What have we done then?'
'Ye have done nought against me,' she said, 'and all that thou sayest
is sooth; yet will I not wed with Face-of-god.'
Yet fiercer waxed the face of the Alderman, and he said in a loud
voice:
'But how if I tell thee that I will speak with thy kindred of the
Steer, and thou shalt do after my bidding whether thou wilt or
whether thou wilt not?'
'And how will ye compel me thereto?' she said. 'Are there thralls in
the Dale? Or will ye make me an outlaw? Who shall heed it? Or I
shall betake me to Shadowy Vale and become one of their warrior-
maidens.'
Now was the Alderman's face changing from red to white, and belike he
forgat the Thing, and what he was doing there, and he cried out:
'This is an evil day, and who shall help me? Thou, Face-of-god, what
hast thou to say? Wilt thou let this woman go without a word? What
hath bewitched thee?'
But never a word spake his son, but stood looking straight forward,
cold and calm by seeming. Then turned Iron-face again to the Bride,
and said in a softer voice:
'Tell me, maiden, whom I erst called daughter, what hath befallen,
that thou wilt leave my son; thou who wert once so kind and loving to
him; whose hand was always seeking his, whose eyes were ever
following his; who wouldst go where he bade, and come when he called.
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