She was mistress of the pen, for in the convent she had copied the
gospels, the psalms, and other portions of the Scriptures, yet her hand
trembled as she committed the following lines to the paper:

"I am angered--nay, even grieved--that you, a godly knight, who knows the
reverence due to a lady, have ventured to await my greeting in front
of my father's house. If you are a true knight, you must be aware that
you voluntarily promised to obey my every glance. I can rely upon this
pledge, and since I find it necessary to talk with you, I invite you to
an interview--when and where, my maid, who is betrothed to your servant,
shall inform him. A friend, who has your welfare at heart as well as
mine, will be with me. It must be soon, with the permission of St.
Clare, who, since you have chosen her for your patron saint, looks down
upon you as well as on me.

"As for my colour, I know not what to name; the baubles associated with
earthly love are unfamiliar to me. But blue is the colour of the pure
heaven and its noble queen, the gracious Virgin. If you make this colour
yours and fight for it, I shall rejoice, and am willing to name it mine."

At the bottom of the little note she wrote only her Christian name "Eva,"
and when she read it over she found that it contained, in apt and seemly
phrases, everything that she desired to say to the knight.

While folding the paper and considering how she could fasten it, as there
was no wax at hand, she thought of the narrow ribbons with which Els tied
together, in sets of half a dozen, the fine kerchiefs worn over the neck
and bosom, when they came from the wash. They were sky-blue, and nothing
could be more suitable for the purpose.