For myself I would leave the thing untold, lest a word of
it should seem to stain her whom I serve; it is by her own
command I write, that all may one day, in time's fullness, be
truly known, and those condemn who are without sin, while they
pity whose own hearts have fought the equal fight. So much for
her and him; for us less needs be said. It was not ours to weigh
her actions; we served her; him we had served. She was our queen;
we bore Heaven a grudge that he was not our king. The worst of
what befell was not of our own planning, no, nor of our hoping.
It came a thunderbolt from the hand of Rupert, flung carelessly
between a curse and a laugh;its coming entangled us more tightly
in the net of circumstances. Then there arose in us that strange
and overpowering desire of which I must tell later, filling us
with a zeal to accomplish our purpose, and to force Mr.
Rassendyll himself into the way we chose. Led by this star, we
pressed on through the darkness, until at length the deeper
darkness fell that stayed our steps. We also stand for judgment,
even as she and he. So I will write; but I will write plainly and
briefly, setting down what I must, and no more, yet seeking to
give truly the picture of that time, and to preserve as long as
may be the portrait of the man whose like I have not known.
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