She kissed me as if she were fond of me for his
sake."
Gilbert started a little, and his teeth set together, while he clasped
his hands over one knee and waited to hear more. Beatrix understood his
look, and knew that she had unintentionally hurt him. She laid her hand
softly upon his arm.
"Forgive me," she said. "I should not talk about it."
"No," he said harshly, "go on! I feel nothing; I am past feeling there.
They were kind to you at first, you said."
"Yes," she continued, looking at him sideways. "They were kind when
they remembered to be, but they often forgot. And then, it was hard to
treat her with respect when I came to know how she had got your
inheritance for my father, and how she had let you leave England to
wander about the world. And then, last year, it seemed to me all at
once that I was a woman and could not bear it any longer, for I saw
that she hated me. And when a son was born to them, my father turned
against me and threatened that he would send me to a nunnery. So I
fled, one day when my father had ridden to Stoke and the Lady Goda was
sleeping in her chamber. A groom and my handmaid helped me and went
with me, for my father would have hanged them if they had stayed
behind; so I took refuge with the Empress Maud at Oxford, and soon
there came a letter from the Queen of France to the Empress, asking
that I might be sent to the French court if I would. And something of
the reason for the Queen's wish I can guess. But not all.
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