– It is your destiny, my daughter, to be a wife and mother," said Sir Guise affectionately. For a moment he was bitter that his only child would be leaving home, but he immediately consoled himself with the thought that Philip could enter the king's inner circle and persuade him to restore the Guises to their title, fortune, and castles.
– I realise that, Father, and I will not disappoint you. – Brigid kissed her father timidly on the cheek and then touched the back of his hand with her lips with feeling. – Tell your mother everything, and I will bring joyfull news to Alienor. – With a deep curtsy, the girl left her father's room, fighting the hot tears that once again came to her violet eyes.
***
The old servants laughed with joy and clutched at their hearts: the master's son had returned from the war! Oh, how he had grown up! Ah, alive and well! Not a cripple! Arms and legs in place! The young maids, who were seeing Philip Norton for the first time, abandoned their work and looked at him with rapt attention. This castle had never seen such a handsome man! Those long white curls, that somewhat oblong but handsome face, those impossibly dazzling eyes, blue as the summer sky! He is tall, his chest is so broad, and his left palm rests menacingly on the hilt of a large sword hidden in a metal scabbard! Who is he? Where does he come from?
– He looks like our Miss Alienor! Could he be her brother? – One of the girls guessed as the richly dressed nobleman disappeared around the corner of a wide stone corridor decorated with expensive tapestries, among which a huge dark green tapestry with the Norton tree was a special place.
The girls whispered and agreed that the handsome man was indeed Miss Alienor's brother, and therefore the son of Sir and Lady Norton, and they hurried to find an older servant to ask the poor fellow what he knew of the handsome young Norton.
But Philip was completely oblivious to the lustful and admiring glances of the maids: he was looking at Brigid, his copper-haired bride, so modest, so shy… How sweet it would be to undress her himself on their wedding night! Of course, he will not be allowed to take off her wedding dress, but still he will get the most tasty piece of the bride's garment: her white, long, night gown. He takes it off slowly, so as not to frighten the chaste Brigid, and when the dress is on the floor, he will cover the bride's body with soft, tender kisses…