eturn." And Sir Richard said, "Nay, Sir Paul,
you are in this unjust. What if the wild bird hath seen its mate? And,
for you know not the other side of the parable, its mate hath hid itself
in the wood, and the wild bird will return to you, if you bid it come."
Then Sir Paul, knowing that the Knight had done worthily and like a
true knight, said, "Sir Richard, I am unjust; but you will pardon me,
for my heart is very sore." And so Paul passed on to his chamber; and
that night was a very bitter one, for he went down into the sad valley
into which men must needs descend, and he saw no light there. And once
in the night he rose dry-eyed and fevered from his bed, and twitching
the curtain aside, saw the forest lie sleeping in the cold light of the
moon; and his thought went out to the Isle of Thorns, and he saw the
four hearts that were made desolate; and he questioned in his heart why
God had made the hard and grievous thing that men call love.
Then he went back and fell into a sort of weary sleep; and waking
therefrom, he felt a strange and terrible blackness seize upon his
spirit, so that he could hear his own heart beat furious and thick in
the darkness; and he prayed that God would release him from the prison
of the world. But while he lay, he heard the feet of a horse clatter on
the pavement, it being now near the dawn; and presently there came a
page fumbling to the door, who bore a letter from the Lady Beckwith, and
it ran;--
"_I would not write to you thus, dear Paul, unless my need were urgent;
but the dear Helen is near her end, and has prayed me many times that,
if it were possible, you should come and sing to her--for she fears to
go into the dark, and says that your voice can give her strength and
hope. Now if it be possible, come; but if you say nay to my messenger, I
shall well understand it. But the dear one hath done you no hurt, and
for the love of the God who made us, come and comfort us--from her who
loves you as a son, these_."
Then Paul when he had read, pondered for awhile; and then he said to the
page, "Say that I will come." So he arrayed himself with haste, and went
swiftly through the silent wood, looking neither to left or to right,
but only to the path at his feet. And presently he came to the Isle of
Thorns; it lay in a sort of low silver mist, the house pushing through
it, as a rock out of the sea. And then a sudden chill came over Paul,
and the very marrow of his bones shuddered; for
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