fire, with a dozen dogs about him. It was the time of the Truce of God,
and vigilance was relaxed. Also Guillem was in love with a girl of the
village and there was talk that the _seigneur_, in his loneliness, had
seen that she was beautiful. So Guillem slept to forget, and the Jew
lay awake because of rats and anxiety.

The Jew rose from the floor when Clotilde threw the grating open, and
blinked at her with weary and gentle eyes.

"It is the birthday of our Lord," said Clotilde, "and I am doing a good
deed so that I may see my mother again. But go quickly." Then she
remembered something the Bishop had said to her, and eyed him
thoughtfully as he stared at her.

"But you do not love our Lord!"

The Jew put out his foot quietly so that she could not close the
grating again. But he smiled into her eyes.

"Your Lord was a Jew," he said.

This reassured her. It seemed to double the quality of mercy. She threw
the door wide and the usurer went out cautiously, as if suspecting a
trap. But patches of sunlight, barred with black, showed the way clear.
He should have gone at once, but he waited to give her the blessing of
his people. Even then, having started, he went back to her. She looked
so small in that fearsome place.

"If there is something you wish, little maid, and I can secure it for
you--"