“Yes,” she murmured.
They were married in the village church. But before leading her to their home, a little thatched cottage on the edge of the wood, he turned toward the fields:
“Let us take a walk, while the sun shines,” he said; “we can go home when evening comes. Shall we go to the great castle, away over there? I have heard wonderful things about it. You have never seen it, have you?”
She smiled disdainfully.
“I would not exchange our little home for it,” she said.
But he asked again: “Don’t you want to see the castle?”
“I want whatever you want,” she said.
They went beyond the end of the parish and through the gate of a park into a long shady avenue of ancient oaks. Far away at the end of the avenue they could see the castle. Evening was coming on; the branches of the trees leaned kindly over them. The birds were singing, but they heard only their own hearts.
As they drew near the castle, the dogs came running out.
“I am afraid,” she said.