"Not so, fair lord—not until Bartolommeo took Messer Matteo to your dungeon. He was greatly surprised to learn who you were—as was I. My father hath always been told that none knew what had become of you."
Sir James sighed as he walked along.
"I grow bitter when I think of all the years I have languished here," he said, "and 'twas so easy to break loose when the right time came. Ah, well, the Virgin be thanked that there was a maid as brave and true as you, Mistress Edith, and a comrade as staunch and valorous as Messer Matteo. Lion-Heart would have loved a man like you, Sir Jongleur. God knows that without your aid we must have stayed in the hands of our enemies."
Matteo halted in front of a door set deep in the rocky walls of the passage.
"Is this the gate, lady?" he asked.
"Ay," she answered. "This is the postern of Anemas. 'Tis set in the angle of the tower where it joins the walls and is fronted with stone so that it may not be discerned from the outside. There is no moat to cross here, and you will find no further obstacles betwixt you and your friends."
"But you?" exclaimed Hugh.
"I must say farewell, Hugh. My place is here."
"Nay, that cannot be," he denied passionately. "Here you are in danger, Edith. Helena Comnena is your enemy. She hath sworn to me that she will——"
Edith smiled in the torchlight—and Hugh wondered why there was contentment in her smile.