t together in a great
bed in a room in the tower; and Christopher dared that night to
encircle his brother with his arms, and tell him that he loved him,
and that he wished there were something small or great that he could
do for him. And Henry, who loved not caresses, said laughing, that he
should not need his services for a long time. "But when I am old and
weary and have done many deeds of blood, then you may pray for me if
you will." Then Christopher would have had him talk awhile, but Henry
said he was weary and must sleep, and turned away, adding that he
would wake betimes in the morning and that they would talk then. And
Christopher lay and heard him breathe softly, and at last, wearied
out, he slept. But Henry woke in the dawn, and thinking of a stag that
came down to pull the hay from the ricks, and half fearing, too, his
brother's tears and sighs, dressed himself quietly and stole away
while Christopher slept, thinking that he would return to see him go.
And when Christopher woke and found his brother gone, he fell into
such a passion of grief that he heeded nothing else, but went through
his farewells so stonily and dumbly that the Baron made haste to set
him on his journey; and Henry did not return.

So Christopher passed into the holy life, but choosing not to be a
priest, he became a monk of the strictest discipline, so that the
monks wondered at his holiness. But they at the Castle soon forgot him
and thought no more of the frail child.

Then it happened that the Baron rode one day in the sun, and coming
home, dismounted, and fell dizzily upon his face; they laid him in his
chamber, but he never spoke, only breathed heavily; and that night he
died. And Henry, who was now of age, thought but little of his
father's death because of the respect that all paid him, and of the
wealth and power that thus flowed suddenly into his hands. And he
married a fair maiden called the Lady Alice, who bore him a son; and
he ruled diligently in his lands, and rode to battle, and lived such a
life as he best loved.

But one day there fell upon him a heaviness of limb and a loathing for
food; and though they daily tended him, he grew no better; soon he
could not even sit upon his horse, but became so pale and wasted that
he could hardly rise from his chair. And some thought that a spell was
cast upon him, but that mended not matters at all; the king's own
leech came to visit him, and shook his head, saying that no art coul