r more dearly than me, whom he has betrayed. I see
now the value of his oaths, since he finds it so easy to fail in his
covenant. Sweet God, and I loved him so fondly, more fondly than any
woman has loved before; who never had him from my thoughts one single
hour, whether it were night or day. For he was my mirth and my carol;
in him were my joy and my pleasure; he alone was my solace and
comfort. Ah, my friend, how can this have come; you who were always
with me, even when I might not see you with my eyes! What ill has
befallen you, that you durst prove false to me? I deemed you more
faithful--God take me in His keeping--than ever was Tristan to Isoude.
May God pity a poor fool, I loved you half as much again than I had
love for myself. From the first to the last of our friendship, never
by thought, or by word, or by deed, have I done amiss; there is no
wrong doing, trifling or great, to make plain your hatred, or to
excuse so vile a betrayal as this scorning of our love for a fresher
face, this desertion of me, this proclaiming of our secret. Alas, my
friend, I marvel greatly; for as God is my witness my heart was not
thus towards you. If God had offered me all the kingdoms of the world,
yea, and His Heaven and its Paradise besides, I would have refused
them gladly, had my gain meant the losing of you. For you were my
wealth and my song and my health, and nothing can hurt me any more,
since my heart has learnt that yours no longer loves me. Ah, lasting,
precious love! Who could have guessed that he would deal this blow, to
whom I gave the grace of my tenderness--who said that I was his lady
both in body and in soul, and he the slave at my bidding. Yea, he told
it over so sweetly, that I believed him faithfully, nor thought in any
wise that his heart would bear wrath and malice against me, whether
for Duchess or for Queen. How good was this love, since the heart in
my breast must always cleave to his! I counted him to be my friend, in
age as in youth, our lives together; for well I knew that if he died
first I should not dare to endure long without him, because of the
greatness of my love. The grave, with him, would be fairer, than life
in a world where I might never see him with my eyes. Ah, lasting,
precious love! Is it then seemly that he should publish our counsel,
and destroy her who had done him no wrong? When I gave him my love
without grudging, I warned him plainly, and made covenant with him,
that he would lose