'
So he spake; and Iron-face sat still and put his left hand to his
beard as one who pondereth; but the Bride looked in the face of the
old man the Fiddle, and then she turned and looked at Gold-mane, and
her face softened, and she stood before the Alderman, and bent down
before him and held out both her hands to him the palms upward. Then
she said: 'Thou hast been wroth with me, and I marvel not; for thy
hope, and the hope which we all had, hath deceived thee. But kind
indeed hast thou been to me ere now: therefore I pray thee take it
not amiss if I call to thy mind the oath which thou swearedst on the
Holy Boar last Yule, that thou wouldst not gainsay the prayer of any
man if thou couldest perform it; therefore I bid thee naysay not
mine: and that is, that thou wilt ask me no more about this matter,
but wilt suffer me to fare afield like any swain of the Dale, and to
deal so with my folk that they shall not hinder me. Also I pray thee
that thou wilt put no shame upon Face-of-god my playmate and my
kinsman, nor show thine anger to him openly, even if for a little
while thy love for him be abated.
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