Now I will not say that that altogether pleased me, for no man likes to learn that a fair maiden who is pleasant to his eyes has no like feeling for himself; which is nought but vanity after all.

So when I turned this over in my mind I knew that I ought to be glad that she cared nothing, for so was the less trouble in the end, and I found also that what a man ought to be is not the same always as what a man is.
So I made no answer, and Sexberga went on: "Now must you seek her as soon as you can, for that is your part as a good warrior--a good knight, as Father Anselm will say when he hears thereof." "Surely I shall go back this spring with our earl," I said.

"Then shall I find her, for she and her nurse will come back from their hiding when peace is sure." "Aye; and you will not know her!" said Sexberga, clapping her hands and laughing.

"She is a woman grown, as I am, by this time!" Then was gone my little playfellow, and in her place, in my thoughts, must stand a maiden with eyes of sad reproach that must be ever on me.

And maybe in her heart would be fear of me, and of what I had become, as she was bound to me.
And now Sexberga began to weave fancies of how I should meet this long-lost bride of mine, and I could make no answer to her playful railing, for I saw more clearly than she.