A thing unheard of.
Had it been another woman she had by this time known
all the bitterness that leadeth unto death at Utterbol."
Ralph paled and he scowled on her, then he said:
"And how knowest thou all the privity of the Lord of Utterbol?
who telleth thee of all this?" She smiled and spake daintily:
"Many folk tell me that which I would know; and that is
because whiles I conquer the tidings with my wits,
and whiles buy it with my body. Anyhow what I tell thee
is the very sooth concerning this damsel, and this it is:
that whereas she is but in peril, she shall be in deadly peril,
yea and that instant, if thou go to Utterbol, thou, who art
her lover..." "Nay," said Ralph angrily, "I am not her lover,
I am but her well-willer." "Well," quoth Agatha looking down
and knitting her brows, "when thy good will towards her has
become known, then shall she be thrown at once into the pit
of my lord's cruelty. Yea, to speak sooth, even as it is,
for thy sake (for her I heed naught) I would that the lord
might find her gone when he cometh back to Utterbol."
"Yea," said Ralph, reddening, "and is there any hope
for her getting clear off?" "So I deem," said Agatha.
She was silent awhile and then spake in a low voice:
"It is said that each man that seeth her loveth her; yea, and will
befriend her, even though she consent not to his desire.
Maybe she hath fled from Utterbol."
Ralph stood silent awhile with a troubled face; and then he said:
"Yet thou hast not told me the why and wherefore of this play
of thine, and the beguiling me into fleeing from the camp.
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