“Dear lady. So you plead like a child, the gold circlet in thy hair, the gold hem at thy robe, the gold garters about thy knees. Remission of these dues, quotha! Are gems got with forbearance? Go to! you talk. Wouldst sacrifice one garnet in thy brooch to ease these churls of mine?”
“O, yes! and more.”
“More, more! What more? The garnets of thy lips, perchance, thine eyes’ amethysts, the whole treasury of thy love?”
“Nay, for that is my dear lord’s.”
“What so? You are considerate.”
“Leofric, they come crying at my stirrup: ‘While you lie soft, O lady, we cannot sleep for cold; while you toy with profusion, our children moan for bread. We toil to keep, not pay, a tithe of what we earn. We may not eat the swine we rear, the eels we net. The taxes crush us; pray you our good lord to lift the heavy burden. Our lives are his.’”
“Do they say so? They shall answer for it for thus importuning you.”
“God forbid! Leofric, hear me! For the love of God, Leofric.”
“Away!”
“Of the sweet Virgin——”