it may be too that she clung to that dwelling that urin had set her in ere he went to the great war , hoping still faintly for his return , for none of the messengers that had borne the lamentable tidings from that field might say that he was dead , reporting only that none knew where he might be -- yet in truth those messengers were few and half-distraught , and now the years were slowly passing since the last blow fell on that most grievous day .