"
Did his voice soften as he recalled his debt? Randalin ventured to steal a
glance at his face,--then her own clouded with puzzlement. No haughtiness was
in it, but a kind of impatient pain, and now he winced under the smart and
stirred restlessly in his place. The lightness of the King's voice grated on
her ear.
"Then I think you must have got surprised, if this is true, which seems
impossible."
The Etheling answered almost impatiently, "If your mind feels doubt of it,
Lord Canute, you have but to ask your foster-brother, who conducted me
hither."
A while longer, Canute's keen eyes weighed him; then their sky was cleared of
the last cloud. The best expression of which his brilliant face was capable
was on it as he turned and held out his hand to the girl beside him.
"Shall we pledge our friendship anew, Frode's daughter?" was all he said; but
she knew from his look that he had taken her under his shield for all time to
come; and it was something to know, now when her world seemed falling about
her. For an instant, as she yielded her trembling fingers to his palm, her
groping spirit turned and clung to him, craving his sympathy.
It seemed that he divined the appeal, for with the hand that pressed hers he
drew her forward a step. "Is it not your wish to speak to the Lord of
Ivarsdale yourself and thank him for keeping his troth with Fridtjof?" he said
kindly; and without waiting for an answer, moved away and joined a group of
those who had been his companions before the interruption.
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