Could I have wed thee first, I would go with a lighter heart." "Wife or maid," she answered, her face lifted to his, "I am all thine own.

Go with a light heart, dear man of mine, for it makes no difference.

Maid or wife, I am thine, and none other's, forever." "Let those be the last words I hear thee say," he murmured, as his lips sought hers.
So, a little later, standing above him on the turret steps, she bent and clasped her hands about his head, pushing her fingers into the thickness of his hair.

Then: "Maid or wife," she said, and her voice now steady, was deep and tender; "Maid or wife, God knows, I am all thine own." Then she caught his face to her breast.

"Thine and none other's, forever," she said; and he felt her bosom heave with one deep sob.
Then turning quickly he ran down the winding stair, reached the courtyard, mounted, and rode out through the gates of Castle Norelle, and into the fir wood; and so down south to follow the King, who already had started on the great Crusade.
And, as he rode, in moonlight or in shadow, always he saw the sweet lips that trembled, always he felt the soft heave of that sob, and the low voice so tender, said: "Thine and none other's, forever." * * * * * * And now---- The Prioress sat in her chair of state.
Each moment her face grew calmer and more stern.
The Knight let his eyes dwell on the fingers which once crept so tenderly into his hair.
She hid them beneath her scapulary, as if his gaze scorched them.
He looked at the bosom against which his head had been pressed.
A jewelled cross gleamed, there where his face had laid hidden.
Then the Knight lifted his eyes again to that stern, cold face.