midday
Elspeth followed him to the heights and watched him journeying southward through the trees . Then when he was out of sight , she went back to the cave and sat down , meditating how she might prevent the meeting she had planned and turn the appointment to a very different account . She waited for Aasta to return , intending to send the maid at once to Rothesay to warn Earl Kenric that his outlawed uncle was in the island . But as Aasta did not appear before midday , Elspeth took her cloak and staff and prepared to go herself to the castle . She was putting some new fuel upon the fire , when the curtain at the cave 's entrance was drawn aside , and there she saw Kenric himself . He wore an otter skin cap that covered his ears , and a great cloak of sheepskins . `` Give you good day , my lord , '' said the old woman , her eyes brightening as she offered him a seat beside the fire .