t if
he had not thought that they would see him. He is blithe that he
has so much of his lady-love; but he does not think or expect to
have ever any other boon of her. His desire makes him fear;
nevertheless, when he is alone he kisses it more than a hundred
thousand times when he has left the queen. Now it seems to him
that he was born in a lucky hour. Very great joy does he have of
it all night, but he takes good care that no one sees him. When
he has lain down in his bed, he delights and consoles him self
fruitlessly with that in which there is no delight; all night he
embraces the shirt, and when he beholds the hair he thinks he is
lord of all the world. Truly Love makes a wise man a fool: since
he has joy, he will change his pastime before the bright dawn and
the sunlight. The traitors are holding counsel as to what they
will be able to do and what will become of them. Long time they
will be able to defend the castle; that is a certainty if they
apply themselves to the defence; but they know that the king is
of so fierce a courage that in all his life he will never turn
away until he has taken it; then they must needs die. And if they
surrender the castle they expect no grace for that. Thus the one
lot or the other; it has fallen out ill for them; for they have
no reinforcement, and they see death on all sides. But the end of
their deliberation is that to-morrow, before day appears, they
resolve to issue forth secretly from the castle, and to fall on
the host unarmed, and the knights asleep, since they will still
be lying in their beds. Before these have awakened, apparelled
and equipped, themselves, they will have made such slaughter that
ever hereafter shall be related the battle of that night. To this
plan all the traitors cling from desperation, for they have no
confidence as to their lives. Lack of hope as to the outcome
emboldens them to the battle, for they see no issue for
themselves except through death or prison. Such an issue is no
wholesome one, nor need they trouble to flee, nor do they see
where they could find refuge if they should have fled; for the
sea and their enemies are around them, and they in the midst. No
longer do they tarry at their council: now they apparel and arm
themselves, and issue forth towards the north-west by an ancient
postern towards that side whence they thought that those of the
host would least expect to see them come. In serried ranks they
sallied forth: of their men they