d, though now it hung downward from his saddle, foolishly
enough. "A most merry fool," said the Lord of Content to himself. "I was
wise to insist upon his accompanying this wayward child of mine."_

_Wayward she might be, yet her father's eyes were dim when she came down
into the valley, where there was no light save the evening star, a taper
light at an upper window of the Castle, and her illumined face._

_"How hast thou fared upon thy quest, Elaine?" he asked in trembling
tones, when at last she released herself from his eager embrace. He
dreaded to hear her make known her disappointment, yet his sorrow was all
for her, and not in the least for himself._

_"I have found him, father," she said, the gladness in her voice betraying
itself as surely as the music in a stream when Spring sets it free again,
"and, forsooth, he rode with me all the time."_

_"Which knight hast thou chosen, Elaine?" he asked, a little sadly._

_"No knight at all, dear father. I have found my knight in stranger guise
than in armour and shield. He bears no lance, save for those who would
injure me." And then, she beckoned to the fool._

_"He is here, my father," she went on, her great love making her all
unconscious of the shame she should feel._

_"Elaine!" thundered her father, while the fool hung his head, "hast thou
taken leave of thy senses? Of a truth, this is a sorry jest thou hast
chosen to greet me with on thy return."_

_"Father," said Elaine, made bold by the silent pressure of the hand that
secretly clasped hers, "'tis no jest. If thou art pained, indeed I am
sorry, but if thou choosest to banish me, then this night will I go gladly
with him I have chosen to be my lord. The true heart which Heaven has sent
for me beats beneath his motley, and with him I must go. Dear father,"
cried Elaine, piteously, "do not send us away!"_

_The stern eyes of the Lord of the Castle of Content were fixed upon the
fool, and in the gathering darkness they gleamed like live coals. "And
thou," he said, scornfully; "what hast thou to say?"_

_"Only this," answered the fool; "that the Princess has spoken truly. We
are mated by a higher law than that of thy land or mine, and 'tis this law
that we must obey. If thou sayest the word, we will set forth to my
country this very night, though we are both weary with much journeying."_

_"Thy land," said the Lord of the Castle, with measureless contempt, "and
what land hast thou? Even the six feet of gro