– They fell on their knees under the tree, they swore inviolable love to each other, they sealed the pact with the first kiss. – These are fruitful moods that must be lavished on Cordelia. – So this beech was a witness. Oh yes! a tree is a very suitable witness, but still not enough. You think, perhaps, the sky was also a witness, yet the sky in itself is a very abstract idea. But as far as that goes, there is still a witness. Ought I to stand up, let them see I am here? No, they might know me and that would ruin things.