up, and joy darted into his
heart, as when a servitor fills a cup to the brim with rosy and
bubbling wine.

Now that day, and the next, and for several days, Paul thought of
little else but the house in the wood and the maiden that dwelt there.
Even while he read or wrote, pictures would flash before his eye. He
saw Margaret stand before him, with the lute in her hand; or he would
see her as she had moved about serving him, or he would see her as she
had sate to hear him sing, or as she had stood at the door as he went
forth--and all with a sweet hunger of the heart; till it seemed to him
that this was the only true thing that the world held, and he would be
amazed that he had missed it for so long. That he was in the same
world with her; that the air that passed over the house in the wood
was presently borne to the castle; that they two looked upon the same
sky, and the same stars--this was all to him like a delicate madness
that wrought within his brain. And yet he could not bring himself to
go thither. The greater his longing, the more he felt unable to go
without a cause; and yet the thought that there might be other men
that visited the Lady Beckwith, and had more of the courtly and
desirable arts of life than he, was like a bitter draught--and so the
days went on; and never had he made richer music; it seemed to rush
from his brain like the water of a full spring.

A few days after, there was a feast at the castle and many were
bidden; and Paul thought in his heart that the Lady Beckwith would
perhaps be there. So he made a very tender song of love to sing, the
song of a heart that loves and dares not fully speak.

When the hour drew on for the banquet, he attired himself with a care
which he half despised, and when the great bell of the castle rang, he
went down his turret stairs with a light step. The custom was for the
guests to assemble in the great hall of the castle; but they of the
Duke's household, of whom Paul was one, gathered in a little chamber
off the hall. Then, when the Duke and Duchess with their children came
from their rooms, they passed through this chamber into the hall, the
household following. When the Duke entered the hall, the minstrels in
the gallery played a merry tune, and the guests stood up; then the
Duke would go to his place and bow to the guests, the household moving
to their places; then the music would cease, and the choir sang a
grace, all standing. Paul's place was an honoura