And if this be not so, then is all my speech, yea and all my hope, come to an end at once." "O yea!" said Walter, "even so it is: but how thou hast found this out I wot not; since now for the first time I say it, that thou art indeed my love, and my dear and my darling." "Hush," she said, "hush! lest the wood have ears, and thy speech is loud: abide, and I shall tell thee how I know it.

Whether this thy love shall outlast the first time that thou holdest my body in thine arms, I wot not, nor dost thou.

But sore is my hope that it may be so; for I also, though it be but scarce an hour since I set eyes on thee, have cast mine eyes on thee to have thee for my love and my darling, and my speech-friend.

And this is how I wot that thou lovest me, my friend.

Now is all this dear and joyful, and overflows my heart with sweetness.