The primroses bloomed thick upon it now, and here and there
along it was a low blackthorn bush in full blossom; from the mid-
meadow and right down to the lip of the brook was the grass well nigh
hidden by the blossoms of the meadow-saffron, with daffodils
sprinkled about amongst them, and in the trees and bushes the birds,
and chiefly the blackbirds, were singing their loudest.
There sat Face-of-god on the bank resting after his toil, and happy
was his mood; since in two days' wearing he should be pacing the
Maiden Ward awaiting the token that was to lead him to Shadowy Vale;
so he sat calling to mind the Friend as he had last seen her, and
striving as it were to set her image standing on the flowery grass
before him, till all the beauty of the meadow seemed bare and empty
to him without her. Then it fell into his mind that this had been a
beloved trysting-place betwixt him and the Bride, and that often when
they were little would they come to gather chestnuts in the grove,
and thereafter sit and prattle on the old dyke; or in spring when the
season was warm would they go barefoot into the brook, seeking its
treasures of troutlets and flowers and clean-washed agate pebbles.
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