Ten days they abode in the house of Littledale in all good cheer, andJoanna led Goldilind here and there about the woods, and made much ofher, so that the heart within her was full of joy, for the freedom of thewild-woods and all the life thereof was well-nigh new to her; whereas onthe day of her flight from Greenharbour, and on two other such times,deadly fear, as is aforesaid, was mingled with her joyance, and would havethe punishment to come. But now she was indeed free, and it seemed toher, as to Christopher when he was but new healed of his hurt, as if all thisbright beauty of tree and flower, and beast and bird, was but made for heralone, and she wondered that her fellow could be so calm and sedateamidst of all this pleasure. And now, forsooth, was her queenhoodforgotten, and better and better to her seemed Christopher's valiant love;and the meeting in the hall of the eventide was so sweet to her, that shemight do little but stand trembling whiles Christopher came up to her, andJoanna's trim feet were speeding her over the floor to meet her man, thatshe might be a sharer in his deeds of the day.
Many tales withal Joanna told the Queen of the deeds of her husbandand his kindred, and of the freeing of her and the other three from theircaptivity at Wailing Knowe, and of the evil days they wore there beforethe coming of their lads, which must have been worser by far, thoughtGoldilind, than the days of Greenharbour; so with all these tales, and thehappy days in the house of the wild-woods, Goldilind now began to deemof this new life as if there had been none other fated for her, so much apart was she now become of the days of those woodmen and wolf-heads.