Yea, however it may be,
take thou this gift as the reward of thine exceeding beauty.'
She looked on him with kind eyes, and said meekly:
'Indeed, if I have hurt thee unwittingly, I grieve to have hurt so
good a man. Hereafter belike we may talk more of this, but now I
will but say, that whereas at first I needed but to win thy son's
goodwill, so that our Folk might come to life and thriving again, now
it is come to this, that he holdeth my heart in his hand and may do
what he will with it; therefore I pray thee withhold not thy love
either from him or from me.'
He looked on her wondering, and said: 'Thou art such an one as might
make the old man young, and the boy grow into manhood suddenly; and
thy voice is as sweet as the voice of the song-birds singing in the
dawn of early summer soundeth to him who hath been sick unto death,
but who hath escaped it and is mending. And yet I fear thee.'
Therewith he kissed her hand and turned unto the others, and he gave
unto Bow-may a hauberk of ring-mail of his own fashioning, a sure
defence and a wonderful work, and the collar thereof was done with
gold and gems.
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