"Listen," I answered, "perhaps I will tell thee many things that thou wilt not believe. Thou hast asked for the truth, and thou shalt have it." And beginning from my abduction, I related the whole story of my captivity and adventures, omitting nothing, save only the part concerning my lady.
When I finished he gave a low whistle of astonishment.
"It is almost incredible," he exclaimed. "Had it not been thee, I would not have believed it. But why does this Dunraven wish to keep thee out of England?"
"The same reason that has inspired hatred since the beginning of time," I replied—"a fair lady."
"Ah!" he said, his shrewd old eyes upon my face. "And now I remember to have heard some talk of the rivalry for the favor of one of England's loveliest ladies. If she is as beautiful as they say, it is no wonder.
"It is a strange thing," he mused, his rough hand upon his head—"this love of a man for a maid. For her he will do all things; will shed innocent blood; will stoop to any low and ugly deed; would walk through hell bare-footed, as I once heard a gallant say. Many have I seen turn their back upon wealth, honor and fame, upon home, kindred and friends, and leave all to win a woman—'tis strange. It has grown to be an adage that, 'all's fair in love and war,' and the little god has missed but few victims.
"It is ten years since my wife died," he continued, in a low voice, his worn old face softening, "and yet I have not recovered from her death. I think each day that I miss her more and more, and there is an aching void in my heart that naught can fill. It was only a few days ago that I came upon a little piece of needlework that she had sewed upon and left unfinished, and though thou wouldst not believe it, I fell upon my knees in front of that bit of cloth, and burst into tears. Dear, patient Jane! It is only when we have lost the gem that we prize it most. A noble woman, my boy, is God's best gift to man, a bad one his worse curse. A woman, true and sweet, can raise a man's life towards heaven; can be a benediction to him that will last as long as life; and an unfaithful and nagging woman is as near a hell on earth as man ever gets.
"How stand thy chances with the maid?" he asked, raising his head with a smile upon his rugged face.
"She weds Lord Dunraven," I answered quickly, for he had touched a wound yet fresh and bleeding.
"Pardon me," he replied. "I would not have asked, had I known. But never give up, my lad, fight on until the last shot in the locker. 'None but the brave deserve the fair,' I have often heard, and if that be true thou wilt win her. If rumor can be believed, the lady is the fairest of Eve's daughters, and as for thyself, I know that thou art 'the bravest of the brave.'"