Several voices were raised in angry altercation.
He raged inwardly as he thought how in a few minutes he would have to see her at the orders of them all, sent here and there, at everyone's call, and forced to work without either thanks or reward.
"Let me go in, dear," Arithelli said. "They will expect to find things ready."
But Vardri held her back.
"Let them expect! Give them the trouble of looking for you. They keep you up all night, so they can afford to waste a few minutes extra."
It was both a foolish and useless protest and Arithelli knew that she would pay afterwards for these snatched moments, but she did not grudge the price, for to her they seemed worth the payment required.
She was glad of the air too.
She turned a little in Vardri's arms, lifting her face to the soft night wind. The coolness and the dark were like the touch of a soothing hand.
The branches of the tree under which they stood rustled softly, and the undergrowth stirred with the startled movements of some awakened bird or small animal.
A bat flew past, almost brushing them with its velvet wings. From the marsh lands below the dangerous white mist hovered like a fairy veil.