rince have won Basildene for thee; surely thou
wilt not leave us till Saut has yielded to me!"
Raymond held out his hand and grasped that of Gaston in a warm clasp.
"We will go forth together once again as brothers in arms," he said,
with brightening eyes. "It may be that our paths in life may henceforth
be divided; wherefore it behoves us in the time that remains to us to
cling the more closely together. I will go with thee, brother, as thy
faithful esquire and comrade, and we will win back for thee the right to
call the old lands thine. How often we have dreamed together in our
childhood of some such day! How far away it then appeared! and yet the
day has come."
"And thou wilt then see my Constanza," said Gaston, in low, exultant
tones -- "my lovely and gentle mistress, to whom thou, my brother, owest
thy life. It is meet that thou shouldst be one to help to set her free
from the tyranny of her rude uncle and the isolation of her dreary life
in yon grim castle walls. Thou hast seen her, hast thou not? Tell me,
was she not the fairest, the loveliest object thine eyes had ever looked
upon, saving of course (to thee) thine own beauteous lady?"
"Methought it was some angel visitor from the unseen world," answered
Raymond, "flitting into yon dark prison house, where it seemed that no
such radiant creature could dwell. There was fever in my blood, and all
I saw was through a misty veil, I scarce believed it more than a sweet
vision; but I will thank her now for the whispered word of hope breathed
in mine ear in the hour of my sorest need."
"Ay, that thou shalt do!" cried Gaston, with all a lover's delight in
the thought of the near meeting with the lady of his heart. "And when,
in days to come, thou and I shall bring our brides to Edward's Court,
men will all agree that two nobler, lovelier women never stepped this
earth before -- my fairy Constanza, a creature of fire and snow; thy
Joan, a veritable queen amongst women, stately, serene, full of dignity
and courage, and beautiful as she is noble."
"And thou art sure that she is safe?" questioned Raymond, his heart
still longing for the moment of reunion after the long separation,
albeit those were days when the separation of years was no infrequent
thing, even betwixt those most closely drawn by bonds of love. "There is
none else to come betwixt her and me? Her father will not strive to
sunder us more?"
"Her father is but too joyous to be free from the power o
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