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Answald sent all out, and continued to vex himself alone. At last he went to the Princess, and spoke to her also angry words, and little praise of her nephew, Theodulf. Gundren changed color; she saw well that she had ventured too much, and that her husband was with good reason anxious about evil reports, and she spoke to him appeasingly:

"What has happened with the maidens ought to be a warning for the strangers, that they also may respect the rights of the house; it is now arranged, and will in the future be avoided; therefore do not thou care further about it. As to what concerns my relation, thou knowest well how truly he has served thee, and that on thy account he bears his scar." When she had succeeded in pacifying her lord a little, she continued:

"How free from anxiety did all appear in house and field a few months ago; but now peace has disappeared from the house, there is discord in the country, and the anger of the King threatens us with difficulties. A distinguished man is thy guest, but misfortune follows his footsteps. I think of thy daughter, my lord; she prays that her marriage with Theodulf may be given up. The mind of the child raises itself against the will of her parents."

"What has Ingo to do with the ill-will of the maiden?" asked the Prince, angrily.

Gundren looked at him with open eyes. "He who rides upon horses heeds little the herbs on the ground. Observe, my lord, her looks and cheeks whenever she speaks to the stranger."

"No wonder that he pleases her," replied the Prince.

"But if he should think of marriage?"

"That is impossible," exclaimed the Prince, with a discordant laugh. "He is an exile, without possessions and property."

"It is warm in the forest arbor, sitting by the hearth," continued the Princess.

"Could a stranger venture on anything so mad --- a man who does not belong to our people, and has no other right than that of being tolerated in the country? Thou art unnecessarily anxious, Gundren, but the thought of it even excites my spirit."

"If thou thinkest so," said the Princess, with emphasis, "then thou shouldst not rejoice in the day on which he entered our house, nor in the song in the hall, nor in the wandering men who now dwell with us, boasting of the rights of hospitality, and consuming the property of my lord. The King desires to have the stranger; let him go, before he and his troop occasion sorrow to many among us."

"Dost thou know more of the intimacy betwixt him and my child than thou hast told me?" asked the Prince, standing before her.

"Only what may be discovered by him who chooses to see," answered the Princess, cautiously.

"I have received him with great acclamations and a joyful heart," continued Answald; "now I can not send him away as one who is a burden. It is the father's right to choose a husband for his daughter, and there can be no marriage for the child but through the father; that thy child knows also, for she is not without sense. I bethink me of the oath which I have made to thy friends; but do thou restrain, if thou canst, the arrogance of thy nephew, and take care that he may make himself more estimable to our child than he now is, lest the stubbornness of the maiden should break out in the approaching spring, when we adorn her for her marriage."

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