She still held Denise close to her.
“What did the woman St. Aguecheek say? Bah, all lies, I tell you. Such cow-eyed women lie for the sake of piety. The man say that of you? I know better. Come, Denise, listen to me; I know a man when I have looked him in the eyes.”
She turned Denise’s face to hers and kissed her.
“That was a clean kiss,” she said, “and by its cleanness I’ll swear that beldam Ursula lied. What of Messire Aymery? A man, child, a rock man with an arm that can smite. Grace be with me, but he would have given you his own heart to mend your broken one. I spoke with him, and I know.”
Denise lay at rest in Marpasse’s lap.
“Why should Ursula have lied?” she asked.
“Why do dogs eat grass, and vomit? What! I know the woman, eyes that see the point of a pin and miss the moon, a
