I think I will go to see Bertran.' 'Ha, sire,' said Saint-Pol with meaning, 'he will tell you many things, some good, and some not so good.' 'Be sure he will,' said Richard.

'That is Bertran's way.' He would trust no one with his present reflections, and seek no outside strength against his present temptations.

He had always had his way; it had seemed to come to him by right, by the _droit de seigneur_, the natural law which puts the necks of fools under the heels of strong men.
No need to consider of all that: he knew that the thing desired lay to his hand; he could make Jehane his again if he would, and neither King of England nor King of France, nor Council of Westminster nor Diet of the Empire could stop him--if he would.

But that, he felt now, was just what he would not.

To beat her down with torrents of love-cries; to have her trembling, cowed, drummed out of her wits by her own heart-beats; to compel, to dominate, to tame, when her young pride and young strength were the things most beautiful in her: never, by the Cross of Christ! That, I suppose, is as near to true love as a man can get, to reverence in a girl that which holds her apart.