"But," said Theobald, "if God made the queen of heaven and the angels, and if all power has been given them----"
"Chevalier!" exclaimed Gottfried, "it is Jesus—it is the Eternal Son of the Father—it is the King, sitting on the holy mount of Zion—who says these words, applying them to himself, 'All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth.' Beware then, for the love of your soul, of attributing this authority to a woman, to whom, when she forgot that she was in the presence of her son, Jesus said, reproachfully, 'Woman! what have I to do with thee?'"
Upon this, Gottfried approached Theobald, whom he looked at affectionately, as he pressed his hand, saying, "May God himself be with you, and strengthen your heart! To-morrow, certainly, we shall have news of your family, and we know it will be good news, since it will be the will of God: and God, Theobald, is love."
Gottfried went out, and Matthew came to sit with the chevalier, whom he was to take care of during the night, and to whom he had orders to say a few words about Arnold and his arrival.
The night rolled away, and Theobald could not sleep. He was suffering, and sometimes groaned, and the name of Hildegarde was continually on his lips.
Matthew did not cease to pray to God in his heart, that he would visit this soul in mercy; and as the chevalier exclaimed, "O, how my heart aches!" Matthew approached him, and said, "My lord is suffering. What can I do for him?"
"Ah, Matthew!" replied Theobald, "it is my heart that suffers. It seems to me that it will break."
"If my lord," said Matthew, gently, "could weep, it would surely relieve him."
"Weep!" exclaimed Theobald, looking at Matthew; "weep, do you say? I do not know what it is. I have never wept. Shall the Iron-Hearted become a woman?"
"'Jesus wept!' is written in the Gospel," replied Matthew. "And our good Saviour is our pattern in all things."