'It was for thy advantage that I was absent,' said Elined. 'I reproached not thy grief when thy lord lay dying, but now you have yourself to think of. Yet you seem more willing to live with the dead than to take heed what may happen to yourself in a few hours. I would have thee remember that a live dog is better than a dead lion.'
'Hence from my sight, unfeeling girl!' cried the countess in anger. 'There is no one in the world to compare with my dead lord in beauty, in strength, and in prowess. Get thee gone!'
Without a word Elined turned and went from the room. But she had not gone far before she heard the countess coughing behind her, and on looking back her mistress beckoned to her.
'You are indeed hardhearted, Elined,' said she, 'to think to leave me in my grief, and in my need of good counsel. I will overlook thy cruelty if, as you say, you have been absent for my advantage. What mean you by that?'
'This is my meaning,' said Elined. 'Thou knowest that without a man of knightly prowess and bravery, thou canst not hope to guard the fountain and keep these wide dominions in the power of thyself. Thou art the prey and booty of any bold bandit lord that chooses to make war upon thee, and to capture and wed thee. And dost thou forget the wiles and treachery of thy old lover whom thou hast flouted, Sir Dewin of Castle Cower? Hath he not sworn to take thee and thy kingdom, sooner or later, by fair means or by foul? Therefore it behoves thee at once to find a noble and generous knight, courtly and worshipful, who will guard thee and love thee, and hold down the turbulent lords, thy vassals and thy neighbours.'
'Hard will such a task be,' sighed the countess, 'for the Earl Cadoc was a man among men.'
'Yet I will wager to find thee such another, even excelling him in knightly prowess, in beauty of person, and for love and devotion to thee more than his equal,' replied Elined, who remembered that the dead earl had not been over tender to his gentle countess on many occasions.
'And where couldst thou find this paragon?' said the countess, flushing a little at the reminder of her late lord's neglect.
'At the court of King Arthur,' replied Elined; 'for there are to be found the peerless knights of the world, men of their knightly words, and devoted to love and war.
'If it be that I must think of wedding again so soon,' sighed the countess, 'go then to King Arthur, and find me such a knight. But let him be gentle as well as brave, with fine and courtly manners—a man, indeed, whom I can really love.'