But our Lady herself set me free and bid
me go. Therefore I came to you; and therefore am I here."
"Tell me again the words our Lady said, when she put thy hand in mine."
"Our Lady said: 'Take her. She hath been ever thine. I have but kept
her for thee.'"
Then she paled, her heart began to beat fast, and the colour came and
went in her cheeks; for he had come very near, and she could hear the
sharp catch of his breath.
"Mora, my beloved," he said, "every fibre of my being cries out for
thee. Yet I want thy happiness before my own; and, above and beyond
all else, I want the Madonna in my home. Even at our Lady's bidding I
cannot take thee. Not until thine own sweet lips shall say: 'Take me!
I have been ever thine.'"
She lifted her eyes to his. In the moonlight, her face seemed almost
unearthly, in its pure loveliness; and, as on that night so long ago,
he saw her eyes, brighter than any jewels, shining with love and tears.
"Dear man of mine," she whispered, "to-night we are betrothed. But
to-morrow I will ride home with thee. To-morrow shall be indeed our
bridal day. I will say all--I will say anything--I will say everything
thou wilt! Nay, see! The dawn is breaking in the east. Call it
'to-day'--TO-DAY, dear Knight! But now let me flee away, to fathom my
strange happiness alone. Then, to sleep in mine own chamber, and to
awake refreshed, and ready to go with thee, Hugh, when and where and
how thou wilt.
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