That he, in safety, might regain his home:
Each other bade adieu, George homeward sped;
And Arnold Mountjoy sought his lonely bed.
(Twelve other nights, he[239] knew, must be bygone,—
Twelve other suns must cross the temperate zone,—
Ere her[240] virginity—which by the law
Is reckon’d sacred—shall be broken through.)
Jane had retir’d; her evening pray’rs were flown;
A snow white pillow form’d her peaceful crown.
The night was still; all Nature seem’d to lull;