They go to bed, as it was skill1618 and right;
For though that wivës be full holy things,
They mustë take in patience at night
Such manner1619 necessaries as be pleasings
To folk that have y-wedded them with rings,
And lay a lite1620 their holiness aside
As for the time, it may no better betide.
On her he got a knavë1621 child anon,
And to a Bishop and to his Constable eke
He took his wife to keep, when he is gone
To Scotland-ward, his foemen for to seek.
Now fair Constance, that is so humble and meek,
So long is gone with childë till that still
She held her chamb’r, abiding Christë’s will
The time is come, a knavë child she bare;
Mauricius at the font-stone they him call.
This Constable doth forth come1622 a messenger,
And wrote unto his king that clep’d was All’,
How that this blissful tiding is befall,
And other tidings speedful for to say.
He1623 hath the letter, and forth he go’th his way.
This messenger, to do his ávantage,1624
Unto the kingë’s mother rideth swithe,1625
And saluteth1626 her full fair in his languáge.
“Madame,” quoth he, “ye may be glad and blithe,
And thankë God an hundred thousand sithe;1627
My lady queen hath child, withoutë doubt,
To joy and bliss of all this realm about.
“Lo, here the letter sealed of this thing,
That I must bear with all the haste I may:
If ye will aught unto your son the king,
I am your servant both by night and day.”
Donegild answér’d, “As now at this time, nay;
But here I will all night thou take thy rest,
To-morrow will I say thee what me lest.”1628
This messenger drank sadly1629 ale and wine,
And stolen were his letters privily
Out of his box, while he slept as a swine;
And counterfeited was full subtilly
Another letter, wrote full sinfully,
Unto the king, direct of this mattére
From his Constable, as ye shall after hear.
This letter said, the queen deliver’d was
Of so horrible a fiendlike creatúre,
That in the castle none so hardy1630 was
That any while he durst therein endure:
The mother was an elf by áventure
Become,1631 by charmës or by sorcery,
And every man hated her company.
Woe was this king when he this letter had seen,
But to no wight he told his sorrows sore,
But with his owen hand he wrote again;
“Welcome the sond1632 of Christ for evermore
To me, that am now learned in this lore:1633
Lord, welcome be thy lust1634 and thy pleasance,
My lust I put all in thine ordinance.
“Keepë1635 this child, all be it foul or fair,
And eke my wife, unto mine homecoming:
Christ when him list may send to me an heir,
More agreeáble than this to my liking.”
This letter he sealed, privily weeping.
Which to the messenger was taken soon,
And forth he went, there is no more to do’n.1636
O messenger full fill’d of drunkenness,
Strong is thy breath, thy limbës falter aye,
And thou betrayest allë secretness;
Thy mind is lorn,1637 thou janglest as a jay;
Thy face is turned in a new array;1638
Where drunkenness reigneth in any rout,1639
There is no counsel hid, withoutë doubt.
O Donegild, I have no English dign1640
Unto thy malice, and thy tyranny:
And therefore to the fiend I thee resign,
Let him indite of all thy treachery.
Fy, mannish,1641 fy! O nay, by God I lie;
Fy, fiendlike spirit! for I dare well tell,
Though thou here walk, thy spirit is in hell.
This messenger came from the king again,
And at the kingë’s mother’s court he light,1642
And she was of this messenger full fain,1643
And pleased him in all that e’er she might.
He drank, and well his girdle underpight;1644
He slept, and eke he snored in his guise
All night, until the sun began to rise.
Eft1645 were his letters stolen every one,
And counterfeited letters in this wise:
The king commanded his Constable anon,
On pain of hanging and of high jewíse,1646
That he should suffer in no manner wise
Constance within his regne1647 for to abide
Three dayës, and a quarter of a tide;1648
But in the samë ship as he her fand,
Her and her youngë son, and all her gear,
He shouldë put, and crowd1649 her from the land,
And charge her, that she never eft come there.
O my Constance, well may thy ghost1650 have fear,
And sleeping in thy dream be in penánce,1651
When Donegild cast1652 all this ordinance.1653
This messenger, on morrow when he woke,
Unto the castle held the nextë1654 way,
And to the constable the letter took;
And when he this dispiteous1655 letter sey,1656
Full oft he said, “Alas, and well-away!
Lord Christ,” quoth he, “how may this world endure?
So full of sin is many a creature.
“O mighty God, if that it be thy will,
Since thou art rightful judge, how may it be
That thou wilt suffer innocence to spill,1657
And wicked folk reign in prosperity?
Ah! good Constance, alas! so woe is me,
That I must be thy tormentor, or dey1658
A shameful death, there is no other way.”
Wept bothë young and old in all that place,
When that the king this cursed letter sent;
And Constance, with a deadly palë face,
The fourthë day toward her ship she went:
But natheless she took in good intent
The will of Christ, and kneeling on the strond1659
She saidë, “Lord, aye welcome be thy sond.1660
“He that me keptë from the falsë blame,
While I was in the land amongës you,
He can me keep from harm and eke from shame
In the salt sea, although I see not how:
As strong as ever he was, he is yet now,
In him trust I, and in his mother dear;
That is to me my sail and eke
