"Sweet lady, the Lord fulfil all thy desires; yet, methinks, thou
art already as one of His saints."

"Nay, but a poor sinner in an evil world," she answered. "Sing to
me, Hilarius."

And he sang her the Salve Regina, and when it was ended she bade
him go, for she would fain spend some time in prayer upon her
primer.

"Our Lady and all Saints be with thee, sweet mistress!" he said,
and left her to sob out once more the sins and sorrows of her
tender childlike heart.



CHAPTER II--THE CITY THAT HILARIUS SAW



Hilarius went back to the courtyard, his soul full of trouble. He
leant against the fountain, playing with the cool water which fell
with monotonous rhythm into the shallow timeworn basin. The
cloudless sky smiled back at him from the broken mirror into which
he gazed, and the glory of its untroubled blue thrilled him
strangely. He too had a vision which he longed to limn; but it was
of earth, not Heaven, like that vouchsafed to Brother Ambrose; and
yet none the less precious, for was it not the Monastery at home
which so haunted him, the grey, familiar walls with their girdle of
sunlit pasture, and the mantling forest which bowed and swayed at