Then, in great impatience, she caught at the white
lilies under which he lay; and, as she broke the flower-crowned
stems, Hilarius stirred and cried out in his sleep, whereat she
plucked the faster. Of a sudden Prior Stephen was as one set free.
He strode to the woman's side: there was but one lily left. He
laid his hand on her shoulder, for speech was still far from him:
and she fell back from the one remaining blossom with a cry of
fear--and Prior Stephen awoke, for behold! it was a dream; but he
was sore troubled.
"Maybe," said he, "evil threatens the lad, such evil as slew his
mother, on whom God have mercy!" And sighing heavily he took his
way to the great Rood and made supplication for his son.
Far away, under a southern sky, in one of the great palaces of
Florence, there stood a woman of fair stature, with tight-clenched
hands, whose many jewels bit the tender flesh. Her russet eyes
flashed under threatening brows, her teeth held fast the curling
upper lip. Great, alack! was her fame: men crept to her knee like
spaniels craving favour.
Pages:
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112