He laughed; and as he swung her out of the seat, and strode across the great hall to where the western glow still gleamed from the doorway of his mother's chamber, she knew of a sudden, why he had wished to carry her. His great strength gave him such easy mastery; helped her to feel so wholly his.
On the threshold of the chamber he paused.
Bending his face to hers, he touched her lips with exceeding gentleness. Then spoke in her ear, deep and low. "Say again what thou didst say ten nights ago when we parted in the dawning, on the battlements."
"I love thee," she whispered, and closed her eyes.
Then Hugh passed within.
CHAPTER LX
THE CONVENT BELL
The slanting rays of the setting sun lay, in golden bands, upon the flags of the Convent cloister.
Complete silence reigned.
The White Ladies had returned from Vespers. Each, in the solitude of her own cell, was spending, in prayer and meditation, the hour until the Refectory bell should ring.