“He is saved!—for it is the king’s word by the mouth of the king’s servant—Arthur, the king whose word is gold!”
“Well, then you do believe I can be trusted, after all. Why didn’t you before?”
“Who doubted? Not I, indeed; and not she.”
“Well, why wouldn’t you tell me your story, then?”
“Ye had made no promise; else had it been otherwise.”
“I see, I see.... And yet I believe I don’t quite see, after all. You stood the torture and refused to confess; which shows plain enough to even the dullest understanding that you had nothing to confess—”
“I, my lord? How so? It was I that killed the deer!”
“You did? Oh, dear, this is the most mixed-up business that ever—”
“Dear lord, I begged him on my knees to confess, but—”
“You did! It gets thicker and thicker. What did you want him to do that for?”