Iselin, are
you here, lover of life? And have you Diderik there? ... But my head
grew heavier still, and I floated off on the waves of sleep.
_Lul! lul!_ A voice speaking, as if the Seven Stars themselves were
singing through my blood; Iselin's voice:
"Sleep, sleep! I will tell you of my love while you sleep. I was
sixteen, and it was springtime, with warm winds; Dundas came. It was
like the rushing of an eagle's flight. I met him one morning before the
hunt set out; he was twenty-five, and came from far lands; he walked by
my side in the garden, and when he touched me with his arm I began to
love him. Two red spots showed in his forehead, and I could have kissed
those two red spots.
"In the evening after the hunt I went to seek him in the garden, and I
was afraid lest I should find him. I spoke his name softly to myself,
and feared lest he should hear. Then he came out from the bushes and
whispered: 'An hour after midnight!' And then he was gone.
"'An hour after midnight,' I said to myself--'what did he mean by that?
I cannot understand. He must have meant he was going away to far lands
again; an hour after midnight he was going away--but what was it to me?'
"An hour after midnight he came back."
"'May I sit there by you?' he said.
"'Yes,' I told him.
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