As he bent above her, she slipped her arms around his neck. "Then
carry me, dear Heart," she said, "but do not let me fall."
He laughed; and as he swung her out of the seat, and strode across the
great hall to where the western glow still gleamed from the doorway of
his mother's chamber, she knew of a sudden, why he had wished to carry
her. His great strength gave him such easy mastery; helped her to feel
so wholly his.
On the threshold of the chamber he paused.
Bending his face to hers, he touched her lips with exceeding
gentleness. Then spoke in her ear, deep and low. "Say again what thou
didst say ten nights ago when we parted in the dawning, on the
battlements."
"I love thee," she whispered, and closed her eyes.
Then Hugh passed within.
CHAPTER LX
THE CONVENT BELL
The slanting rays of the setting sun lay, in golden bands, upon the
flags of the Convent cloister.
Complete silence reigned.
The White Ladies had returned from Vespers. Each, in the solitude of
her own cell, was spending, in prayer and meditation, the hour until
the Refectory bell should ring.
The great door into the cloisters stood wide.
Mother Sub-Prioress appeared in the far distance, moving down the
passage. As she passed between the long line of closed doors, she
turned her face quickly from side to side, pausing occasionally to
listen, ear laid against the panelling.
Presently she stepped from the cool shadow into the sunny brightness of
the cloister.
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