"No," answered the captain; "he is but lately come to court—and anyway, there's none would recognize him after—"
"Might he not some day blurt out the truth?"
"Ho, you forget: mutes make safe lovers, for they have no tongues."
She recoiled. "True. And so, may he love me fearlessly in such a guise?"
"Aye, and thou him—that we promise thee."
She dropped to her knees, beside the unconscious squire. She took his head in her lap, and with her warm hands brushed back the locks from his bruised forehead. "He is so beautiful," she sighed, wavering. "It were a shame—"
"He would never be beautiful again," said the jester.
"Rather an ugly lover than a dead one," retorted the captain.
Lady Suelva fell to sobbing. "Canst thou not spare him altogether?"
"Nay! nay!" He stamped his foot impatiently. "And it were best to hurry."