The tears were now running freely down the boy’s face, he took her hand in both his and smothered it with kisses. “Oh, Joan, Joan, my little Joan, how can I bear it? How can you really be dead and I alive? Why is the world so cruel? Oh, Joan, if only I could have died for you.” Aline bent over and kissed him on the forehead. “She told me to give you that,” she said; then, after a pause, she went on;--“I am only a little girl and I do not pretend to understand things, Wilfred. But think, if you had died as you have been wishing, poor little Joan would have been as unhappy as you are now. These things are a mystery and yet somehow I feel that the spirit of light in its own way and its own time must triumph over the spirit of darkness. I have always felt that; and now that I have my new faith, I am more sure of it than ever.” “I do not see how that can be,” said Wilfred, “and yet as you speak I seem to feel better.” “I do not understand it myself,” said Aline, “but I have been right before.” Wilfred looked at her. Had this wonderful child with the strange deep dark blue eyes some power that other mortals had not? “Angus,” said Ian’s voice from the other side of the room, “Walter has sent us some money; he also offers to help us in every way he can, and there are some other items that will interest you about the rumours he heard in Carlisle. They seem to think we rode through Carlisle and went to Penrith or Keswick. I have written a short note to Walter, which Wilfred can take back. Did you come in the night, Will?” “Yes, I got a lift on an empty wagon going back to Longtown. There was straw in the bottom and I slept all the way.” “I am afraid _I_ could not sleep in a wagon,” said Ian. “Come and join us at our meal, Wilfred.” They had their meal and afterwards sat and talked until it was time for Wilfred to return. After he had gone, Aline and Ian set off to the camp where the Earl of Hawick lay. When they arrived Ian asked if he might see the Earl, as he wished to offer his services. The sentry looked at him very dubiously and then at Aline, after which he seemed a little more satisfied, as she was better dressed. Finally he called the officers of the guard, who subjected them to a similar scrutiny. “I think I can see to your business, my man,” he said. “Thank you, I have a special message for my lord of Hawick,” said Ian. Aline started at the tone and looked at Ian: there was a quiet hauteur about it that she had never heard before. The man seemed to notice it too. “Who is it that wishes to see the Earl?” he said. “Say, Ian Menstrie, son of Alexander Menstrie; that will do.” Aline felt a little nervous; as she had never met a real Earl and had something of the child’s imagination about the grandeur of such personages. The officer returned very quickly, but the change in his manner seemed almost to make him a different man. “Your Grace,” he said, bowing very low, “the Earl of Hawick is coming at once.”