hast my love and gratitude evermore. As thou speakest, would I have
spoken, had I been born, framed, and reared as thou. And, verily,
when I hear thee, I blush for the boasts of my barbarous pride, that
no man can wield my mace, or bend my bow. Poor is the strength of
body--a web of law can entangle it, and a word from a priest's mouth
can palsy. But thou!--let me look at thee."

William gazed on the pale face: from head to foot he scanned the
delicate, slender form, and then, turning away, he said to
Fitzosborne:

"Thou, whose mailed hand hath fell'd a war-steed, art thou not ashamed
of thyself? The day is coming, I see it afar, when these slight men
shall set their feet upon our corslets."

He paused as if in thought, again paced the room, and stopped before
the crucifix, and image of the Virgin, which stood in a niche near the
bed-head.

"Right, noble prince," said the priest's low voice, "pause there for a
solution to all enigmas; there view the symbol of all-enduring power;
there, learn its ends below--comprehend the account it must yield
above. To your thoughts and your prayers we leave you."

He took the stalwart arm of Taillefer, as he spoke, and, with a grave
obeisance to Fitzosborne, left the chamber.