Gilbert's arms relaxed, and she sprang back from him two paces, and faced the Queen.
"You have won!" she cried, in a breaking voice. "You have him body and soul, as you swore you would! But do not say that I have not understood!"
"I have given him to you, soul and body," answered Eleanor, sadly.
"Might I not even bid him good-by, as a friend might?"
"You are false—falser each than the other," answered Beatrix, in white anger. "You have played with me, tricked me, made me your toy—"
"Did you hear this man say that he did not love me, before I bade him good-by?" asked Eleanor, gravely, almost sternly.
"He has said it to me, but not to you, never to you—never to the woman he loves!"
"I never loved the Queen," said Gilbert. "On my soul—on the Holy
Cross—"
"Never loved her? And you saved her life before mine—"
"And you said that I did well—"
"It was all a lie—a cruel lie—" The girl's voice almost broke, but she choked down the terrible tears, and got words again. "It would have been braver to have told me long ago—I should not have died then, for I loved you less."