hough he had it from a dying mother.
But the Witch, in her native malice, in her hatred of the Baron, feels
an especial comfort in dealing him a secret blow.

Already a vague anxiety disturbs the castle. A dumb tempest, without
lightning or thunder, broods over it, like an electric vapour on a
marsh. All is silence, deep silence; but the lady is troubled. She
suspects that some supernatural power has been at work. For why indeed
be thus drawn to this youth, more than to some one else, handsomer,
nobler, renowned already for deeds of arms? There is something toward,
down yonder! Has that woman cast a spell upon her, or worked some
hidden charm? The more she asks herself these questions, the more her
heart is troubled.

* * * * *

The Witch has something to wreak her malice upon at last. In the
village she was a queen; but now the castle comes to her, yields
itself up to her on that side where its pride ran the greatest risk.
For us this passion has a peculiar interest, as the rush of one soul
towards its ideal against every social harrier, against the unjust
decree of fate. To the Witch, on her side, it holds out the deep, keen
delight of humbling the lady's pride, and revenging perhaps her own
wrongs; the delight of serving the lord as he served his vassals, of
levying upon him, through the boldness of a mere child, the
firstfruits of his outrageous wedding-rights. Undoubtedly, in these
intrigues where the Witch had to play her part, she often acted from a
depth of levelling hatred natural to a peasant.

Already it was something gained to have made the lady stoop to love a
menial. We should not be misled by such examples as John of Saintre
and Cherubin. The serving-boy filled the lowest offices in the
household. The footman proper did not then exist, while on the other
hand, few, if any maidservants lived in military strongholds. Young
hands did everything, and were not disgraced thereby. The service,
specially the body-service of the lord and lady, honoured and raised
them up. Nevertheless, it often placed the highborn page in situations
sorrowful enough, prosaic, not to say ridiculous. The lord never
distresses himself about that. And the lady must indeed be charmed by
the Devil, not to see what every day she saw, her well-beloved
employed in servile and unsuitable tasks.

* * * * *

In the Middle Ages the very high and the very low are continually