Entranced with her beauty, and not daring to wake her, he slipped behind a curtain and watched her in silence; but as time went on he marvelled that she did not wake.
At eventide a handsome youth—Yvon’s brother-in-law—entered the chamber, struck Yvonne sharply three times, then flung himself down by her side and went to sleep. All night Yvon waited in his place of concealment. In the morning the young man rose from his couch, gave his wife three resounding blows, and went away. Only then did Yvon emerge and wake his sister.
Brother and sister exchanged a tender greeting, and found much to talk of after their long separation. Yvon learned that the country to which he had come was a peculiar place, where meat and drink could be entirely dispensed with, while even sleep was not a necessity.
“Tell me, Yvonne,” he said, remembering what he had seen of his brother-in-law, “does your husband treat you well?”
Yvonne assured him that her husband was all she could wish—that she was perfectly happy.
“Is he always absent during the day?” he asked anxiously.
“Always.”
“Do you know where he goes?”
“I do not, my brother.”
“I have a mind,” said Yvon, “to ask him to let me accompany him on his journey. What say you, sister?”