+and was waxed as strong as Marian, and full a head taller. But she had
+long, curved flanks that saved her from buxomness; and her head was set
+high and light on her shoulders, like a bird that floats on a wave, and
+o'er it ran her bright curls, the one o'er the other, like little
+wavelets. Her eyes were as gray as a sword, and as keen, and she had
+broad lids as white as satin-flowers, and there was a fine black ring
+around them, made by her long lashes.
+
+My lady was courted by many a fine lord, and more than three youngsters
+have I seen weep because of her coldness towards them; speeding them
+away out o' the sight o' mankind (as they thought), and casting
+themselves along the lush grass in my lady's garden, there to bleat and
+bleat, like moon-calves for the moon.
+
+For one lad did my heart bleed, verily. 'Twas for the young Lord of
+Mallow--but a lad with buttercup curls and speedwell eyes, and a smile
+to win the love o' any maid in her reason (though, to be sure, my lady
+was in her reason). He comes to me and gets between my knees, like any
+little eanling that might 'a' been mine own, and quoth he:
+
+"Butter, Butter, she loves thee! Wilt thou not speak to her, and tell
+her that she shall be the richest lady in all England, and maid of honor
+to the Queen, and have more jewels than the Queen herself? Oh, Butter!"
+cried he.
+
+Then said I, a-stroking of the yellow gossamer that bestrewed his
+shoulders, as he knelt, head bowed, between my knees, "Nay, my lord,
+'tis not so that thou shalt win the Lady Margaret. She careth no more
+for jewels than she doth for the beads in a rainbow; nor doth she care
+for riches. And methinks a maid who would marry just to be maid of honor
+to a queen would not be an honorable maid either to herself or to her
+sovereign;" for so indeed I thought.
+
+Then saith he, "Butter, dost thou believe in love-philters?"
+
+And I asked his meaning, for verily I was ignorant of 't, albeit I was
+not ignorant in all matters. And he explained to me that it was a drink
+or potion to cause love.
+
+Then I answered, and said, "Calamint doth make a good brew, likewise
+sage, and some flax is soothing, but methinks none o' these would cause
+love."
+
+On this he wept again, but said that I was a good old man, and that on
+his return to Mallow he would send me a gift; and so he did--a pair o'
+silk hose, such as my lady and the Queen do wear; but being mindful of
+my station, I laid them aside for the sake o' th' poor lad, and
+yesterday Marian did bring them to me, with her ten fingers through as
+many moth-holes. Whereupon I was minded o' th' text concerning that we
+lay not up treasures where moth and rust do corrupt, and at my behest
+Marian read me the whole of that chapter. But to return to bare facts.
+
+It was on a certain night in March that there occurred the conversation
+which was the cause of this narrative. There had been news of the return
+of one Lord Denbeigh to Warwickshire--by report as wild a cavalier as
+ever fought, and a godless body to boot. Marian, who, as I have said,
+had always a certain knack for ghost stories and the like, froze me with
+her accounts o' this wild lord's doings. Quoth she:
+
+"Fire-brace is a suiting name for him, inasmuch as 'tis a family name,
+and he a fire-brand to peace wheresome'er he shall go."
+
+"Peace--peace thyself!" quoth I, hearing my lady's foot along the hall.
+And, o' my word, Marian had but just ceased, and given her attention to
+the fire, when in clatters my lady, with her riding-whip stuck in her
+glove, and her blood-hound Hearn in a leash. She was much wrought,
+either with riding or rage, for there was a quick red in her cheek, and
+she had set her red lips until they were white. Then took she the hound
+between her knees, and plucked off her gloves. Here I did find it my
+duty to speak.
+
+"My lady," cried I, "'tis not in your mind to baste the dog?"
+
+"Ay, that it is," quoth she, and her lips went tighter, and she jerked
+at her glove.
+
+Then said I, "How if he leap at thy throat?" And she answered, "Nay, he
+knows better;" and with that she gripped his collar, and let swing her
+whip. Then did I bid Marian that she leave the room. As for me, it was
+my duty to stay, though, as I have given an oath to tell but the truth
+in this narrative, I must confess that I was in a sweat from head to
+foot with fear.
+
+But the great hound crouched as though he knew he got but what he
+deserved, and when my lady had given him ten or twenty lashes she flung
+wide the door, and said she, "Get thee gone, coward! Go fare as fares
+the poor beggar thou sought'st to bite!" and the hound slunk out. Then
+turned my mistress to me, and--"Butter," saith she, "yon beast sought to
+bite an old beggar as we came through the park, so I whipped him. But
+for naught save cruelty or disobedience will I ever whip a dog; so,
+Butter, the next time that thou seest me about to lash one, keep thy
+counsel." (This was the harshest that my lady e'er spoke, either to me
+or to Marian.) Then went she to the door and called Marian.
+
+"Come, nurse," quoth she, "I am a-weary. Fling me some skins on the
+settle, and I will lie down, and thou shalt card out my locks with thy
+fingers." So we heaped the settle with the skins o' white bears, and
+thereon my lady cast herself, like a flower blown down upon a snow-bank;
+and by-and-by, what with the warmth and Marian's strokings, she fell
+into a deep sleep. But we two sate and gazed on her.
+
+She was all clad in a tight riding-dress of green velour cloth, and her
+white face seemed to come from the close collar like a white lily from
+its sheath. She was e'er flower-like, asleep or waking, as I have said,
+and her pretty head was sleek and yellow, like a butterfly's wing. She
+was so sound that it appeared to me and Marian as though one longer
+breath might transform the mimicry into the actual thing--death. But
+by-and-by awe fell from us, as it doth ever fall, even in the presence
+of that which hath awed us, and my wife and I did return to our
+discourse concerning my Lord Denbeigh.
+
+Quoth I to Marian, "But, wife, may not malice invent these tales?"
+
+"Nay, nay," said she, shaking her head; "as bloody a rogue as ever
+lived--as bloody a rogue as ever lived. They do say as how he'll set a
+whole tavern in a broil ere he be entered in for three minutes."
+
+"But," quoth I, "may he not be provoked?"
+
+"Nay, I tell thee," said she; "but he'll jump at a body's head, and
+cleave 't open ere a body can say 'Jesus.'"
+
+At this I said, firmly, "I doubt not but what the poor man is most
+surely maligned." Whereupon Mistress Butter did wax exceeding wroth.
+
+"Why wilt thou e'er be seeking to plead the cause o' villains?" cried
+she. "First that bloody beast o' my lady's, now this bloody villain o'
+th' devil's. I do wonder at thee, Anthony Butter." Whereat I did put in
+that I sometimes wondered at myself.
+
+"For why?" quoth she.
+
+"Why, that I ever married to be worded by a wench," said I. And at this
+I am most entirely sure that she would have cast her joint-stool at me,
+had she not been sitting on 't, and my lady's head against her knee. So
+she called me a "zany," and then after a little a "toad," but went on
+stroking my lady's hair.
+
+And, by-and-by, back we come to his lordship.
+
+"'Tis not alone his bloody tricks and murderous ways," quoth my wife,
+"that causes all Christian folk to abhor him, but he consorts with no
+other women than drabs and callets. Dost excuse that?"
+
+"Nay," said I, with sufficient gravity, "then is this earl no longer a
+man, but a swine, and not fit for men's discussion, much less that of
+women."
+
+At this reproof I saw anger again in her eye, but she was so pleased
+withal at having got me to call Lord Denbeigh a swine that she forebore
+any further personal affront.
+
+"And yet," she went on, "they do say he be as fine a man as a wench
+will walk through the rain to glimpse at, and a brave and a learned; but
+that he wed a Spanish maid, and she betrayed him, and so he hath vowed
+to hate women, one and all."
+
+"Hast thou seen him?"
+
+"Nay, but I've had him itemized to me by the wife o' Humfrey Lemon. A
+blue eye, a hooked nose, a--"
+
+"Well, well, wife," quoth I, "if a blue eye and a hooked nose be as bad
+signs in a man as they be in a horse, methinks this thy villain is a
+very round villain."
+
+"And so he is," affirmed she.
+
+"Yet," said I, "there is somewhere in me a something that doth pity
+him."
+
+"By my troth!" cried my wife. "I do believe, Master Butter, that
+thou'dst pity the Devil's wife in childbirth."
+
+"Ay, that I would!" I made answer, with a great calmness, for I saw that
+she sought to rouse my spleen.
+
+"Well, do not bellow," blurted she, "for my mistress is as sound as a
+gold-piece."
+
+Then quoth my lady, a-rising up on her elbow,
+
+"Nay, that she is not. And, moreover, she would hear all the stories
+concerning this bad and bloody Lord of Denbeigh!"
+
+
+II.
+
+When Marian heard my lady so speak, methought she would have swooned in
+verity; for she knew my lady's contempt for gossip. E'en for the first
+time in all her life, Marian could not find a word to her tongue.
+
+"La! my lady," said she, and then stopped and was silent. My lady
+laughed at her, with her deep eyes; but as was her wont, her mouth was
+wondrous solemn.
+
+"Ay, nurse," quoth she, "thou thought'st me safe i' th' Land o' Nod, but
+one hath ears to hear there as elsewhere." Then she reaches out one
+hand and plays with Marian's ruff. "Go to, nurse," says she. "Dost thou
+not see I am even i' th' same case with thyself? I too would gossip a
+little. Come, word it--word it!"
+
+So Marian told her all that she had heard, together with a little
+prophesying here and there, which boded no good to my Lord Denbeigh. She
+told how he had e'en been a brave lad, but how in Spain he had wed with
+a wife who played him false; how then he had vowed vengeance on all
+womankind, becoming a brawler and a haunter o' taverns; how death was in
+his sword and lightnings in his eye.
+
+My lady listened, and now and again she would pinch her eyelids softly
+with her thumb and ring-finger, as one who is deep in thought. But when
+Marian paused for breath, she turned to her, and quoth she,
+
+"Nurse, thou hast often preached unto me; listen now to my preachings.
+Thou shalt often hear a man abused, nurse, but chiefly for that which
+he hath never done. This wild lord, I doubt not, hath been guilty of
+sorry deeds. What man hath not? But the half that thou hast told me is
+not to be believed."
+
+Then went she to her room, taking Marian with her, but I saw that she
+was moved.
+
+It was but the next day that my lady's uncle, Sir John Trenyon, came
+riding into the court. He often came in such wise, to bide for a day or
+two with his niece. A most courteous gentleman; red of face, blue of
+eye, and blithe of tongue. He had a jest for each tick o' th' clock, and
+a kind word for all.
+
+"Ah, Butter," saith he, "and where is thy mistress? And thy wife, the
+good Dame Marian--where is she? And how about thy family? Hast thou no
+better prospects than of yore?"
+
+Whereat I looked sorrowful enough, I doubt not, for he did bid me take
+heart, as my first-born might have had a hare-lip or a crook-back. Then
+did he toss me his bridle-reins, and my lady, having heard his voice,
+came forth to meet him.
+
+"So, lady-bird!" quoth he, clasping her. "I am come for no less than
+three reasons this time. First, to see thy bonny face. Second, to ride
+thy bonny Robin. Third, to inquire and seek out a certain villain of
+mine acquaintance, of whom you have doubtless heard;" and forthwith did
+he say to her of how the wicked Lord Denbeigh was the son of a friend
+and comrade, and of how he had known him when a lad, together with much
+more, at which my lady pricked up her ears, as 'twere, having all a
+lady's love for stories of wicked men who are not yet either old or
+ill-favored.
+
+"By my troth," declared the old knight in ending, "I will take but a
+mouthful to stay me, and then set forth straightway in quest o' th'
+rascal." So having dined right heartily, he rode forth again.
+
+Now, having related this hap to Marian, she was devoured of so great a
+curiosity that, as I am an honest man, I looked to see her consumed even
+unto her bones, as some men who burn of drink. She would have it that I
+must hazard a guess on the shape of Lord Denbeigh's nose, the color of
+his hair, and the height of his body. She forced me to wonder whether he
+were civil or rude of tongue. She pressed me to say whether I thought
+there was aye a chance of his returning with Sir John. She questioned
+me, in a word, until, having no answers, I was like to lose my wits, or
+my temper, or both together. At last comes she and sits on my knee, and
+tickles the back of my neck right playfully, as in the days of our
+wooing.
+
+"As I live, Tony," quoth she, "we are like to have a strange story under
+our very noses. What if"--and here she takes my face in her two hands,
+and sets her chin against mine, so that I see four round blue eyes
+against her white brow, and am like to go blind with her
+thoughtlessness--"what if it turns out that the Lord hath set upon our
+lady to be the saviour of this wicked earl?"
+
+"Ay," cried I. "And what if the Lord hath set upon me to be the founder
+of a nation, like Abraham? What then?" At which she boxed my ears right
+soundly. But I could not blame her, for in the wrong I was, without
+doubt, although verily she had plagued me into it. So I sued for pardon,
+and got it, and a kiss into the bargain. But she would not leave me in
+peace concerning Lord Denbeigh.
+
+When that same afternoon there comes Sir John a-riding past, and the bad
+earl at his side, "What dost thou say now?" quoth Marian, a-plucking me
+in a way that did not serve to increase good feeling betwixt us. "Ah
+ha! Are not women prophetesses by nature?"
+
+"Ay, by ill-nature," answered I; and for this quip I was not forgiven
+for two days.
+
+It was towards the setting of the sun when Sir John and Lord Denbeigh
+rode up to the door of Amhurste, and my lady, knowing naught, came out
+at the sound of the horses' feet, thinking only to greet her uncle. The
+red light from the west shone on her, and dabbled her white kirtle as
+with blood, and her face was like one of the red roses in her garden. So
+she put up her hand to shield it, and saw the stranger standing at her
+feet.
+
+There was ne'er a nobler-looking man, for all he might outblack Satan in
+his soul: straight of body, and strong of limb, and lofty of head. His
+hair was the color of my lady's, and there seemed to be ever some
+sunshine in it, as he moved his head. Methought his face was fair and
+goodly to look upon, albeit his lips went downward at the corners, and
+there was a droop in his broad lids. He was clad all in a close suit of
+dark velvet, and in his hand he held a black hat with a knot of
+heron-plumes.
+
+My lady stood and looked down at him from under her long, white hand,
+and he stood and looked up at my lady, as one looks upward at a fair
+picture. And the evening light crept between them. I was ashamed of my
+own folly, when I did catch myself remembering Marian's silly sayings;
+but for all that, they did come back to me, as the words of a foolish
+woman will return to the wisest of men. And in truth he did gaze up at
+her, as though she were more holy than the heavens above her. And for
+all her hand, the sunset found its way unto her cheek.
+
+What I now relate was told me by Marian some three days after. 'Twas on
+the night of the day on which Sir John had brought the stranger to
+Amhurste, and Marian was carding out my lady's tresses before her
+bedroom fire.
+
+Quoth my lady, suddenly, "Nurse, didst thou see Lord Denbeigh ere he
+went?"
+
+And Marian said that she had seen him.
+
+"He hath a strange face, nurse."
+
+"How 'strange,' my lady?"
+
+"Why, it seems to me that each feature in it doth contradict the other.
+His brow is stern, and saith to his eyes, 'Ye shall not be gentle.' His
+eyes say to his nose, 'Spread not thy nostrils so proudly.' His nose
+commands his lips that they smile not; but, nurse, there was ne'er a
+sweeter smile on the lips o' a saint!"
+
+Marian fell a-thinking, and pulled my lady's hair. My lady heeded it
+not, so Marian fell a-thinking yet more deeply.
+
+"It is not a face that tells of a bad heart," continued my lady. "Rather
+it speaks of rebellion and misfortune. A sad story--a sad story."
+
+"What is, my lady?" asked Marian; but my lady was far away, whither
+Marian could not follow.
+
+"Nurse," she saith, presently, "that were a soul worth saving." Then got
+she suddenly to her feet, and turned and took her nurse's hands with
+hers. "It shall be saved," she saith, "God helping."
+
+And she kissed Marian, and lay down upon her bed. But Marian did tell me
+how that no sleep visited her lady's eyes that night. Through the
+darkness she could hear her turn, first on this side, then on that; then
+sigh and move her pillow, and sigh again.
+
+Methought Marian would have split in sunder with importance, when Lord
+Denbeigh took to coming sometimes to Amhurste. 'Twas never for even an
+hour that he stayed; and 'twas always some question of business that
+brought him. But my lady and he touched hands full oft during a week,
+and always he would look at her with a different look from that which
+his eyes did wear at other times. And she spoke to him e'er courteously
+and kindly, even as though he had been a holy man and worthy of all
+reverence.
+
+One day it chanced that my lady rode the blue-roan out into the woods,
+towards the hut of old Joan Gobble, who was crippled by reason of age.
+My lady had me follow her on Dumble, th' white nag, with a pat o' butter
+and some wine. I was taken up with pondering as to why my lady should go
+in person to Dame Gobble's, seeing she might have sent me alone on
+Dumble as well. Be that as it may, as we rode along by a brook-side,
+under the thick leaves, whom should we come upon but my Lord Denbeigh.
+He was kneeling beside the water, and holding down his hand into the
+brook. As I looked I saw that his hand was befouled with gore, and that
+the brown stream did rush away ruddily from beneath his fingers.
+
+My lady did not wait for me to hold Robin Hood, but did swing herself
+from her saddle, and was beside the earl in a trice. He looked up, and
+seeing her, did start upon his feet.
+
+"Nay," said she, putting out her hand, "but tell me if I can aid thee."
+
+And he strove to hide his hand at his side, saying. "Tis but a scratch;"
+but the blood ran down like water on the grass.
+
+"Think not to spare me the sight o' blood," said my lady, "for I am
+learned in bandaging wounds." And certes she was, seeing that every soul
+at Amhurste did come to her for healing, let a cat but scratch them. And
+she took his hand between her two fair hands (having drawn off her
+gloves), and saw that his wrist was deeply severed as with a knife. But
+she asked him no questions, telling him only to stoop while she cleansed
+his hand sufficiently to bind it. And as she laid it in the water, and
+pressed the lips of the wound together, he said unto her in a low tone,
+not meaning that I should hear him,
+
+"Would that thou couldst wash my soul as thou hast washed my hand!"
+
+She looked straight into his eyes, with her own so clear and honest,
+like a dog's (meaning no disrespect to my lady, as God knows), and she
+answered him and saith,
+
+"It were well worth the washing, my lord; but an higher than I must
+cleanse it."
+
+And he saith, "There is none higher."
+
+At that my lady's blood rose in her cheek, but she besought him that he
+would not speak to her in such wise. When she had made a compress of the
+napkins in the basket wherein I was carrying Dame Gobble's butter, and
+had stanched the blood, she unwound the ribbon from her silver
+hunting-horn, and cast it about his neck for a rest to his wounded arm.
+Then he did bend down his head and kissed the ribbon, and my lady turned
+quickly, and got upon the roan, and rode away at so smart a pace that
+methinks Dame Gobble's butter and wine did reach her in a closer
+conjunction than she could have found pleasant.
+
+When I told Marian of this encounter, merely by the way of a bit of
+gossip, she did smile in such a wise that I was minded to cuff a woman
+for the first time in a long life.
+
+It was that same night that Marian did tell me how that she feared the
+earl was in danger of some sort, judging by certain words that my lady
+had let fall in her sleep. I noticed how that my lady seemed restless,
+and would start at the clap o' a door, or when Herne did come suddenly
+upon her. And one day she leaned from a window, as I swept up the
+rose-leaves from the grass on the east terrace, and called to me to come
+thither. She was as white as her kirtle, and her gray eyes were dark
+like water before a storm. She did not look at me, but beyond into the
+air. So I waited, having plucked off my cap, and my lady stood looking,
+looking; and after a while she saith,
+
+"Thou hast aye been a true and faithful servant unto me: therefore I am
+about to give unto thee a great charge."
+
+And I said, "My lady, thou knowest that thou canst trust me;" and in
+truth I could say no more, for my throat was stiff.
+
+And she continued and said,
+
+"Thou must be to-night at the Red Deer, and that by nine of the clock.
+One will be there in whom we have both deep interest. I cannot tell thee
+more. Take thy sword with thee, but have no fear--thou wilt have no
+cause to use it. Yet, lest thou be fearful, take it with thee." And she
+said, "Thou wilt remember?"
+
+"My lady, when have I e'er forgotten word of thine?" Whereat she did put
+out her fair hand to me, saying, "Never," and there were tears in her
+eyes.
+
+So that night (for the first time in many years) did I find myself
+within the doors of the Red Deer. A cosey place it was, despite the
+wine-bibbers that did profane it; and the inn-keeper's wife, a most
+buxom, eye-pleasing wench, with three sturdy boys aye clambering about
+her. As I looked, some hard and sinful thoughts did visit my heart
+concerning the bounty that the Lord had lavished upon one who was a
+barterer of wine, when I, who had lived ever a temperate and (in so far
+as was in my power) a godly life, should remain childless. But I did
+conquer at last, bidding Satan get behind me, and was left in peace to
+toast my feet, and to ponder as to who it was that my lady had sent me
+thither to mark. Had I not loved my lady with all my heart, methinks I
+could not have stood the terms that were heaped upon me by the brawlers.
+I will not repeat the foul slanders; suffice it to say, I sustained for
+one half hour what few men are called upon to endure throughout a
+lifetime.
+
+At last, the newness being gone, they left me in peace, and I, being
+settled safely in my corner, did set to work to watch the door.
+
+Who should enter at that very moment but my Lord Denbeigh! He was
+wrapped in a long brown cloak, and wore a broad hat, unornamented by
+plume or buckle, pulled down over his eyes. He came and tossed himself
+into a chair near the fire, and sat there pondering upon the coals, with
+his legs out in front of him. Now, I have ever had a woman-weakness for
+a goodly leg in man, and the splendid limbs of Lord Denbeigh did witch
+me into a steadier gaze than that which civility doth permit. This
+by-and-by he did notice, and so spoke to me.
+
+"At what art thou staring, ancient?" quoth he, not unkindly. So I told
+him, whereupon he laughed somewhat.
+
+"Methinks thou art but a doting body," he said, "and yet is thy face
+familiar. What now? Hast thou e'er met with me before?"
+
+Then did I lie right roundly, being, to confess the truth, not a little
+afraid.
+
+"Out on thee," saith his lordship; "the truth is not in thee. I ne'er
+forget a face; how, then, shall I forget a face such as thine? Certes I
+have seen thee before. Wilt thou colt me?"
+
+And again lied I--blackly, most abominably.
+
+"As thou wilt," quoth he; "but thy face is known to me, for all that."
+
+It was at this time that the door opened again, and there did enter a
+stripling, clad all in dark maroon velvet, wrapped also about with a
+long cloak, and having a velvet bonnet pulled down over his brows i' th'
+manner o' Lord Denbeigh's. One could see naught o' his visage for the
+shadow from his head-gear. The revelers scarce noted his entrance, being
+far gone in drink, and some having departed, and others asleep. The lad
+came and stood near the fire, and I saw that he looked at Lord Denbeigh
+from under his drooping bonnet--the earl having withdrawn unto a table
+apart, with a glass of wine and some papers, and his sword across the
+table. Even as I looked the boy turned, and went over, and leaned on the
+table to finger the heavy sword. My heart was afraid within me, for
+there was a dark light in the eyes that flashed up at the youth from
+under Lord Denbeigh's stern brows. I was nigh unto them, being but a
+stride or two apart, and so marked all that passed between them.
+
+"By my troth," quoth his lordship, "a valiant crack!"
+
+"Meaning me?" quoth the lad, smiling.
+
+"Ay, meaning thee, Sir Insolence. Dost thou know how to handle thine own
+sword, that thou handlest a stranger's so freely?"
+
+"Even so. But I meant not to vex thee. In truth, I am come to thee on an
+errand of life and death;" and as he spoke, he did doff his bonnet and
+toss it upon the table, and the firelight and candlelight did leap upon
+his fair curls, and as I saw his face it was the face of my lady. The
+earl did start half-way to his feet, and his face was first like fire
+and then like snow.
+
+"Margaret!" he saith, back of his teeth, as 'twere.
+
+And the lad smiled, leaning still upon the table.
+
+"Nay; my sister is called so," he said, "but my name is Robert, and I am
+the Lord of Amhurste and her brother. Haply she hath mentioned me unto
+your lordship."
+
+The earl stared as one who sees a ghost (though I believe not in them
+myself), and he saith, "Whence comest thou? All think that thou art
+dead."
+
+And the boy said,
+
+"Nay, but I would not that any besides thee knew of my whereabouts. As
+to thee, I know more concerning thee even than my sister, and it is for
+her sake that I come to thee to-night."
+
+And my lord saith, "For her sake?"
+
+"Even so. I am come to persuade thee that thou wilt not go on the errand
+thou wottest of two nights hence. There are those who do mean thee
+death. It is certain that thy life is plotted against. Surely thou wilt
+be warned?" And as I looked, the color left the lad's face, and he grew
+white as any woman. Almost I could have sworn it was my lady's face.
+Line for line, eyelash for eyelash, look for look. And methought no
+mother's heart e'er yearned towards her new-born babe as yearned my
+heart towards the youth. It seemed as though I must cry out to him. To
+see him thus after five weary years; to be so near him, and yet unable
+to touch even the latchet of his shoes, or to hear his voice calling my
+name. I trembled and was blind with longing. When at last I did look
+up, he said again, "Surely, thou wilt be advised?"
+
+The earl leaned with his forehead set in his clasped hands, and
+by-and-by he said,
+
+"It is impossible. Would that I could!"
+
+And the lad said,
+
+"Nay, it is not impossible. Thou canst save thine own life with a word."
+
+And Lord Denbeigh answered him:
+
+"My life is not worth even a word," and he did not lift up his forehead
+from his hands.
+
+Then said my master, "Thy life may be worth less than naught to thee,
+but to others its price is above their own." And again he was as pale as
+any girl.
+
+And he spoke again and said, "Thou wilt not go? Thou wilt be warned?"
+
+And again did the man answer, saying, "Impossible."
+
+Then saith my master,
+
+"Lord Denbeigh, if thou goest to London on the morrow, I will follow
+thee there. Nay, thou canst not prevent me. And think you my sister's
+heart will be warmer towards thee if her brother's blood be spilled at
+thy behest?"
+
+And the earl sat with his stern eyes on the lad, and he said,
+
+"Thy blood will ne'er be spent at my behest. I do forbid thee to follow
+me."
+
+And the lad said,
+
+"I am not to be forbidden." So they stood and looked at one another. And
+all at once the boy put out his hand ('twas my lady's very gesture) and
+took the earl's sleeve, and saith he in a gentle voice,
+
+"Thou wert a man after God's own heart did not thou let Satan consort
+with thee."
+
+Then turned Lord Denbeigh with a laugh that was not merry. And he saith,
+
+"As thou quotest Scripture to me, select thy texts with greater care.
+Even to my mind there doth come one more suiting; for even as Job, 'I am
+a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.'"
+
+Then saith the lad, still with his hand on the man's arm,
+
+"Is it not the more to thy discredit that thou, who couldst be brother
+to Christ, do make brothers of dragons? Verily, my lord, I am bold
+through my sister, for methinks it is thus that she would have answered
+thee."
+
+And the man turned away as though to hide his face.
+
+
+III.
+
+Lord Robert spoke with Lord Denbeigh at some length, but he was not to
+be turned from his purpose (which, methought, must be a very strange and
+grewsome one, judging by their words). So finally they went out
+separately, and I got me back to Amhurste.
+
+The next morning I did relate to my lady all that had passed, but
+mentioning no names, as I saw that she wished it not. And when I was
+finished she bade me go straightway to London and find out the
+whereabouts of Lord Denbeigh. Moreover, she told me that she herself
+would be there shortly with Marian, and that they two would lodge at the
+house of Marian's aunt, one Mistress Pepper, a linen-draper's wife. At
+this I wondered greatly, the more that she should keep silent concerning
+her brother than that she should follow him to London. And all that I
+could think was that Lord Robert was in some dire conspiracy, likewise
+the earl, and that she feared for the lives of one or both. So we all go
+to London, I earlier than my lady and Marian.
+
+For a day I lost sight of Lord Denbeigh (whom I had followed closely all
+the way from Warwickshire), but the next afternoon I marked him as he
+passed along a by-way, and heard him speak with some one of his friends,
+naming a tavern where he would meet him at a certain hour that night.
+
+So first I found out where the tavern was, then straight to my lady and
+acquainted her with all that I had discovered.
+
+She said naught but to commend my diligence, and she went whiter than a
+just washed sheep at shearing-time. Quoth I to myself, "Butter, there is
+more here than thou wottest of;" which was very true.
+
+That night, a little before the hour set upon, I did get me to the
+tavern, and lurked quietly in the shadows where none might observe; and
+there, verily, was the earl and him with whom he had spoken in the
+afternoon. He had but said a word or so when Lord Robert entered, and
+went and stood at his elbow, but did not touch him or pluck at his
+cloak. Albeit, the earl seemed to feel his presence, for shortly he
+turned and saw the lad.
+
+"How!" quoth he. "Thou here?"
+
+And the boy said, "I told thee I would follow thee."
+
+And Lord Denbeigh answered him, "Dost thou know of what thou speakest?"
+
+And the lad said, "Verily I know, and thou mayest trust me;" and with
+that he muttered two or three words under his breath, which, because of
+mine old ears, I could not catch. And the two men started and looked at
+one another. Then the earl did turn to his friend, saying to him that
+they could indeed trust the lad. So they three clasped hands. When that
+was done, Lord Denbeigh turns to my master, and saith he, "Hast thou thy
+dirk with thee?" and the lad answered that he had both sword and dagger.
+
+"Not that there is any danger," quoth the earl, "but that thou mayest
+feel easy."
+
+But the lad said, "There is danger, as I have told thee; and thou art
+putting thy life in jeopardy." At this Lord Denbeigh only laughed; but
+as they went out into the street I marked that he kept the lad close at
+his side, almost as a mother keeps a child.
+
+The night was still and cold, and the sky full of little white clouds
+that lapped the one over the other, like shells on a seashore. Now and
+again the moon would strike through, in a long, bright ray, that seemed
+like a keen blade or lance severing the misty air. The three went on and
+on, through many winding ways, and still I followed, for I knew not into
+what danger the lad might be hastening.
+
+All at once, in a dark turning, there came the clang of swords and a
+rushing and scuffling, but no cry of any kind; and methought the silence
+was more hideous than sound. Stiff as were my old joints with disuse, I
+drew my sword and lay about me lustily, striving to get between the
+villains and my young master (which is no credit to me, as I was so
+wrought with rage that I verily believe I would have no more felt the
+thrust of a rapier than Marian's housewife the prick of a needle). But
+there was no method in aught, neither could anything be seen; for the
+moon had withdrawn behind the clouds, and we seemed to be fighting
+underneath clear water, so pale and ghastly was the light shed about us
+from the pale clouds. And as I struck out with my sword I saw a fellow
+in a mask close with Lord Denbeigh, lifting a dagger high in his hand,
+while another rascal pinned the earl's hands to his sides. And even as I
+looked, the lad leaped between, and the thin knife went deep into his
+breast. At the same time there was a louder clash of swords, and a
+thudding of men's bodies together, and the masked wretches turned about
+and did take to their heels with a good will. So I sheathed my sword and
+ran forward.
+
+Lord Denbeigh and his friend were bending over the lad, who lay
+out-stretched between them, with his white face turned up to the white
+sky, looking like the face of a dead man at the bottom of a clear pool.
+Then could I not withhold my grief, but cried aloud, "My master, my
+master!" and tried to feel with my trembling old hands for the wound.
+
+Then said the earl, "Not here! I will carry him to a place of safety."
+And he lifted the boy in his arms, as though he had been a hurt child.
+
+When the other saw that, he laid hold on Lord Denbeigh's arm, saying,
+"What mean you? are you distraught? There is but scarce time by the
+clock."
+
+And the earl said, "Go you on. I must take this boy where his wound can
+be bound."
+
+"Nay," said the man. "I tell you, you are mad!"
+
+And Lord Denbeigh turned on him, and spoke in a harsh voice:
+
+"I have said I will not go. I have done with thee and thine. Go thy ways
+ere it be too late;" and he passed on and left the man to swallow the
+moonshine with his great gaping mouth.
+
+And he saith unto me, "Follow closely." So by-and-by we came to a great
+gray house, and Lord Denbeigh opened the door and bade me enter with
+him.
+
+We passed through a vast hall, and up a ponderous staircase, and into a
+room. A fire was burning on the hearth, and there was a fantastic kind
+of lamp swinging from a silver chain above the bed's foot.
+
+I guessed rightly that this was his lordship's own apartment. He laid
+the lad on the bed, and fell to undoing his doublet of black velvet. I
+did see him set to shivering, as 'twere, when he noted the red stains on
+the shirt underneath, and my heart stood still within me. Then he opened
+the red linen, and did put in his hand gently to feel if the heart were
+yet beating; but no sooner had he done this than he gave a strange cry,
+and drew out his hand dripping with blood, and stood staring and
+trembling. At the same moment the lad stirred, and opened his eyes, and
+began to clutch feebly at his doublet, drawing it together. I made
+naught of it until Lord Denbeigh did turn to me, with the face of a dead
+man, and quoth he, "Stay here while I fetch women," and so rushed out
+like one in truth distraught.
+
+Then did it all come upon me, and I knew that the face upon which I
+looked was the face of my lady.
+
+Ere another second had passed I heard the earl's voice without, and he
+spoke with a woman:
+
+"Do thou go instantly and clothe the lady within in some of thy
+garments; and have care that thou say no word to any of what hath
+happened, else will it not be well for thee."
+
+When I heard the tone in which he spoke, methought in truth it would not
+be well for her did she not heed his commands.
+
+Shortly there entered a woman most marvellous fair, with hair that
+seemed spun of black taffetas, and a skin like a white jasmine. When
+she saw the blood her lips whitened, and she did close them more
+closely, but no cry escaped her. Whereat I was much ashamed, remembering
+the hullabaloo that I had raised.
+
+I turned aside while she disrobed my lady and clothed her in clean
+linen, and drew down the sheets, placing her between them. But the blood
+still flowed in spite of all bandages, and the fair linen was soon
+crimson.
+
+And when all was prepared, the woman went to the door and said, "You can
+enter," and the earl came into the chamber again. When, however, he did
+see my lady he cried out, "God in heaven! she will bleed to death!" and
+he called the woman, and showed her how to stanch the wound. Then, when
+the steps of the surgeon were heard in the hall without, he said unto
+her, "Remember. She is thy sister, and thieves have stabbed her for the
+jewels on her neck." And she answered him, "I will remember."
+
+And all this time methought I was in an evil dream, and that Marian, for
+some spite, would not awaken me.
+
+How it came about, to this day I recollect not, but ere two weeks had
+sped we were again at Amhurste, and my lady in her own bower, under
+Marian's care. As to that, Marian had been with my lady ever since the
+fatal night whereon she was nigh done to death by that masked ruffian.
+
+The earl did go himself to fetch her from Mistress Pepper's, and after
+that she came neither of us saw the sloe-eyed woman any more.
+
+None had known of my lady's stay in town, saving my lady herself, Lord
+Denbeigh, the black-eyed woman (who never uttered word more, good or
+bad, after that she had said, "I will remember"), Marian, and me. So
+besides us five no one was the wiser.
+
+It was towards the last of May that my lady did beg that we would lift
+her out to sit in a long-chair on the east terrace. The birds were at
+their morning gossiping in the shrubbery, and the air was most sweet
+with the breath of the white lilacs. My lady looked like a snow-wreath
+fallen suddenly among the greenery of spring, but her eyes did peep
+softly, like bluebells, from the snows of her face. Methought she was
+all white and blue, like the heavens above her, and her hair made
+sunshine over all. Herne, the blood-hound, lay at her feet, and would
+not be stirred, though for sport my lady had Marian to tempt him with
+some comfits.
+
+While we were all there, and my lady showing us how the light shined
+through her thin hands, and discoursing right merrily, there came a page
+and handed her a letter. Back fell she among her pillows, and her
+eyelids dropped over her eyes, like snow-flakes fallen on violets. Anon
+she opened the letter, and having read it, said unto Marian, "Nurse, go
+bid him hither." So Marian beckoned me, and we left her. As we entered
+the house, who should pass us but my Lord of Denbeigh, and o' my word he
+was whiter than my lady, if anything, and wrapped as usual in a long
+cloak. He seemed not to see us, and we went on in silence.
+
+Here transpires the only part of this narrative concerning which I am
+reluctant to write. I will out with it, however, and the Almighty knows
+that I have not done with repentance even yet. So be it. There was a
+window overhanging the terrace where my lady sat (the window out of
+which she had leaned to speak to me about repairing to the Red Deer).
+But let me not defer longer. I, Anthony Butter, of respectable parents,
+and counted among my fellows and betters an honest man, did go to this
+window, and did most deliberately listen to the words that passed
+between my mistress and the Earl of Denbeigh. In fact (for I have sworn
+to keep back no jot or tittle of the truth), I did speed me so fast that
+I was at the window ere his lordship reached my lady's side.
+
+He came slowly, but his look went before him, and was fast upon my
+lady's face ere he himself was within ten yards of her. When at last he
+was come to her side, he did stand and look down on her, but uttered no
+word. And also my lady did look down, and there was a light like sunset
+on her cheek.
+
+Then suddenly did he drop upon his knees beside her, and bowed down his
+head upon her knee and was silent. Then my lady (God forever keep her!)
+did turn her eyes quickly, and stole a look to see that no one was nigh
+(God forgive my dastardly presence!), and did reach out one pale hand,
+half fearfully as 'twere, and did let it rest upon the man's bowed head,
+as a white rose-leaf falls and rests on the earth. And she said but two
+words, "My friend;" yet methought all love was in them. Whereat he
+raised his head and looked at her, and it is so that men look upward
+when they pray. He took her hands with his and held them to his breast,
+and he saith, "Dear saint, if thou forgivest me, wilt thou but kiss my
+brow?" And she bended forward and kissed him; and he trembled, calling
+her by name; and she asked him what he would with her. Then kneeling at
+her side, he spoke to her, and his words were as follows:
+
+"Thou hast heard of my life and of my misfortunes, but all hath not been
+told thee. Grant me but patience for a moment, that I myself may tell
+thee all."
+
+And she saith unto him, "Say on."
+
+So he spoke and said, "There is much that I may not tell thee, yet part
+I will tell thee, for that I must. Thou hast heard how that my wife--"
+But he could not continue, so dropped his face into my lady's hands,
+and she waited for him, saying softly,
+
+"I will understand what thou dost not say. Be not troubled, but speak
+out thy soul to me;" and presently he told her more. As I do live, never
+listened I to sadder story. So piteous it was that my tears fell down
+like rain, and I was sore afraid that my sighing would discover my
+whereabouts. But the Almighty is merciful even to sinners, and I
+remained unnoted. 'Twas the old tale of love and treachery; a false wife
+and a friend who was a villain.
+
+The earl had killed the man (but in fair encounter), and his wife he had
+brought back, never to be as husband to her more, but to preserve her
+from further sin. And I do maintain that 'twas a noble act, and I did
+quite forgive him the blood of his betrayer. Methought my lady did
+forgive him too, for she did but stroke his hair softly, saying ever and
+anon, "Poor soul!" or "God help thee!" And by-and-by he lifted his
+face, and saith, "But the worst is yet to tell thee."
+
+And she said again, "Say on."
+
+And he trembled again, but spoke out bravely: "My wife yet lives. It was
+she who bound thy wounds."
+
+Now at this I thought to see my lady swoon; but she only smiled, though
+better had one seen her weep than smile in such wise. And she saith, "I
+have known that these many days;" and she leaned towards him, and placed
+both hands upon his head, saying, "Weep not. I hold thee guiltless. Do
+not weep."
+
+But he sobbed, clasping her knees, as one whose heart is broken, saying
+now and again below his breath, "O God! O God!"
+
+If there be this side the stars a more awful sight than the sight of a
+strong man in tears, God grant I may ne'er behold it, for surely I
+should die of pity. Doth it please God that I resemble Abraham in the
+matter of age, if in none other, ne'er will that scene fade from my
+memory--my lady, so wan and white and narrow, like a tall lily over
+which a rude wind hath swept, and at her knee the strong man, bowed as a
+little lad that saith his prayers, clasping her kirtle and her hands, as
+though one sinking in deep waters were to grasp at a floating stem of
+flowers for support. And after a while, when the violence of his grief
+was spent, he saith unto her,
+
+"I sail for Spain with Essex on the morrow, as thou knowest; but it doth
+remain for me to tell thee why I go. It is for that I think the lad, thy
+brother, hath been a prisoner of war these many years, and I go to bring
+him to thee."
+
+And she sat and looked at him as though her heart had leaped from her
+breast into his body; but she spake no words save only, "God keep thee;
+God go with thee."
+
+And suddenly he saith unto her, as though the words would forth,
+
+"I loved thee from the moment that I saw thee. Let me but tell thee
+that."
+
+She whispered, saying, "It was even so with me." And he lifted his eyes
+and looked at her. Then fled I, as though I had drawn away the veil from
+the sanctuary, for I thought that God would surely smite me for having
+beheld that look.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So Lord Denbeigh sailed with the Earl of Essex for the war in Spain, and
+my lady's soul left her body and went with him; for surely 'twas but her
+body that remained at Amhurste. All day long would she sit silent, nor
+move, nor look, and her hands the one upon the other before her, as who
+should say, "I am done with all things, whether of work or of play." So
+passed the months, and ever and anon some report would reach the village
+of the wild earl's deeds in Spain, and of how he would fight ten men
+with one arm wounded and the blood in his eyes, and such like tales. But
+no word came direct, either through letters or friends. So passed the
+months, and it was nigh to August, and the fighting was over for the
+time, when one day, with a clattering as of a horsed army, there comes
+dashing into the court two cavaliers on horseback, and one of them was
+my Lord of Denbeigh. Ere I could look at the other he had leaped to the
+ground, and had me about the neck a-kissing me as roundly as ever a
+wench in the market-place. And lo! when I looked, it was Lord Robert in
+very truth. He was grown out of all knowledge, and as brown as a nut,
+but as big and as bonny a lad as ever clapped hand to sword.
+
+When I could turn my eyes from him upon the earl, I saw that he was
+waxed as pale as death, and wore his arm in a kerchief, and that there
+was a great red streak adown his temple, clean through his right
+eyebrow. And his splendid flanks and chest were hollow, like those of a
+good steed that lacketh fodder. But when he stood and leaned against his
+horse's neck and smiled at us, methought he was by far the goodliest man
+that ever I had looked upon. His teeth were as white as the foam on his
+horse's bit, and there was a deep nick at the corner of his mouth, like
+that at the mouth of a girl.
+
+Then must I call Marian, and send her to break the news to my lady. So
+in a moment she comes rushing down along the stair-way, like a branch
+that is blown suddenly from the top o' a tall tree, and so into Lord
+Robert's arms; and he catches her to his heart, and so stands holding
+her; and they make no motion nor any sound whatever. Then turns the earl
+away, and leaves them together. But I marked that his eyes were
+brimming, and that there was a quiver in his lip.
+
+Ere night all is known to us: how Lord Robert had been a prisoner in
+Spain all these years, yet was he treated with courtesy at the behest o'
+some wench. But he did not love her, God be praised! And 'tis in my mind
+to this day how he might have wed her, and how the earl did relate to
+him his bitter experiences with a Spanish wife. Ay, that is my firm
+opinion. All this and more did we hear, laughing and weeping by turns.
+But it was not until Lord Robert saw my lady alone that she heard of how
+the earl had saved him at the risk of his own life, all but bearing him
+in his arms through the enemy, hewing his way right and left. And,
+moreover, Lord Robert did tell how that the blood from that cut on the
+earl's temple did in truth run down into his eyes and blind him, but how
+that he dashed it back and slew the man who wounded him, and so they
+escaped.
+
+The next morning, as I did sally forth with my cross-bow to have a shot
+at a screech-owl which for some nights past had disturbed Marian's
+slumbers, she in her turn having disturbed mine, I did see Lord Denbeigh
+come out upon the terrace and throw himself down along the grass,
+beneath a tulip-tree, with a book. But he read not, lying very quiet,
+with his head raised up upon one hand and his elbow sunk in the soft
+turf. And as the sunlight struck through the leaves upon his glittering
+hair, and his face like marble, I could not but pause to gaze on him, so
+noble looked he. But his eyes were far away, and his thoughts with them.
+
+It was for this that he did not hear my lady coming until she stood
+beside him, and her white gown brushed his cheek. But seeing her, he
+leaped to his feet, and the blood ran along his face, and then seemed
+all to settle in the long wound, leaving him more pale than before. And
+she said to him,
+
+"Nay, do not rise, for thou art weak yet;" but he would not be seated,
+so they stood there, side by side in the fair morning light. And
+presently she puts out her hand (no one ere reached out their hand as
+did my lady), and she just lays it on his sleeve, and saith she, "I am
+come to thank you--to thank you with all my heart and soul--" and there
+a sob chokes her, and she can say no more.
+
+Again the blood swept up across his brow; and he said, "For God's love,
+say no more."
+
+But she answered, saying, "Nay, I have so much to say." And she came
+nearer to him for a little space; and her head drooped downward, like a
+flower full of rain. And she did knit and unknit her white fingers as
+they hung before her. And she saith, "There is no guerdon worthy such a
+knight, but if an thou--"
+
+Then all on a sudden did she reach out both arms towards him, and her
+fair hands, palms upward, and the scarlet leaped to her very brow; but
+she lifted her little head proudly, albeit her eyes were dropped
+downward, and she said unto him, "Take me, for I am thine."
+
+And he trembled from head to foot, and parting his lips as though to
+speak, reached out his arms and clasped her.
+
+And when I realized what I had done, I did drop my cross-bow and took to
+my heels, like one followed by goblins.
+
+Now, even as I hope to be saved, I but just come to recognize that this
+was my second eavesdropping. So be it. I have vowed, and must keep my
+vow.
+
+It was all made clear to me that night, when Marian did relate to me how
+that the Spanish woman had slain herself by swallowing flame. At which
+(though mightily pleased, God forgive me, on account of my lady and the
+earl) I was more than ever thankful that Lord Robert had escaped alive
+and unwed out o' th' clutches o' th' Spanish wench. And here it
+occurreth to me that I have not yet told that Marian did know from the
+first of my lady's going up to town dressed as her brother. This I
+record more on account of its being a marvellous instance of a woman's
+keeping her tongue than to shame Marian, who hath often read how that
+wives should submit themselves unto their husbands as unto the Lord.
+Howbeit, all ended so happily that I had not the heart to scold her.
+
+With the first frosts of October my lady and the earl were wed.
+Methought the queen herself could not have had a finer wedding, and
+certes no woman could have had a nobler spouse. He was yet pale from his
+wounds, but most soldierly of bearing and proud of carriage. He was clad
+all in white, like my lady. A more beauteous apparel I have never seen.
+
+His doublet was of cloth of silver, with a close jerkin of white satin
+embroidered in silver and little pearls. His girdle and the scabbard of
+his sword were of cloth of silver, with golden buckles. His poniard and
+sword were hilted and mounted in gold, together with many blazing orders
+and richer devices that I know not how to enumerate.
+
+My lady's gown was all of white satin, sewn down the front with little
+pearls, like those on my lord's jerkin, and her ruff was of soft lace,
+not stiff, as was the fashion, but falling about her bosom most modestly
+and becomingly. Lord Robert, methinks, was eke as goodly, after his way,
+as either his sister or Lord Denbeigh, being close clad from head to
+foot in crimson sarcenet, slashed all with cloth of gold. My lady had
+given me some suiting clothes for the occasion; and as for Marian,
+methought in her new gown of sea-green taffeta, with her new ruff and
+head-gear, that she looked as fair a matron as any mother of fine lads
+in all England.
+
+
+IV.
+
+Seven months they had been wed, and it was May again. Methought such
+love had never been on earth since Eden. 'Twas gladness but to see them.
+And all, moreo'er, was so well with Lord Robert, who, folks did say, was
+in mighty great favor at court, and like to become a shining light in
+the land.
+
+'Twas on a May morning. The trees were a-lilt with birds, and the sound
+of waters set all the winds a-singing. All at once comes my lord, and
+sets his hand on my shoulder. Then know I that something dire hath
+happened. And he saith, "Friend, where is thy mistress?"
+
+And I tell him that she is out among her roses.
+
+Then saith he all at once, "The Queen hath sent for me--I must to war."
+
+And I could do naught but stare at him. And he said to me: "In an hour I
+must be gone. Say naught to thy mistress. I will go don a suiting dress,
+and do thou bring me my sword and give it into my hand."
+
+And he went, returning shortly, and I gave him the sword. It was then
+that we heard the voice of my lady without, and she sang a song of the
+spring-tide. The words I have ne'er forgot, though I did but hear them
+once:
+
+          "For O! For O!
+           The cowslips blow,
+             And the ground's all gold below me;
+             The speedwell's eye
+           Peers up so bli'
+             I swear it seems to know me!
+
+          "The lady-smocks
+           In silver frocks
+             Do flout the sonsy clover;
+           The humble bee
+           Consorts wi' me
+             And hails me for a rover.
+
+          "Then trip, then trip,
+           And if ye slip
+             Your lad will lend a hand O;
+           The lass in green
+           With black, black een,
+             Is the fairest in the land O."
+
+And as the earl listened methought he would have fallen, grasping my
+shoulder, old man as I was, and bending down his head upon it. And I did
+stay him with my arm, as though he had been my very son--for old age is
+father to all men.
+
+So my lady comes in, with her gold hair blowing, and her white kirtle
+full of red roses, and seeing her lord goes to meet him. But when she
+noted the soldierly fashioning of his dress, and the sword girt at his
+thigh, she opened her lips as though to cry out, but no sound escaped
+them. And her kirtle slipped from her hold, and the red roses lay
+between them like a pool of blood.
+
+Then she saith unto him, "Tell me. Quick, quick!"
+
+And he lifts her to him, and saith, "Sweetheart, my Queen hath bidden me
+come fight for her and for my country."
+
+And she saith naught, only clasps him.
+
+But by-and-by she cries out, saying, "Go not! Go not! Else wilt thou
+kill me." And so speaking, falls like one dead at her lord's feet.
+
+Then I, running like one distraught to fetch Marian, do tilt pell-mell
+into Lord Robert, who hath come down to Amhurste for a week or so of
+rest.
+
+"Heydey!" quoth he. "What Jack-a-lent hath frighted thee?" And I told
+him all. Never a word said he, but went straightway and got upon his
+horse, and clapped spurs to its sides, and so out of sight.
+
+And all that night my lady lay nigh to death, so that there was ne'er a
+thought in the breast of any for another soul. Therefore Lord Robert was
+not missed.
+
+Ere two days were past came a man with despatches, and we found out how
+that Lord Robert had substituted himself for the earl (having acquainted
+the Queen with the circumstances--and he being, moreover, so great a
+favorite), and how the Queen had granted Lord Denbeigh leave to remain
+in England a while longer.
+
+And so his lordship was with his lady when their child was born, but
+Lord Robert was killed in the wars.
+
+They grieved sore for him, and for many weeks would not be comforted.
+And even it was said that the Queen mourned for him, and did banish all
+festivities from court for the space of several days.
+
+But like as the stars do pale in the morning sky, so pales the orb of
+sorrow before the rays of the great sun, happiness.
+
+And though he was ne'er forgotten, and though the tears would spring to
+my lady's eyes heard she but his name mentioned, yet she did smile again
+and was happy.
+
+It chanced but this morning that Marian and I, leaning from the window
+that overlooks the east terrace, did see a most winsome sight.
+
+'Twas a fair morning, and May again, and on such mornings as these my
+lady would go forth on the east terrace with the child. And there grow
+all such sweet flowers as my lady loves--the red mule-pinks, and
+dame's-violets, such as are sweet o' evenings, but marvellous fair to
+look upon both by sunlight and moonlight. And the south wall was all
+thick with the yellow violets, so that my lady's head looked like the
+head o' a saint against a golden platter. And there did my lady sit, on
+a quaintly wrought bench, with the little lord.
+
+And this morning, when she was seated, and the babe curled against her
+bosom, and Marian and myself thinking o' the pictures o' the Virgin Mary
+and the blessed Jesus (saving that my lady's kirtle was all of white and
+gold, like the lilies, knotted in her waistband), she looked up on a
+sudden, and lo! there was the master coming along over the grass towards
+her. When he saw who it was that sat there, he doffed his plumed hat
+like as though it had been the Virgin Mary for very truth, and he paused
+a minute, but then came on.
+
+When my lady saw him who he was, there came a fair red o'er all the
+white o' her throat and face; ay, and withal over her very bosom. And
+she put up one white hand, with her wedding-ring on't, and made as
+though she would shield the sun from the babe's eyes.
+
+And all this time my lord came slowly over the grass, as though the
+sweet sight did pleasure him both far and near. And when he was
+approached, he stood, still with his hat in his hand, and looked down at
+the babe and its mother, and was silent.
+
+Then the child, feeling mayhap that its father was near, twisted over
+towards him, reaching out its waxen arm, and smiled right knowingly;
+whereat my lord did pluck the great plume out o' his hat and lay it
+across my lady's bosom; moreover, he knelt and put an hand on the babe,
+but his arm he held about his wife.
+
+Then did she draw both my lord and the child to her, and pressed them
+against her, but her face she lifted Godwards.
+
+And something spoke within our hearts that we turned and left the
+window.
+
+
+
+
+THE FARRIER LASS O' PIPING PEBWORTH.
+
+
+HUMFREY LEMON, meeting Bered Turnip, before the "Red Deer," doth speak
+as follows:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Whom have we here? Well, well, by my troth! 'tis none other than Bered
+Turnip, the farrier, as I do live! Come for an alms-drink, comrade.
+Would I had as many gold-pieces as we have burnt alnights i' this very
+tavern! And is it thus we meet after all these years? It doth seem but
+yesterday that we supped under this very roof as juvenals. Dost thou
+mind thee o' the night that we gave old Gammer Lick-the-Dish a bath in
+his own sack, for that he served us in a foul jerkin? By'r lay'kin,
+those were days! Well, well, to meet thee thus! Though, believe it or
+not, as thou wilt, I had such a pricking i' my thumbs but an hour gone
+that I was of a mind to roar you like any babe with a pin in his
+swaddling-bands. Thou wast my beau-peer i' those times; and we are kin
+by profession, moreover. How be Mistress Turnip and thy eight lads? Ha!
+ha! Dost remember how old Anthony Butter--him who was gardener at
+Amhurste Castle, ye mind--dost thou remember in what spite he held thee
+because o' those eight little salads o' thine? A always said a married
+with an eye to a's posterity; and o' my word a's been cockeyed e'er
+since, for's posterity has e'er kept him on the lookout: never chick or
+child hath Mistress Butter given him.
+
+Quoth he to me one day, a-setting of 's chin in 's thumb and forefinger
+(thou mind'st his solemn ways)--quoth he to me, "Lemon," quoth he,
+"would I knew why the Lord doth seem to look with a more bounteous favor
+on such as are farriers, than on such as be followers of other trades;
+for methinks, what with thee, and Turnip, and Job Long-pate, who bides
+in Dancing Marston, England will owe the chief o' her future population
+to blacksmiths." I quoth, to humor him, quoth I, "Belike, Master
+Butter," quoth I, "the Almighty hath gotten wisdom by experience, and
+doth purpose to put no further trust in gardeners." Whereat he waxed so
+wrathful, that for the sake o' my breeches I took to my heels. But,
+Lord! it doth seem as though a had a spite against th' very children o'
+others. Thou mindest my Keren? By'r lay'kin, 'twill not stick i' my old
+pate how that thou hast not been in these parts since my Keren could 'a'
+walked under a blackberry-bramble without so much as tousling her
+tresses. Well, a grew up a likely lass, I can tell thee! Sure thou
+mindest why we--my wife and I--did come to call her Keren? Go to! Thou
+dost! 'Tis the jest o' th' place to this day. Well, then, if thou dost
+not, I'll be at the pains o' telling thee; for methinks 'twas a wise
+thought. We did christen her Keren-Happuch; "for," quoth my wife, "when
+that we be pleased with her, we can call her Keren--which is as
+sweet-sounding a name as a maid can have; and, on the other hand, when
+we be wroth with her, we can call her Happuch--which sure would be a
+rough name even for thy trotting mare Bellibone." Ha! ha! And thereby,
+comrade, hangs another tale, as Master Shakespeare was wont to say. My
+wife, thou must know, hath e'er been a loyal admirer o' our gracious
+Queen, and it comes to her ears one day as how her Majesty did ride
+a-horseback most excellent well. Naught would do but that I must let
+Mistress Lemon mount for a ride upon my gray mare Bellibone. Now
+Bellibone, though as willing a nag as ever ambled, did think far more
+o' getting to her journey's end than o' the manner in which she did
+accomplish the journey; and, I will say, a trotted as though a was for
+breaking th' stones on th' Queen's highway, instead o' getting o'er 'em.
+Well, I did what I could to dissuade Mistress Lemon from her enterprise,
+but a was as firm as one o' my surest driven nails in a new shoe. So a
+let her go. Couldst thou but 'a' seen her when she was returned an hour
+after! Ha! ha! ha! a was for breaking my head with my own pincers.
+
+"Dost thou call that devil's-riding-horse 'Bellibone?'" quoth she, with
+what breath there was left to her. "By my troth, I think she hath not
+another bone in her whole body besides her backbone!"
+
+But I spake o' Keren. Thou knowest that even as a lass she had a sharp
+tongue o' her own--as keen as a holly leaf, by my troth. So be it. 'Twas
+one day nigh unto Martlemas that old Butter did undertake to chide her
+for conducting herself after the manner o' a lad rather than o' a lass.
+
+Quoth she to him, a-setting of her little black pate to one side, and of
+her little brown arms akimbo--quoth she, "Since the Lord hath not made
+me a lad," quoth she, "I cannot more than act like one; and so I will
+do!"
+
+Quoth he, "Thou hast a sour name, a bitter tongue, and a peppery temper,
+jade; and the two last be not gifts o' the Lord."
+
+"And thou," quoth she, "hast a mustard conceit, for right sure am I that
+'tis big enough for a goose to roost in! And whether th' Lord hath given
+it to thee or not, I'm glad I have 't not," quoth she; for she had heard
+it read, in some meeting whither her mother would sometimes take her, of
+how the fowls o' the air did lodge i' th' branches o' the mustard-plant.
+Well, by'r lay'kin, th' village hath ne'er forgot that to this day, and
+that I'll prove thee when we be through drinking!
+
+What hath become o' her? Go to! Sure thou knowest that? Well, well 'tis
+a tale to make a play of. I've often thought, had Master Shakespeare
+known of 't, how he would 'a' fashioned it into a jolly play. Tell thee
+of 't? What! art in earnest? By the mass, then, thou must drink again.
+Come, fill up, fill up. What there! a cup o' the amber drink for Master
+Turnip!
+
+Let me see: how old was th' lass when thou didst set forth on thy
+jauntings? Some two years, methinks. And she was fourteen on the first
+day o' March i' that year wherein she did sauce old Butter with some o'
+'s own wit for gibing at her for a tomboy. O' my word, man, th' old
+fellow was not far i' th' wrong. If e'er th' angel o' life did make an
+error i' th' distributing o' souls, 'twas on the night Keren was brought
+into this world. And a say that with a cause, moreover; for th' same
+night, mark you, one Mistress Mouldy, over the way, was brought to bed
+o' a man-child. That's neither here nor there. Herein doth lie the
+singularity. That child did grow up to knit stockings i' th' door-way
+like any wench; Peter Mouldy's th' name, and a plays a part i' th' story
+I'm about to relate to thee. Ne'er in all thy travels hast thou e'er
+seen so crack-brain a wench as my Keren! Lord! it set thy head to
+swimming did she but enter a room. She had no more stability o' motion
+than a merry-go-round; and she was that brown, a bun looked pale i' th'
+comparison, when she did lift it to her mouth to eat it. A strapping
+jade, and strong as any lad o' her age i' th' village. In her seeming
+she took neither after her mother nor after me, though she was a comely
+wench as wenches go--hair as black as a January night in stormy weather,
+and eyes as big and as bright and as yellow (o' my word)--as yellow as
+two crown pieces! They looked out from under her thick eyebrows like
+sunlight peeping from a heavy cloud. And she was made like a lad for
+suppleness. Taller than her mother by head and shoulders, and within a
+full inch o' my forelock. By'r lay'kin! how she could sing too! She
+would troll thee a ditty i' th' voice o' a six-foot stripling, but for
+a' that, as sweet as bells far away on a still noon in summer-tide. And
+she was always getting hold o' saucy songs, and putting them to tunes o'
+her own invention. A could 'a' had aye the lads i' th' village, had a
+wanted 'em; but, Lord! a had one sweetheart one day, and another the
+next, till they were one and all for murdering or marrying her. But she
+would none o' 'em. 'Twas one summer's day, her mother being gone to th'
+village, that she did set about to brew some sack; and as she did stand
+by the big pot while it cooled, to see that naught fell into 't, up
+comes Master Peter Mouldy with his knitting, and grins at her across
+the caldron, after the fashion o' a horse eating briers. She not
+noticing him, quoth he,
+
+"Good-morrow, sweet Mistress Lemon."
+
+Saith she, not looking at him,
+
+"Thou liest."
+
+"How, mistress?" saith he, with his mouth as wide as a church door on a
+Sunday.
+
+"Why, for calling a lemon sweet," saith she, "when all the world doth
+know that it is sour."
+
+Thereat he did fall a-grinning again.
+
+"Sweet, sweet mistress Keren," quoth he, "'tis thee I praise, and not
+thy name. And I will wager that thou art not sour, Mistress Keren."
+
+"How wilt thou find out, either to lose or to win thy wager?" quoth she.
+
+"Thus!" quoth he. And, o' my word, the homespun got his arms about her,
+knitting and all (though I would 'a' laid two cows and a lamb they
+couldn't 'a' reached about her pretty waist), and smacked her right
+heartily full on her red mouth.
+
+Well, comrade, that something would happen I knew full well; but when
+she did up with him by the seat o' his breeches and the collar o' his
+jerkin, and did souse him head first into the pot o' sack, methought I
+would 'a' burst in sunder, like Judas Iscariot (meaning no blasphemy).
+
+And when he was climbed out, spluttering and white with terror, she did
+fish out his hat with his big knitting-needles, and did set it upon his
+head, and did thrust him outside, and did shut the door in 's face. But
+never a word said she from first to last. Then methought in verity I
+would 'a' split in twain from top to toe, like the veil o' the temple
+(meaning no blasphemy, as I will swear on th' book). And when she caught
+sight o' me she too fell a-laughing, and quoth she to me, "I have
+spoiled a good brew for thee, father, but 'twas worth the paying for."
+And therewith she did out with the worth o' the sack from her purse,
+which she always carried in her bosom, after a fashion inherited from
+her mother, and counted down the silver into my hand. I took it, for I
+ever strove to bring up my children in the ways o' honesty; and certes
+she had spoiled the contents o' the caldron by turning it into a
+bath-tub for Master Mouldy. Well, 'twas th' talk o' th' village for full
+a month; scarce did young Mouldy dare put out his nose from behind the
+lattice o' his mother's cottage. But th' other lads seemed to fall more
+daft about the lass than aye afore.
+
+Now, my wife's sister had a daughter, called Ruth, and in all things was
+she most different from my Keren. A'd a head as yellow as Keren's eyes,
+and eyes as brown as Keren's skin, and a skin as white as Keren's teeth;
+and a was slim and tender-looking, like a primrose that hath but just
+ventured out on a day in early spring. Moreover, she was a timid,
+sweet-voiced creature--the kind o' wench that makes even a weak man
+feel strong, ye mind, comrade. But a was ne'er o'er-civil to my lass.
+Neither did Keren waste much love upon her; she said from th' very start
+that th' hussy had a sly tongue; "and a sly tongue," saith she, "doth
+ever mate with a false heart," saith she; "and from such a marriage what
+offspring can ye look for, unless it be for mischief?" saith she.
+
+They had not much to do the one with the other, however, until the
+coming of Robert Hacket to Pebworth. And a was as fine a lad as e'er
+caused a lass to don her Sunday kirtle on a Saturday. 'Twas said as how
+he had met with Ruth while that she was on a visit to her aunt in
+Dancing Marston, and that he had come to Pebworth to wed with her. All
+would 'a' been well had not it come to Keren's ears how that Mistress
+Ruth said that she would bring Master Hacket to see her cousin Keren,
+but that she did not want her sweetheart to be out with her family ere
+that he had married into it; meaning neither more nor less than that my
+Keren was a shame unto her name by reason o' her romping ways.
+
+"The cat!" quoth Keren, waxing as red as any damask rose for very anger;
+"the little, spiteful cat! But I'll cut her claws for her! Do thou bide
+and mark me, father. Ay, I'll serve her and her Robert in such wise
+they'll go to their graves remembering."
+
+Now, 'twas the very next day that the lads and lasses o' the village did
+crown her harvest-queen, and all Bidford was out to see 't. And very
+queen she looked, too, borne aloft in a throne made all o' dark red
+roses, and her dark curls crowned with a wreath o' corn and o' poppies,
+that shined in the sunlight like to gold strewn all with rubies. She
+wore a new kirtle of white wool, and her brown throat rose from her
+white kerchief like as a frozen wood-dove's dusky breast doth peep from
+new-fallen snow.
+
+And Mistress Ruth walked beside her as one o' her maids o' honor. And
+they twain did remind me of naught so much as of a lamb trotting by the
+side of a forest doe--the one so meek and white, and the other so free
+and brown, with great eyes ever moving, and head aloft.
+
+There, moreover, walked Master Hacket. He was as brown as my Keren, and
+nearly half as tall again; and he had eyes like pools o' water under a
+night heaven, wherein two stars have drowned themselves, as 'twere, and
+brows as black and straight as a sweep o' cloud across an evening sky.
+Ruth walked at his side, all glittering with her unbound hair, like to a
+sunbeam that follows a dark stream. And I saw that they talked together,
+and nodded as though agreeing on something, and looked together at my
+lass where she sat on her flower-throne with her poppy-crown, and her
+lips like poppies. And all at once she turned and saw them, and her lips
+parted over her white teeth in a sudden smile, as when a kirtle o' red
+silk doth tear over a white petticoat beneath; and she turned away; but
+I could see that she laughed in her brown throat, as a bird sings
+sometimes for its own hearkening ere trolling for the whole forest. So I
+said to myself, "'Ware, 'ware, my little spring lamb; there is trouble
+ahead for thee. Thou wilt not win thy Boaz so easily as thou dost think,
+my little Ruth."
+
+Now, when they were come to the fields, and the maids seated under some
+elm-trees, and all the lads fallen to 't with their sickles, while that
+they were reaping the glistening corn my Keren doth leap to her feet,
+and she calls out,
+
+"I know not the name o' yonder man, but I do know that I can give him a
+lesson in reaping!"
+
+So forthwith up jumps she, and, striding out into the sunlit meadow,
+jerks young Hacket's sickle from his hand, and, having turned back the
+sleeves o' her smock, stands well upon her shapely legs and begins to
+reap.
+
+Now, methought I had ne'er in all my life seen anything more pleasing to
+look upon. The wind blew down her thick locks about her, so that she was
+wrapped in a mantle worthy any queen; while with every sweep o' her
+strong brown arms the tumbling grain did fall like gold about her, so
+that she seemed to be trampling upon her treasures after a manner truly
+royal. Also a red came into her shadowy cheeks, like as though a scarlet
+flower tossed into a clear brown stream should rise slowly upward
+beneath the limpid surface and shine a-through. And all at once she
+ceased, and came back towards the young man, and returned his sickle
+unto him. And she said, smiling,
+
+"Take thou thy blade, for I have not only reaped the grain, but I have
+reaped the reward of my bragging as well." And, behold! when I was come
+up to them with a drink o' water in a gourd, there was the blood falling
+down upon her white kirtle, as though the poppies in her crown had
+melted in the sunlight and did stain her garment.
+
+He did cry out, saying, "O' my word, lass, thou art deeply hurt. Let me
+but look at it."
+
+She saith unto him (winding her arm about in her long hair), "Nay, 'tis
+nothing, and belike if thou look upon it 'twill spoil thy dinner: so
+here's to thy health, and my father will bind it for me."
+
+Then, when we were retired again into the shade, and I had torn a strip
+off of her kirtle wherewith to stanch the blood, she laughed outright,
+and saith,
+
+"By my troth, father! I do verily believe thou thinkest me awkward
+without a purpose."
+
+"Purpose!" saith I; for I could not believe my ears. "How dost thou
+mean--purpose?"
+
+"That's neither here nor there," saith she, still laughing. "But I'll
+lay thee my heifer, father, that Mistress Ruth's sweetheart cometh on
+the morrow to inquire after Mistress Ruth's cousin Keren."
+
+Wherewith she did make me a deep courtesy, and did get her back to the
+other lasses ere I could reply.
+
+Well, as I live, and must some day die, and do hope when I do die to get
+to heaven, I was so taken aback with the hussy's cunning I could do
+naught but stand and stare after her for some minutes.
+
+And on the morrow he did come, and on the day after that he came, and
+yet a third day and he was under my roof again.
+
+Then saith my wife, after that his third visit was o'er, and speaking to
+Keren as she sat spinning i' th' door-way, "Happuch," saith she, "thou
+art serving thy cousin Ruth a very jade's trick."
+
+Then, hearing as how she did call her "Happuch," I did prick up my ears,
+as 'twere; for I knew there was anger brewing.
+
+"Thou art very free with thy words to-day, mother," quoth the maid,
+a-spinning very quickly.
+
+"Not so free as thou art with thy favors to the sweetheart o' another
+lass," replied her mother.
+
+"How dost thou know he is the sweetheart o' another lass?" saith Keren.
+
+"If an he be not," quoth her mother, who, though not half so big as her
+child, was in nowise less valiant--"if an he be not," quoth she, "'tis
+time he were."
+
+"And for why?" saith Keren.
+
+"Thou knowest as well as I do, Happuch," saith my wife; whereat up
+started my crack-brain in a fine fury.
+
+"Why wilt thou call me that vile name, when thou knowest how it maddens
+me?" saith she, hurling her spindle upon the floor, and tightening both
+her pretty hands so that they looked like balls o' her own brown yarn.
+
+"For that I am not pleased with thee, Happuch," saith her mother, with
+all composure, looking at the linen as she washed it, with her head
+cocked to one side.
+
+"There again!" shouted my wildfire, stamping with her foot. "Why didst
+thou not call me Beelzebub and have done with 't?"
+
+"For the reason," quoth her mother, calmly, "that neither Beel nor Zebub
+is a suiting name for a woman, and, furthermore, that thou art not the
+Devil, though thou dost act like him on occasions."
+
+"Wife, wife," put in I, seeing that the girl was like to split with
+rage, "speak gentler to Keren."
+
+"To Happuch," saith she.
+
+"Speak gentler to the girl," saith I, hoping to compromise, as 'twere.
+
+"Happuch," saith my wife again.
+
+"Well, well," saith I, still hoping to split the difference, so that I
+would have neither my wife nor my daughter upon me, "if thou wouldst
+only speak gentler to Keren-Happuch, thou--"
+
+"To Happuch," saith my wife a third time; whereat the lass did bounce
+out o' the house without more ado, and spent that night with a friend o'
+her own, by name one Mistress Meg Titmouse.
+
+"Wife," saith I unto her later, hoping to draw her into converse
+concerning Keren, so that I might reason with her as to her treatment o'
+th' lass--"wife," saith I, amiably, and, as I thought, in a manner most
+winsome, "wherefore didst thou speak to Keren as thou didst this
+morning?"
+
+"I spake to Happuch," saith my wife, "because I did choose so to do. And
+as for the why o' that wherefore, though thou shouldst smirk till
+doomsday like a dog scratching his ear, ne'er wilt thou get it out o'
+me!"
+
+Then saith I, being justly angered, as I think thou wilt admit,
+comrade--saith I,
+
+"Thou art welcome to keep thy counsel!" saith I.
+
+And I followed the example set me by my vixen, and did spend more than
+half the night at this very tavern.
+
+Well, the next morning, as I did pass out on my way to my forge, whom
+should I see in the garden but my Keren and Master Robert Hacket! and if
+e'er a woman was possessed o' a devil, 'twas just that lass o' mine
+then, comrade. She had caused young Hacket to climb up into a pear-tree,
+and while that he was up there she did bear away the ladder by which he
+had mounted, and she saith to him,
+
+"Now, Master Robin, I am going to sing thee a song. Wilt thou listen?"
+
+"With all my heart," saith he. So he leaned on his elbow, stretched out
+like a young panther along the limb o' th' tree, and looked down on
+her. Now, as I live, down went that jade on her knees in the grass, and
+she lifts up her two pretty hands to him as though in prayer, and thus
+sings she (I knew the song by heart):
+
+          "'Listen, Robin, while I woo.
+             This world's stale with repetition:
+           I'll not do as others do;
+             Haste thee, love, to my tuition.
+           Robin, I'll make love to you,
+           As men to other maidens do.
+
+          "'Oh, what eyes my Robin hath!
+             April fields own no such blue;
+           In the luscious aftermath
+             There's no flower so fair to view.
+           Robin, Robin, hear me woo.
+           All my soul's in love with you!
+
+          "'Robin, will you marry me?--
+             Thus upon my knees I sue:
+           O' my word I'll harry thee
+             Like as men their sweethearts do.
+           Robin, as I live I'm true:
+           Will you wed me, Robin?--Will you?'"
+
+Now, what chanced thereupon I think thou wilt agree with me, comrade, in
+saying it did but serve her right. Down falls he like a ripe pomewater
+at her side, and takes her about the waist, and sets his mouth to hers
+(all in a twink, comrade; thou hadst not time to shape thy mouth for a
+whistle ere 'twas all done, or verily my mouth had given forth something
+besides whistling), and saith he,
+
+"That will I, lass; an' if thou be not my wife ere that snail-coming new
+moon doth thrust out her horns, my name is not Hacket, nor will thine
+be!"
+
+Now, comrade, though it doth shame me verily so to speak o' mine own
+flesh, I saw by her pretending to push him away that she did mightily
+relish his kisses; for, by my troth! had she sought to scuffle with him
+'twould 'a' been as snug an encounter as when day and night wrestle for
+the last bit o' a June sky.
+
+And she saith to him, feigning to scowl, "How now, thou rapscallion!
+dost thou dare?"
+
+"Ay, ay," quoth he, "in verity I do!" quoth he. And in verity a did,
+too.
+
+But just as I was consulting with the Lord how to act, He having had
+even a greater experience with wayward children than myself (may He
+pardon me if I be too free with His holy name!)--just, I say, as I was
+asking Him to show me in what wise to proceed, up goes her hand, and she
+gives him a sound cuff o' th' ear (young Hacket's ear--not the Lord's;
+may He pardon me if so it sounded), and she saith,
+
+"Take that for striving to make a fool out o' an honest girl! I know thy
+goings on with Ruth Visor," saith she. "Thou'lt ne'er blind me with thy
+pretty speecheries." And a was o'er th' palings and out o' sight like a
+wind-blown leaf.
+
+Then did young Hacket come to th' fence and lean upon it with both his
+arms, and support his chin with a thumb on either side o't, and saith
+he,
+
+"Methinks she'd 'a' made a better warrior than a wife," saith he; "but
+when she hath ta'en off the edge o' her warlike spirit in fighting for
+her freedom," saith he, "why, then," saith he, "I'll marry her!" So
+saith he--every word o't. By my troth, comrade, an I had not had so much
+the advantage by having my nippers in my hand, I would 'a' thrashed him
+then and there. But, "fair play" being my motto, and having my nippers,
+as I saith, I forbore; yea, I forbore, and walked away unseen of him.
+And, o' my word, I was much angered with myself for not being more angry
+with th' wench.
+
+"For," saith I, out loud, that I might be impressed by the sound as well
+as by the knowledge o' th' fact--"for," saith I, a-hammering away on a
+shoe for Joe Pebbles's brown nag King Edward (though I had often
+reasoned with Joe on account o' th' name, first because o' its
+irreverence, second on account o' th' horse not being that kind o' a
+horse, as 'twas a mare)--"for," saith I, as I made th' shoe, saith I,
+"'tis sure a great wickedness to steal a lass's sweetheart away from
+her!" saith I. And so 'twas; but, for all I could do, I could not feel
+angered with the hussy.
+
+But that day when she did fetch me my dinner, being finished, I did pull
+down th' sleeves o' my shirt, and wiped off my leathern apron, and quoth
+I to her,
+
+"Lass, come here and sit upon my knee."
+
+So she comes right willingly, being fond o' me to an extent that did oft
+seem to astony the mother that bore her (seeing that _she_ was fond o'
+naught save her own way); she comes, and she perches upon my knee (as
+sometimes thou shalt see a hawk rest wings on a bull's back), and she
+kittles my throat with her long brown fingers, and hugs me about the
+neck (the jade! a knew I was for scolding her), and saith she, "Well,
+father, here be I." Methinks I can hear her say it now, as soft as any
+little toddler come for a kiss. "Here be I," she saith; and with that
+she fills all my face with her curls (the jade! a saw that in my eye
+which a did not care to face). "Here be I," saith she.
+
+"Ay," saith I, speaking in a gruff voice; "and now that here thou be,"
+saith I, "I'll tell thee what I want of thee."
+
+"Thou canst want naught that I will not do," saith she. (The jade! a had
+a way with her to 'a' made Bess herself yearn for matrimony.) But I was
+stanch; I was stanch, comrade. Saith I,
+
+"Methinks thy mother was right to speak to thee as yesternight she did,"
+saith I; "for I saw thee strive to graft a pear-tree with a branch o'
+th' tree o' knowledge," saith I.
+
+"Then," saith she, hot as my forge all in a breath, and bouncing from my
+knee--"then thou wast an eavesdropper!" saith she.
+
+"Even as the Lord afore me," saith I, not over-pleased at her sauciness.
+"And being in some sort thy Creator, and thou having set up for thyself
+an Eden in my garden," saith I, "who hath a greater right than I to
+watch over thee?" saith I.
+
+Then she not answering me, thus did I continue:
+
+"Why dost thou not take unto thyself an husband," quoth I, "to do both
+thyself and thy parents a credit?"
+
+"Show me such an one," saith she, "and I do promise thee to wed him."
+
+"There, then," quoth I, "is Davy Short hose, the poulterer--"
+
+"A bangled-eared buffoon as ever lived!" quoth she; "and a fool into the
+bargain."
+
+"So be it," saith I; for I was set upon keeping my temper. "What dost
+thou say to Beryamen Piggin, the brewer?"
+
+"A say if ever a piggin was in sore need o' a new link, 'tis that one,"
+saith she. "And, what's more, I'll not serve for 't," saith she.
+
+"How, then, of Nanfan Speckle, the tanner?"
+
+"A's as pied as a's name," quoth she, "both soul and body."
+
+"There be Jezreel Spittlewig, the joiner."
+
+"Methinks," quoth she, "if a'd do a little joining to a's own shackling
+body, a might hold together long enough to go through the marriage
+ceremony," saith she. "Howbeit, I'm not a-sure of 't."
+
+"Well, then, Jack Stirthepot, the chair-mender."
+
+"A'd have to stir th' pot with a witch ere a brewed a wedding with me,"
+quoth she.
+
+"What sayest to Reuben Puff, the tinker?"
+
+"If I say so much as a word to any one o' em," cried she, snatching up
+the pail wherein she had brought my victuals, "may thy first grandchild
+be born without a tongue!" saith she. And out she went.
+
+Then quoth I to myself, quoth I, "Lemon," quoth I, "the jade's in love
+with th' crack--no more, no less." And I said further, said I,
+"Bodykins!" said I, a-shoeing of King Edward with all my might, "by cock
+and pye!" said I, "an a wants him let a have him. 'Tis more than his
+dessert, I'll warrant," so quoth I. "And as for Dame Visor's hussy, let
+her learn to bridle her tongue," quoth I. And 'twas just here that wench
+Keren did creep up and take me about the neck, as I was a-filing of King
+Edward's hoof.
+
+"Father," saith she, "I cry thee pardon if I have sauced thee; but dost
+not mind the rhyme thou art so fond of?--
+
+          "'Shoe the horse, and shoe the mare,
+            But let the little colt go bare.'
+
+Seek not to chide me, father, and ne'er will my heels bring hurt to
+any."
+
+Then off was she again ere I had spat forth my mouthful o' nails to
+answer her.
+
+But that evening as I came home, about the going down o' th' sun, I did
+hear voices i' th' kitchen, and, looking in at th' window, behold, there
+was that hussy Ruth a-plucking of Keren by th' kirtle, and Keren
+a-holding of a pan o' milk above her head, as though she had half a mind
+to souse her cousin in 't.
+
+And saith she, "Get to thy feet, wench. This is neither a church, nor am
+I th' Lord."
+
+But th' girl (who seemed to be in trouble o' some sort) fell a-sobbing,
+and saith she,
+
+"Cousin, cousin, I know I have used thee ill, but all my joy is in him.
+If thou takest him from me, better didst thou take my life, for he is
+more to me than life."
+
+Then quoth my lass, "Shame on thee to say it o' any man, worthy or
+unworthy!"
+
+"Oh, shame enough have I, cousin!" quoth the poor wench--"shame to 'a'
+lost him, and shame that I should plead with another to give him back to
+me!"
+
+"Go to!" saith Keren; "go to! I have not got him to give him back to
+thee."
+
+"Thou hast!" saith Ruth; "thou hast!--he is thine, soul and body--soul
+and body! And thou dost not care; and I care--oh, I care so that I know
+not how to word it!"
+
+(Every word that passed between 'em is as clear in my mind as though
+'twere but yesterday it all happened.)
+
+"I say shame on thee to say so," saith my lass again.
+
+But the wench still hung about her, and would not let go, and she saith,
+
+"Oh, cousin, cousin, cousin, doth it not show thee in what straits I am,
+that I come to thee for succor? Rather had I died, one week agone, than
+ask thee for thy hand though I were drowning. And sure 'tis less than
+thy hand for which I ask thee now, sith it be for a man who is less to
+thee than the littlest finger on that hand, but who is more to me than
+the heart in my wretched body! And a had vowed to wed me; and 'twas next
+month we were to be wed; and all so happy--my father and my mother so
+pleased, and his folks do like me well; and my wedding-gown all sewn and
+lain away, and the ribbons for my shoes, and some kickshaws for th' new
+house; and all we so glad, and all going so smooth, and we twain so
+loving; for, oh, he did love me the once! he did love me the once! And
+now--now--now--" And here did she fall a-weeping in such wise that never
+another word could she say. And she sate down on the kitchen floor, and
+hid all her pretty head (for pretty 'twas, though I liked her not)--hid
+it all in the skirt o' her kirtle.
+
+Then stood my lass quite still, and her face like the milk in her pan,
+and she looks down on th' hussy, as a horse might look down on a kitten
+which it hath unwitting trampled on, and she saith,
+
+"I would I knew whether or no thou speakest the truth!"
+
+Then saith the wench, a-reaching up her clasped hands to heaven--saith
+she, "May God forever curse me an I do not!"
+
+"Take not God's name in vain," saith my lass, sharply, and went and set
+down her pan o' milk on the cupboard. And again she stands, slowly
+wiping her hands on her apron, and looking down at th' girl, who hath
+once more covered all her face in her petticoat; and by-and-by she saith
+to her,
+
+"What is 't thou wouldst have me do?"
+
+"Give me back my Robin! give me back my Robin!" saith the maid.
+
+"Thou art welcome to him for me," saith Keren.
+
+Then fell the maid a-weeping more bitterly than ever, and she huddled
+herself on the hard floor, like a young bird that hath fallen out o' its
+nest, and sobbed piteously. And presently gets she to her feet without a
+word, still a-hiding of her face in her kirtle, and turns to go,
+a-feeling her way with one o' her little hands. But when she hath
+reached th' door, and hath got one foot on the threshold, up strides
+that lass o' mine, and, taking her by the arm, swings her back into th'
+room; and she makes her sit down on a settle and take down her kirtle
+from her face. And while she is snooding up her ruffled locks, she saith
+unto her,
+
+"Thou art a little fool to cry so; dost hear? What! at it again? Well,
+well, God patience me! What's a body to do with such a little ninny?
+There! dry your eyes. Ye shall have your Robin, never fear. God-a-mercy!
+at what art blubbering now?" But down slipped Ruth on her knees, and
+caught Keren about hers, and she saith unto her,
+
+"Heaven bless thee! thou art a good woman! May Heaven forgive me for all
+such words as e'er I have said against thee! Bless thee! bless thee!"
+
+"Bodykins!" saith my lass (having learned some round oaths from me, I do
+grieve to say)--"bodykins!" saith she, "wilt a-hear th' lass? I say
+scamper, scamper; my father'll be coming home to sup erelong, and I
+would not he found thee thus. Away with thee! and fret no more: dost
+hear? If I hear that thou hast moped any further from this hour on, I'll
+not answer either for my doings or for those o' others: dost hear? Now
+scamper!" And scamper a did, like a hare with th' hounds upon 't.
+
+So full was I o' praising my lass on her good 'havior that I had got me
+from th' lattice and was half in at the door ere I saw what had
+befallen.
+
+There was my madcap comrade, down on her knees afore the settle, wi'
+both hands gripped in her thick locks, and her head bent forward on th'
+wooden seat; and she made no sound, neither uttered she any word, but a
+shook like water when a heavy weight rolls past. And a drew long breaths
+ever and anon, like one that hath been half drowned and is coming back
+to life. And I knew then, I knew then, comrade. I had thought a loved
+th' boy; and I knew then. So I got me out, without making any clatter,
+and I sat me down on a bench outside th' kitchen door to think 't over;
+and, by cock and pye, man, ne'er a thought could I think for th' tears
+in my eyes. Th' poor lass! th' poor lass! It fetches th' salt into my
+een now to think on 't. Well, well, what's past is past, and God himself
+cannot undo 't; and what's coming's coming, and God wunnot hinder it an
+he could; so there's an end on 't. Fill up, man, fill up! What there, I
+say! Joel, I say! A quart o' sack for Master Turnip.
+
+Well, when I had thought it well o'er, I did determine to say naught to
+th' lass whatsoever; neither did I; but meseems I was bound to o'erhear
+heart-breaking words atween somebody, for th' very next day, as I was
+henting th' style as leads into th' lane (thou knowest the lane I mean,
+comrade: 't lies atween Cowslip Meadow and th' pool i' th'
+hollow--Sweethearts' Way, they call 't)--well, as I was getting o'er th'
+style--as I had just got me o'er by one leg, after this fashion, ye
+mind; as though this chair here were th' style, and yonder chimney-place
+th' lane--Sweethearts' Way, ye mind--well, as I was half over, and
+Mumble, th' turnspit pup, half under, as 'twere, I heard voices--voices,
+comrade--one o' them th' voice o' that lass o' mine, and t'other th'
+voice o' young Hacket.
+
+"Here be a coil," say I. "What's to do?"
+
+Now the pup seemed to be filled with the spirit o' th' Lord all on a
+sudden, after th' fashion o' th' talking jackass i' th' Scriptures; for
+if a didna talk a did th' next thing to 't--a tried to. And after
+pulling at my heels like as though a fiend had got him, a scuttles into
+th' thicket, for no cause, as I could see, but to give me th' benefit
+o' example. So in goes I after him. Scarce was I settled, with a
+bramble down th' back o' my neck, and some honey-bees at work too nigh
+to my legs for my peace o' mind, when they come, and both a-chattering
+at th' same time like two magpies with slit tongues.
+
+"Thou didst!" quoth he. "That did I not!" quoth she. "Thou didst, and I
+can prove 't on thee!" quoth he, louder than afore. "I tell thee I did
+not, and thou canst sooner prove that Bidford Mill turns the Avon than
+that I did!" quoth she. "Wilt thou stand there and tell me i' th' eyes
+that thou hast so oft looked love into," quoth he, like a man choked
+with spleen--"I say, wilt thou, Keren Lemon, stand there and face me,
+Robert Hacket, and say thou hast ne'er given me reason to believe that
+thou didst love me?" quoth he. "No more cause than I've given to twenty
+better than thee!" quoth she. "Shame on thee to say 't, thou bold-faced
+jig!" saith he; "shame on thee, I say! and so will say all honest folk
+when I tell 'em o' 't." "An thou tell it, the more fool thou," saith
+she; and a draws up her red lips into a circle as though a'd had a
+drawstring in 'em, and a stands and looks at him as a used to stand and
+look at her dam when she chid her for a romp. Then all on a sudden, with
+such a nimbleness as took away my breath and drove all thoughts o'
+brambles and honey-bees clean out o' my pate, he jumps aside o' her, and
+gets her about th' middle, as he did that day under th' pear-tree, and
+quoth he, "Lass," quoth he, "dunnot break my heart! dunnot break th'
+heart that loves ye more than a' that's in the earth, or th' heavens
+above, or th' waters below! Say ye love me, and ha' done with 't."
+
+Then gives she up herself to him for one beat o' her own breaking heart,
+the poor madcap, and she leans on him with all her pretty self, as
+though begging him to take her against her own will, and then a cry
+breaks from her, half human, and half like th' cry o' a hurt beast, and
+she saith,
+
+"Shame on ye, shame on ye, to forsake th' lass ye ha' sworn to wed! Get
+thee back to her straightway, or ne'er look me i' th' face again!" And
+she leaps back from him, and points with her arm--as stiff and steady as
+th' tail o' a sportsman's dog--towards th' village, and she saith again,
+"Get thee back to her; get thee back to Ruth Visor, and wed with her ere
+this month be out o' the year!"
+
+Then lifts he his sullen head, and looks at her from under his brows
+like a smitten blood-hound. And he saith back o' his clamped teeth, like
+as 'twere a dog gnarling in his throat, "curse ye for a false jade!"
+saith he; "Curse ye for as black-hearted a jade as e'er set an honest
+man on th' road to hell!" And he turned, and cleared th' style with one
+hand on 't, and went his ways.
+
+And th' lass stood and looked after him as still as though she were
+turned into a pillar o' summat, after th' manner o' th' woman i' th'
+holy book, and both her hands grasping her breast. But anon there comes
+a trouble o'er her face, like as when a little wind doth run across a
+gray pool at eventide, and her lips begin to tremble, like as though
+some red flower a-growing on th' bank was shaken by 't, and her eyes all
+full o' woe, like th' eyes o' some dumb thing as cannot word its sorrow;
+and all at once she falls upon her knees, and thence upon her forehead
+on the ground, and afterwards to her whole length, with her strong hands
+grasping th' flowers and grass on either side o' her, and tearing them
+up with th' crackling noise that a horse makes when 't grazes. But no
+sound escapes her, whether a sigh or a groan. Well, well, comrade, I cry
+thee patience if I do stumble here a bit: I cannot think on 't now
+without a tightness i' my throat, any more than a man can think o' th'
+day his first child was born to him without his heart leaping hot in 's
+throat like the flame to th' bellows. Well, well! Fill up, I say; fill
+up. Remember th' old days, when thou wast more ale-washed than th'
+bottle itself. Where be I i' th' narrative? Yea, yea, 'tis there--'tis
+there; I mind me o't now.
+
+No sound 'scaped her, but presently she lifts herself up upon her knees
+again, with such heaviness as a horse overburdened doth get him to his
+feet, and she holds out both her arms i' th' direction where th' lad
+hath vanished, wi' th' grass and flowers yet fast in her clinched hands;
+and she saith twice, i' th' voice o' a woman in travail,
+
+"Never will he know, never will he know," she saith; and then, "Oh,
+God!" she saith, a-lifting her hands again to her breast. "Summat's
+broke here," she saith, full meek, like a body that's looked a many time
+on pain--"summat's broke, summat's broke," o'er and o'er again, as
+though she would use herself to th' sound, as 'twere. Then all at once
+did a deep cry break from her. "God, O God," she saith, "show me how to
+bear 't! My God, my God, show me how to bear 't." And she got to her
+feet, and sped down th' lane like one blind, running first into th'
+hawthorn bushes o' this side, then into th' quickset hedge o' th' other,
+and tearing out her loosened tresses on th' low-hanging branches o' th'
+pear-trees, so that I traced her by her hair i' th' twigs, like as thou
+wouldst trace any poor lost lamb by its wool on the brambles. Now, it
+did almost break my own heart to say naught to her concerning all o't,
+but I knew that 'twould but grieve without comforting her; and rather
+would I 'a' had my old heart split in twain than bring one more ache
+into her true breast. So naught say I. Never a word, comrade, from then
+till now have I e'er said to her about that time.
+
+Well, for all 's fine talk, Master Hacket went no more to hell than do
+any other men that marry--an' less than some, seeing as how a did not
+marry a scold, which (God forgive me, or her, or both o' us) I have
+done. Yea, comrade, I will commemorate this our first meeting in eight
+years by confessing to thee that my wife (in thy ear, comrade)--that my
+wife was a scold. Sometimes I do verily think as how women like Mistress
+Lemon be sent unto men to keep 'em from pondering too heavily concerning
+the absence o' marriage in heaven. By cock and pye, man, as I live, I do
+honestly believe that I would rather be a bachelor in hell, than the
+husband o' Mistress Lemon in heaven!
+
+But to come back to th' lass. And, now that I think o' th' lass,
+comrade, I am not so sure that a scolding wife is not well paid for by a
+duteous daughter. Nay, I am sure o't. Methinks I would 'a' been wed
+twice, and each time to a shrew, could I but 'a' had my Keren o' one o'
+'em. Ay, even so, even so.
+
+Well, as I said--or as I meant to say--Master Hacket wedded th' Visor
+hussy within two weeks o' th' day whereon he and my Keren had 't so
+fierce i' Sweethearts' Way. And therein are two meanings: they fell out,
+as is the way with sweethearts, and they fell out i' th' lane so called.
+
+Well, well, let me crack a quart o' sack with thee, comrade, and a joke
+at th' same time.
+
+A married Ruth Visor, and they went to Lunnon Town. And on th' night o'
+their wedding, as I sat by the fireside i' th' kitchen a-mending my
+tools (for 'twas on a Saturday night), and Keren abed, and Mistress
+Lemon a-peeling o' leather-jackets to make th' Sunday pie,
+
+"Wife," saith I to her (a-mending my tools, as I ha' said), "wife,"
+quoth I, "would 'twere our lass were wed to-day!"
+
+"For why?" saith she. No more, no less.
+
+"For why?" saith I. "For the why I think a lass is happier wed to th'
+man she loves," saith I.
+
+"'Tis not so I've found it," quoth she, a-peeling of an apple so that
+thou couldst 'a' put his whole coat back and not 'a' known 't had e'er
+come off.
+
+Then quoth I, a-chuckling in my throat at having so snared her, "Right
+glad am I to find out that thou lovest me!" quoth I.
+
+"If thou'st found out that," quoth she, "thou'rt greater than Columbus,"
+quoth she, "for thou'st discovered something that never was," quoth she.
+
+"Bodykins, woman!" saith I, a-losing of my temper--"then for what didst
+thou marry me?"
+
+"For a fool," quoth she. "And I will say as I ha' got the full o' my
+bargain," quoth she.
+
+Whereat so wroth was I that I said naught, knowing that if I did open my
+lips or move my hand 'twould be to curse her with th' one and cuff her
+with t'other.
+
+By-and-by saith she, "And where, by'r lay'kin, wilt thou find a man good
+enough in thy eyes for th' lass?" saith she.
+
+"Not on earth," quoth I. "Neither in this land nor that other across the
+sea," quoth I.
+
+"Ay, ay," quoth she. "Very like thou wouldst have th' wench to wed with
+an angel," quoth she; "to have all thy grandchildren roosting on a gold
+bar, and their dad a-teaching of 'em how to use their wings," quoth she.
+"Or with one o' th' red men i' th' new country, to have them piebald red
+and white, like a cock-horse at Banbury Cross," quoth she. And with that
+up she gets, and flings the apple-parings into th' fire, and gets her to
+bed without more ado. Whereupon day doth again find me i' this very
+tavern.
+
+Well, well, a year had passed, and things were jogging very peaceful
+like, and Keren settled down as quiet as a plough-broken mare, when one
+day as I sit i' th' kitchen, while th' lass mends my apron, there comes
+a fumbling at th' latch like as though a child made shift to open it.
+Then quoth I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble, or one o' the Mouldy
+lads over th' way;" for the babes all loved Keren, and, now that she was
+waxed so quiet, th' lads left her more to herself, and she would sit on
+th' bench by the cottage door and make little kickshaws by th'
+hour--elder-wood whistles, and dolls o' forked radishes, and what not.
+So quoth I, "Belike 'tis little Marjory Pebble," quoth I, and th' lass
+having her lap full o' my apron, I went and opened th' door. And there,
+comrade, a-kneeling in th' grass outside, with her head all hid in her
+kirtle, as she had kneeled two years agone on t'other side o' that very
+door, was Mistress Ruth Hacket; and she was a-sobbing as though her
+heart would break. And while I stand staring, ere I could find a word
+to my tongue, comes that lass o' mine and pushes me aside like as though
+I had been little Marjory Pebble--ha! ha! And down goes she on her knees
+beside th' lass, and gets an arm about her, and presses down her head,
+all hid as 'tis in her kirtle, against her breast, and she saith to her,
+
+"What troubles thee? Tell Keren, honey. So so! What troubles thee? Tell
+Keren."
+
+And from beneath her kirtle th' poor jade sobs out, "He's gone! he's
+gone! he's gone! They've taken him to work on th' big seas--and our
+child not yet born--and me so ailing; and, oh! I want to die! I want to
+die!"
+
+Then saith that lass o' mine, saith she, "Father, do thou fetch some o'
+th' birch wine out o' th' cupboard and bring it to me in a cup;" and to
+the girl she saith, "Come, then; come, then," like as though she had
+been coaxing some little spring lambkin to follow her unto its dam; and
+she half pulls and half carries th' wench into th' house, and seats her
+on a low stool i' th' chimney-corner, and kneels down aside of her. And
+when I be come with th' drink, she takes the cup out o' my hand, and
+makes th' wench drink 't, holding it to her lips with one hand, while
+with the other she cossets her hair and cheek. And, by-and-by, seeing
+myself forgotten, I do withdraw into the room beyond, and wait till I be
+called, that th' lasses may have 't out together.
+
+Now, Ruth's folks were aye so poor that scarce could they keep clothes
+on their backs and food i' their bellies; and it hath some time occurred
+to me how that the Lord might 'a' given such as could not provide for
+themselves a coat o' wool or o' hair that would 'a' covered their
+bodies, after the manner of a sheep or goat--the righteous being clad i'
+th' first fashion, and the wicked after th' last.
+
+Well, well, I must on. I see thou art waxing restless, comrade. Not so?
+Well, drink, drink, then, that I may feel thou art well occupied while
+that my old tongue wags.
+
+So poor, then, were Ruth's folks that I said to myself, said I, "What i'
+th' name o' pity," so saith I--"what i' th' name o' pity is to become o'
+the poor lass?" But I had scarce asked myself th' question when my lass
+answers it for me.
+
+"Father," saith she, a-coming and standing afore me, with the empty cup
+turning on her long fingers--"father," saith she, keeping those
+gold-colored eyes o' hers on mine (methinks they were coined o' th' same
+wedge as her heart o' gold)--"father," saith she, just so, "considering
+all things," saith she, "I'm going to keep th' lass in my room till her
+child be born," so saith she.
+
+Then saith I, pulling her down into my arms, "Lass," saith I, "verily do
+I believe that not only is every hair o' thy sweet head numbered, but
+that each one is blessed with a separate blessing!" And what with my
+love for her, and my admiring of her goodness, and my pride in her, and
+what with her pity for the poor girl in th' other room, we did shed
+enough tears between us to ha' o'erflowed th' empty cup in her hands.
+
+So she held me about th' neck with both arms, and like to ha' run me mad
+with kissing th' back o' my neck (for I was e'er one o' your ticklish
+sort). I stood it bravely, however, seeing how she loved me, and kissed
+her too whensoever I could get a chance for th' tightness o' her
+hugging. And so we settled it. But Mistress Lemon was yet to be
+consulted.
+
+Ready enough was I to shift that job on my lass's broad shoulders
+(seeing as how a reputation for courage with his wife is ne'er believed
+o' a man, at any rate, and as how th' wench had a way o' managing her
+mother which sure none could 'a' had that were not of her own flesh).
+And that night, when her mother was returned from a round o' gossiping,
+th' lass tells her all (having i' th' mean time put Ruth to bed atween
+her own sheets). Well, ne'er saw I my wife in such a rage.
+
+"What!" saith she, "thou hast ta'en it on thyself to offer my bread and
+meat to a good-for-naught hussy as ne'er had a civil word for any o' us!
+Thou hast given her bed-room under my roof without so much as 'by your
+leave!' Thou godless hussy, thou! Where be th' jade? I say, where be
+she? Where be she?"
+
+"Where thou shalt not come at her in thy present humor, mother," saith
+the lass, standing with one arm reached out across the door-way, like as
+though in verity she had been the mother and her dam a naughty child.
+
+"How? Dost word me? dost word me?" saith my wife. "How? dost take any
+stray cat to kitten in my house an' then word me too?"--so saith she.
+
+Then saith th' lass, "Well can I understand," saith she, "how, if thou
+canst speak i' this fashion o' thy sister's child, thou canst also speak
+to thy own as sure no mother e'er spoke ere this." Then, changing all
+suddenly her tone, and dropping down her arm from the door, "Go an thou
+like," saith she, "to abuse the poor creature who hath come to ask thy
+help in time o' trouble; but just so surely as thou dost turn her out o'
+door to lie i' th' straw like any common callet, just so sure do I
+follow her, to fare as she fares, and all the village shall know what
+thou hast done."
+
+Then for some minutes did they twain stand and gaze upon one another,
+and at last down flumps my wife into a chair, as though she would break
+it in pieces for very rage; but being waxed sulky, and her own wrath
+cowed, as 'twere, by her daughter's more righteous wrath, she saith
+nothing more of 't, good or bad.
+
+In three weeks' time th' child is born, and as sound and as pretty a
+babe as e'er I clapt eyes on, and Keren a-dangling of him as natural as
+though she herself had been a mother, time and again.
+
+"What say'st thou now, lass?" quoth she. "Wilt trust Keren after this?"
+
+"Is he sound, verily?" saith the poor little dame, looking shyly upon
+him.
+
+"Never a spot so big as the splash on a guinea-flower!" saith Keren.
+"And ears like sea-shells."
+
+So, after a-kissing of them both, and th' top o' th' babe's head (as
+'twas permitted me to do), I steals out and leaves them together.
+
+Well, ne'er saw thou a child grow as did that child. Meseemed he
+sprouted like corn after a rain; and in five months a was waxed so
+strong a could stand on 's feet a-holding to his mother's kirtle. But,
+strange to say or not, as thou wilt have 't, he did seem to love Keren
+more than he did th' mother that bore him, a-crying for her did she but
+so much as turn her back, and not sleeping unless that she would croon
+his lullabies to him. Mayhap it was because her strong arms and round
+bosom made a more cosey nest for him than did th' breast and arms o' his
+little dam; but so was 't, and nearly all o' her time did th' lass give
+to him. Neither did it seem to rouse aught o' jealousy in Ruth's heart:
+she was too busy a-looking for th' return o' 's father to bother her
+pretty pate o'ermuch concerning him. And she would sit and talk o'
+Robin, and o' Robin's goodness, and o' Robin's sweet ways and words and
+doings, until I thought sometimes my poor lass's heart would just break
+within her, if 't had not been broken already these two years. And one
+day, as she kneels beside th' cradle--Ruth having gone to see her folks
+for th' day--I come in unknown to her, and stand to watch th' pretty
+sight. There kneels she, and Ruth's red shawl o'er her head to please
+th' child (Keren ne'er had any bright colors o' her own those
+days)--there kneels she, I say, beside the cradle, and kittles him with
+her nimble fingers, and digs him i' th' ribs after a fashion that would
+sure 'a' run me crazy (though it hath ne'er yet been proven what a young
+babe cannot endure at the hands o' women), and punches and pokes and
+worries him, for all th' world like a kitten worrying a flower. And he,
+lying on his back, kicks with both feet at her face, and winds all his
+hands in her long hair, and laughs, and bubbles, and makes merry, after
+the fashion o' a spring stream among many stones. And by-and-by a change
+falls o'er her, and she waxes very solemn, and sits down on th' floor by
+th' edge o' th' cradle, with one arm upon 't and her head on her hand,
+and she looks at the babe. In vain doth he clutch at her hair and at her
+kerchief, and reach, with pretty broken murmurings, as of water through
+crowding roots, after his little bare toes: never so much as a motion
+makes she towards him. But at last up gets she to her knees, and takes
+him fiercely into her strong hands, and holds him off at arm's-length,
+looking at him; and she saith in a deep voice (such as I had not heard
+her use for two years), saith she, "For that thou art not mine," saith
+she, "I hate thee; but--" and here came a change o'er all her face and
+voice and manner, like as when April doth suddenly wake in the midst o'
+a wintry day in springtide--"but," saith she, "for that thou art his, I
+love thee!" And she took him to her bosom, and bowed down her head over
+him so that he was hidden all in her long hair; but the bright shawl
+covered it, so that, what with her stooping and the hiding of her
+tresses, a body coming in suddenly at the door might 'a' easily mistaken
+her for Ruth.
+
+It was thus with th' man who at that moment strode past me and caught up
+child and woman into his embrace. "I have come back to thee," he
+said--"I have come back to thee. Look up, wife! Ruth, look up!" But when
+she did look up, and he saw her face as white as morning, and her hair
+as black as night, and her tall figure like to a young elm-tree--ay,
+when she looked up, ne'er saw I a man not dead seem so like death. He
+drops down his arms from about them, as though smitten from behind by a
+sword, and he staggers and leans against th' table, and lets fall his
+head upon his breast, staring straight in front o' him. But she stands
+looking upon him. And I got me out with all speed; so ne'er knew I more
+o' what passed between 'em, saving that he did take away Ruth with him
+th' next day, and she as happy as a bird whose mate hath come back to 't
+with the springtide. But a knew how that my lass had taken his wife into
+her bed, and nursed her through her sickness night and day, after the
+hard words he had spoken unto her and the ill names he had called her.
+And that was all I cared to know. He had set th' iron in my lass's
+heart, and now 'twas in his own; and for th' rust, it did but hurt him
+more. Ay, ay, comrade, thou knowest what I do mean.
+
+Well, the winter passed, and spring came on again, and 'twas in the May
+o' that year that I did break my hammer-arm. God above us only knows
+what would 'a' befallen us had 't not been for my Keren. Wilt believe
+'t? (but then I think thou'lt believe a'most anything o' that lass o'
+mine now--eh, comrade?)--th' lass did set to work, and in two weeks'
+time a was as good a farrier as was e'er her daddy afore her. Bodykins,
+man! thou shouldst 'a' seen her at it: clad from throat to feet she was
+in a leathern apron, looking as like mine own as though th' mare's skin
+whereof mine was fashioned had, as 'twere, foaled a smaller one for th'
+lass--ha! ha!--and her sleeves rolled up from her brown arms, and th'
+cords a-standing out on them like th' veins in a horse's shoulder. And
+so would she stand, and work th' bellows at th' forge, until, what with
+th' red light from the fire on her face, and on her hair, and on her
+bare arms, I was minded o' th' angel that walked i' the fiery furnace
+with th' men in holy writ. And when a pounded away at a shoe, and her
+young arm going like a flail--chink, chank--chink, chank--and th' white
+spatters o' hot iron flying this way and that from th' anvil, meseemed
+'twas as though Dame Venus (for thou knowest how in th' masque twelve
+year gone this Yuletide 'twas shown as how a great dame called Venus did
+wed wi' a farrier called Vulcan--I wot thou rememberest?)--as though
+Dame Venus had taken away her hammer from her goodman Vulcan to do 's
+work for him. By my troth, 'twas a sight to make a picture of--that
+'twas, comrade.
+
+Well, ne'er saw I such trouble as that arm gave me (and 't has ne'er
+been strong since). First 'twould not knit, and then when 't did 'twas
+all wrong, and had to be broken and set o'er again. But th' lass ne'er
+gave out once. Late and early, fair weather or foul, a was at th' forge;
+and a came to be known for as good a smith as there was in all
+Warwickshire. But, for that none had e'er heard tell o' a woman at such
+work, or for some other reason, they did come to call her, moreover,
+"The Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth."
+
+One day, as we sat i' th' door o' th' shop, a-resting, and talking
+together--after a way we had with us even when she was a little
+lass--there rides up a young gallant, all dressed out in velvet and
+galloon, and a feather in 's hat, and long curls hanging about his
+shoulders. Oh ay, a was bonny enough to look upon. So a draws rein at
+th' door. And saith he,
+
+"Art thou th' Farrier Lass o' Piping Pebworth?" saith he.
+
+Saith she, arising to her feet, and standing with crossed arms like any
+man--saith she,
+
+"Folks call me so," saith she. "But my name is Keren Lemon."
+
+"A sour name for so sweet a lass," saith th' gallant.
+
+"Would thou hadst sweetened that old jest with some new wit!" quoth she.
+
+"Thou art sharp o' tongue," saith he.
+
+"I shoe horses with my arms, not with my tongue," saith she.
+
+"As I live, a witty jade!" quoth he. "Thou dost much amuse me, maiden."
+
+"My wit was not fashioned any more for thy amusement than for the
+shoeing o' thy horse," quoth she. "So, if thou dost not purpose to have
+him shod, ride on!" saith she.
+
+Then saith he, to himself, as 'twere, "Verily," saith he, "they should
+call thee the _harrier_ lass, for thou hast run down and found my
+manners when that old hounds have failed." And to her he saith, "I do
+purpose to have my horse shod, maiden; and I cry thee pardon for having
+given thee offence."
+
+"It is easier to give offence than pardon," saith she. "Howbeit, thou
+art pardoned. Say no more." Whereupon she sets to work and, taking th'
+horse's foot atween her knees, falls to filing his hoof in such wise
+that I could not 'a' done better in her place, though the Queen should
+ask me to sup afterwards at St. James's. But the stranger could not hold
+his tongue; and when he saw her working th' bellows, and a-making of th'
+shoe, and th' way she swung th' great hammer, "By my troth," saith he,
+"I would I could paint thee as Sally Mander to give to th' Queen," saith
+he.
+
+Then saith my lass, "I know not of any wench called Sally Mander," saith
+she, a-burning of th' horse's hoof with th' hot shoe; "but if she
+consorts familiarly with such as be above her," so saith she, "methinks
+'tis as well for both o' us that I know her not," saith she--every word
+o't just as I tell thee.
+
+Then saith the gallant, clapping hand to thigh, so that it made such a
+sound as when a young child is trounced, "By my troth," saith he, "an
+thy brows be not worthy o' a coronet, ne'er saw I any that merited to
+wear one. What wouldst thou if thou wert a lady, lass?"
+
+She saith, a-rolling up of her sleeves a little tighter, and looking up
+at him as he sate again upon his horse, "Meanest thou if I were the wife
+o' a lord?" saith she.
+
+"Even so," saith he, laughing. "Verily thou hast come at my meaning with
+a commendable quickness. Well, and if thou wert the wife o' a lord, what
+wouldst thou do?"
+
+Then saith she, speaking very slowly, and crossing of her arms again
+upon her breast--saith she,
+
+"I would bring up such sons as were born to me to behave worthily o'
+their station in life, and not to forget their manhood by speaking with
+insolence unto such honest maids as had never offered them affront."
+Whereupon she did up with her kit o' tools, and pass by me into th'
+forge; and th' man rode on with a reddened visage.
+
+But it befell only two days later that a came again to th' forge, his
+horse having cast another shoe.
+
+And again th' lass sets all to right for him, he keeping a civil tongue
+in 's head this time; and o' that we thought naught one way or th'
+other. But when a comes a third time, and yet a fourth and a fifth and a
+sixth, "Father," saith th' lass--"father," saith she, "this must be
+stopt," saith she.
+
+"Ay, verily," saith I. "But how wilt do 't?" saith I.
+
+"I'll do 't, never fear," saith she.
+
+And a did, comrade. Ha! ha! I'd trust that wench to make Satan keep to
+heel like any well-broke puppy. 'Twas in this way. The next time th'
+gallant comes riding up (that being th' seventh time in all, ye
+mind)--well, the next time up comes riding he, and he saith to her,
+saith he, "I have come to ask thy service yet again, damsel," saith he;
+"but Merrylegs hath cast another shoe."
+
+Then saith th' lass--ha! ha!--every word as I tell thee, comrade--saith
+she, "Methinks, my lord, if my work hold no better than that--methinks,"
+saith she, "'twere as well thou went for th' shoeing o' thy horse to
+Timothy Makeshift, as lives in Marigold Lane," saith she. "For if it
+come to th' ears o' others how that I will shoe a horse one day, and th'
+next how that he will cast th' shoe--if it so be known," saith she, "no
+more custom will I get to keep my father and mother in their old age."
+
+Then doth he leap down from his horse, and he doffs his hat as though
+my lass had been any fine lady; and quoth he,
+
+"Well and justly hast thou spoken; and I do stand confessed of my fault.
+But, maiden, thou wast not born unto th' life thou leadest; and here in
+thy presence I do ask thy father to bestow upon me thy hand. I am Sir
+Dagonet Balfour, of Balfour Hall; and if thou art willing I will make
+thee my lady."
+
+Now, I was struck dumb as though my tongue had jumped forth o' my mouth,
+and never a blessed thing could I do saving stare, comrade. But that
+lass o' mine--that lass o' mine, comrade--she stands and looks at him,
+and never so much as a glint o' red in her face. And saith she, "My
+lord," saith she, "if that thou meanest what thou hast said, thou hast
+forgotten thine estate and not remembered mine. Since God hath not made
+me a lady, methinks it is not in the power o' one o' His creatures so to
+do. But I do thank thee for seeking to honor me, and wish thee joy when
+thou shalt take in wedlock some highborn maiden."
+
+Then saith he, "An I wed not thee, ne'er will I be wed. What! dost thou
+think I can look on in patience and see a woman such as thou following
+the trade of a farrier?"
+
+Then saith she, "If Jesus Christ followed th' trade o' a carpenter,"
+saith she, "sure," saith she, "Keren Lemon can follow th' trade o' a
+farrier," saith she--every blessed word as I tell thee, comrade. And no
+more would she have to do with him, but got her into th' forge and left
+him standing there.
+
+Well, thou might 'a' thought that was th' end o't. Not a bit--not a bit,
+comrade. Th' knight would be a-riding up at all times and in all
+weather, and somehow 't gets out i' th' village (though not through my
+lass, I warrant ye) as how he doth in verity seek to espouse my Keren.
+Well, o' all th' tirrits and to-do's as e'er you heard on!
+
+Methought when Mistress Lemon found out that th' girl had refused th'
+gallant's offer th' house would be a tighter fit for us three than its
+shell for an unhatched chick. 'Twas worry, worry, worry, from morn till
+night, and from night till morn it was worry, worry, worry, till I
+scarce knew whether 'twould be better to murder my wife and hang for 't,
+or leave her alone and live with her.
+
+"Th' hussy!" quoth she--"th' ungrateful hussy! a ought to be tossed in a
+blanket," quoth she, "and thou along with her, thou jack-pudding, thou
+ravelling!" quoth she.
+
+"If I be a jack-pudding," saith I, "I ha' more descendants than most
+such," saith I.
+
+"Yea," quoth she, "verily," quoth she; "and all nine o' th' lads be
+jacks," saith she, "and th' wench as very a pudding as e'er fell to
+pieces for want o' being held together," saith she. "Out on ye both!
+I'm done with ye!"
+
+"For that, God be praised!" saith I, and left ere she could answer.
+
+But one day as I sate i' th' kitchen, a-cosseting o' my lame arm as
+though 't had been a babe, I hear a sound o' wheels and a clatter o'
+horses' hoofs; and, lo! there be a chariot pulled up afore the door,
+with four gray horses a-making play with their trappings, and a
+coachman, all wig and gilding, a-sitting on th' box. And ere a could
+move, out steps a fine dame, with her hair all in hillocks, as 'twere,
+and a paling o' lace round about her head, like as 't had been a
+flower-garden, and a farthingale to 'a' covered th' big malt-pot with as
+little to-do as a hen covers an egg. And up comes she to th' door, and
+her tire-woman a-holding of her robes, and two footmen going before, and
+in she comes--like as though Riches and Death had a' th' same right to
+enter a poor man's house without knocking. And saith she to me, saith
+she, a-filling up o' the room with her finery, like a cuckoo ruffling
+out its feathers in another bird's nest, saith she,
+
+"Be this th' cottage o' Humfrey Lemon th' farrier?" saith she.
+
+"It be so; and I be he," saith I.
+
+"And be thou th' father o' th' wench they call th' Farrier Lass o'
+Piping Pebworth?" saith she.
+
+"I be, an' proud o't," say I, a-beginning to think that she might 'a'
+knocked at th' door, for all her greatness.
+
+"Where's th' lass?" saith she, as she might 'a' said "Where's my glove?"
+
+Then saith I, "Madam," saith I, "most like she's gone about her
+business," saith I.
+
+"My good man," saith she, after a fashion that did cause me to feel
+aught but good--"my good man," saith she, "dost thou know to whom thou
+speakest?"
+
+"Verily," saith I, "thou art ahead o' me there, madam."
+
+"Boor," saith she, "I am the Lady o' Balfour Hall."
+
+"An' so could my lass 'a' been, had she willed it," saith I; but ere I
+could further forget myself, in comes Keren by another door, and she
+saith,
+
+"Father, do thou go out, and leave me to speak with this lady." Then to
+th' dame she saith, "Your ladyship," saith she, "I am Keren Lemon, that
+be called th' Farrier Lass. What wouldst thou with me?"
+
+Then I got me out o' th' room, but not out o' hearing distance; and this
+is what followed:
+
+"I have heard," saith th' dame, "these reports concerning my son Sir
+Dagonet and thee, and, to my sorrow, I find upon inquiry," saith she,
+"that they be true. Moreover, though it doth shame me to the dust to
+confess it, I have had an interview with my son Sir Dagonet," so saith
+she--every word o't as I tell thee--"and he is determined in his
+purpose o' ruining his life and th' happiness o' his mother. Therefore I
+have come to thee, to ask that thou persistest in the course which thou
+hast begun," saith she. "And here," saith she, "is gold to hold thy
+tongue concerning my visit unto thee." And therewith she did count down
+ten broad gold pieces upon th' kitchen table. "I must also ask thee,"
+then continued she, ere my lass could answer her, "to allow me to remain
+under thy roof until my carriage be returned from th' other end o' the
+village, where it hath been sent with my tire-woman to purchase some
+ribbon to tie my parrot to 's perch."
+
+Never a word saith my lass, but she goes to th' door and opens it, and
+lifting up her voice, she halloos to a little ragged urchin who is at
+some spot on th' other side o' th' street; and he being come as fast as
+his little shanks would bring him, she bids him enter, and taking him up
+in her arms, she lifts him up so that a can reach th' gold on th'
+table, and saith she,
+
+"Thou'rt not o'er-clean to touch, my good little mouse," saith she, "but
+thou'rt cleaner than that stuff thou seest. There, lad, that's for thee,
+if an thou'lt run to th' other end o' th' village and bid them return at
+once with my lady Balfour's carriage," so saith she. Then, th' lad
+having stuffed all 's doublet with th' gold, she sets him on 's feet,
+and off a scuttles on th' best-paid errand e'er chanced since th' world
+began. And my lass, having courtesied to the thunder-stricken dame, gets
+her outside (where I go nigh to smothering her with kisses), and leaves
+her ladyship in possession o' th' kitchen.
+
+Well, comrade, right sure am I that thou dost think that was the end on
+'t. Not a bit. Sir Dagonet did himself come to th' cottage th' very next
+day to see th' lass, and they had many words together, and at last he
+did accuse her o' false pride and proud humility. And saith he,
+
+"Wouldst thou make misery for the man who loves thee best of all the
+world, merely to satisfy a notion o' thine own? Greatness and goodness,"
+saith he, "dwell in the heads and hearts o' mankind, not in their birth
+or purses. I do ask thee, with all respect, to be my wife, and I am
+prepared to face th' anger o' my mother and o' th' Queen. Ay," saith he,
+his face gone red as a girl's, and comes nigh to her--"ay, maiden,"
+saith he, "I am even ready to seek th' new country with thee as my wife,
+and to leave title and lands and Queen and mother behind me."
+
+Then saith she--and I had not seen tears in her eyes for many a day--
+
+"My lord," saith she, "well and nobly hast thou spoken, and with all my
+soul do I honor thee for it, and I thank thee with all my heart and
+soul. But, my lord, even were there not thy rank and position atween
+us, there is atween us," saith she, "which would hold us as far apart as
+the sea doth hold this England which we live in and th' new country o'
+which thou didst speak. For," saith she--and she speaks in a steady
+voice, howbeit 'tis very low, and she keeps her sun-like eyes on
+his--"for, my lord," saith she, "all the love that was mine to give hath
+been another man's these many years."
+
+Then saith he never another word, but bends his knee and kisses her long
+brown hand as though 't had been th' Queen's; and he gets him from th'
+cottage.
+
+Now, two more years were sped since that Ruth had left us, and sometimes
+would we hear through friends o' th' little lad and 's mother and
+father, and always was Ruth a-sending of pretty messages to Keren--her
+love, and her thanks, and how happy she was, and th' boy so like his
+father--and more than I remember.
+
+A full year had th' lass been at work in my shop, and my arm no more
+fit to hammer than afore. So I looks about to get a lad to help her in
+her work, seeing as 'twere too much for one wench. And, Lord! th'
+trouble I had! Ten lads did I try, one right after th' other; and one
+would be saucy, and another dull, and another would take 't into his
+pumpkin head to fall in love wi' th' lass; and all o' 'em lazy. But,
+God-a-mercy! how's a man to tell a lazy lad till he ha' tried
+him?--unless it be old Butter. Ha! ha! I ha' just minded me o' th' way
+he used to treat th' lads that came to Amhurste to hire for
+under-gardeners. He would stand with 's owlish old visage a-set on 's
+hoe-handle, for all th' world like a fantastic head carved out o' a
+turnip and set on a stick, and a would let th' lad go on with 's story
+o' how Dame This commended him for that, and o' how Dame That commended
+him for this, and o' how a had worked under my lord So-and-So's
+head-gardener and in my lady So-and-So's own hot-houses; and when a had
+got through, never a word would old Butter say, but a would just step
+round behind th' lad, as solemn as a gravedigger on a cold day, and a
+would lift up th' tail o' 's doublet and look at th' seat o' 's
+breeches. And if they were fairly worn a would hire th' lad; but if an
+they were much worn a would say, "No work dost thou get from me, my
+lad," would a say, "thou sittest down too often to work for Anthony
+Butter"--so would a say--every word o't just as I ha' told thee. Ha! ha!
+And all the time as sober as a coroner inspecting a corse. Ha! ha! ha!
+Methinks I can see him now--th' old zany.
+
+Well, well, a was a good man, was Anthony Butter; and if a was a bit
+puffed up with 's own importance, a's charity ne'er got in a like
+condition that it did not bring forth some kind act.
+
+Well, th' months swung round, and 'twas nigh to Martlemas in that same
+year, and one day as I sat i' th' forge door, a-swearing roundly to
+myself concerning my lame arm, and how that 'twould not mend, up comes
+galloping a man, like one distraught, and a child on th' saddle afore
+him, and a flings himself down with th' child in 's arms (making no
+shift whate'er to hold th' horse, which gallops on with th' reins
+swinging), and a cries out, a-setting of th' child on my knee--a cries
+out,
+
+"For God's sake, help me! My child hath been bit by a mad dog! Help me
+in some way, for th' love of God!"
+
+And I saw that 'twas Robert Hacket that crouched and quivered at my knee
+like a hurt hound, and th' child as like to him as one leaf on a tree is
+to th' other. But ere I could do or say aught, comes that lass o' mine,
+and ups with th' babe in her arms, and he roaring as lustily as any
+bull-calf with th' wound in 's little brown arm, and she sees where the
+beast hath bitten him. Then sets she him down again on my lap, and runs
+and fetches a bar o' iron and heats it i' th' forge till 'tis white-hot,
+and all th' time th' poor father a-sobbing, and kissing of th' babe, and
+calling on me to help him, like as though I were God Almighty. And while
+he was so doing, and the babe like to burst with weeping, and I gone mad
+with not knowing what to be at, comes that wench, comrade, and jerks up
+th' babe, and sets th' white-hot metal in 's soft flesh.
+
+Ay, comrade, a did, and a held it there till where th' dog's fangs had
+been was burned as black as th' anvil. And then, when 'tis done, and th'
+babe again upon 's feet, and we two for praising and blessing o' her,
+down drops she all in a heap on th' floor atween us, like a hawk that
+hath been smitten in mid-heaven. Then 'twas, comrade, that th' babe was
+left to endure his pain as best he might; never thought more did 's
+father give him that day; but he runs and lifts th' lass in 's strong
+arms, and bears her out into th' fresh air, and he calls her his
+"dear," and his "own," and "his life," and his "Keren," till, had 't not
+been for my lass's coming back to life, I would 'a' struck him on th'
+mouth for a-speaking so unto her, and he th' husband o' another woman.
+
+But no sooner opes she her eyes than he hath both her hands hid in one
+o' his, and close against his breast, and she lying back in 's arms as
+though she were any chrisom child, and her big eyes wide on his, and he
+saith to her,
+
+"Lass! lass!" saith he, "I ha' come to marry thee, an thou wilt have
+me," quoth he. "I ha' come to marry thee; and may God bless thee for
+saving th' child!"
+
+Then did I understand; but she saith, with her great eyes not
+moving--saith she--only one word--"Ruth?" saith she, even so, once, low
+like that--"Ruth?"
+
+"Ay, lass, I know," he saith unto her. "I know," he saith. "But all's
+well with Ruth. Ruth is in heaven."
+
+Then saith she, while a light leaps out o' her tearful eyes, like as
+when the sun doth shine suddenly through April rain--saith she, as she
+were breathing her life into th' words,
+
+"Methinks I be there too."
+
+And also did I understand her, how that she meant that to be lying in
+th' arms o' him she loved, after all those weary years, was like being
+in heaven; but he questions her.
+
+"How, lass?" saith he. "Where dost thou think thou art? Thou art in thy
+true love's arms," saith he.
+
+"Ay, there is heaven," she saith.
+
+And I stole away to get th' babe some kickshaws i' th' village, that
+they twain might be alone together.
+
+Well, well, all that was two year ago, comrade--two year ago; and now
+that lass o' mine hath a babe o' her own, and as valiant a rogue as ever
+bellowed. Thou must come and sup with us to-night. Na, na, I'll take no
+refusal--dost hear? I will not. And a word o' persuasion i' thy ear,
+comrade: Mistress Lemon hath been dead this twelvemonth, comrade. Ah ha!
+Wilt a-come the now? That's well. And thou shalt hear that lass o' mine
+troll thee "Jog on, jog on," and "Mistress mine, where art thou
+roaming?" and "Listen, Robin, while I woo." Come, comrade, come. But
+stay; let's crack another drink together ere we go. Joel! What there!
+Joel, I say! Another quart o' sack for Master Turnip!
+
+
+
+
+NURSE CRUMPET TELLS THE STORY.
+
+        _Time._--A bitter January night in the year of
+          Grace 1669.
+
+        _Scene._--Sunderidge Castle--The great hall--A
+          monstrous fire burning in the big fireplace--Nurse
+          Crumpet discovered seated on a settle--At her
+          either knee lean the little Lady Dorothy and her
+          brother, the young Earl of Sunderidge, Lord
+          Humphrey Lennox.
+
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--Nay, now, Lady Dorothy, why wilt thou be at the pains
+o' such a clamoring? Sure thou hast heard that old tale o'er a hundred
+times; and thou too, my lord? Fie, then! Wouldst seek to flatter thy old
+nurse with this seeming eagerness? Go to! I say thou canst not in truth
+want to hear me drone o'er that ancient narrative. Well, then, an I
+must, I must. Soft! Hold my fan betwixt thy dainty cheeks and the
+blaze, sweetheart, lest the fire-fiend witch thy roses into very poppy
+flowers. And thou, my lord, come closer to my side, lest the draught
+from the bay-window smite thee that thou howlest o' th' morrow with a
+crick i' thy neck. Well, well, be patient. All in time, in time. Soft,
+now! Ye both mind that I was but a little lass when thy grandmother, the
+Lady Elizabeth Lennox, did take me to train as her maid-in-waiting. I
+was just turned sixteen that Martlemas, and not a fair-sized wench for
+my years either. Would ye believe? I could set my two thumbs together at
+my backbone in those days, and my ring-fingers would all but kiss too.
+
+_Lord Humphrey._--Ha! ha! Nurse, thy fingers would be but ill satisfied
+lovers under those conditions nowadays. Eh, Dolly?
+
+_Lady Dorothy._--Hold thy tongue for an unmannerly lad, Humphrey. Do not
+thou heed him, nurse, but go on with thy story.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--For all thy laughter, my lord, I'd a waist my garter
+would bind in those days, and was as light on my toes as those flames
+that dance i' th' chimney. Lord! Lord! how well I mind me o' th' first
+time that e'er I clapt eyes on Jock Crumpet! I was speeding home with a
+jug o' water from the spring, and what with his staring as he stood at
+the road-side to let me pass, and what with a root i' th' way, I all but
+lost my footing. Yet did I swing round alone, holding fast my jug, and
+ne'er one blessed drop o' water spilled I, for all my tripping. "By'r
+lay'kin!" quoth he, "thou'rt as light on thy feet as a May wind, and as
+I live I will dance the Barley Break with thee this harvesting or I will
+dance with none!" And i' faith a was as good as his word, for by hook or
+by crook, and much scheming and planning, and bringing o' gewgaws to my
+mother, and a present o' a fine yearling to my father, that harvesting
+did I dance the Barley Break with Jock Crumpet. And a was a feather-man
+in a round reel.
+
+Well, 'twas the year o' my meeting with Jock, thou mindst. (And a cold
+winter that was--Christ save us! There be ne'er such winters nowadays.
+This night is as a summer noon i' th' comparison.) 'Twas the year o' my
+first meeting with Jock, and my lady, your grandmother, sent for me to
+the castle, to be her waiting-maid. Lord! 'twas a troublous time! What
+with joy at my good fortune, and sorrow at quitting my mother, I was
+fain to smile with one corner o' my mouth and look grievously with the
+other, like a zany at a village fair. And Jock, he would not that I
+went, for that he could not see me, or consort wi' me so often: Jock was
+aye honey-combed wi' th' thing ye call "sentiment." A would grin on a
+flower I had wov'n in my locks by th' hour together. And 'tis my belief
+a could a spun him a warm doublet out o' the odds and ends o' ribbon and
+what not he had filched from me when my eyes were elsewhere. And
+Jock--but 'tis neither here nor there o' Jock. In those days thy
+grandmother had only one child, a little lass, the Lady Patience. And
+ne'er was man or maid worse named; for to call such a flibbertigibbet
+"Patience" were as though one should name a frisksome colt "Slumber," or
+christen a spring brook "Quiet." Patience, quotha! 'Twas patience in
+truth a body had need of, who was thrown at all with her little
+ladyship. But there was ne'er so beautiful a maiden born in all the
+broad land of England; nor will be again--not though London Tower be
+standing when the last trump sounds. Meseemed she was an elf-sprite, so
+tiny was she; and her face like a fair flower, so fresh and pure. Her
+hair was shed about her face like sunlight on thistle-down, and her eyes
+made a shining behind it, like the big blue gems in her mother's
+jewel-box. When she laughed, it was as water falling into water from a
+short height, with ripples, and little murmurs, and a clear tinkling
+sound. But she was ne'er more at rest than the leaves on an aspen-tree.
+Hither and thither would she flit, this way and that, up and down, round
+and round, backward and forward, about and about. I' faith, ofttimes
+would I be right dizzy come nightfall, with following of her; for ere I
+had been at the castle a day, she took so mighty a fancy to me, that
+naught would do but she must have me for her maid; and so my lady, who
+(God pardon my boldness!) did utterly spoil her in all things, gave me
+unto her as a nurse-maid.--But sure ye are a-weary o' this old tale!
+
+_Lady Dorothy and Lord Humphrey in a breath._--Nay, go on, go on.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--Well, well, o' all the story-loving bairns! But I must
+invent me a new history for the next time o' telling.
+
+_Lord Humphrey._--Nay, that thou shalt not. We will ne'er like any as
+well as we like this one. So despatch.
+
+_Nurse Crumpet._--But my lady had also an adopted daughter, a niece o'
+my lord's--one Mistress Marian Every--and she walked beside the little
+Lady Patience as night might walk beside day, for she was as brown o'
+skin as a mountain stream, and her hair like a cloud at even-tide, dark,
+but of no certain color, albeit as soft as ravelled silk, and marvellous
+hard to comb on account o' its fineness. Mistress Marian was full head
+and shoulders taller than her cousin, the Lady Patience, and she could
+lift her aloft in her arms, and swing her from side to side, as a supple
+bough swings a bird. And her eyes were dark, and cool to gaze into, like
+a pool o' clear water o'er autumn leaves, and sometimes there were
+glints o' light in them, like the spikes i' th' evening-star when thou
+dost gaze steadily upon it. Black and white were not more different than
+were they, and they resembled even less in mind than they did in body.
+When Lady Patience waxed wroth, her cheeks burned like two coals, and
+thou couldst hear her little teeth grinding together, like pebbles
+squeezed i' th' palm o' thy hand; but when Mistress Marian was
+an-angered, the blood rushed back to her heart, and she was whiter than
+a lamb at the shearing, and her lips like white threads. Then would the
+light shoot and spin in her eyes, and her nostrils suck in and out, like
+those of a fretful horse. And she was fierce after the manner of a man
+rather than of a maid. Moreo'er, she was full a year younger than the
+Lady Patience; but she looked it not; rather did her ladyship look full
+two years younger than Mistress Marian. And I loved them both, and tried
+as a Christian not to prefer one before the other; but what with my
+lady's stealings of her arms about my neck as I sat at my stitchery, and
+popping of comfits in my pocket when I would be otherwise engaged, and
+teasings, and ticklings, and sundry other pretty witcheries which I do
+not at this day recall, I was fairly cozened into loving her the best.
+(Honey, I charge thee hold my fan betwixt thee and the fire.) But to
+continue.--Mistress Marian was aye courteous and kindly to me as heart
+could wish, and every night did she thank me i' th' prettiest fashion,
+when I had combed and unpinned her for the night; but, Lord! I had much
+ado to get Lady Patience combed or unpinned at all! First would she jump
+with both knees upon mine, and hug my very breath away; then, when I had
+at last coaxed her to get down, first she would perch on one leg and
+then o' the other, and then be a-twisting her head now over this
+shoulder, now over that, to see how I came on with the unpinning, that
+it was with a prayer to God that I finally set her night-gown over her
+shoulders, and led her to bed. As for her prayers--Jesu aid me and
+pardon her!--'twas a matter of hours to get her to say "Our Father"
+straight through, what with her vowing that she wished not bread every
+day, and how that if his lordship her father forgave not trespassers
+(for I could ne'er draw the difference between trespass_es_ and
+trespass_ers_ into her pretty pate), neither would she; and how she did
+not believe God would lead her into temptation at any time, but that it
+was the Devil; and how it must anger God even to think of such doings on
+His part--what, I say, with all this, methought sometimes it would be
+cock-crow ere I got her safely to sleep. And all this time Mistress
+Marian would be lying as quiet as any mouse, with her big plait of hair
+between her fingers, for so she always slept, with her hair fast in her
+hands, as though she loved its beauty; and in truth it was the one great
+beauty she had, for my little lady put her out with her glitter as the
+sunlight doth extinguish a morning moon.
+
+Now I had been at the castle scarce two months when one day it chances
+that I hear my lady a-telling o' my lord how as her brother, Lord
+Charles Radnor, dying wifeless, had left his only son to her care until
+he should come of age. And on that Tuesday the little lord set foot in
+the castle; and my lady was down at the door-way to meet him, in a new
+velvet gown, with her wimple sewn in fine pearls, and my lord with her;
+but my two nurslings waxed shy at the last minute, and would not come
+down, but leaned and peered through the posts o' the stair-rail, and my
+little lady let fall one o' her shoes in her eagerness to glimpse at her
+new cousin. And straightway ran the lad and lifted the wee shoe, and
+looked upward, laughing, and my lord and lady having retired into the
+dining-hall, to see that some cold viands were in readiness (it being
+then near to nightfall, though not yet supper hour).--"Ho! thou little
+cinder witch," cried he; "I am the prince that has found thy shoe, and
+when I shall have found thee, if that thy temper be as small as thy
+shoe, fear not but that I will kiss thee too!" With that, he ran up the
+stair-way, two and three steps at a leap.
+
+And I followed, for I knew not what would happen an he claimed his kiss
+as he had threatened (knowing as did I, that in verity my lady's shoe
+would a been a tight fit for her temper).
+
+But when he was arrived at the top, lo! they had both fled, neither had
+they left so much as a ribbon behind them. Then the lad laughed again,
+as pleasant a laugh as e'er I heard in all my days, and quoth he, "I
+would be but a poor prince an I had not to search for my little
+princess." So off he starts, and I after him, up and down corridors, in
+at half-open doors, out upon balconies, hither and thither, after the
+manner o' my little lady on her most unquiet days, till at last, for the
+sake o' peace, I did slyly lead him in the direction o' the great
+nursery. There, catching sight o' a little red petticoat, he enters,
+where stand my truant elves confessed, Mistress Marian frowning and
+biting o' her dark hair, but my little lady like to stifle, with both
+hands over her mouth to hide her smiles, and her blue eyes dancing a
+very Barley Break o' mirth among the yellow sheaves o' her tresses.
+
+Then there was much parley o'er the fitting o' the shoe, as both damsels
+did straightway sit down upon their feet, neither for a long time would
+they move an eyelash, till his lordship, with a twink o' his eye at me,
+did suggest corns and bunions as a reason for their 'havior--and, Lord!
+then 'twas pretty to mark how like little chicks beneath their dam's
+feathers, first one little foot and then the other did steal out from
+the rich lace o' their petticoats. And ere one could cry "Oh!" for a
+pinch, he had slipt the shoe on my little lady's wee foot, and had
+kissed her right heartily. Moreo'er, what I did most marvel at, was that
+she neither cuffed nor sought to cuff him, but dropt down her head until
+her hair made a veil before her face, and moved that foot whereon he had
+set her shoe, gently back and forth as though the leather was stiff to
+her ankle, and I saw that she looked at it from under her heavy hair.
+But Mistress Marian still held aloof, and chewed upon her dark locks
+like a heifer on its cud. And her eyes were every whit as dark and
+solemn as a very cow's. Then the young lord laughed again, and cried
+out, "Ha! the ox-eyed June!" or some such apery, and went and kneeled
+before her in mock fashion, as before a queen, and quoth he, "Fair
+goddess" (for 'twas afterwards explained to me what manner of being was
+a goddess, namely, some kind of a foreign fairy)--"Fair goddess," quoth
+he, "show me how I may dispel thy wrath." And still she scowled on him,
+but spoke no word. And he continued, and said, "I prithee, fair lady,
+cast but one smile upon thy humble knight" (thou mind'st their pretty
+foolery has stuck i' my old pate unto this day).
+
+Then she answered and saith, "Thou silly lad, how can I be a goddess and
+a lady both in one? Thou hast not even enough wit to make a good fool.
+So!" (for Mistress Marian had a sharp tongue at times).
+
+But he was not so much as ruffled, and laughed even again, most
+heartily. And he said, "I do perceive that thou art not fashioned either
+as goddess or lady, therefore be my comrade, and we will fight together
+for the weal o' yon fairy princess." All at once she laughed too, and
+yielded him her hand, and said, "I like thee. What is thy name?"
+
+He said, "My name is Ernle; and I like thee too; therefore, I pray thee,
+tell me thine."
+
+So she told him, and my little lady sidling up, the three fell presently
+a-chattering like linnets at sunrise, and from that hour on I had no
+trouble with them.
+
+'Twas pretty to mark them at their fantasies. They were aye out-o'-door
+save when 'twas rainy weather, and then methought the castle had scarce
+room enough for them. In all their games Mistress Marian was the little
+lord's comrade, and wore a helmet o' silvered wood, and carried a wooden
+sword silvered to match her head-gear, and the little lord was likewise
+apparelled. And he called her ever "Comrade," and clapped her o' th'
+shoulder, as mankind will clap one the other when conversing.
+
+But my little lady, they both agreed, was a fairy princess; and, Lord,
+Lord! 'twould take me from now 'til Martlemas next to name the perilous
+'scapes that did befall her. They fished her out of moats, they bore her
+from blazing castles, they did drag her from the maws o' dragons and
+other wild beasts I know not how to name. Thrice was the little Lord of
+Radnor in dire straits at the claws o' goblin creatures. Three times
+did his comrade rescue him by thwacking upon the chair which did
+represent the dreadful beast, till I was in sore dread there would be no
+mending of it, and me, mayhap, dismissed from the castle for
+carelessness. And always when 'twas all o'er, and the little princess in
+safety, I was called upon to act parson and wed my little lady to the
+little lord, while Mistress Marian leaned on her sword to witness the
+doings.
+
+One day, in their rovings through the park, they came by chance upon a
+door in the hill-side, but so o'ergrown with creeping vines that, had
+not the little lord stumbled upon it, 'twas very like it had been there
+to this day without discovery. Well, no sooner do they see the door than
+they must needs open it, spite o' all my scolding, and peer within.
+'Twas but a darksome hole, after all--a kind o' cave i' th' hill-side,
+which they did afterwards find out from thy grandfather was used in days
+gone by for concealing treasures in time of war. And indeed it seemed a
+safe place, for there were two rusty bolts as big as my arm, one o' th'
+inside and one o' th' outside, and the creeping things hid all. As thou
+mightst think, it grew to be their favorite coigne for playing their
+dragon and princess trickeries. I would sit with my stitchery on a
+fallen log in the sunshine, while they ran in and out o' th' grewsome
+hole. But in all their frolicking my little lady could ne'er abide the
+sight o' their swords, and she pleaded ever for gentler games. One day
+(I shall ne'er forget, though I live to see doomsday) they did crown her
+a queen, and then my lord would have it that she dubbed him her knight.
+She pleaded that prettily against it methought the veriest boor in
+Christendom would a given in to her, but my little lord was stanch. So
+they made her a throne o' flowers, and when she was seated thereon,
+Mistress Marian handed her the great wooden sword, and my lord,
+kneeling, bade her strike him on the shoulder with the flat side o' th'
+sword, saying, "Rise, Sir Ernle, my knight for evermore!"
+
+She got out the words as he bade her, but when 't came to the stroke,
+what with her natural fright, and what with the sunlight on the silver,
+she brought down the heavy blade edgewise on the boy's pate, laying wide
+quite a gash above his left eyebrow, so that the blood trickled down his
+cheek. When she saw that, meseemed all the blood in her body went to
+keep his company, for she turned whiter than her smock, and ran and got
+her arm about him and saith, o'er and o'er again, "Ernle! Ernle! I have
+killed thee!"
+
+He laughed, to comfort her, and made light of it, and wetting his finger
+in the blood, drew a cross on his brow and said, "Nay, thou hast not
+killed me. And moreo'er, I am not only thy knight, but thy Red Cross
+Knight into the bargain, and thou my lady forever. See! I will seal thee
+with my very blood!" and ere she could draw back, he had set also a
+cross on her white brow. She shuddered and fell a-weeping, and drew her
+hand across her brow to wipe away the ugly stain; and when she saw that
+she had but smeared it on her hand, she trembled more than ever, and it
+was not for some days that I could quiet her.
+
+I do but relate this story, to show in what horror my little lady did
+ever hold swords and bloodshed.
+
+Well, to continue--
+
+This could not last for aye, and when two more years were sped, his
+uncle sent the little lord to a place o' learning; and afterwards to
+travel to and fro upon the earth, after the manner of Satan in the Book
+of Job (God forgive me! but 't has ever seemed like that to me). And we
+set not eyes on him for eight years. Now in that time, lo! I was
+married, and my little lady and Mistress Marian in long kirtles, and
+their hair looped up upon their heads. Mistress Marian was yet full
+head and shoulders above my little lady, and her skin as brown as ever.
+But my little lady was as bright and slender as a sun-ray.
+
+They would speak to me sometimes of Lord Radnor, and how that great
+folks were saying great things of him, and how he was become a soldier
+and a marvellous person altogether; but as the years went by they seemed
+not so ready to talk o' him, only sometimes my little lady would pull
+down my head as I smoothed the bedclothes over her at night, and quoth
+she, "Nurse, dost think he will be much changed? My hair hath not
+darkened much, hath it? Dost think his curls will be different from what
+they were when he was a lad?" And I would have to tell her "No" a dozen
+times ere she would let me go. But Mistress Marian said never a word.
+
+One day I learned of my lady how that Lord Radnor was to return the next
+week, and meseemed in truth the whole castle was waxed distraught.
+
+It is not in my power to tell o' th' doings, but suffice it to say, my
+lord did cozen them all, and come a full day ere he was expected.
+
+When he came, Mistress Marian was standing i' th' great door o' th'
+castle, in her hawking gown o' green velure cloth laced all with silver
+cord; her plumed hat was on her curls, and her hawk, Beryl, on her fist.
+And she turned and beheld him. Ne'er did I see verier light in earth or
+sky, than flashed into her face as their eyes met. And he doffed his
+hat, and came up beside her on the step, and saith, with the old laugh,
+but gentler, "Well met, comrade."
+
+Now when he called her "comrade," 'twas as when Jock did call me
+"sweetheart" in the days o' our wooing. She went red as the ribbon in
+his sleeves; and when the falcon fretted and shook its bells, he did put
+out his hand and stroke it, and, lo! it was still, and seemed to feel
+him as its master. And I wondered all this time where could be my little
+lady.
+
+To this day I have ne'er seen so handsome a man as the young lord. He
+was tall and straight as an oak, with curls the color of frost-touched
+oak-leaves i' th' sunlight, and eyes like the amber drink when men hold
+it aloft ere quaffing, and his whole countenance bright and eager, and
+narrow like that o' a fox, but without a fox's cunning. Then he seemed
+fashioned to run, and ride, and war, as doth become all men, whether of
+high or low estate.
+
+Then went I within to inquire after my little lady; and Jock, who was
+become a footman i' th' castle, did tell me of how he had seen her set
+forth to walk i' th' park an hour gone. So straightway I went in search
+of her.
+
+I had gone some six hundred paces when, at a sudden turning, I came upon
+her, where she held a little urchin a-straddle of her big deer-hound
+"Courage." The child gave chuckles o' delight as he slipped from side to
+side, and the sun through the beech-leaves made their heads as like as
+two crown pieces. Even as I was about to lift up my voice to halloo unto
+her, lo! my lord doth part the thick branches, and steps forth a little
+behind her, and stands watching her. And as he did stand there, behold,
+a look came o'er his face, that was stranger than any look I had e'er
+seen on th' face of man or of woman, and his eyes were no more bright
+and eager, but deep and soft. Then she turned and went direct towards
+him unknowing.
+
+When she was beside him, still laughing and half out o' breath with
+balancing o' th' heavy boy, he saith these two words, "My lady," and
+methought there was a whole year's love-making o' ordinary men crammed
+into them. Quoth I to myself: "Ah, my little lord, so thou hast that
+trick with thee! God keep my little ladies! for if the tongue be a
+fire, how must it burn when such a wit doth wag it!" And I determined in
+my heart that by some means I would warn my little lady of his sweet
+speecheries. Yet was I tender towards him for the sake o' by-gone days.
+Mayhap, moreover, his comely face had something to do with it, for, i'
+fecks, ne'er saw I a goodlier countenance on Roundhead or Cavalier.
+
+Now when my lady heard his voice at her ear, first gives she such a
+start as doth a mettlesome filly when a hare jumps out before it, then
+stock-still stands she, and her face whiter than a wind-flower, and her
+lips a-tremble as if to speak, but no word comes from them.
+
+He saith again, "My lady."
+
+I saw by the moving of her lips that she fashioned the words "My God!"
+but still she spoke not. And the child began to whimper and clutch at
+her kirtle, for she had loosened her hold of him, and he feared falling
+off of the big dog. So she put one arm about him to hold him, but her
+eyes were yet upon his lordship.
+
+Then he came and lifted her hand to his breast, and it lay upon his
+dark-green doublet, as a white flower-leaf doth upon grass, and he saith
+to her, "Sweetheart, dost thou not know me?"
+
+All at once, for what, God only knoweth, she fell a-weeping, and he had
+her in his arms. And being some two years a mother, my care was all for
+the poor little rogue on the deer-hound; 'twas as much as I could do to
+hold back from running and snatching him in my arms to soothe his
+terror.
+
+Howbeit, ere that I could commit this madness, the frighted babe set up
+such a howl as only a man-child can utter, and my lady turned to him in
+great haste, and my lord also did set about comforting him. Then they
+walked slowly on, and my lord held the little lad on one side, and my
+lady coaxed him o' th' other. Ever and anon my lord would look from the
+babe to my lady, and then from my lady to the babe. And a smile just
+lifted the corners o' his mouth, as sometimes a wind will just stir the
+leaves ere shaking them as with jollity. I followed cautiously at some
+distance, and by-and-by his lordship said, "How was it that thou didst
+not know me, coz? Faith thou art shot up like a lily i' th' sun, but
+lilies are aye lilies, and leaving thee a lily, I find thee a lily
+still, though blooming on a taller stem."
+
+And she answered him: "Yea, cousin, and oaks are aye oaks, though first
+they be saplings, then trees. And in truth I knew thee by thy voice ere
+I looked at thee; but 'twas all so sudden, that i' faith I was
+frightened at thee."
+
+And he said, "But thou art glad to see me?"
+
+And being busy with the child, she answered him without lifting her
+head, "Thou knowest that I am."
+
+Then did he laugh a little, and saith, "How should I know, coz? Proof,
+proof, I pray thee. Wilt thou not give me the kiss o' welcome after all
+these years?"
+
+Now he had not offered to kiss Mistress Marian. Therefore I waited right
+curiously to see what my little lady would say unto his offer, and Jock
+having dinned it into my ears ever since our wedding-day, that all women
+were by nature eavesdroppers, I was of a mind to prove his theory for
+him; so I not only listened with all my ears, but I looked with all my
+eyes.
+
+My lady waxed first ruddy, then like to milk, then ruddy again, and she
+reached out her hand to him across the hound. "In truth I will, cousin,"
+quoth she.
+
+He did take the little hand in his, putting down his other hand softly
+over it, as when one holds a frighted bird, and he looked at her as
+though he would pierce her lids with his gaze, for her eyes were down,
+and he saith, "Sweetheart, right gladly will I give this pretty hand
+the kiss o' an eternal welcome; but methinks thou hast begged the
+question. I pleaded to receive a kiss rather than to bestow one."
+
+And her face was like a bended rose. Then did he step round quickly
+beside her, and once more was the poor babe left in dire terror o' his
+life, and he made up a piteous face, but the dog standing still, he fell
+to rattling its collar, and soon waxed merry with the jingle o' th'
+silver. So I looked again at my lady and Lord Radnor.
+
+He had taken her about her waist with one arm, and with the other hand
+he lifted gently upward her fair face, as doth a gardener a rain-beaten
+flower, while his eyes looked down into hers. And slowly, slowly, almost
+as rose-leaves unfurl i' th' sun, her white lids curled upward, and her
+blue eyes peered softly from her yellow locks like corn-flowers through
+ripe corn, there being a tear in each, as when a rain-bead doth tremble
+i' th' real corn-flowers. And, to be the more like nature, there ran
+big waves throughout her loosened tresses, like as when the wind doth
+steal across a field o' grain on summer noons.
+
+Then he bended down his tall head, and their lips met. God alone knows
+what their first words would a been, for ere the kiss was well ended,
+down falls the poor little rogue off of the hound's back, and lifts up
+his voice loud enow to be heard across the sea by the red men i' the new
+continent. And my lady runs and lifts him in her arms. Lord! such an ado
+as they had a-comforting him! First my lady, then my lord, then my lady
+again--and at last my lord tosses him to his shoulder, and saith he,
+
+"Ho! thou little Jack Pudding! an thou art not still o' th' instant,
+I'll swear thou art a girl, an' thou shalt ne'er have a sword such as
+men have."
+
+And as I live, the child stinted, and waxed as solemn as an owl! Not
+another tear did he shed. My lord saith, "Now thou art a good lad,
+therefore thou shalt have my sword to play with." And he unbinds it from
+his side, scabbard and all, and holds it while the urchin gets astride
+o't and pretends to ride. When my lord is tired o' stooping, he lifts
+the child again to his shoulder, and so do they conduct him back to his
+mother, the gardener's wife. From thence they return to the castle, and
+are met by my lord and lady and all the servants, while I haste me in by
+a side door to get on my Sunday kirtle and appear with the rest.
+
+As time wore on, the three were as much together as when he was a little
+lad and they lassies, and sometimes from a window, and sometimes from a
+quiet coigne in the great hall (this very hall, ye mind, dears), I would
+sit with my stitchery and mark them at their bright chatter.
+
+But often Mistress Marian would come and sit against my knee, even as
+thou art sitting now, sweetheart, and ask me to stroke her hair, and
+when she would coax Lord Ernle's big blood-hound "Valor" to come and lie
+beside her, she would sit more quiet, almost as though she were asleep.
+And she would ask me ever and again, "Nurse, wherefore are women at any
+time born with dark hair, to mar ev'n such small comeliness as they
+might otherwise have?"
+
+And always I would answer, "Tut! thou knowest not of what thou speakest,
+my honey; in the sight o' some, dark hair is more comely than fair
+hair." And always she would shake her head, and smile i' th' fashion o'
+one who knows better than another. But she was a wondrous fair woman, in
+spite o' her own thinking, and shaped like the brown metal wench over
+yonder with the bow and arrows. Diana, say ye? Why, even so; so it was
+that his lordship called her when he did not call her "comrade."
+
+Now young Sir Rowland Nasmyth (him who was father to that Sir Rowland
+who wedded your sister the Lady Anne last Michaelmas, ye mind, dears),
+he would be often over for a day, or maybe several days, at the castle;
+and all four would ride a-hawking, or ramble together, two by two,
+through the park; or Lord Ernle and Sir Rowland would play at rackets,
+and i' fecks 'twas a sight to see 'em at it! One day my little lady and
+Sir Rowland (who was a fair stripling, with curls near the color o'
+Mistress Marian's, and eyes the tinting o' the far sea on a rainy day)
+did wander off together, and Mistress Marian and my lord were left
+alone, seated on a rude bench under one o' th' great beech-trees that
+flank the hall door. He leaned forward and rested an elbow on either
+knee, and did let his racket swing back and forth between them, and sat
+looking down on it. Mistress Marian's gaze was upon him, but her big hat
+made so deep a shadow o'er her eyes withal that I could not note them
+clearly. So stayed they for some moments.
+
+Then all in a breath did Lord Ernle start erect and push back his heavy
+locks and speak. "Comrade," saith he, "wilt thou call me an ass for my
+pains, I wonder, an I tell thee o' something that is troubling me
+sorely?"
+
+She, having in no wise moved from her first position, and her eyes still
+in shadow, saith, "I pray thee say on, Ernle, for such words as thou
+hast just spoken to me are idle."
+
+And he leaned forward and took one of her long brown hands in his, but
+'twas different from the way in which he had ta'en my little lady's hand
+at their first meeting, and he saith, "Comrade, for thou hast e'er been
+my true and loyal comrade, Marian--sweet comrade-cousin--this is the
+matter that doth eat my heart. Dost think there is aught between
+Patience and that young coxcomb?"
+
+There came a red mark all across her brow, as though he had smitten her,
+for with her sudden movement her hat had fallen upon the ground at her
+feet. And she put up her hand to her side as if in pain, but snatched it
+back quickly. And for one heart-beat she shut her eyes. My lord, who had
+stooped forward to lift her hat, saw none o' this, and when the hat was
+again upon her brow and its shadow over her face, she seemed the same as
+ever. But I knew the shaft was in her heart, and my heart seemed to feel
+it, for I loved her dearly. When he could wait no longer, he said,
+"Well, comrade?"
+
+And she spoke, for from the hair that crowned her to the feet that
+carried her she was as brave as any Cavalier that ever swung sword for
+the King, and she said, "Well indeed, cousin, for thee."
+
+He said, "How dost thou mean for me?"
+
+Then stooped she and gathered a handful of grass, and held it aloft and
+opened her hand, palm downward, that the falling blades were blown this
+way and that by the wind.
+
+"I mean," quoth she, "that Rowland Nasmyth is no more to Patience
+than--I am to thee." And she laughed a little.
+
+He came closer to her, and laid his arm about her shoulders, drawing her
+to him, and he said, "Nay, thou knowest how dear thou art to me,
+comrade; but thou meanest in different wise--is't so?"
+
+She said, "Yea; but call me Marian to-day. It is to my whim."
+
+He answered, "Dear Marian," and would have kissed her cheek, but she
+started up with a little cry, saying, "By'r lay'kin! there was a
+honey-bee tangled in my locks."
+
+And when he had sought for the bee to kill it with his hat, but could
+not find it, they did seat themselves again, he laughing and saying that
+"the bee was a bee o' much discretion and wondrous good taste."
+
+That night when I crept to my little ladies to see that all was quiet,
+I, pausing in the door-way, did note them as they lay--my little lady
+with her head on Mistress Marian's breast, and a smile on her lips, and
+Mistress Marian with her arms wrapped close about her, and her dark hair
+swept out over the pillow, and thence to the floor, like a stream o'
+water that reflects a black cloud, but her eyes wide open, looking
+straight forward, as though at a ghost. And I stole off and sobbed
+myself to sleep, but not before I had awakened Jock, who did grunt,
+after the uncourteous, pig-like manner of a suddenly wakened man,
+be-thump his pillow as though 't had been an anvil, and in turning over,
+twist the bedclothes half off of me, so that what with the cold (it
+being then the fall o' th' year), and what with my distress, I slept but
+uneasily.
+
+And the next thing I knew o' th' matter, there was a wedding, and my
+little lady wedded to Lord Ernle, and Mistress Marian her bridemaid.
+Surely if the good God e'er sent happiness on earth, He did send it to
+my little lady and to his lordship. 'Twas at this time that Sir Rowland
+asked Mistress Marian to be his spouse. And 'twas even i' th' same spot
+where Lord Ernle had discovered his love for my little lady, that he
+asked her.
+
+Again it was as though some one had smitten her--her face deadly white
+and the red line across her brow. She put out one hand to keep him from
+her, and let it rest on his shoulder, and she said, "Rowland, I love
+thee well, but no man will ever call me wife."
+
+He said, "Is this the end?"
+
+She said, "Though we should both live to see the last day, it is the
+end."
+
+Then he went, with his head bowed down. And when he was gone, for the
+first time in all her life she wept aloud.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some time passed, and matters waxed ever hotter and hotter 'twixt
+Cavaliers and Roundheads, till one night there rode up a man to the
+castle gate with papers for Lord Ernle, and the long and the short o't
+was this: His lordship was ordered to ride forth to war, and my little
+lady only three months his wife. Now when this blow fell upon them they
+were all at meat in this very hall, for ofttimes in cold weather they
+dined here, even as thy father and mother do now, on account o' th'
+greater warmth.
+
+And when my lord had glimpsed at the papers he did start to his feet,
+saying, "Where is the man who brought these papers?"
+
+Jock answered him, "He is gone, my lord."
+
+Then snatching up a flagon of wine that was near at hand, he drank more
+than half that was in it. And again he turned over the papers in his
+hand. But all they, my little lady, and Mistress Marian, and your
+grandfather and grandmother, seemed turned to stone. All at once my
+little lady started up as from a spell, and went and got her arms about
+him, as in years gone by when she had hurt him with his own mock sword,
+and she cried out, "What is it? what is it?" Anon came Mistress Marian
+to his other side, and looked over his shoulder, while he stood between
+them like one bewitched, and whiter than a man just dead. When Mistress
+Marian noted the contents o' th' papers, up went her hand to her heart
+as on that day under the beech-tree, and she caught at his arm to stay
+herself.
+
+He turned from his wife to her as though for help, saying, "Tell her,
+tell her, comrade." And he sank into a chair near by, and dropped down
+his head into his hand.
+
+Lord! Lord! that was a fearful night! When they made my little lady to
+understand, she set up one cry after another, each loud enough to pierce
+the very floor of heaven. Ne'er since have I heard a woman utter such
+cries as those. And no one but Mistress Marian could in any wise
+appease her, for she would not have my lord come unto her, but drove him
+away with waving of her hands, saying, "Thou dost not love _me_, but the
+King! thou dost not love _me_, but the King!"
+
+And when Mistress Marian sought to reason with her, 'twas even the same.
+Naught could she do but sit and hold her, and comfort her with soft
+words and noises such as mothers make o'er their young babes. By-and-by
+she was calmer, and asked to see her lord. So Mistress Marian went out,
+but I remained on a low stool at the bed's foot. Lord Ernle entered, and
+she crept into his arms like a fawn into the hollow of a rock when the
+hail is falling. And they clung to each other in silence. Presently he
+saith, "Darling, darling, that I should have brought thee to grief!"
+
+She answered, "Nay, not thou, but God. O love, dost truly think that God
+is aye a good God?"
+
+And he hushed and soothed her even more tenderly than did Mistress
+Marian.
+
+Afterwhile she saith, almost in a whisper, "But thou needst not go?"
+
+He said, "Darling, how dost thou mean?"
+
+And she whispered more low and said, "I will go with thee to the new
+continent to-morrow, and there we can live the rest o' our days in peace
+and love." And she broke out all at once wilder than ever: "Ernle!
+Ernle! take me! I will go with thee! I will leave father, and mother,
+and home, and country, and friends, and King for thee! Only go not to
+war! go not to war!"
+
+He said but two words back of his teeth, "I must!" and then again, "_I
+must!_"
+
+But when he looked at her for answer, lo! she had swooned away.
+
+He was to set forth in two days after the morrow; and on the morning of
+that day, behold! we could not believe our own eyes for astonishment
+when we saw the Lady Patience step quietly forth, composed and gentle,
+though very pale. She saith good-morrow to every one, and after a while
+she doth slip her arm through her husband's arm, and saith she, "Come
+for a walk, Ernle; I have much to say to thee." So they started forth
+together. Now I, fearful of many things, did follow at a little
+distance. As they walked she besought him again that he would take her
+and set sail for the new continent. And when again he told her how that
+it could not be, she fell down upon her knees before him, and clasped
+him with her arms, and she said, "If thou dost not love me, let me be
+the first to die by thy sword. Slay me, as I kneel, for the love I bear
+thee."
+
+He said, "Patience, Patience, thou wilt break mine heart."
+
+And she, still kneeling, did cry out with a wild voice, "They lied who
+named me, for in an ill hour was I born, and I have not patience to
+support it! I thought that thou didst love me, and lo! thou lovest the
+husband of another woman more than thou lovest me!"
+
+He bent to lift her up, groaning, but she would not; whereat he trembled
+from head to foot, and she shook with his trembling as the leaves of a
+tree when the shaft is smitten by lightning. And she cried out again,
+and said, "As there is a God in heaven, thou dost not love me, an thou
+canst go to war and leave me to die o' grief." Then, as though 'twas
+torn from him, he burst forth, "Now as there is a God, thou dost not
+love _me_, to torture me thus!"
+
+And all at once she was quiet. So he stooped and lifted her, and called
+her his "bride," and his "wife," and his "darling," and his "heart's
+blood," and more wild, fond, foolish names than at this day I can
+remember. 'Twas near sundown, and that night he was to ride. Over
+against the dark jags o' th' hills there ran a narrow streak of light,
+like a golden ribbon. And the brown clouds above and below it were like
+locks o' hair made wanton by the wind, which it as a fillet did seek to
+bind. But they twain walked ever on, till by-and-by they neared that
+cave o' which I did tell ye. As they came in front o't my lady turned,
+and smiling piteously, "Ernle," saith she, "wilt thou go with me into
+the cave and kiss me there, that when thou art gone I may come hither
+and think o' thee?"
+
+And he said, "Oh, my heart! what would I not for thee?" And he kissed
+her again and again.
+
+Presently she said, "Do not think me foolish, but wilt thou enter
+first?--it is so dark." And she stood in the door-way, with her hand on
+the door, while he entered.
+
+He said, "There is nothing here, sweetheart, but a monstrous damp odor."
+
+And she answered, "Nay, but go to the very end; there may be toads; and
+when thou art there, halloo to me." So she waited with her hand on the
+door.
+
+He called to her, "There is nothing, love. Wait until I return to thee."
+But, ere he had ceased speaking, she clapped to the door with all her
+might, and did push forward the great iron bolt, so that he was a
+prisoner in the cave; I being rooted to the ground with astonishment, as
+fast as was ever the oak-tree under which I stood. At first he thought
+'twas but one o' her pretty trickeries, and I heard his gay laugh as he
+came to the shut door, and he called out, and said, "So, sweetheart, I
+am in truth a prisoner o' war; but art thou not an unmerciful general to
+confine the captured in so rheumatic a cavern?"
+
+She sat down and leaned her head against the door, but said not a word.
+
+And he spoke again, saying, "Darling, I pray thee waste not what little
+time doth yet remain to us."
+
+Still she answered not; and again he spake, and his voice began to be
+sorrowful.
+
+"Oh, my wife," he said, "canst thou jest at such a time?"
+
+At last she answered him, saying, "I jest not."
+
+His voice changed somewhat, and he said, "What dost thou, then?"
+
+She answered, "I keep what is mine. Where my forefathers did hide their
+treasure, there hide I mine."
+
+He said, in a loud voice, "God will not suffer it."
+
+Then fell a silence between them. But by-and-by he spoke again.
+"Darling," he saith, "surely thou dost not mean to do this thing?"
+
+And she saith, like a child when 'tis naughty, and knoweth well that it
+is, but likes not to say so, "What thing?"
+
+He answered, "Thou canst not truly mean to shut me here to bring
+dishonor upon me, who have loved thee better than man ever loved woman"
+(for so do all men say, and truly think).
+
+She said, "Thy life is more to me than thy honor."
+
+And he groaned aloud, crying, "Oh God! that I have lived to hear thee
+say it!" and again there fell a silence, save for the whispering of the
+night in the trees above us and the creeping of small creatures through
+the dry grass. 'Twas almost curfew-time, and there was one star in the
+black front o' th' night, like the star on the forehead of a black
+stallion.
+
+When he spake again his voice was very fierce, and he saith, "Patience,
+I do command thee to release me."
+
+But she spake never a word.
+
+And again he said, "Better let me out to love thee, than keep me here
+until I hate thee."
+
+She shivered, leaning against the door, until the big bolt rattled in
+its braces.
+
+And he said yet again, "By the Lord God, an thou dost keep me here to
+sully my good name, and that of thy father and mother, who have been to
+me even as my own flesh and blood, I will never live with thee again as
+man with wife, but will go forth into the New World to live and to die
+with thy handmaid dishonor!"
+
+And she was silent.
+
+Again he spoke, and lifted up his voice in a cry exceeding sorrowful and
+bitter, so that my heart froze to hear it.
+
+"Woman! woman! was it for this I gave thee my fair fame to cherish? Or
+was it for this that I put my name into thy keeping? Oh, child, listen
+while there is yet time! Wilt thou with thy own hands take his manhood
+from thy husband to drag it through the mire? Patience, as I have shared
+thy childhood, as I have loved and cherished thy girlhood, as I have
+held thee in my arms as bride and wife, give me back my honor while
+there is yet time. Oh, my wife! my darling!" And I heard him sobbing
+like a little lad.
+
+At that sound she put both hands over her ears, and started to her
+feet, looking from right to left like a hunted thing, and I could bear
+it no longer, but leaped forward and fell on my knees before her, and
+grasped her kirtle with both hands. I could scarce speak for tears, but
+with all the strength that was in me did I plead with her to draw back
+the bolt, but she would not. Now to this day when I do think of the fool
+that I was, not to run without her knowledge and bring the old lord, thy
+grandfather, or bide my time and unbar the door when she had gone, it
+seems as though I must hate myself for evermore. But as I pleaded with
+her, all at once there was something cold against my throat, and I
+seemed to know that 'twas a dagger, and the steel cowed me, as it doth
+sometimes cow strong men, and I stirred not, neither spoke I a word
+more. Her face was over me, like a white flower in the purple dusk, but
+her eyes bright and terrible. And when she spoke, 'twas not my little
+lady's voice, but rather the voice o' a fiend. And she said,
+
+"Swear that thou sayest nothing of all this to man, or to woman, or to
+child, else will I kill thee as thou kneelest."
+
+And I knew that for the time she was mad, and would kill me even as she
+had said, did I not swear. So I did take that fearful oath, coward as I
+was, and to this day am I a craven when I think on 't. When I had sworn,
+she turned from me as though there were no such woman in all the earth,
+and went once more to the door o' th' cave, and called his
+name--"Ernle!"
+
+He answered straightway, and said, "This once will I speak to thee, but
+if thou dost not unbar the door o' th' instant, I will never hold speech
+with thee again, nor touch so much as the hem of thy garments, by the
+living God!"
+
+She said, "I cannot! I cannot! But oh! say not such dreadful words. We
+will be happy. 'Tis for that I keep thee here. Speak to me! Ernle!
+Ernle! Ernle! Call me thy love once more! Just once! just once!"
+
+But she might as well have plead at the door o' a tomb for all the
+answer she got. Again and again she called him, but a dead man speaks no
+more than spoke her lord. And at last she sprang to her feet, and rushed
+away into the darkness towards the castle, and I after her.
+
+And when I was entered in by a side door, and had changed my apparel and
+gone forth to inquire after her, lo! she was raving as with fever, and
+all they, her father, and mother, and Mistress Marian, thought that he
+had ridden away and left her i' th' park, having said farewell to them
+ere he and my lady did set forth to walk. And they strove to comfort
+her.
+
+The morrow was scarce dawned when she was up and dressed, and stealing
+through the covert to the door o' th' cave. I followed her, for she
+heeded me no more, now that I had taken the oath, knowing that I would
+be torn in pieces ere I would betray my trust. When she was come to the
+door, she kneeled down and leaned her head against it, and called to
+him, with a voice so exquisite low, 'twas almost as though one should
+hear the spirit when it speaks within, and she saith, "Ernle--my
+love--my love."
+
+And all was still as death. And she said, "Darling, feel with thy hands
+for the bread and wine. It is near thee on the right o' th' door as thou
+enterest in. Two bottles o' wine and some loaves o' bread."
+
+But he answered her neither by word or sighing. And she said, "Wouldst
+thou break my heart?" Then, when she saw that he would not answer her,
+she cast herself face down along the ground, and tore up the grass with
+her hands, and pressed down her face into the damp earth. And after a
+while (for th' looks o't) she rose and went back to the castle.
+
+At nightfall there rode a man to the castle gate with papers, wherein
+my Lord Falkland did question wherefore Lord Radnor had not answered the
+summons. And all they were amazed and looked at one another. The
+messenger said, moreover, "If that it cannot be proven ere to-morrow
+night that the Lord Radnor hath been the victim o' foul play, he will be
+branded as a deserter throughout the land."
+
+Thy grandfather gave one cry, "Murdered!" and the sound of it stilled
+the life in me that I fell down as one dead. And when I had once more
+come to the possession o' my wits, Jock did tell me as how 'twas already
+whispered in the village that the young lord had deserted the cause, and
+had set sail in secret for the New World. Upon this, I straightway
+swooned again. And when I was recovered enough to stand upon my feet and
+go forth from my chamber, behold! there was a silence over all the
+house, as in a house where the best beloved has died in the night.
+
+Men scoured the country far and near, in search o' th' murdered body o'
+th' young lord. And 'twas now the evening o' th' third day. But my lady
+meant not to open the door until the morrow, for if she opened it ere
+then, she knew not but what matters might be righted, and her lord ride
+to the wars in spite o' all. When it was nigh to sunset she did creep
+forth and kneel at the door o' th' cave, and call to him in that
+beautiful, gentle voice, "Ernle! Ernle! my love! my darling!"
+
+And when he did not answer her, she ceased not, as on the day before,
+but went on: "To-morrow I will set thee free. As I live, thou shall be
+free to-morrow. An thou wilt but let me be near thee like thy dog, I
+will ask no more. Neither will I fret thee with my sorrow. Oh, love, I
+do beseech thee speak to me, whose only sin was in loving thee too
+dearly. Let the kisses that as a bride I have set upon thy lips plead
+with them that they speak to me. Oh, my heart! oh, my husband, have
+pity! If thou wilt never speak to me again, speak to me now. Say but my
+name, my silly, ill-bestowed name, 'Patience.' Nay, curse me, so I but
+hear thy voice. Call me what names thou wilt. In God's name, Ernle! In
+the name o' her who was once thy wife!" And as she knelt and pleaded as
+a woman with her God, behold! there stepped forth from the coppice
+Mistress Marian. She stood there like a figure cut in snow, for her
+kirtle was all of white seme, and her hair was as a cloud fallen round
+about her. When she saw my lady she drew in her breath with a sharp
+sound, and set both hands against her bosom. And she bended forward from
+her loins and listened, but in none otherwise moved she. And my lady
+went on, "To-morrow I will set thee free--I do swear it. With the rising
+o' th' morrow's sun thou shalt be free as air. Only speak to me now.
+Only speak to me now. Just once, Ernle--just once."
+
+With one spring Mistress Marian was upon her, and had pinned her arms to
+her sides. And the two women stood and gazed into each other's faces,
+with their throats stretched forward, as serpents stretch their throats
+ere springing upon each other.
+
+Mistress Marian spake first, and her voice was as a voice that I had
+never heard, and she said, "So _this_ is the truth, then?"
+
+My lady said no word, but her eyes were aflame.
+
+And Mistress Marian gazed on her for an instant more, then dashed her
+aside, and turned towards the cave.
+
+"Ernle," she said, "take heart. I will set thee free--I, Marian!" But
+ere her hand did touch the bolt, my lady was upon her like a little
+tiger, and she wound her hands in Mistress Marian's thick tresses, and
+dragged her backward.
+
+And they rolled over and over on the ground, even as do men when they
+fight, saying no word from first to last. The horror of it smote me
+that I fell down upon my knees and was dumb. Now my little lady was
+uppermost, now Mistress Marian. And had not my lady been strong with
+despair, Mistress Marian could 'a' mastered her o' th' instant. But she
+fought like a she-wolf brought to bay, with teeth and talons too, and
+'twas almost as though two of a size had fought there. Howbeit, with a
+sudden move, Mistress Marian flung my lady down, and set her knee upon
+her, and held her, and looked from side to side, as though at a loss,
+and my lady's strength was fast failing.
+
+When I saw that, I could bide still no longer, but ran forward, crying
+to Mistress Marian to be gentle with her.
+
+She answered but these words, "Nurse, take off my girdle and bind thy
+lady's hands with it." And there was that in her voice I dared not
+disobey. So I bound my lady's hands, she saying never a word, and when
+the girdle was fast knotted, Mistress Marian helped her gently enough to
+rise, and bidding me have a care o' her, turned and drew back the bolt
+from the door o' the cave.
+
+The last light o' the sun fell like a golden lance across the threshold,
+and across my lord as he lay there, face down, with his hands against
+the sill o' th' door.
+
+And she stooped down over him, saying, "He hath fainted for lack o'
+food," but I knew that there was both wine and bread i' th' cave. And
+she called his name, but he was silent. And she called him again and
+again. And at last she bade me come to her side, and when we had turned
+him upon his side so that his face was towards us, behold, he was dead.
+But Mistress Marian saith again, "He hath swooned away." And she put her
+hand upon his brow, but no sooner did she touch it than she cried out at
+its coldness, and shook the dead man in her frenzy, crying,
+
+"Ernle! Ernle! thou art free! Wake, man! thou art free!"
+
+I said, "Mistress, mistress, for love of God! Dost thou not see that
+neither thou nor any other can wake him more?"
+
+Thereat she fell back upon her knees, leaning upon one arm. And she
+said, "Dost thou mean--"
+
+I bowed down mine head, for I could not meet her eyes. And she fell upon
+his body, and stirred no more, so that when they came to bear the poor
+young lord to the castle, they did bear her also. And for some hours we
+thought her dead.
+
+Now when my lady saw them how they lay there, and the sunlight red upon
+them like to blood, she came and kneeled down in front o' me, and lifted
+up her poor fettered hands meekly, like a little child. And she said,
+"Nurse, I pray you tell me what it doth mean, for methinks I am waxing
+foolish, like poor Marjory i' th' village whose man fell from the
+cliff."
+
+I could not answer her for sobbing.
+
+And she said, "Do they sleep?"
+
+And I nodded my head, for I could say no word.
+
+She said, "Pray you, do not wake them. An they sleep till the morrow,
+all will be well." Suddenly her wits came back upon her with a rush, as
+doth a wind that hath seemed to be gone for aye. And she snapt the
+girdle on her wrists like as it had been a thread o' silk, and ran and
+laid hold on him with her hands, and dragged him forth upon the grass.
+And she saith,
+
+"Ernle! Ernle! Ernle! What! wilt thou not answer me, now that thou art
+free? See! thou mayest ride to war. It is not yet too late. What there,
+nurse! My lord's charger! Run! run!" Then leaped she to her feet with
+one cry that methought would 'a' cracked the welkin in twain above our
+heads.
+
+"Dead! Oh God in heaven!"
+
+So for an instant she stood, with her arms reached high above her head,
+and her eyes upon him as he lay at her feet, even as a flame doth poise
+for a breath ere sinking again upon the coals. But anon she dropped down
+beside him, and beat her forehead with the lower palms o' her hands, and
+she saith, "Well didst thou sign me with thy blood! well didst thou sign
+me with thy blood!" Then all at once did she peep up at me over her
+shoulder with one o' her winsome ways, and fell a-laughing softly.
+
+"Nurse," saith she, "hath he not found a pretty way to punish me? He
+feigns it well--by'r lay'kin--doth he not, nurse?"
+
+And she rocked to and fro, as she knelt beside him, laughing softly to
+herself, and ever and again she would reach forth one little hand, all
+scarred in her struggle with Mistress Marian, and would touch a stray
+lock into place, and once she bent over and kissed him, laughing softly,
+and nodding to herself very wisely. And she would sit that way, and rock
+herself to and fro, and smile upon the ground, and laugh softly, until
+the very day that she did die. And the last words that she did ever say
+were, "Just once, Ernle--just once."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+(Nurse Crumpet rises and stirs the fire, amid a heavy silence, broken
+only by the little Lady Dorothy's sobs and the rushing of the wind
+outside the great hall.)
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TONY, THE MAID.
+
+A Novelette. BY BLANCHE WILLIS HOWARD. Illustrated by CHARLES S.
+REINHART. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.
+
+
+          "'Tony, the Maid,' is not only one of the best
+          pieces of work Miss Howard has yet done, but it is
+          one of the very best short stories of the year.
+          Tony herself is an original creation. There is no
+          maid like Tony in all fiction; and she is,
+          moreover, the only good thing, which is neither
+          superlatively beautiful nor emphatically a bore,
+          or both, that has come out of the Canton of
+          Lucerne since the days of William Tell. Even the
+          insatiate archer, when he is not mythical, is a
+          trifle wearing to the average mind, but Tony is
+          never tiresome and always grand.
+
+          "As a short story Miss Howard's 'Tony, the Maid'
+          has but one fault. It is too short. There is not
+          enough of Tony. She makes her exit too suddenly
+          and too completely. It is consoling to know,
+          however, that Miss Zschorcher is some day coming
+          to America as Mrs. Eduard Maler. Perhaps Tony the
+          Maid may figure as Tony the Matron and Tony the
+          Mother. Knowing her duty to her gracious Fraeulein,
+          no doubt she will."
+
+          A bright and lively sketch of an American woman
+          abroad, and characterized throughout by keen and
+          forcible phraseology and a very symmetrical
+          construction.--_N. Y. Commercial Advertiser._
+
+          This is a very clever satire on one of the phases
+          of modern society, and the tale is told in a most
+          charming manner.--_Albany Press._
+
+          It is a long time since we have met with anything
+          so charming, so refreshing, so droll. . . . Read
+          this book once, and one wants to turn back and read
+          it again.--_N. Y. Star._
+
+          Mr. Reinhart's illustrations greatly enhance the
+          interest of the novelette.--_Buffalo Commercial
+          Advertiser._
+
+          A story written in a style as simple as that which
+          Miss Howard has adopted in this novelette is sure
+          to find many readers. The story is well told and
+          attractive.--_Troy Press._
+
+          "Tony, the Maid," is safe for a great success with
+          the lovers of the bright and dainty in literature.
+          It is prettily bound, and uncommonly cleverly
+          illustrated.--_N. Y. Graphic._
+
+          The story is told with infinite humor and with not
+          a little pathos, and it will well repay
+          perusal.--_Philadelphia Telegraph._
+
+          The plot is new, the characters are fresh, and the
+          handling is spirited and brisk. No one who
+          commences this little book will stop reading until
+          the end is reached.--_Chicago Journal._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
+
+  [Illustration: Hand pointing] _The above work sent by mail, postage
+       prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on
+                 receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+BY CONSTANCE F. WOOLSON.
+
+EAST ANGELS. pp. 592. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.
+
+ANNE. Illustrated. pp. 540. 16mo, Cloth, $1 25.
+
+FOR THE MAJOR. pp. 208. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.
+
+CASTLE NOWHERE. pp. 386. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (_A New Edition._)
+
+RODMAN THE KEEPER. Southern Sketches. pp. 340. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00. (_A
+New Edition._)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          There is a certain bright cheerfulness in Miss
+          Woolson's writing which invests all her characters
+          with lovable qualities.--_Jewish Advocate, N. Y._
+
+          Miss Woolson is among our few successful writers
+          of interesting magazine stories, and her skill and
+          power are perceptible in the delineation of her
+          heroines no less than in the suggestive pictures
+          of local life.--_Jewish Messenger, N. Y._
+
+          Constance Fenimore Woolson may easily become the
+          novelist laureate.--_Boston Globe._
+
+          Miss Woolson has a graceful fancy, a ready wit, a
+          polished style, and conspicuous dramatic power;
+          while her skill in the development of a story is
+          very remarkable.--_London Life._
+
+          Miss Woolson never once follows the beaten track
+          of the orthodox novelist, but strikes a new and
+          richly loaded vein, which so far is all her own;
+          and thus we feel, on reading one of her works, a
+          fresh sensation, and we put down the book with a
+          sigh to think our pleasant task of reading it is
+          finished. The author's lines must have fallen to
+          her in very pleasant places; or she has, perhaps,
+          within herself the wealth of womanly love and
+          tenderness she pours so freely into all she
+          writes. Such books as hers do much to elevate the
+          moral tone of the day--a quality sadly wanting in
+          novels of the time.--_Whitehall Review, London._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+          PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
+
+  [Illustration: Hand pointing] _The above works sent by mail, postage
+      prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt
+                          of the price._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page 112, "desert" changed to "dessert" (dessert, I'll warrant)
+
+Page 187, "Mistres" changed to "Mistress" (Mistress Marion in long)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brother To Dragons and Other
+Old-time Tales, by Amelie Rives
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+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BROTHER TO DRAGONS ***
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