You have done bravely. For did he suspect

That I have even whispered to you how

That nun, whose sensuous name he bade me rhyme

In verses meant for you, that Prioress,

Whose cloistral hand even now, lock’d in his palm,

Leads here your Aubrey, how that vestal maid

Hath lived for months, nay years, your lover’s—oh!

JOHANNA

[Seizes Chaucer’s arm.]

His what? In God’s name, speak it! His—