"But you are not wounded now?" asked Hilda, anxiously.
"No. I am as well as ever again."
"And you have braved all this danger to see me?"
"Indeed the danger is but slight, Hilda, and I do not even see you plainly, but perhaps you will make amends for the darkness"; saying which the young man placed his arm about her and kissed her tenderly, and to this demonstration there was little opposition on the part of Hilda.
"Can you return unseen as you came?" she asked.
"With less difficulty. The archer is on guard from midnight until dawn, and even if he detected me, he would say nothing, for we are right good friends. We are comrades, both serving Lord Rodolph, and not the Black Count. I shall not return before midnight."
"Oh, but I dare not remain here so long. They would search for me, and you would be discovered."
"You will stay as long as you can, will you not, Hilda? When you are gone I shall make my way back through the lines and wait for the coming of the archer on the battlements, unless there is good opportunity of mounting before then."
"I like not all these risks for my sake, Conrad."