er hastily, seeing the gravity in the Duke's face--"for
indeed you have been as a true father to me."

The Duke said no more at that time, for he cared not to give untimely
advice, and a moment after, a bell began to toll in the silence, and
the chaplain came habited to conduct the Prince to his chapel. So they
went the three of them together.

It was dark and still within the church; in front of the altar-steps
were set a faldstool and a chair, where the Duke might pray, or sit if
he were weary; two tall wax lights stood beside, and lit up the
crimson cloth and the gold fringes, so that it seemed like a rare
flower blossoming in the dark. A single light, in a silver lamp hung
by a silver chain, burnt before the altar; all else was dim; but they
could see the dark stalls of the choir, with their carven canopies,
over which hung the banners of old knights, that moved softly to and
fro; beyond were the pillars of the aisles, glimmering faintly in a
row. The roof and windows were dark, save where here and there a rib
of stone or a tracery stood out very rich and dim. All about there was
a kind of holy smell, of wood and carven stone and incense-smoke.

The chaplain knelt beneath the altar; and the Prince knelt down at the
faldstool, the Duke beside him on the floor. And just as the old bell
of the castle tolled the hour, and died away in a soft hum of sound,
as sweet as honey, the chaplain said an ancient prayer, the purport of
which was that the Christian must watch and pray; that only the pure
heart might see God; and asking that the Prince might be blest with
wisdom, as the Emperor Solomon was, to do according to the will of the
Father.

Then the chaplain and the Duke withdrew; but as the Duke rose up, he
laid his hand on the Prince's head and said, "God be with you, dear
son, and open your eyes." And Renatus looked up at him and smiled.

Then the Duke went back to the little room, and prayed abundantly. It
was arranged that he should wait there until the Prince's vigil was
over, when he would go to attend him forth; and so the Prince was left
by himself.

For a time Renatus prayed, gathering up the strength of his mind to
pray earnestly; but other thoughts kept creeping in, like children
peeping and beckoning from a door. So he rose up after a little, and
looked about him; and something of the solemnity of the night and the
place came into his mind.

Then, after a while, he sate, his armour clinking lightly as