This, then, was Master Richard's temptation--that he should doubt
himself, his friends, and even our Lord who had manifested Himself so
often and so kindly to the eyes of his soul.

Yet he did not yield to it, although he could not repel it. He cried
upon Jesu in his heart, and then set the puzzle by.

He looked at the young man once more.

"And why do you tell me this?" he asked.

The clerk (if he were a clerk) answered him first by another
Judas-caress or two, and then by Judas-words.

"Master Hermit," he said, "I am but a poor priest, but my words have
some weight with two or three persons of the court; and these again have
some weight with my lord cardinal. I asked leave to come and tell you
this as kindly as I could, and to see what you would say. I observed you
in the hall the other day, and I have a good report of your
reasonableness from the monastery. I conceived, too, a great love for
you when I saw you, and wish you well; and I think I can do you a great
service, and get you forth from this place that you may go whither you
will,--to your house by the stream or to some other place where none
know you. Would it not be pleasant to you to be in the country again,
and to serve God with all your might in some sweet and secret place
where men are not?"

"I can serve God here as there," answered Master Richard.

"Well--let that be. But what if God Almighty wishes you to be at peace?