"Why," said Sir Roel, "was my son so presumptuous as to attack the
Invincible?"
The Silent answered: "Anne-Mie hanged in the Gallows-field of Siewert
Halewyn."
"Woe!" cried Sir Roel, "our poor maid hanged! shame and sorrow
upon us!"
"Lord God," said Gonde, "you smite us hard indeed." And she wept.
But Magtelt could neither weep nor speak from the bitterness of the
grief which laid hold upon her.
And she looked at her brother fixedly, and his sunken face blenched,
and from the wounds against his eyes dropped tears of blood, and his
body was shaken with spasms.
And the Silent sank into a seat, weeping dully like a wounded lion.
"Ha," quoth Sir Roel, hiding his face, "this is the first man of the
house of Heurne that has found need to sit weeping. Shame upon us,
and without redress, for there is a spell woven."
And the Silent stuffed his fingers into the wound in his neck,
pressing out the blood; but he felt nothing of the pain.
"Toon," said the lady Gonde, "do not dirty your wound with your
fingers in this wise; you will poison it, my son."
But the Silent did not seem to hear.
"Toon," said the lady Gonde, "do not do it; I, your mother, order
you. Let me wash away this blood and dress with ointment these
ugly sores."
While she hurried to prepare the ointment and to warm the water in
a washing-basin, Toon did not cease his groaning and weeping. And he
tore out the hair from his beard in a rage.
And Sir Roel, watching him, said: "When a man weeps 'tis blood and
shame, shame without redress. Halewyn has a spell. Ah, presumptuous
one, must thou then go to his castle to brave the Invincible?"
"Woe, my lord," said the lady Gonde, "be not so bitter angry with the
Silent, for he showed fine courage in wishing to avenge Anne-Mie on
the Miserable."
"Yes," said Sir Roel, "fine courage that brings shame to our house."
"Tell," said she, "tell, Toon, the tale to thy father, to show him
that thou art a worthy son to him none the less."
"I wish it," said Sir Roel.
"My lord father," said the Silent, groaning, and speaking in short
breaths, "Anne-Mie hanging, Siewert Halewyn near to the gallows. He
was laughing. I ran at him, cutting at his belly with my sword in the
fashion of a cross to break the spell. Invincible! He laughed, saying:
'I will take Magtelt.' I struck him with a knife; the blade turned. He
laughed. He said: 'I do not care for punishment, be off.' I did not
go. I struck him with sword and knife together; in vain. He laughed. He
said again: 'Be off.' I could not. Then he struck me with the flat
of his sword in the neck and breast, and with the hilt in the back,
like a serf. He laughed. I lost sense from the blows. Beaten like a
serf, my lord father, I could do naught against him."
Sir Roel, having heard Toon speak, was less angered, understanding
that he had not been presumptuous, thinking also of his great pain
and of his bitter groaning and his grievous shame.
With the ointment ready and the water warm, the lady Gonde set to
work to dress the wounds of her son, particularly that on his neck,
which was a deep one.
But Magtelt wept never a tear, and soon went off to her bed, not
without a blessing from Sir Roel her father, and her lady mother.
The three stayed a long while together before the fire, father, mother,
and son, without a word spoken, for the Silent, moaning all the while,
could not bear his defeat, and the lady Gonde wept and prayed; and
Sir Roel, sad and ashamed, hid his face.