Don Luis, on his powerful black stallion, galloped beside the fair,
handsome boy with his white skin and blue eyes, who managed his spirited
dun horse so firmly and joyously.

"Dona Magdalena and I followed them on our quiet bays. Her lips moved
constantly, and her right hand never stirred from the rosary at her belt
while we were riding along the woodland paths.

"To soothe her, I began to talk about the pieces of music which his
Majesty had brought from Brussels, but she did not hear me.
So I remained silent until the monastery glimmered through the trees.
"The blood left her cheeks, for at the same moment the thought came to us
both that King Philip was taking him to the monks.

"But we had scarcely time to confide what we feared to each other ere the
blast of horns echoed from the forest.

"Then, to calm the anxious mother's heart, I remarked, 'His Majesty would
not have the horns sounded in that way if he were taking the pious
brothers a new companion,' and Dona Magdalena's wan cheeks again flushed
slightly.

"The forest is cleared in front of the monastery, but it surrounds on all
sides the open glade amid whose grass the meadow saffron was then growing
thickly.

"I can still see Geronimo as he swung himself from the saddle to gather
some of the flowers. His mother needed them as medicine for a poor woman
in the village.