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Speaker 1: The Truce of God by Mary Roberts Rhinehardt. One Now,

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the day of the Birth of our Lord dawned that

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year gray and dreary and Saturday. But despite the weather,

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in the town at the foot of the hill there

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was rejoicing as befitted so great a festival. The day before,

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a fat steer had been driven to the public square,

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and there dressed and trussed for the roasting. The light

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of morning falling on his carcass, revealed around it great

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heaps of fruits and vegetables. For the year had been prosperous,

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but the young overlord sulked in his castle at the

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cliff top and bit his nails from Thursday evening of

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each week to the morning of Monday. Mother Church had

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decreed peace a truce of God, three full days out

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of each week. His men at arms polished their weapons

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and grew fat three full days out of each week.

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His grudge against his cousin, Philip of the Black Beard,

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must feed on itself. His dark mood irritated the Bishop

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of Tours, who had come to speak of certain scandalous

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things which had come to his ears. Charles heard him

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through she took refuge with him he said violently. When

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the Bishop had finished, she knew what hate there was

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between us, yet she took refuge with him. The question is,

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said the bishop mildly, why she should have been driven

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to refuge A gentle lady, a faithful wife. Deus. The

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young Seigniere clapped his fist on the table. You know

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well the reason. A barren woman. She had borne you

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a daughter. But Charles was far gone in rage and

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out of hand. The Bishop took his offended ears to

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bed and left him to sit alone by the dying

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fire with bitterness. For company came into the courtyard at midnight,

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the Christmas singers from the town, the blacksmith rolling a

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great bass, the crockery seller who sang falsetto, and a

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fool of the village who had slept over night in

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a manger on the Holy Eve a year before, and

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had brought from it not wit but a voice from heaven,

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a miracle of miracles. The men at arms in the

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courtyard stood back to give them space. They sang with

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eyes upturned, with full throated vigor, albeit a bit warily,

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with an anxious glance. Now and then toward those windows

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beyond which the young Lord sulked by the fire. The

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light of light, divine, true brightness, undefiled. He bears for

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us the shame of sin, A holy, spotless child. They

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sang to the frosty air. When neither money nor burning

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faggot was flung from the window they watched. They took

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their departure, relieved, if unrewarded. In former years, the lady

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of the castle had thrown them alms, but times had changed.

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Now the gentle lady was gone, and the seigniere sulked

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in the hall with the dawn. Charles the fair took

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himself to bed, and to him, pattering barefoot along stone floors,

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came Clotilda, the child of his disappointment. Are you asleep?

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One arm under his head, He looked at her without answer.

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It is the anniversary of the birth of our lord,

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she ventured, to day he is born, I thought. She

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put out a very small, cold hand, But he turned

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his head away. Back to your bed, he said, shortly,

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where is your nurse to permit this? The child's face fell.

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Something she had expected, some miracle, perhaps a softening of

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the Lord, her father, so that she might ask of

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him a Christmas boon. The bishop had said that Christmas

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miracles were often wrought, and she herself knew that this

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was true. Had not the fool secured his voice so

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that he who had then but lightly held became the

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village troubadour and slept warm and full at night. She

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had gone to the Bishop with this the night before.

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If I should line in manger all night, she said,

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standing with her feet while apart, and looking up at him,

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would I become a boy? The bishop tugged at his beard.

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A boy, little maid? Would you give up your blue

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eyes and your soft skin to be a roystering lad?

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My father wishes for a son, she had replied, And

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the cloud that was over the castle shadowed the bishop's eyes.

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It would not be well, he replied, to tamper with

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the works of the almighty. Pray rather for this miracle,

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that your father's heart be turned toward you and toward

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the lady your So during much of the night she

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had asked this boon steadfastly, but clearly she had not

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been heard. Back to your bed, said her father, and

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turned his face away. She went as far as a

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leather curtain which hung in the doorway, and there she turned.

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Why did they sing? She had asked the Bishop of

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the Blacksmith and the others, and he had replied into

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his beard, to soften the hard of heart. So she

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turned in the doorway and sang in her reedy little voice,

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much thinned by the cold, sang to soften her young

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father's heart. To the light of light, divine, true brightness, undefiled.

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He bears for us the shame of sin, a holy,

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spotless child. But the song failed. Perhaps it was the

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wrong hour, or perhaps it was because she had not

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slept in the manger and brought forth the gift of voice,

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Blood of the martyrs, shouted her father, and raised himself

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on his elbow. Are you mad? Get back to your bed.

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I shall have a word with some one for this.

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Whether it had softened him or not, it had stirred him.

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So she made her plea, it is his birthday. I

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want to see my mother. Then she ducked under the

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curtain and ran as fast as she could back to

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where she belonged. Terror winged her feet. She had spoken

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a forbidden word. All sleep was gone from Charles the Fair.

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He lay on his elbow in his bed and thought

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of things that he wished to forget of the wife

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he had put away, because in eight years she had

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borne him no son of his great lands that would

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go to his cousin Philip, of the Blackbeard, whom he hated,

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of girls in the plain who wooed him with soft eyes,

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and whom he passed by, Of a jew who lay

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in a dungeon beneath the castle, because of yusery and

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other things. After time he slept again, but lightly, for

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the sun came in through the deep, unshaded window and

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fell on his face and on the rushes that covered

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the floor. And in his sleep the grimness was gone,

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and the pride and his mouth, which was sad, contended

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with the firmness of his chin. Clotilda went back to

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her bed and tucked her feet under her to warm them.

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In the next room, her nurse lay on a bed,

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asleep with her mouth open. Outside, in the stone corridor,

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a page slept on a skin with a corner over

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him against the draft. She thought things over while she

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warmed her feet. It was clear that singing did not

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soften all hearts. Perhaps she did not sing very well,

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but the bishop had said that after one had done

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a good act, one might pray with hope. She decided

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to do a good act and then pray to see

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her mother. She would pray also to become a boy

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so that her father might care for her, But the

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bishop considered it a little late for such a prayer.

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She made terms with the Almighty, sitting on her bed.

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I shall do a good act, she said, on this

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the birthday of thy son, and after that I shall

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ask for the thing thou knowest of. After much thinking,

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she decided to free the Jew, and, being after all

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her father's own child, she acted at once. It was

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a matter of many cold stone steps and much fumbling

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with bars, but Gwillam, the jailer, had crept up to

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the hall and lay sleeping by the fire with a

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dozen dogs about him. It was the time of the

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Truce of God, and vigilance was relaxed. Also, Guiellam was

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in love with the girl of the village, and there

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was talk that the Seigniere, in his loneliness, had seen

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that she was beautiful. So Gwillim slept to forget, and

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the Jew lay awake because of rats and anxiety. The

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Jew rose from the floor when Clotilda threw the grating

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open and blinked at her with weary and gentle eyes.

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It is the birthday of our lord, said Clotilda, and

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I am doing a good deed so that I may

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see my mother again. But go quickly. Then she remembered

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something the bishop had said to her, and eyed him

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thoughtfully as he stared at her. But you do not

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love our lord. The Jew put out his foot quietly

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so that she could not close the grating again. But

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he smiled into her eyes. Your lord was a Jew,

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he said. This reassured her. It seemed to double the

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quality of mercy. She threw the door wide, and the

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usurer went out cautiously, as if suspecting a trap. But

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patches of sunlight barred with black showed the way clear.

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He should have gone at once, but he waited to

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give her the blessing of his people. Even then, having started,

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he went back to her. She looked so small in

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that fearsome place. If there is something you wish, little maid,

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and I can secure it for you. I wish but

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two things, she said. I wish to be a boy.

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Only I fear it tis too late for that. The

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bishop thinks so. And I wish to see my mother,

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and these being beyond his gift, and not contained in

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the pack he had fastened his shoulders. He only shook

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his head and took his cautious way toward freedom. Having

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tried song and a good deed, Clotilda went back again

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to her room, stepping over the page, who had curled

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himself up in a ball like a puppy and still asleep.

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She crossed her hands on her breast and raised her

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eyes as she had been taught. Now, O Lord, she said,

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I have tried song, and I have tried a good deed.

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I wished to see my mother. Perhaps it was merely

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coincidence that the level rays of the morning sun just

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then fell on the crucifix that hung on the wall,

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and that although during all all the year it seemed

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to be of but wood and with closed eyes, now

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it flashed as with light, and the eyes were open.

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He was one of your people, she said to the crucifix.

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And by now he is down the hill. Two Now

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it was the custom on the morning of the holy

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day for the seignere to ride his finest stallion to

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the top of the hill, where led a steep road

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down to the town. There he dismounted, surrounded by his people,

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guests and soldiers smaller, visiting nobility, the household of the castle,

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and the stage being set as it were, and the

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village waiting below, it was his pleasure to give his

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charger a great cut with the whip and send him galloping,

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unridden down the hill. The horse was his who caught it.

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Below waited the villagers divided between terror and cupidity. Above

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waited the castle fik. It was an amusing game for

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those who stood safely along the parapet and watched one

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that convulsed them with merriment. Also it improved the quality

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of those horses that grazed in the plain below. This year,

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it was a great gray that carried Charles out to

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the road, that clung to the face of the cliff.

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Behind him on a donkey, reminder of the humble beast

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that had borne the Christ into Jerusalem, rode the bishop.

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Saddled and bridled. Was the gray, with a fierce head

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and great shoulders, a strong beast for strong days. The

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men at arms were drawn up in a double line,

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weapons at rest. From the place below rose a thin

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gray smoke where the fire kindled for the steer. But

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the crowd had deserted and now stood eyes upraised to

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the castle and to the cliff road, where waited boys

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and men ready for their desperate emprise, clad in such

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protection of leather as they could afford against the stallion's hoofs.

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Two people only remained by the steer, an aged man

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almost blind, who tended the fire, and the girl Joan,

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whom Guieleamn slept to forget. The seignor has written out

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from the gates, Father, she said, the color mounted to

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her dark cheeks. She was tall and slender, unlike the

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peasant girls of the town, almost noble in her bearing

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a rare flower that Charles, in his rage and disappointment,

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would pick for himself. And were you not undutiful, he mumbled,

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you would be with him now, And looking down on

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this rabble, she did not reply at once. Her eyes

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were fixed on the frowning castle, on the grim double

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line of men at arms, at the massive horse and

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its massive rider. I too should be up there, whined

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the old man to day, instead of delivering Christmas dews,

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I should be receiving them. But you, he swung on

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her malevolently. You must turn great ox eyes toward Guillam,

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whose most courageous work is to levy tribute of a dungeon.

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She flushed. I am afraid, father. He is a hard man.

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He is gentle with women, gentle. Her eyes were still upraised.

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He knows not the word when he looks at me.

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There is no liking in his eyes. I am frightened.

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The Overlord sat his great horse and surveyed the plain below.

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As far as he could see, and as far again

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in every direction was his domain, paying him the tithe

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of fat cattle and heaping granaries as far as he

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could see, and as far again was the domain that,

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lacking a man child, would go to Philip his cousin.

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The Bishop, who rode his donkey without a saddle, slipped

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off and stood beside the little beast on the road.

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His fingers absently traced the dark cross on its back. Idiots,

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snarled the Overlord of his distemper as he looked down

238
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into the faces of his faithful ones below, fools and

239
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sons of fools. Thy beast would suit them better Bishop

240
00:15:10,559 --> 00:15:15,039
than mine. Then he flung himself insolently out of the saddle.

241
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There was little of Christmas in his heart. God knows

242
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only hate and disappointment, and thwarted pride. A great day,

243
00:15:25,039 --> 00:15:29,039
my lord, said the bishop. Peace over the land, the

244
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end of a plentiful year. Bah, the end of a

245
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:38,600
plentiful year, repeated the Bishop. Tranquility, this day of his birth,

246
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a day for thanksgiving and for good will, Bah, said

247
00:15:44,639 --> 00:15:47,679
the overlord again, and struck the gray a heavy blow.

248
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So massive was the beast, so terrific the pace at

249
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which it charged down the hill, that the villager scattered.

250
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,279
He watched them with his lip curling. See, he said,

251
00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,080
brave men, and true watch father, how they rallied to

252
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,399
the charge. And when the creature was caught, and a

253
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,080
swaying figure clung to the bridle by the cross, the

254
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,679
fool has him a fine heritage from my cousin Philip.

255
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:20,639
A village with its bravest man, a simpleton. The fool

256
00:16:20,679 --> 00:16:24,799
held on swinging. His arms were very strong, and, as

257
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,840
is the way with fools and those that drowned, many

258
00:16:27,879 --> 00:16:32,320
things went through his mind. The horse was his. He

259
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:36,559
would go adventuring along the winter roads, adventuring and singing.

260
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,759
The townspeople gathered about him with sheepish praise. From adult

261
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,080
he had become a hero. Many have taken the same

262
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,600
step in the same space of moments, the line being

263
00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:53,080
but a line and easy to cross. The denoueman suited

264
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,519
the grim mood of the overlord. It pleased him to

265
00:16:56,559 --> 00:16:59,759
see the smug villagers stand by while the fool mounted

266
00:16:59,759 --> 00:17:03,360
his steed. Side by side from the parapet he and

267
00:17:03,399 --> 00:17:07,359
the Bishop looked down into the town. The birth day

268
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,160
of our Lord, Bishop, he said, with fools on blooded horses,

269
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and the courage of the townspeople in their stomachs, The

270
00:17:17,039 --> 00:17:20,680
birthday of our Lord, said the Bishop, tranquility, with a

271
00:17:20,759 --> 00:17:24,279
lad mounted, who has heretofore trudged a foot, and with

272
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,559
the hungry fed in the market place. Now it had

273
00:17:28,599 --> 00:17:30,359
been in the mind of the Bishop that the day

274
00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:33,359
would soften Charles's grim humor, and that he might speak

275
00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,960
to him as man to man. But Charles was not softened.

276
00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,119
So the Bishop gathered up his courage. His hand was

277
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,240
still on the cross on the donkey's back. You are young,

278
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:50,440
my son, and have been grievously disappointed. I, who am old,

279
00:17:50,799 --> 00:17:55,519
have seen many things, and this I have learned. Two things.

280
00:17:55,559 --> 00:17:58,960
There are that, next to the love of God must

281
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,880
be greatest in a mannfe not war, nor slothful peace,

282
00:18:04,519 --> 00:18:08,000
nor pride, nor yet a will that would bend all

283
00:18:08,079 --> 00:18:13,000
things to its end. The overlord scowled. He had found

284
00:18:13,039 --> 00:18:15,839
the girl Joan in the market square, and his eyes

285
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,480
were on her. One said, the Bishop is the love

286
00:18:20,519 --> 00:18:25,680
of a woman. The other is a child. The donkey

287
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:31,000
stood meekly with hanging head. A woman repeated the Bishop.

288
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,440
You grow rough up here on your hill side. Only

289
00:18:35,519 --> 00:18:37,839
a few months since the lady your wife went away,

290
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,519
and already order has forsaken you. The child, your daughter,

291
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,799
runs like a wild thing without control. Our Holy Church

292
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:53,400
deplores these things. Will Holy Church grant me another wife?

293
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,880
Holy Church replied the bishop gravely, would have you take back,

294
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,039
my lord, the wife whom your hardens drove away. The

295
00:19:02,079 --> 00:19:05,200
seigneur's glance turned to the east, where they the castle

296
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,119
of Philip, his cousin. Then he dropped, brooding eyes to

297
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,160
the square below, where the girl Joan assisted her father

298
00:19:12,279 --> 00:19:15,759
by the fire and moved like a mother of kings.

299
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,000
You wish a woman for the castle, father, he said,

300
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,000
Then a woman we shall have. Holy Church may not

301
00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,400
give me another wife, but I shall take one, and

302
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:33,119
I shall have a son. The child Clotilda had watched

303
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,359
it all from the window because she was very high.

304
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,839
The thing she saw most plainly was the cross on

305
00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,319
the donkey's back. Far out over the plain was a

306
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,480
moving figure which might or might not have been the Jew.

307
00:19:46,279 --> 00:19:50,079
She chose to think it was one of your people.

308
00:19:50,519 --> 00:19:53,799
She said, toward the crucifix. I have done a good deed.

309
00:19:55,079 --> 00:19:57,480
She was a little frightened, for all her high head.

310
00:19:58,599 --> 00:20:01,960
Other Christmases, she and the lady her mother had sat

311
00:20:02,039 --> 00:20:06,119
hand in hand and listened to the roystering, they are drunk,

312
00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,519
Clotilda would say, But her mother would stroke her hand

313
00:20:09,559 --> 00:20:12,799
and reply, they but rejoice that our lord is born.

314
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,680
So the child Clotilda stood at her window and gazed

315
00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,440
to where the plain stretched as far as she could see,

316
00:20:19,759 --> 00:20:24,000
and as far again, and there was her mother. She

317
00:20:24,079 --> 00:20:27,000
would go to her and bring her back, or perhaps

318
00:20:27,039 --> 00:20:31,000
failing that, she might be allowed to stay here. No

319
00:20:31,039 --> 00:20:34,160
one would miss her. The odor of cooking food filled

320
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,279
the great house, loud laughter, the clatter of mug on board.

321
00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,920
Her old nurse was below, decorating a boar's head with

322
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,319
berries and a crown. Because it was the truce of

323
00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:49,079
God and a festival, the gate stood open. She reached

324
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:52,640
the foot of the hill safely. Stragglers going up and

325
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,480
down the steep way regarded her without suspicion. So she

326
00:20:56,559 --> 00:20:59,759
went through the square, past the roasting steer, and by

327
00:20:59,839 --> 00:21:04,599
twisting street into the open country. When she stopped to rest,

328
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,920
it was to look back, with wistful eyes toward the

329
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,920
frowning castle on the cliff. For a divided allegiance was

330
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:15,720
hers passionately as she loved her mother. Her indomitable spirit

331
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,920
was her father's heritage. His fierceness was her courage, and

332
00:21:20,039 --> 00:21:22,400
she loved him as the small may love the great.

333
00:21:23,319 --> 00:21:25,279
The fool found her at the edge of the river.

334
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,079
She had forgotten that there was a river. He was

335
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,599
on his great horse, and he rode up by the

336
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,799
child and looked down at her. It was I who

337
00:21:34,839 --> 00:21:38,960
captured him. He boasted, The others ran, but I caught him.

338
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,799
So he dismounted to illustrate. It is not because you

339
00:21:43,839 --> 00:21:47,759
were brave that you captured him. Then, why he stood

340
00:21:47,759 --> 00:21:50,880
with his feet wide apart, looking down at her. It

341
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,920
is because you have slept in a manger on a

342
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:57,680
holy eve. Ay, he responded, But that was a matter

343
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,519
of courage too. There were many strange noises. Also in

344
00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:04,880
the middle of the night came our lady herself, and

345
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,200
said to me, hereafter thou shalt sing with the voice

346
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,000
of an angel. I should like to see our lady,

347
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:17,039
said the child wistfully, also pursued the fool. She gave

348
00:22:17,079 --> 00:22:21,079
me power over great beasts. See he fears me while

349
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:25,680
he loves me. And indeed there seemed some curious kinship

350
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,720
between the horse and the lad, perhaps because the barrier

351
00:22:28,799 --> 00:22:33,160
of keen human mind was not between them. Think you,

352
00:22:33,519 --> 00:22:36,240
said the little maid. If I slept where you did,

353
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,480
she would appear to me. I would not ask much,

354
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,839
only to be made a lad like you, and perhaps

355
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:48,359
to sing. But I am a simpleton instead of wit.

356
00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:52,640
I have but a voice, and now a horse, a

357
00:22:52,759 --> 00:22:56,119
lad like you. She persisted, so that my father would

358
00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,160
love me and my mother might come back again. Better

359
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,960
stay as you are, said the fool. Also, there will

360
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,960
be no holy Eve again for a long time. It

361
00:23:07,039 --> 00:23:10,359
comes but once a year. Also it is hard for

362
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,839
men who must either fight or work in the fields.

363
00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:17,160
I he struck his chest. I shall do neither, and

364
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:22,079
I shall cut no more wood. I go adventuring. Clotilda

365
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,440
rose and drew her gray cloak around her. I am

366
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,200
adventuring too, she said, only I have no voice and

367
00:23:30,279 --> 00:23:34,799
no horse. May I go with you? The boy was doubtful.

368
00:23:35,519 --> 00:23:38,119
He had that innate love and tenderness that is given

369
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,319
to his kind instead of other things. But a child,

370
00:23:42,599 --> 00:23:45,519
I will take you, he said at last, rather heavily.

371
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,480
But where little lady to my mother at the castle

372
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,559
of Black Philip. And when his face fell, for Philip

373
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,920
was not named the black only for his beard. She

374
00:23:58,039 --> 00:24:00,960
loves singing. I will ask you to sing before her.

375
00:24:02,079 --> 00:24:05,160
That decided him. He took her before him on the

376
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,240
gray horse, and they set off two valiant adventurers, a

377
00:24:09,279 --> 00:24:13,240
troubadour and a lady without food or sufficient clothing, but

378
00:24:13,319 --> 00:24:17,160
with high courage and a song. And because it was

379
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,799
the truce of God, the children went unharmed, encountering no

380
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,759
greater adventure than hunger and cold and aching muscles. Robbers

381
00:24:25,799 --> 00:24:30,720
skulked in their fastnesses, and their horses pawed the ground. Murder,

382
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,799
rappin and pillage slept that Christmas Day under the shelter

383
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,279
of the cross. The fool who ached for adventure rather

384
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,960
resented the peace. Wait until Monday, he said, from behind

385
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,920
her on the horse, I shall show you great things.

386
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,799
But the little maid was cold by that time, and

387
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,759
beginning to be frightened. Monday, you may fight, she said.

388
00:24:56,279 --> 00:25:00,599
Now I wish you would sing, so, he said, until

389
00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:04,200
his voice cracked in his throat. Because it was Christmas,

390
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,079
and because it was freshest in his heart, he sang

391
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,079
mostly what he and the blacksmith and the crockery cellar

392
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,119
had sung in the castle yard. The light of light, divine,

393
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:19,200
true brightness, undefiled, He bears for us the shame of sin,

394
00:25:19,759 --> 00:25:24,240
A holy, spotless child. They lay that night in a

395
00:25:24,319 --> 00:25:28,480
ruined barn with a roof of earth and stones. Clotilda

396
00:25:28,519 --> 00:25:31,799
eyed the manger wistfully. But the holy Eve was past,

397
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,480
and the day of miracles would not come for a year.

398
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,000
Toward morning, however, she roused the boy with a touch.

399
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,640
She may have forgotten me, she said, she has been

400
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,799
gone since the spring. She may not love me. Now

401
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,440
she will love you. It is the way of a

402
00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:54,079
mother to keep on loving. I am still a girl,

403
00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:59,160
you are still her child. Seeing that she trembled, he

404
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,359
put his ragged lila about her and talked to comfort her,

405
00:26:02,759 --> 00:26:07,079
although his muscles ached for sleep. He told her a

406
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,839
fable of the country side of that abbot who, having

407
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,200
duly served his God died, and appeared at the heavenly

408
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,359
gates for admission. A slave of the Lord, he replied,

409
00:26:18,559 --> 00:26:22,400
when asked his name, but he was refused. So he

410
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,359
went away and labored seven years again at good deeds,

411
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,680
and returned A servant of the Lord, he called himself,

412
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,279
and again he was refused. Yet another seven years he labored,

413
00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:38,160
and came in all humility to the gate, A child

414
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,200
of the Lord, said the abbot, who had gained both

415
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:48,200
wisdom and humility, and the gates opened three All that

416
00:26:48,319 --> 00:26:51,559
day came peasants up the hill with their Christmas dews.

417
00:26:51,799 --> 00:26:54,920
Of one fowl out of eight, of barley and wheat.

418
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,519
The courtyard had assumed the appearance of a great warehouse.

419
00:26:59,279 --> 00:27:03,440
Those that were prosperous came a riding hissing geese and chickens,

420
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:08,279
and grain in bags across the saddle. The poor trudged afoot.

421
00:27:09,079 --> 00:27:12,119
Among the latter came the girl Joan of the market square.

422
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,599
She brought no grain, the fowls only, and of these

423
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,920
but two. She took the steep ascent like a thoroughbread

424
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,920
muscles working clean under glowing skin, her bosom rising evenly,

425
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,319
treading like a queen among the clutter of peasants, and

426
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,559
when she was brought into the great hall, her head

427
00:27:32,599 --> 00:27:36,400
went yet higher. It pleased the young senyor to be gracious,

428
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:38,960
but he eyed her much as he had eyed the

429
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,759
great horse that morning before he cut it with the whip.

430
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,039
She was but a means to an end. Such love

431
00:27:46,079 --> 00:27:48,519
and tenderness as were in him had gone out to

432
00:27:48,559 --> 00:27:51,119
the gentle wife he had put away from him, and

433
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:56,359
had died of Clotilda. So Charles appraised her and found her,

434
00:27:56,759 --> 00:28:01,119
although but a means, very beautiful. Only the bishop turned

435
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:06,240
away his head. Joan said, Charles, do you know why

436
00:28:06,279 --> 00:28:09,839
I have sent for you? The girl looked down, but

437
00:28:10,279 --> 00:28:15,039
although she quivered, it was not with fright, I do, sire.

438
00:28:16,319 --> 00:28:19,160
Something of a sardonic smile played around the signor's mouth.

439
00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:23,839
The butterfly came too quietly to the net. We are

440
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:28,079
but gloomy folk here, rough soldiers and few women. It

441
00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,680
has been in my mind. Here He saw the bishop's

442
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,920
averted head and scowled. What had been in his mind

443
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,039
he forgot. He said, I would have you come willingly

444
00:28:40,359 --> 00:28:43,839
or not at all. At that, she lifted her head

445
00:28:44,119 --> 00:28:48,519
and looked at him. You know I will come she said,

446
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,680
I can do nothing else, but I do not come willingly.

447
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,680
My lord, you are asking too much. The bishop turned

448
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:03,599
his head hopefully. Why you are a hard man, my lord.

449
00:29:05,119 --> 00:29:08,079
If she meant to anger him, she failed. They were

450
00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:11,599
not soft days. A man hid such tenderness as he

451
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,799
had under grimness, and prayed in the churches for phlegm.

452
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,960
I am a fighting man. I have no gentle ways.

453
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:25,079
Then a belated memory came to him. I give no tenderness,

454
00:29:25,279 --> 00:29:28,480
and ask for none but such kindness as you have

455
00:29:29,119 --> 00:29:33,720
lavish on the child Clotilda. She is much alone. With

456
00:29:33,799 --> 00:29:37,119
the mention of Clotilda's name came a vision. Instead of

457
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,039
this splendid peasant wench, he seemed to see the graceful

458
00:29:40,119 --> 00:29:42,359
and drooping figure of the woman he had put away

459
00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,000
because she had not borne him a son. He closed

460
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,920
his eyes, and the girl, taking it for dismissal, went away.

461
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,559
When he opened them, there were only fire and the

462
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,000
dogs about it, and the bishop, who was preparing to depart.

463
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,960
I shall not stay, my lord, said the bishop. The

464
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,839
thing is desecration. No good can come from such a bond.

465
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,880
It is Christmas and the truce of God, and yet

466
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:14,400
you do this evil thing. So the bishop went muffled

467
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,000
in a cloak, and mantled with this pleasure. And with him,

468
00:30:18,319 --> 00:30:21,279
now that Clotilda had fled, went all that was good

469
00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:23,880
and open to the sun from the gray castle of

470
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:29,000
Charles the fair. At evening, Joan came again, still afoot,

471
00:30:29,559 --> 00:30:33,359
but now clad in her best. She came alone, and

472
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,200
the men at the gates instructed let her in. She

473
00:30:37,279 --> 00:30:39,880
gazed around the courtyard with its burden of grain that

474
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,759
had been crushed out of her people below, with its

475
00:30:42,799 --> 00:30:46,519
loitering soldiers and cackling fowls, and she shivered as the

476
00:30:46,559 --> 00:30:50,839
gates closed behind her. She was a good girl as

477
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,480
the times went, and she knew well that she had

478
00:30:53,519 --> 00:30:56,119
been brought up the hill as the stallion that morning

479
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,799
had been driven down. She remembered the cut of the whip,

480
00:31:00,359 --> 00:31:02,519
and in the twilight of the courtyard she stretched out

481
00:31:02,519 --> 00:31:05,559
her arms toward the little town below, where the old man,

482
00:31:05,799 --> 00:31:09,759
her father lived in semi darkness, and where on that

483
00:31:09,839 --> 00:31:13,000
Christmas evening, the women were gathered in the churches to pray.

484
00:31:15,799 --> 00:31:19,559
Having no seasonable merriment in himself, Charles surrounded himself that

485
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,279
night with cheer. A band of wandering minstrels had arrived

486
00:31:23,279 --> 00:31:27,079
to sing. The great fire blazed, the dogs around it,

487
00:31:27,119 --> 00:31:30,039
gnawed the bones of the Christmas feast. But when the

488
00:31:30,079 --> 00:31:33,440
troubiters would have sung of the Nativity, he bade them

489
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,440
in a great voice to have done so. They sang

490
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:40,720
of war, and, remembering his cousin Philip, his eyes blazed.

491
00:31:41,799 --> 00:31:44,559
When Jane came, he motioned her to a seat beside him,

492
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,359
not on his right, but on his left, and there

493
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,160
he let her sit without speech. But his mind was

494
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,559
working busily. He would have a son, and the king

495
00:31:55,599 --> 00:32:00,599
would legitimize him. Then let Philip go hang these lands

496
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,160
of his as far as the eye could reach, and

497
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,599
as far again would never go to him. The minstrel

498
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,680
sang of war and of his own great deeds, But

499
00:32:10,759 --> 00:32:12,599
there was no one of them with so beautiful a

500
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,480
voice as that of the fool, who could sing only

501
00:32:15,519 --> 00:32:20,759
of peace, and the fool was missing. However, their songs

502
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:25,240
soothed his hurt pride. This was he, these things he

503
00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:28,759
had done. If the bishop had not turned sour and gone,

504
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,920
he would have heard what they sang. He might have understood, too,

505
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,880
the craving of a man's warrior's soul, for a warrior's son,

506
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,279
for one to hold what he had gathered at such

507
00:32:39,359 --> 00:32:44,799
cost back always to this burning hope of his jone

508
00:32:44,839 --> 00:32:47,920
sat on his left hand and went hot and cold,

509
00:32:48,559 --> 00:32:53,359
hot with shame and cold with fear. So now his

510
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,279
own glory as a warrior commencing to pall on him,

511
00:32:56,759 --> 00:33:00,359
Charles would have more tribute this time. As Lord of peace,

512
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,759
he would celebrate this day of days, and at the

513
00:33:03,799 --> 00:33:08,559
same time throw a sop to Providence. He would release

514
00:33:08,759 --> 00:33:13,559
the Jew. The tributers sang louder. Fresh liquor was passed about.

515
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:18,200
Charles waited for the Jew to be brought. He remembered Clotilda.

516
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,039
Then she should see him do this noble thing. Since

517
00:33:22,079 --> 00:33:25,279
her mother had gone, she had shrunk from him. Now

518
00:33:25,359 --> 00:33:28,920
let her see how magnanimous he could be. He, the

519
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,079
seignere who held life and death in his hands, would

520
00:33:33,079 --> 00:33:38,119
this day give not death but life. Being not displeased

521
00:33:38,119 --> 00:33:41,079
with himself, he turned at last toward Joan and put

522
00:33:41,079 --> 00:33:45,480
a hand over hers. You see, he said, I am

523
00:33:45,519 --> 00:33:48,960
not so hard a man by this Christian act. Shall

524
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:53,559
I celebrate your arrival? But the Jew did not come.

525
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,400
The singers learned the truth and sang with watchful eyes.

526
00:33:58,119 --> 00:34:01,319
The senyor's anger was known to be mighty to strike

527
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:06,279
close at hand. Gwillim, the jailer, had been waiting for

528
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:09,760
the summons. News had come to him late in the

529
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,280
afternoon that had made him indifferent to his fate. The

530
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,320
girl Joan, whom he loved, had come up the hill

531
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:21,119
at the overlord's summons. So instead of raising an alarm,

532
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,679
Gwillam had waited. Sullenly death, which yesterday he would have

533
00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:30,039
blenched to behold, now beckoned him. When he was brought in,

534
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,639
he stood with folded arms and asked, no mercy. He

535
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,760
is gone, my lord, said Gwillim, and waited. He did

536
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:44,199
not glance at the girl gone, said Charles. Then he

537
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:49,360
laughed such laughter as turned the girl cold gone earth cloud.

538
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:54,559
How now, perhaps you too wished to give a hostage

539
00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:58,719
to fortune, to forestall me in mercy. He turned the

540
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:02,960
girl beside him. You see, he said, to what lengths

541
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:07,320
the spirit of this holy day extends itself? Our friend? Here?

542
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,079
Then he saw her face and knew the truth. The

543
00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:17,039
smile sat a little on his lips. Why then, he

544
00:35:17,079 --> 00:35:20,280
said to the jailer, such mercy should have its reward.

545
00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:25,480
He turned to Joan, what say you, shall I station

546
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:28,400
him at your door, sweet lady, as a guard of honor.

547
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,920
Things wept merrily after that, for Gwillam drew a knife

548
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,320
and made not for the Signere but for Joan. The

549
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,599
troubadours feared to stop singing without a signal, so they

550
00:35:39,599 --> 00:35:43,440
sang through white lips. The dogs gnawed at their bones,

551
00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:49,719
and the Seignor sat and smiled, showing his teeth. Gwillam, finally, unhanded,

552
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:54,320
stood with folded arms and waited for death. This is

553
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,519
the time of the truce of God, said the Signor softly,

554
00:35:58,079 --> 00:36:01,199
and knowing that death would be a boon, sent him

555
00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:06,719
off unhurt. The village, which had eaten full, slept early

556
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:10,159
that night. Down the hill. At nine o'clock came half

557
00:36:10,199 --> 00:36:14,320
a dozen minute arms on horseback, and clattering through the streets.

558
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,440
Word went about quickly. Great oaken doors were unbarred to

559
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,360
the news. The child Clotilda is gone. They cried through

560
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:28,800
the streets, up and arm, the child Clotilda is gone. Joan, deserted,

561
00:36:29,199 --> 00:36:32,320
sat alone in the great hall, for the Seigneur was off,

562
00:36:32,679 --> 00:36:36,280
riding like a madman, flying through the market square. He

563
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,559
took the remains of the Great Fire at a leap.

564
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,360
He had but one thought the Jew had stolen the child.

565
00:36:43,679 --> 00:36:48,400
Therefore to find the Jew in the blackest of the night,

566
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,880
he found him sitting by the road, bent over his staff.

567
00:36:52,599 --> 00:36:55,360
The eyes he raised to Charles were haggard and weary.

568
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,360
Charles reined his horse back on his haunches. His men

569
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,840
at arms be behind him. What have you done with

570
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:08,119
the child? The child? Out with it, cried Charles, and

571
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,559
flung himself from his horse. If the Jew were haggard,

572
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:15,960
Charles was more so, hard, bitten of terror, pallid to

573
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,960
the lips. I have seen no child, that is, he

574
00:37:21,039 --> 00:37:24,000
hastened to correct himself. Seeing Charles's face in the light

575
00:37:24,079 --> 00:37:27,800
of a torch, I was released by a child, a girl.

576
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:31,599
I have not seen her since, he spoke, with the

577
00:37:31,639 --> 00:37:35,280
simplicity of truth in the light of the torches. Charles's

578
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:41,639
face went white. She released jew, He repeated, slowly, What

579
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,559
did she say? She said, it is the birthday of

580
00:37:45,599 --> 00:37:49,719
our Lord, repeated the Jew slowly, out of his weary brain.

581
00:37:50,679 --> 00:37:54,239
And I am doing a good deed? Is that all?

582
00:37:55,519 --> 00:37:59,960
The Jew? Hesitated? Also, she said, but you do not

583
00:38:00,079 --> 00:38:04,800
love our Lord. Charles swore under his breath, and you,

584
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:12,119
I said, but little I, what did you say? I

585
00:38:12,159 --> 00:38:15,880
said that her lord was also a Jew. He was

586
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:19,559
fearful of giving offense, so he hastened to add it

587
00:38:19,679 --> 00:38:23,039
was by way of comforting the child. Only that, my lord.

588
00:38:24,679 --> 00:38:28,840
She said nothing else. The Senyor's voice was dangerously calm.

589
00:38:29,639 --> 00:38:32,760
The jew faltered. He knew the gossip of the town.

590
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:38,679
She said. She said, she wished two things, my lord,

591
00:38:39,679 --> 00:38:45,199
to become a boy, and to see her mother. Then

592
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,760
Charles lifted his face to where the stars were going

593
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,519
dim before the uprising of the dawn, and where as

594
00:38:51,559 --> 00:38:53,840
far away as the eye could reach, and as far

595
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,559
again lay the castle of his cousin, Philip of the

596
00:38:56,599 --> 00:39:00,400
Black Beard, And the rage was gone out of his eyes,

597
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,400
for suddenly he knew that, on that feast of mother

598
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:08,719
and child, Clotilda had gone to her mother as unerringly

599
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,679
as an arrow to its mark. And with the rage

600
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,039
died all the passion and pride in the eyes that

601
00:39:16,119 --> 00:39:19,079
had gazed at Joan over the parapet, and that now

602
00:39:19,159 --> 00:39:22,320
turned to the east, there was reflected the dawning of

603
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:27,360
a new day. The castle of Philip the Black lay

604
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,800
in a plain for as much as a mile in

605
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,880
every direction. The forest had been sacrificed against the loving

606
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:37,360
advances of his cousin Charles. Also about the castle was

607
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,559
a moat in which swam noisy geese and much litter.

608
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:45,280
When shortly after dawn the sentry at the drawbridge saw

609
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:48,639
a great horse with a double burden crossing the open space,

610
00:39:49,079 --> 00:39:52,840
he was but faintly interested, a belated peasant with his

611
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,920
Christmas dews, perhaps, But when on the lifting of the

612
00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,199
morning haze, he saw that the horse bore two children,

613
00:40:00,079 --> 00:40:03,199
and one a girl, he called another man to look

614
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:08,079
troubadours by sound, said the newcomer, for the fool was

615
00:40:08,079 --> 00:40:12,199
singing to cheer his lack of breakfast, coming empty of belly,

616
00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:17,960
as come all troubadours. But the sentry was dubious. Minstrels

617
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,599
wore a slothful lot, add first to the chill of

618
00:40:20,639 --> 00:40:24,360
early morning. And when the pair came nearer and drew

619
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,440
up beyond the moat, the soldiers were still at a loss.

620
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,880
The fool's wandering eyes and tender mouth bespoke him no troubadour,

621
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,599
and the child rode with him head high like a princess.

622
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,960
I have come to see my mother Clotilda called and

623
00:40:40,039 --> 00:40:45,440
demanded admission. Clearly, here were no warriors but a fool

624
00:40:45,559 --> 00:40:48,400
and a child. So they let down the bridge and

625
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:51,320
admitted the pear. But they raised the bridge at once

626
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:56,039
again against the loving advances of Philip's cousin Charles. But

627
00:40:56,119 --> 00:40:58,960
once in the courtyard, Clotilda's courage began to fail her.

628
00:41:00,039 --> 00:41:03,599
Her mother want her prayer had been unavailing, and she

629
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:07,480
was still a girl, and at first it seemed as

630
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,480
though her fears had been justified, although they took her

631
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,400
into the castle kindly enough and offered her food which

632
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,280
she could not eat, and plied her with questions which

633
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:20,480
she could not answer. I want my mother was the

634
00:41:20,519 --> 00:41:23,280
only thing they could get out of her. Her little

635
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:27,239
body was taut as a bowstring, her lips tight. They

636
00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:31,360
offered her excuses. The lady mother slept. Now she was

637
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,400
rising and must be clothed. And then at last they

638
00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:36,880
told her, because of the haunted look in her eyes,

639
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,199
she is ill. They said, wait but a little and

640
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:46,079
you shall see her deadly despair had Clotilda in its grasp.

641
00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,320
With that announcement. These strange folk were gentle enough with her,

642
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,679
But never before had her mother refused her the haven

643
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:58,880
of her out held arms. Besides, they lied, their eyes

644
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:01,960
were shifty. She could see in their faces that they

645
00:42:02,039 --> 00:42:06,960
kept something from her. Philip, having confessed himself over night

646
00:42:07,199 --> 00:42:11,519
by candlelight, was at mass when the pair arrived. Three

647
00:42:11,599 --> 00:42:15,039
days one must rot of peace, and those three days

648
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,480
to be not entirely lost. He prayed for success against Charles,

649
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,000
and for another thing that lay close to his heart,

650
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:26,000
but not for both together, since that was not possible.

651
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:31,079
He knelt stiffly in his cold chapel and made his supplications.

652
00:42:31,599 --> 00:42:34,280
But he was not too engrossed to hear the drawbridge

653
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:37,000
chains and to pick up his ears to the clatter

654
00:42:37,039 --> 00:42:41,800
of the gray horse. So having been communicated, he made

655
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,800
short shift of what remained to be done, and got

656
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:49,039
to his feet. The abbot, whose offices were finished, had

657
00:42:49,079 --> 00:42:53,239
also heard the drawbridge chains and let him go. When

658
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:57,760
Philip saw Clotilda, he frowned and then smiled. He had

659
00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:00,920
sons but no daughter, and he would have set her

660
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:05,639
on his shoulder, but she drew away haughtily. So Philip

661
00:43:05,639 --> 00:43:08,159
sat in a chair and watched her, with a curious smile,

662
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:11,679
playing about his lips. Surely it were enough to make

663
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,599
him smile, that he should play host to the wife

664
00:43:14,639 --> 00:43:18,920
and daughter of his cousin Charles, because of that and

665
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,320
of the thing that he had prayed for, And with

666
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,840
a twinkle in his eyes, Black Philip alternately watched the

667
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:28,079
child and from a window the plane which was prepared

668
00:43:28,119 --> 00:43:32,719
against his cousin. And as he had expected, at ten

669
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:35,679
o'clock in the morning, came Charles and six men at arms,

670
00:43:36,119 --> 00:43:39,039
riding like demons, and jerked up their horses at the

671
00:43:39,159 --> 00:43:43,239
edge of the moat. Philip, still with the smile under

672
00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:47,599
his black beard, went out to greet them. Well met, cousin,

673
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:52,360
He called, you ride fast and early. Charles eyed him

674
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:57,360
with feverish eyes. Truce of God, he said, sulkily, from

675
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:04,079
across the moat. And then we seek a runaway the child, Clotilda.

676
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:08,320
I shall make inquiry, said Philip, veiling the twinkle under

677
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:11,679
his heavy brow. In such a season many come and go.

678
00:44:13,199 --> 00:44:16,320
But in his eyes Charles read the truth and breathed

679
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,000
with freer breath. They lowered the drawbridge again with a

680
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:23,280
great creaking of windlass and chain, and Charles, with his

681
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,960
head up, rode across, but his men at arms stood

682
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,239
their horses squarely on the bridge so that it could

683
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:34,199
not be raised, and Philip smiled into his beard. Charles

684
00:44:34,199 --> 00:44:37,880
dismounted stiffly. He had been a knight in the saddle,

685
00:44:38,039 --> 00:44:41,599
and his horse staggered with fatigue. In Philip's court yard,

686
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:45,199
as in his own, were piled high the Christmas ties.

687
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,400
A good year, said Philip agreeably, and indicated the dews

688
00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:55,960
peaceful times, eh cousin. But Charles only turned to see

689
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,199
that his men kept the drawbridge open, and followed him

690
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:04,199
into the house. Once inside, however, he turned on Philip fiercely.

691
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:08,280
I am not here out of my own desire. It

692
00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,639
appears that both my wife and child find sanctuary with you.

693
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:17,880
Tut said Philip, good naturedly. It is the Christmas season, man,

694
00:45:18,199 --> 00:45:21,280
and a Sunday. We will not quarrel as to the

695
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:28,400
why of your coming. Where is she your wife or Clotilda? Now?

696
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:31,199
All through the early morning Charles had longed for one

697
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:33,800
as for the other, but there was nothing of that

698
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:39,000
in his voice. Clotilda, he said, I shall make inquiry

699
00:45:39,039 --> 00:45:42,159
if she has arrived, mumbled Philip into his beard, and

700
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:46,079
went away. So it came about that Charles was alone

701
00:45:46,079 --> 00:45:48,159
when he saw the child and caught her up in

702
00:45:48,239 --> 00:45:52,599
his hungry arms. As for Clotilda, her fear died at

703
00:45:52,639 --> 00:45:56,199
once in his embrace. When Philip returned, he found them

704
00:45:56,239 --> 00:46:00,440
thus and coughed discreetly. So Charles released the child and

705
00:46:00,519 --> 00:46:05,280
put her on her feet. I have said, Philip, another

706
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,280
member of your family under my roof, as to whom

707
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:12,159
you have made no inquiry. I've secured that for which

708
00:46:12,199 --> 00:46:16,480
I came, said Charles haughtily. But his eyes were on Philip,

709
00:46:16,679 --> 00:46:20,199
and a question was in them. Philip, however, was not

710
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:23,800
minded to play Charles's game, but his own, and that

711
00:46:24,159 --> 00:46:29,480
not too fast. In that event, cousin, he replied, let

712
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:32,719
the little maid eat and then take her away. And

713
00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:35,239
since it is a Sunday and the truce of God,

714
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,880
we can drink to the Christmas season. Even quarreling dogs

715
00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:44,760
have intervals of peace. So perforce, because the question was

716
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,760
still in his heart, if not in his eyes, Charles

717
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:51,559
drank with his cousin and enemy Philip, but with his

718
00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,519
hand in that small hand of Clotilda's, which was so

719
00:46:54,840 --> 00:47:00,400
like her mother's. Philip's expansiveness extended itself to the menaton arms,

720
00:47:00,599 --> 00:47:03,920
who still sat woodenly on the drawbridge. He sent them

721
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:06,880
hot liquor, for the day was cold, and at such

722
00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:10,639
intervals as Charles's questioning eyes were turned away, he rubbed

723
00:47:10,639 --> 00:47:13,679
his hands together furtively, as a man with a secret.

724
00:47:15,079 --> 00:47:19,960
A prosperous year, said Philip. Charles grunted. We shall have

725
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:24,599
snow before night, said Philip. Humph said Charles, and glanced

726
00:47:24,639 --> 00:47:28,320
toward the sky, but made no move to go. The

727
00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:32,199
child is growing. To this, Charles made no reply whatever,

728
00:47:32,679 --> 00:47:36,800
and Philip bleted on her mother's body. He said, but

729
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:41,079
your eyes and hair, cousin. Charles could stand no more.

730
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,079
He pushed the child away and rose to his feet. Philip,

731
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:49,760
to give him no tithe of advantage, rose too. Now,

732
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:53,599
said Charles squarely, Where is my wife? Is she hiding

733
00:47:53,599 --> 00:47:58,400
from me? Then? Philip's face must grow very grave, and

734
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:02,840
his mouth set in sad line. She is ill, Charles.

735
00:48:03,519 --> 00:48:06,920
I would have told you sooner, but you lacked interest.

736
00:48:07,719 --> 00:48:13,920
Charles swallowed to steady his voice. How ill, A short

737
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,599
and violent illness, said Philip. All of last night the

738
00:48:17,639 --> 00:48:21,440
women have been with her, and this morning he glanced

739
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:24,800
at the window. I was right, as you see, cousin,

740
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:28,679
it is snowing. Charles clutched him by the arm and

741
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:34,239
jerked him about what about this morning? He roared snow

742
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:40,679
on Christmas mused Philip, prophesies another prosperous year. Then, having

743
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:44,400
run his quarry to earth, he showed mercy. Would you

744
00:48:44,519 --> 00:48:49,159
like to see her? Charles swallowed again, this time his pride.

745
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:53,760
I doubt if she cares to see me. Probably not,

746
00:48:54,159 --> 00:48:57,920
said Philip, still a few words. She is a true woman,

747
00:48:58,159 --> 00:49:02,559
and kindly. Also, it is a magnanimous season. But you

748
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:06,320
must tread softly and speak fair. This is no time

749
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:12,599
for a high hand. Charles perforce must promise mildness. He

750
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:15,880
made the concession with poor grace, but he made it,

751
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:19,519
and in Philip's eyes grew a new admiration for this

752
00:49:19,679 --> 00:49:23,400
hulking cousin and enemy who ate his pride for a woman.

753
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,000
At the entrance to an upper room, where hung a

754
00:49:27,079 --> 00:49:32,360
leather curtain, he stood aside. Softly, he said, through his beard,

755
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:37,760
no harsh words. Send the child in first. So Philip

756
00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:41,119
went ponderously away and left Charles to cool his heels

757
00:49:41,159 --> 00:49:45,440
and wait. As he stood there sheepishly, he remembered many

758
00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:50,480
things with shame, joan and the violence of the last months,

759
00:49:50,519 --> 00:49:54,599
and the bishop's averted head. For now he knew one thing,

760
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:58,320
and knew it well. The lady of his heart lay

761
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:01,519
in that quiet room beyond, and the devils that had

762
00:50:01,559 --> 00:50:06,239
fought in him were dead. Of a Christmas peace. Little

763
00:50:06,280 --> 00:50:10,960
cries came to him, Clotilda's soft weeping, and another voice

764
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:14,079
that thrilled him, filled with the wooing note that is

765
00:50:14,119 --> 00:50:17,159
in a mother's voice when she speaks to her child.

766
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:20,480
But it was a feeble voice, and its weakness struck

767
00:50:20,559 --> 00:50:24,639
terror to his soul. What was this thing for which

768
00:50:24,639 --> 00:50:27,360
he had cast her away? Now that he might lose her?

769
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:31,920
His world shook under his feet. His cousin and enemy

770
00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:36,760
was Willy Nilly become his friend. His world, which he

771
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:39,599
had thought was his own domain, as far from his

772
00:50:39,719 --> 00:50:42,519
castle as the eye could reach, and as far again,

773
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:47,639
was in an upper room of Philip's house, and dying perhaps,

774
00:50:48,559 --> 00:50:51,679
But she was not dying. They admitted him in time

775
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,559
to save his pride, for he was close to distraction,

776
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,679
and being admitted, he saw only the woman he had

777
00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:02,400
put away. He went straight to his wife's bed and

778
00:51:02,519 --> 00:51:06,239
dropped on his knees beside it. Not for his life

779
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:10,679
could he have spoken. Then inarticulate things were in his mind.

780
00:51:11,039 --> 00:51:14,400
Remorse and the loneliness of the last months, and the

781
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,920
shame of the girl Joan. He caught her hand to

782
00:51:18,079 --> 00:51:22,159
him and covered it with kisses. I have tried to

783
00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:25,880
live without you, he said, and death itself were better.

784
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:30,679
When she did not reply, but lay back white to

785
00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:35,199
the lips, he rose and looked down at her. I

786
00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:39,639
can see, he said, that my touch is bitterness. I

787
00:51:39,679 --> 00:51:44,239
have merited nothing better. So I shall go again. But

788
00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:47,920
this time, if it will comfort you, I shall give

789
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:51,639
you the child Clotilda, not that I love her the less,

790
00:51:52,119 --> 00:51:56,360
but that you deserve her the more. Then she opened

791
00:51:56,360 --> 00:51:59,039
her eyes, and what he saw there brought him back

792
00:51:59,079 --> 00:52:03,440
to his knees with a I want only your love,

793
00:52:03,639 --> 00:52:07,800
my Lord, to make me happy, she said, And now

794
00:52:08,599 --> 00:52:11,280
see how the birthday of our lord has brought us peace.

795
00:52:12,719 --> 00:52:15,719
She drew down the covering a trifle close to his

796
00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:19,159
bent head and showed him the warm curve of her arm.

797
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:26,679
Unto us also is born a son, Charles. I have

798
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:30,760
wanted a son, said Charles the fair. But more than

799
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:34,199
a sun, I have wanted you, heart of my heart.

800
00:52:36,239 --> 00:52:38,840
Outside in the courtyard, the fool had drawn a circle

801
00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:44,079
about him. I am adventuring, he said, yesterday I caught

802
00:52:44,079 --> 00:52:46,960
this horse when the others ran from him. Then I

803
00:52:47,039 --> 00:52:50,480
saved a lady and brought her to her destination. This

804
00:52:50,599 --> 00:52:53,679
being the Christmas season and a Sunday, I shall rest

805
00:52:53,719 --> 00:52:57,400
here for a day. He threw out his chest magnificently.

806
00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:02,679
But tomorrow I continue on my way. Can you fight,

807
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:08,239
they bated him. I can sing, he replied. And he

808
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:11,679
threw back his head with his wandering eyes and tender mouth,

809
00:53:12,039 --> 00:53:17,239
and sang the light of light, divine, true brightness, undefiled.

810
00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:21,559
He bears for us the shame of sin, a holy

811
00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:28,840
spotless child, and of the truce of God. By Mary

812
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:29,840
Robert's Rhinehart