Yet I could not believe that.

Had I done so, I think I should have beaten out my brains upon the wall of that damp cellar.

As it was, I sat there, too bewildered to think.

And so, for lack of anything else to do, I fell asleep.
I know not how long I had slept, when I was aroused by a hand on my arm.
As I might have known, it was Ludar.

He had a dish of venison pasty and a flagon of wine in his hands, which he set before me, and in dumb show bade me eat.