But the real scope of an action is with the actor, and Deirdre, brooding on Naoise, was Deirdre brooding on herself, and taking conscious control and direction of her own growth and culture. Lavarcham noticed the difference; for when she spoke to the girl she was replied to by the woman, and she sensed in her ward something intractable, obedient still, and yet as removed from her cognizance, and so from her control, as she was herself from the cognizance of any person about her.
CHAPTER XII
Therefore, when she next spoke to the king her mind was stirred by uneasiness, and she had all that feeling of haste and work to be done which comes to us when we seem void of direction and are yet spurred on to an intuitive urgency.
“Lavarcham, my soul,” said Conachúr, “you always get your way, for you insist and insist, and at last whatever you wish must be done or there is no peace in the household or the kingdom.”
“In good truth,” said Lavarcham, “I do not recognize my fault this time.”
“We forget by repetition,” cried the king, “and you have so dinned our ears these ages past about your babe that I must consent to see her or perish from your importunities.”
“That I am glad of,” replied Lavarcham, “for she is growing and needs other guidance than I can give. You should find her a husband,” said the crafty woman.
“That must be done,” the king murmured.
He was silent for a few minutes, for the thought of marriage reminded him of his own adventures in that condition, and when he spoke it was with an elaborate carelessness.
“Have you heard any news of the High King?”