Storp of Iking
anb ©ueen atmce
Cfjnt I&tnfi Sglbain anto <®ueen afoifc banccti in tjje
ITbe Ston? of Ifting
anb (Slueen
riDargaret
mitt) Ullustratfons
Dfcorattons fag &arai) &. Sttlltaell
gorfc
ITbe flDacmillan Company
Co.,
|fl C ffl 5 F 2111 rights restrbrt
COPYRIGHT, 1904,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up, electrotyped, and published March, 1904.
J. S. Gushing & Co.— Her wick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., I'.S.A.
BetucatttJ to
&unafoags in Spirit
OOOQQ21
&&{,4iJ*J+~*'*-
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
met &ueen ftimie
secretly in tlje Garden, anD of Wfytti
jfligtlt . 13
CHAPTER II
tlje feing and tlje €iueen toettt
ontoarD in tlje j^igl)t, and Ijott) tEljep
roue toitl) tlje Carter 23
CHAPTER III
tlje booing of €iueen 0ime'e * 33
CHAPTER IV
anD €iueen 0ime'e
tnere toeDDeD b^ tlje l^ol^ span, and of
..... 47
5
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PAGE
f t^e ilton tljat tame against tEljem
in t&e forest * « « 59
CHAPTER VI
tlje J?ounD pursueD anD founD
(Eljem, anD of tlje Spantle tljat toa0
maDe of tlje ilion'0 ^>hin « * 69
CHAPTER VII
anD
toare Hobe0 of tEinsel at tlje
ming, anD of tlje Merriment thereof 81
CHAPTER VIII
f Ijoto tEljep toent etier ^>outljtoarD anD
of tlje 0geD ^ranDam . . * 95
CHAPTER IX
f tye gorging of tlje king's £>toorD
at tlje ^>mit^ « , « » 109
6
CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
PAGE
IjiD tEtjemsfelbes in tlje ©afc
from QTljem tfcat pursues, anD
of t^e jfigtjt bettoeen £>it &i\\t$ anD
ir IBertranO * « » « 119
CHAPTER XI
J?oto ^tng ^v^atn anD &ueen
toanDereD tlje totyole Rummer
anD of tl)e ^jDla^ of ^ar^ tljat
in t^je Spinsftcr . » » 135
CHAPTER XII
f tlie iloDge of
maDe b^ fyt g>ea « * » « 145
CHAPTER XIII
t^e Coming of &it (Sillesf « . 159
7
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV
PAGE
f tlje &ueen'$ ^outfetoiferi?, ano ijoto
tlje &ing cartoeD 011 Banner of
for to use * * * 171
CHAPTER XV
f tlje C^urltgl) ^nigl)t tljac
atoai? tlje €iueen, ano ^oto tlje ili
» » 183
CHAPTER XVI
tlje ^afetng of tlje femg*0 ^arDen 195
CHAPTER XVII
f ttje Return of £>tr (Sillesf anD to^at
befell thereafter » 205
CHAPTER XVIII
f tjoto feing ^Ibain anD €iueen
0imee toent bacfe to tljeir ^tngoom,
ano of prmte H;uglje0 . , » 217
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIX
PAGE
Ijoto &ing ^plfcam ana &ueen
returned to ttje jforesft for to
» • » » * » 231
ILLUSTRATIONS
tn ana €iueen #imee
Danceo in tlje £>unstyine Frontispiece
PAGE
anD €iueen are refre0^t> b^
tlje Carter^ ^SEtfe * « » 35
femg anD €iueen go to tlje ^um#
mtng ...... 87
anu dueen Ijitie in tlie ©afe
» » » » » 127
^ing ano &ueen coofe tljeir §>up^
* » « • « » 153
iiueen ant) c^e prince . * 237
1 1
CHAPTER I
met
in tfce ^aroen, anD of
THE STORY OF KING SYLVAIN
AND QUEEN AIMEE
CHAPTER I
met
in ttje Garden, ana of tEljeir jrligljt
Now this is a story of something that
happened when the world was young, but
whether that was long ago or of late years I
cannot say, for the world is always young so
long as the feet of lovers go forth in the
grass. On a day there were gathered to-
gether in the city of Wannamere many kings
and queens, but whether it was for jousting
or an holy feast I have forgot. There was
King Jeannot of Lointerre, and Queen
Jeanette, and the King and Queen of North
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
Gardenne, and the old King of Nemoland,
and Queen Doraine of Wisterniss, and King
Geoffrey of the Morasses, and Queen Elise
of Villerme, and many other more. When
their matter was finished, and some had
already departed to their own homes, King
Sylvain spake secretly unto Queen Aimee
and begged her for pity to meet him by the
acacias in the garden near the fountain when
the moon should rise, and the Queen bowed
her head and said nothing, but much she
marvelled why he would have her go.
More he spake not, for many were listening,
to wit: two pages that held the Queen's
train, and three ladies in waiting on the right
hand and on the left, also the Warden of the
Bedchamber, and the Seneschal, Sir Landis,
with other knights and gentlewomen.
So when dusk was come, and or ever
the stars were lighted, Queen Aimee stole
16
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
secretly forth from the castle and found her
way by the trees of the garden to the tryst-
ing place, and King Sylvain stole forth also,
and together they met by the fountain, and
there was one star now in the sky.
"What wouldst thou?" asked the Queen.
Then the King sighed a great sigh and
stretched himself.
" I would have my liberty," said King
Sylvain.
"Art not free," asked Queen Aimee,
" and thou a King ? "
" Nay, but a very bondslave," he made
answer, as one wroth. " Watched am I by
day and by night. Never may I go forth
but many follow, never may I bide at home
but all likewise stay. I may not read but
one watcheth me, and if I would but write
a verse, I must go for to sit in state. A
morsel of food may I not take but all look
B 17
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN
on, nor may I draw on my own doublet.
The veriest serf in my kingdom is happier
than I, for he is free of his own hair, but
mine may I not touch for one that combeth
it for me."
"What wouldst thou then," said the
Queen, " an thy lot liketh thee not ? "
" I would have," said the King, and he
stroked his beard, " a garden of my own
where I might dig at my will. And there
would I have none with me save one only,
and rose and violet and quince and peach
also would I grow for her in the sun."
Then Queen Aimee fell a-trembling,
though she said no word, and in the dusk
was the King ware of the beating of his
own heart.
" And that one ? " asked Queen Aimee.
"Is thyself," said the King, and he
took her two hands in his and kissed
18
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
them many times. Then the King wished
greatly that the moon were up, for though
he needed not its light to tell him of her
beauty he would fain have seen whether
she was angered or no.
" Alas, that it may not be ! " said the
Queen.
" But wherefore ? " asked King Sylvain.
"Art not thou also aweary, and wouldst
thou not fain know the open road ? "
"Of a truth," said Queen Aimee, "it
is even so with me."
" Now am I glad," quoth King Sylvain.
"Hark, 'tis the nightingale!" And in
truth one sang to them from the acacia
tree near at hand.
It was the month when the young
leaves come forth, and in the garden the
air smelled freshly of many things that
grew there. And for a time, till the moon
19
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
arose in the east, they stood and watched,
for there was revelling in the castle, and
lights moving to and fro, and from far
they heard the music and knew that many
feet danced thereto. Then the Queen
found her voice and spake.
" It were wrong for us both," she said
stoutly. " Thy kingdom is for thee to
rule and not for another."
" Sweetheart," said the King, and he
took her in his arms, "when in my life
have I had in anything mine own way ?
Wish I one thing, the Archbishop vetoeth
it, or wish I another, the Lords say it may
not be. 'Tis but a painted figurehead I
am on the prow of the ship of state."
Then the Queen was silent, for 'tis
marvellous how the arms of a man may
convince a woman when she loveth, how-
ever secretly, for Queen Aimee loved
20
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AL\l£E
King Sylvain, though he knew it not,
and what he did in asking her thus away
he only dared, knowing not the issue.
" And so," said the King, " this very
night will we steal away."
" An thou wouldst be free of thy king-
dom," said Oueen Aimee, "why not call
thy Lords and the Archbishop, and lay
down thy crown and go in peace ? "
" 'Twould be but another ceremony,"
said the King, " and that may I not abide.
Also must I win thee forth to wander with
me, else miss I the joy of mine escape."
So it was agreed atween them, and they
went back to the castle, he to his chamber
and she to hers, and when all was quiet
and the torches out, they met by the
postern gate. It chanced that the King
had with him a key, for it was his own
castle and it hight Durance, and the
21
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
warden was asleep, so he fitted it into
the lock, and breathed not, and it turned,
and behold ! they felt the grass beneath
their feet. Then they looked and saw
the castle standing dark with turret and
tower against the sky, and were glad to
be outside. The Queen had borrowed
a gown from one of her waiting women
and had left a jewel in its place, and the
King was clad in a squire's dress.
"'Tis the first time I have clothed myself,"
said the King, " and my buckles be wrong."
" I will right them for thee," said the
Queen, so she felt and set right the buckles
at his throat, but her hands trembled as
for fear.
So King Sylvain and Queen Aimee
went forth alone on the highway in the
night, and by this the light of the moon
had hidden the light of the stars.
22
CHAPTER II
tlje feing ano ttje ihteen toent
in ti)t ^igljti ano Ijoto W$w roue toit^i
Carter
CHAPTER II
J?oto tije fting ana tlje &ueen toent ontoaru
in tlje ^igljt, ana Ijoto ®\)ty roDe foitlj tlje
Carter
" WHITHER fare we ? " asked the Queen,
when it was dawn, or ever the sun ariseth,
and toward the east there was red in the
sky.
" That know I not," said the King, mer-
rily. " I would go as the leaf goeth, over
the down afore the wind. Listen how the
birds waken among the leaves ! "
All that night had they travelled to one
step on the highway, nor were they weary
at the crowing of the cock. Nor King
nor Queen had known afore the touch of
the night wind under the stars, for they be
27
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
much shut within stone walls, and I have
heard say that both windows and beds be
heavily curtained with rich stuffs. Ever the
King whistled as he went, and the Queen
now and then sang a snatch of song.
" Now that I find that I have the legs of
a man, I marvel much that I went so long
through the motions of a puppet," said the
King, and he stretched his legs upon the
road.
How old they were I may not tell, but
years enough had they known to see the
wishes of their hearts go astray. For glad
hours had they waited and had waited in
vain. Children they were not, but if there
were grey hairs at the King's temples, I dare
not say it, nor would any other romancer,
for all think that joy cometh but in youth,
and though I wot better I put it not in my
tales.
28
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
Anon sunlight came over the hill to east-
ward, and fell on the Queen's face, and it
was sudden sorrowful, and sorrow fitted not
well upon it, for it was all too fair. To the
King she spake, laying her hand upon his
arm.
" Thou hast left all to go forth with me.
Will it never repent thee ? "
" Nay," said the King.
" But rich clothes and soft beds hast thou
left behind thee, and a king's food, and thou
hast nothing save only me."
" There be grass and sweet branches of
pine for sleeping," said the King, "and my
garments please me well, nor are stiff with
buckram and with cloth of silk," but of her
he said nothing, and the Queen marvelled
thereat.
"Wilt thou not feel the lack of all
bending before thee ? " asked the Queen.
29
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
" There be many ceremonies at a king's
court."
" Loathly to me be they all," said King
Sylvain, "both crownings and christenings
and the feasts of high days."
" There be fair ladies there a-many," said
the Queen. " Shalt not miss them ? "
Then the King laughed aloud.
" The fair ladies of my court and the
peacocks of my garden can I spare," said
the King, " both them and their voices,
which be much alike."
"But thy jester and thy counsellor," —
" Henceforward am I mine own jester and
mine own counsellor," said King Sylvain.
" Naught ask I save the charm of wander-
ing feet, and the drip of summer rain on
the leaves, and the warmth of summer sun.
I would have in my nostrils the fragrance
of roses that we pass but once and smell not
3°
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
again. I would feel about me the touch and
dip of wings that travel farther than we."
" Thou art a very poet," said the Queen.
Now came one driving in a cart wherein
he gathered grass that was fresh and green.
" God save ye," said the carter.
"And thee," said King and Queen.
" Do ye travel far ? " asked the man.
"Ay," answered King Sylvain, "as far
as the heart desireth."
" I could give ye a lift," said the man,
" for the woman is weary."
So King Sylvain and Queen Aimee
clambered into the cart, and it was of blue
colour, such as ye may see to-day. And
ever the carter watched them, if that he
might from their clothing make out their
state. The King wore doublet and hose of
scarlet, and he had also a mantle of grey
lined with the same colour; and the Queen
31
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
had a dress of blue colour, and her man-
tle was deeper blue ; also her bodice was
sewn with pearls, and on her hair was a
net, cunningly wrought of silver and set
with emeralds.
" Whither wend ye ? " asked the man.
" Friend," said the King, " we be running
away."
" So methought," he answered shrewdly ;
" ye go for to be wed ? "
Then the King laughed aloud at his
wit, and the Queen with him.
"Ay," said King Sylvain, "we go to be
wed."
So they rode with the carter, and he took
them to his own home, which was a small
hut of grey stone. And they sat outside
on a bench near a trellis of red roses, and
did eat bread and drink ale which Moll,
his wife, bare them.
32
CHAPTER III
tlje booing of ilueen
3Tf)e Itmg anti <©ueen are refregfteli fog tf)£ Carter's OEtfe.
35
CHAPTER III
ttje Mooing of €hieen #ime
IN the morning as they parted from
the carter's house, they had great cheer,
and he told them of an holy man that
was an hermit and abode not far on the
edge of a wood.
" Him may ye have to wed ye," said
the man.
Then the King smiled not nor said a
word, and when the Queen looked into
his face he looked not at her again, but
took the road with his head bent down as
one who thinketh, but may not say. So
they walked along by the wayside where the
grass was green ; and hard by the road was
37
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
a stream of water where white poplar trees
grew all a-row, and their leaves made with
the water a little sound. Then the Queen's
heart was sad, though the birds sang.
" Go we to the holy man to be wed ? "
she asked of the King, and she smiled
upon him.
"Nay," he answered, and he hove a
great sigh, but answered not her smile.
" Sweetheart," said the Queen, " there
is that troubleth thee, and I would fain
know it."
" It is naught," said the King, and he
fell a-jesting, but his jests came not from
the heart but from the lips only, and the
Queen knew it, as is the way of women
when they love.
" Dost fear that they may come after
us ? " said the Queen ; " for any minute
may we be taken."
38
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
"That is truth," answered the King,
"but I fear them not."
Then the Queen fell behind and trod after
King Sylvain in the dust of the highway,
and stepped where the print of his feet lay
and pondered, but the King marked it not.
And presently she went to him and laid
her hand upon him, and stayed his steps.
"In what have I vexed thee ? " asked
the Queen, softly.
" Forsooth, in nothing," quoth the King.
" But thou art sad," said Queen Aimee,
"and meseems the lot thou hast chosen
liketh thee no better than that whereto
thou wast born."
" Nay, and I like it dearly," answered
the King.
" Then have I truly offended, for none
other hath come a-nigh thee. Surely am
I the cause of thy grief."
39
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
"Yea," said the King, "that art thou."
"Then tell me," said the Queen, "and
I will mend my ways."
" Naught is there to mend in thee,"
answered the King. " It is I that have
done thee wrong, and sore it repenteth
me."
" Tell me thy meaning," said Queen
Aimee, " for I am but a woman and under-
stand not."
"I wot well," said the King, "that I
have done thee a mischief in bringing
thee away, for all have I taken from thee,
and naught have I left."
Now the Queen's eyes were full of
wonder, and they were grey eyes, and her
face was very fair and fresh where the wind
touched it.
"Thy hair is of ruddy gold," said the
King of a sudden.
4o
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
" More would I know," said the Queen,
" of thy cause for sorrow. Came I not
gladly after thee ? "
" Nay, but I fear me,' answered the
King. " Didst not come for my bidding
and not for love ? "
Then the Queen laughed out by the
roadside.
"Of a truth there was short time for woo-
ing," said Queen Aimee. " If thou wouldst
know, sit we down here on this green bank."
So they sat them down on the grass
by the water side.
"Verily I know not the way of a man
with a maiden," said the King, sorrowfully,
" being a puppet and no man. What doth
one that would woo ? "
"He singeth beneath her window," said
the Queen.
" Here be no windows, Gesu be
41
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
praised," said the King, " but methinks I
could make out to sing."
So he sang her sweet songs that were
set in rhyme, and one was of a page that
loved a king's daughter, and one of a
prince that wooed a shepherd maid, and
the birds that were building a nest in the
tree above them sang with him, but Queen
Aimee answered nothing.
" What else doth a lover if song availeth
not ? " asked the King.
" He writeth letters," said the Queen,
"in which he telleth his love, and oft
they be writ in verse."
" But an if he have no scroll ? " said
the King.
" He maketh one," said the Queen,
•
" from the bark of a tree, and writeth
upon it, and sendeth it, and despaireth
until the answer come."
42
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
The King had with him a knife that was
used for hunting, and he rose, and stripped
white bark from a birch tree that grew a-nigh ;
and for that he had no ink, he pricked let-
ters in it with the point of the knife and gave
it to the Queen, and when she had read it,
her face grew all rosy like the sky of a morn-
ing ; but what was there written I cannot tell,
for the Queen thrust the roll into the bosom
of her gown and no man hath ever seen it.
" Methinks thou writest swiftly for a
poet," said the Queen.
"'Twas a verse I made long ago," an-
swered the King.
" And for whom ? " asked Queen Aimee,
and she wore the look of one angered.
"For thyself," said the King, "but
what answer ? "
"An answer requireth waiting," said the
Queen, and she looked not toward him.
43
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" Now of what else to do make I no
question," said the King, and he threw
himself on the grass at the Queen's feet
and kissed the hem of her robe. " An
these means avail not, I must try others,"
and by this he kissed her hand.
" Nay, thou art a forward lover," said
the Queen. " What wouldst thou ? "
" I would know if thou didst come
after me of thine own free will," he made
answer.
"And if I did not?" asked Queen
Aimee.
"Then tell me, and thou shalt go back
to thy throne and thine own kingdom,"
said King Sylvain.
" Doth it greatly matter ? " quoth the
Queen.
"By my life but thou tormentest me!"
cried the King. "An thou love me, tell
44
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN ALMEE
me, and if thou love me not, make it
known ; for my heart is set upon thee, and
there is naught else in all the world of
which it is ware."
Then the hands of the Queen touched
the King's face and stroked it, and there
was love in her fingers and the King
knew.
" I have loved thee ever," said the
Queen Aimee.
" Nay, but I knew it not," said the
King. " And dost love me now of thine
own free will and not of my compel-
ling?"
"Whose will should it be?" asked Queen
Aimee. " None bade me love thee, and
none bade me follow thee forth, but rather
would I rags with thee and a crust to bite
than all the rich clothing and the savoury
morsels of Christendom."
45
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN
" Now are we as free and as glad as
the birds above us that choose as they
will each one his mate," said the King,
" and or night cometh go we to the holy
man to be wed."
46
CHAPTER IV
H?oto &ing ^Ibatn ana £htent &tm& toere
by tl)e l^oly span, ano of t^e
49
CHAPTER IV
ana &ueen #imee toere
bp t^ie J?ol£ span, ana of t\)t
So they fareci onward and at evensong
were they ware of an hermitage by the side
of a great wood, and they came upon an aged
man who prayed at a cross hard by. And
when he had finished and came toward them,
they saw that his beard was long and white,
for he was nigh fourscore winters old.
"Ye be welcome, fair sir and gentle lady,"
said the Hermit.
"Art not a priest of Holy Church?"
asked King Sylvain, when he had given him
greeting.
" Yea," answered the aged man, " that
am I."
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" We be fugitives," said the King,
"and are man and woman that would be
wed."
"God save ye," said the Hermit. "And
whence came ye? Ye be people of the
Court, as I guess by your apparel."
" That were we," answered the King, " but
we be it no longer, for by God's grace will
we seek out a spot where we may dig and
delve for ourselves."
" Now by all the saints," quoth the holy
man, and he spake in a little voice that was
weak and thin, " I be more than threescore
years and ten, and never yet did I see one
that would dig an he were not constrained
to do it. Or have ye done some wrong
that ye be driven forth ? "
" No wrong have we done," said the
King.
" But an if ye will enter," said the Her-
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
mit, " I will wed ye fast together, for me-
thinks it were better to do it than to let
it go."
" And why not here ? " said the King,
"for the air smelleth right freshly and God
wot I have had little enough of it since
the day that I was born."
So the Hermit went to his lodge for his
book, and he said the holy words over them
under an oak tree, and it was eventide, and
red light shone through the green leaves
that were yet young and thin.
" Whither ye wend I know not," said
the Hermit, "but bide ye here for the
night, for my roof, though it be low,
giveth shelter, and there be wild beasts
abroad."
"That will we gladly," answered the
King, " but first would we walk for a time
in the forest, for the trees are such as I
53
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
have not seen, and the flowers underfoot
are passing sweet."
So they went hand in hand into the forest.
"Of a truth," said King Sylvain, "it
was not so when I wedded thee in the
minster, nor wert thou half so fair, my
Queen."
" And methought thou didst answer
to-night more gladly," said Queen Aimee.
"What wouldst thou?" said the King;
"for I knew thee not, and I wedded but
thy train and thy peacock feathers. Now
have I wedded thy very self."
" Hark to the chirping of the birds ! "
said the Queen, " and there be young things
in the pools that call to one another. Me-
thinks all things in the forest have been
freshly wedded like to us."
And with that he bent and kissed her
on the mouth.
54
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" Now tell me," said the King. " What
didst thou know of me in the years we
have reigned together ? "
" I knew that thy robe was furred, and
that there were many jewels on thy breast,"
answered the Queen. " Also thy face said
nothing, but was as the face of one that
weareth a mask."
" Yet went my heart out to thee ever,"
quoth King Sylvain, "only, free speech could
I never have of thee for them that guarded
us and served our need. And whenever
I would have come to thee was I con-
strained, for methought 'twas but the de-
sire of the Lords and of the Archbishop
that had brought us together, nor would
I force my will upon thee, so have I ever
left thee free."
When the Queen knew of his love, and
how he had kept from her all those years
55
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
because of it, she was well-nigh to weep-
ing.
" Therein wast thou a true knight and
a courteous," said the Queen, "and yet
hast thou done me great wrong, for long
did I wait for thy footstep and it came not."
Now when all was known atween them
they made much ado, for it was a tale of
love such as no poet had sung, and none
like to it have I ever heard, yet have I
read all that ever was wrote. So they
wandered in the forest till the stars were
out, for they saw them between the leaved
branches of the trees, and they went back
to the hermitage, and as they drew near
they heard the far sound of hoofs gallop-
ing, and the noise of bells.
" Hist ! " said the King, and he listened
with his finger on his lip. " But they go
farther and come not near."
56
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" They be horsemen," said the holy man,
" from Wannamere, and they seek their
King and Queen that be gone, and whether
they have been stolen away or have fled
of their own will none know."
" Prithee, why should King and Queen
flee ? " asked Queen Aimee, for the King
was stricken dumb.
" So said I," answered the Hermit.
" They inquired of me if I had seen aught
of them, but I told them nay, for only
one man and one woman had I seen this
two month. c Came they together ? ' they
asked, and I answered, c Yea.' * Were they
apparelled royally ? ' said they further.
* Nay,' I answered, c but as them that
serve.' Then said one knight that bare a
red shield and a lion thereon : * It could
still be they in borrowed garments.'
' These twain came to be wedded,' I an-
57
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
swered. ' Ah ! ' said the knight, sorrow-
fully, c 'tis not them we seek, for they be
wedded already,' so they rode away."
Then the Hermit bare them bread and
meat, for he fasted not every day, but ever
kept provision in the house, and as they
ate by the light of a taper, he went secretly
to a place in the ground and brought a
bottle of red wine and set before them.
" 'Tis a little that I keep for sickness,"
said the holy man. So they sat long, and
told tales and were merry, and they slept
that night where fern smelleth sweet.
CHAPTER V
tlje ilton tfjat came against Client m
tlje forest
CHAPTER V
tije JLion tljat came against Sljem in
IT befell the next day that they went on
their way through the forest, for it was a
great wood, and exceeding dark, and there
were paths here and there. Naught bare
they with them save a wallet wherein the
holy man had placed bread and wine, and
the King had a great oaken staff that he
had cut from a tree and had shaped while
that the Hermit told them tales. They
went gladly, for they were bound no-
whither save to follow the joy of their
feet, and to keep in hiding from them
that followed, for they dread sore that
they might be found. Green moss grew
61
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
soft under their feet, and the shadows of
oak leaves and beech made a checkered
shade, and it fell on the Queen's hair,
and many sweet words passed between
them.
When the shadows of the tree trunks
showed that it was noon, for the King was
an huntsman and learned in woodcraft, they
sat them down and reposed them on the
roots of a beech tree. Over them the beech
leaves made a golden canopy where the sun
shone through the green, and behind them
the grey trunk was wondrous fair, flecked
with silver moss. There is that about a
beech trunk that differeth from all other,
and I have ever thought there be strange
and lovely tales writ thereon for one who
could read. Right so as they sat there
and did eat and drink, a fawn came to
them from the wood and gazed at them
62
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
with great eyes. Its legs were all a-trem-
ble, yet it was for eagerness and not
for fear, for men it had never beheld,
and it knew not King and Queen from
friendly beast. Then the Queen called
it to her and stroked it, and the King
marked that its eyes were even as hers,
but bread would it not eat for love of
the young green leaves, nor would it
follow. As they wandered they lost their
path and were mazed in the tangle of
hazel and oak, yet they cared not, for
they set their feet where no man had
ever been since the making of the world,
and birds came freely to them and lighted
on shoulder or hand, as the thrush and
the song-sparrow, and other more that I
know not, for never ran I loose in the
wood. So it befell that they recked not
that time was passing, and of a sudden
63
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN
they heard a great roar. Very terrible it
was, and the King, for all his hunting,
had known naught like it, and he drew
the Queen toward him, but knew not
on which side to stand afore her, for the
roaring was so loud they could not tell
whence it came. Then they saw coming
upon them a lioness that was great and
fierce. Tawny were breast and back, and
all shaggy, and the open mouth where-
with she roared was red. The King felt
for his sword and cursed him for a fool
in that he had left it at home and had
fared forth with no weapon. Ever the
beast came nearer with low growls and with
roars, so that the Queen burst out weep-
ing and cried, "Alack and well-a-day, we
are as good as dead ! "
"Nay," said the King, "go stand by
yon tree and watch me," and the Queen
64
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
went. Then he gripped his oaken staff
and stood ready, and eyed the beast
which came on toward him with eyes
glowing like coals. Straight on she came
and at him, but the King slipped behind
a tree, so that she well-nigh fastened her
claws in it, whereat she was beside her-
self and came round it and gave a mighty
spring. Then he held fast his staff, and as
she came he gave her a great blow on the
forehead, so that the woods echoed back
the noise, and she was well-nigh stunned.
But while she stood there was a noise of
whimpering near at hand, and from the
wood three cubs came to her, tawny like
herself, and her senses came back, and
she rose against the King with tenfold
strength. Now I saw not the battle, nor
if I had could I tell it as it was, but I
have heard say that it was the mightiest
65
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
battle ever fought atwixt man and beast.
Naught had the King save his staff
and his right arm, but when the lioness
fastened upon him he beat her off, and
with his hands round her neck would
have choked the life out of her save that
she gave a great wrench and pulled her
head away and roared again, so that the
Queen was well-nigh fainting. Then the
beast fastened her claws in his shoulder
and tore him, so that the blood ran
down, and when she smelled it she was
ten times fiercer than before, and would
have finished him but that he got his
right arm free, and held the staff in it,
and gave a mighty stroke on the back
of her neck where the head joins the
body, and she fell back dead. Then the
King sank down fainting from loss of
blood and the Queen rushed to him, and
66
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
at first she thought life had gone out of
him, but it was not so. So she hasted
and brought water, for there was a spring
hard by and water bubbling therein, and
washed his face and his wound, and his
eyes opened and he smiled at her, but no
word could he say for a time. And ever
the cubs whimpered over the body of
their dead dam.
" Love, thou art sore wounded," said
Queen Aimee, and she held his head upon
her bosom.
" Blessed be the wound that bringeth
my head to its resting place," said King
Sylvain.
So they stayed that night there, and the
Queen made a great fire with leaves and dry
branches, and she struck a spark with a flint
stone, and the King lay on a bed of moss,
for he was weak yet and his wound
67
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
stinted not. Now the wood was full of
wild creatures, but none came against them
in the night, and mayhap it was the fire,
for I have heard that this keepeth beasts
away. But I have heard also, or read in
an heathen book, and I dare say it, though
I be one of Holy Church, that there is a
god that doth naught save to watch over
lovers, and I ween he kept all harm from
these twain, for since the world began
there were never lovers that loved as
they.
68
CHAPTER VI
1)003 tljf uotinD pursufQ ana fount)
anD of tlje ^antle tijnt iua0 maftr of tljr
tlton'0
CHAPTER VI
tlje OounD pursurD an& fouuD
ant) of tl;c spantle tljat toa0 niaDc of
tlion'0
WHILE Queen Aimee still slept on the
moss, the King was wakened by one that
licked his face and hands, and when he
opened his eyes he saw his hound, Coeur
d'Ami, which he loved as none other, and
he gave a cry, so that the Queen wakened.
" Now beshrew me for a faithless knight
that I ever left thee behind," said King
Sylvain, as the dog leaped and barked for
joy, and would fain lie on his breast save
that the Queen restrained him.
"What lot did I think for myself that
thou wouldst not share ? " said the King,
73
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
and he stroked the hound. Then for a
moment was he sorrowful, for he was loyal
in least things as in great.
"Thou hast followed nor hast ques-
tioned if I wanted thee," said King Syl-
vain. " Of a truth thou art a very friend."
" Methinks he bringeth trouble," said the
Queen.
"And how?" asked the King.
" Surely they knew he would follow thee
and have watched him," said the Queen.
" They will be upon us and find us, and
will hale us back to shut us again within
stone walls."
Then the King laughed aloud as he lay
sick.
"Wit thou well they be but fools that
think Coeur d'Ami will tell them aught that
I wish not known," said he. " Even now
he knoweth that we would be hid and will
74
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
make no sound. Dost not read it in his
eyes ? He is swifter than aught else that
runneth on four legs, and hath long out-
stripped them all. He hath hastened to
ask of me what is my will, and see, he
promiseth with his tail that he will not
betray us." And it was even as the King
said.
No great store of food had they in the
wallet, and the King and Queen talked
thereof, and Coeur d'Ami listened. None
knoweth what a dog may understand of
human speech, but there be times when it
seemeth as if they wist all and more. Anon
the hound arose and left them, and or ever
the sun was high he came back from the
forest with a hare that he had slain and
dropped it at the King's feet, and by biting
it in the throat had he slain it, so that it
had bled and was good for to eat. This is
75
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
passing strange, for all know that the hounds
that pursue the prey will touch it not for
eating, but that which a dog will not do for
one that loveth him have I yet to learn.
Then the King rose feebly and leaned on
one arm and dressed it, and the Queen
kindled the fire afresh and with a sharp-
ened stick did she roast it over the coals,
and laughed right merrily for that it was
burnt in one spot. And her face grew
right rosy on the left side and was cool
on the other, so that the King must needs
kiss them both. Creur d'Ami lay by them
as they ate, and he panted with his mouth
held open, and with tail and eyes he told
them how that he had pined after their
going, nor would take food or drink, but
kept by him in the kennel a gauntlet of
the King's, and held it between his paws,
and snuffed it ever, and would have sick-
76
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
ened but that they set him free to follow.
Much, but not all, the King understood, for
it is strange that man, with all his strength,
hath not the understanding of a dog.
So all that day they abode there by the
spring, and the King's strength came
slowly to him, and much he slept, while
the Queen held his head in her lap, and
stroked brow and hair, so that the King
dreamed he was in Paradise, and wore
white with all the saints, but waked again,
and liked it better so. Nor would Coeur
d'Ami let the Queen come nearer the
King than he, but stayed ever close with
his paw on the King's breast, for though
he had been long with them, he had never
seen them thus together, and watched to
see that all was well.
Another night they abode there by the
spring, and ever the bright flame leaped
77
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
up against the soft, darkling shadow of the
wood, and naught troubled them all the
night through, but in the moments twixt
drowsing and waking they heard the chirp
of sleepy birds. In the morning Coeur
d'Ami went and gat them a bird of the
kind that runs along the ground, and it is
hight partridge, and it tasted right savoury
when it was cooked over the coals.
Now was the King's arm stronger, and
he took his knife and skinned the lioness
that he had slain, and spread before the
Queen the great fell that v/as tawny of
colour and liked her mightily.
"We have need of a carpet in the house
that we shall make," said King Sylvain.
" And where may that be ? " asked the
Queen.
" Where God wills," he made answer.
"When we come to a place that pleaseth
78
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
thee and the hound and me, there bide we for
the rest of our lives," and Coeur d'Ami lis-
tened and understood, as the sequel will show.
The King spread the lion skin on his
shoulders, and took his staff in his hand,
and the Queen followed after, but the
hound ran on afore, and so they took their
way through the forest till they found a
path, and followed it, and it led to a clearing.
" Dare we go forth ? " asked Queen
Aimee, as they stood at the edge of the
wood, and were loath to leave it. "There
be that follow us."
" Ay, that dare we," answered the King,
" for there be ways that we shall find to
give them the slip."
Then the Queen laughed aloud as he
went forth with the lion skin and the
cudgel, for he looked like a wild man of
the woods.
79
CHAPTER VII
&tng fa^lbam and &ueen 0tmee toare
of Gftitfel at tlje gumming, anu of
tlje ^pemment thereof
CHAPTER VII
$?oto &mg Attain ano &ueen Himee toare
Ifcobes of tEinstfl at tlje spummtng, ana of
tlje ^erriment thereof
As they wended onward with their
hound they saw in the distance a city that
hight Saint Aleyn, and it lieth to the
southward by the river Ulumere, for ever
they walked with their faces toward the
sun. Now, although they knew it not,
they that pursued them had gone thither,
and were lodged in an inn by the city gate
to northward. Gaily they talked of what
might await them and what fare they
should have by field and inn, and how
they might outwit them that pursued.
Then the King sat him down on a stile
that was in a fair hedge of hawthorn, and
83
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
called the hound unto him, and spake to
him thus : —
" Coeur d'Ami, leal friend and true, they
that sent thee after us would have thee
come again to tell them where we be, but
I would have it not, and thou, if thou seest
them, must e'en make as though thou knew-
est them not." Coeur d'Ami verily under-
stood and laid his head on the King's knee,
whimpering as one who promised somewhat.
Onward they came to the north gate of the
city, when of a sudden the hound stopped
and sniffed the air. Then held he his nose
to the ground, and anon laid hold of the
King's doublet with his teeth and drew
him away, and of a sudden was the King
ware that he had some reason therefor.
So they circled the walls and came in at
the western gate as the sun went down,
and the sky was all blood red, so that it
84
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN
touched the grey walls and the passing
people with colour of crimson.
That night at the inn where they
lodged, and it was a fair inn and smelt
freshly of rosemary and lavender, they
heard talk of a merry-making for the
morrow, for it was the month of May,
and the city ever held carnival at the time
of the springing of the grain. There were
many knights and squires gathered to-
gether at the inn, and ever the King and
Queen watched them, for never had they
heard free converse of men, and it pleased
them to see and to hear. All their talk
was of the mumming and of the clothing
they should wear, for all put on strange
habits on this day and went masked in the
streets. Then when Queen Aimee was
safely lodged in her chamber, the King
went forth and purchased apparel for them
85
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
both, giving in exchange a gold piece that
he ware on his neck, and on the morrow,
when all were ready, they dressed them-
selves and went out into the street for
the mumming, and they went hand in
hand as do children that play. The gar-
ments they had chosen were those of king
and queen, " for we know no other parts,"
said King Sylvain. The Queen wore a
dress of tinsel with jewels of glass in her
hair, and the King had a crown of paper,
and a bauble for a sceptre, and they min-
gled with the revellers and were exceed-
ing gay. Afar their hound watched them
and his eyes were as those of one that
hath great care, for in that he was a dog
he knew not how the mere covering of the
face could conceal a man, and he wist
there was danger nigh. Now the streets
were full of strange creatures, wizards and
86
lattng ant (Hucen 50 to tije fHummtng.
87
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
enchanters, and Saracens, and fairies, and
demons, and lords and ladies many, with
jesters and jugglers, but king and queen
were there none other, so when he of the
paper crown appeared, there was a great
shout and much laughter. Then were
King Sylvain and Queen Aimee taken to
the Palace of Justice and enthroned there
on the stone steps, and all the revellers
came and did them homage, mocking, and
throwing flowers about them, and unwit-
tingly many kissed in jest the hands they
had kissed afore in earnest, for Saint Aleyn
was the King's own city.
It befell as they sat there, that one who
was a young squire and was attired as a
jester came forward and spake to King
Sylvain, and said : —
" F faith, and thou playest the King's part
but badly."
89
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
"That is truth," quoth King Sylvain,
"and that have I ever."
" 'Tis plain thou hast never seen a king,"
said the squire, and the King knew him for
one that had been a page in his own court.
" If thou mightst teach me, perhaps — "
said King Sylvain.
" That will I gladly," said the squire, and
he gat him upon the steps and showed him.
"Thou must hold thy head high, thus,
and must frown mightily, and so must thou
fold thine arms."
"The face of a king showeth not from
behind a mask," said King Sylvain, " but
my head and mine arms will I hold even
as thou sayest."
Then the young squire sware an oath of
vexation that his teaching came so badly off,
and the people laughed and jeered to see
the fool teach the King what he must do.
90
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" 'Tis but poorly done," said the squire,
and he shook his head so that the bells on
his ears rang again.
" Henceforward will I play any part but
that of the King," said King Sylvain. "'Tis
a hard part."
"That think not I," said the squire.
" I be one that would play it ever, an I
could."
Right as they sat there, Coeur d'Ami
pricked up his ears and ran and hid him
in a doorway, and the King, looking up,
saw Sir Leodoric and Sir Geoffrey, and
Sir Gilles that ware the red shield, and Sir
Bertrand, ride through the street, and with
them the Archbishop. Then the King's
heart beat a great thump, for he knew they
searched for him and would carry him back
to his throne an they found him alive, but
they knew him not because of the mask.
91
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
The King watched and saw that the knights
would have ridden past, but the people
gat them, and with jeers and laughter made
them come and do homage to their King
and Queen of tinsel. So Sir Leodoric and
Sir Geoffrey and Sir Gilles and Sir Ber-
trand and the Archbishop bent the knee
before them and kissed their hands and
made mock obeisance and rode on.
" 'Tis a yokel, and no king they have
there," said Sir Geoffrey, as he mounted his
steed. "He giveth his left hand to be
kissed and not his right," but the King had
hidden his right hand behind him because
of the signet ring. Then came the hound
and leaped upon his master, and for joy
with the licking of his tongue had well-
nigh torn the covering from his face. So
the merry-making lasted through the noon-
day, but when the time for unmasking came,
92
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
none could find the King and Queen, for
they had stolen privily out of the southern
gate and were walking along the high-
way that lay beaten white atween green
fields.
93
CHAPTER VIII
ijoto ttjep toent eber £>outl)toar& anU of tlje
97
CHAPTER VIII
Ijoto tl)f £ incut rfcrr feoutfytaD anD of tl)c
To southward lay a great plain that
was fresh and green with young grass, and
when they had left the highway they found
no path, and there were no trees, only little
hill and hollow stretched out softly under
the sky. Cceur d'Ami led them, and they
followed laughing and jesting, and were
glad all the way save once when they saw
a hind beating his ass with a stout cudgel.
This would the King not endure by no
manner of means, and he took the cudgel
in his hands and brake it in two, and told
the hind that he would lay his own oaken
staff upon his back an he learned not to be
99
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
gentler with his beast. Then was the man
afeared and went his way and beat his ass
no more. As they walked onward now and
then were they ware of a shepherd that kept
his flock with the fold hard by, and one
that was young as their joy would have
them be fluted merrily to his silly sheep
that could not dance. Then King Sylvain
and Queen Aimee danced in the sunshine,
and after, as they went their way, the music
followed them and they stepped to it until
they could catch it no longer, but ever it
went on though they might not hear. Larks
sang in the blue sky above them, and of
the winds it seemed that there were those
that travelled with them and those that met
them on their way. Toward evensong,
when their feet were well-nigh weary, and
the sun was setting in golden light at the
edge of the green earth, they came upon an
100
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
aged Grandam standing in her garden and
knitting. There grew rose and gillyflower
and hollyhock, and herbs that be sweet of
savour, such as lavender, and those that be
good for healing, as pennyroyal and rue.
When the Dame lifted her eyes and saw
them coming she spake to them, in right
friendly wise, and called them to sit on her
threshold and rest them.
" Ye be come far by your looks," said
the Grandam. " Heard ye aught of the
King and Queen that be carried away ? "
" We have heard naught," said Queen
Aimee. " Is it even so ? And who do
men say have taken them ? "
Then was the Dame glad that they knew
not, so that she might be the first to tell,
for I know not why it is, but women be
made that way, and men too for that mat-
ter. So they listened while she told them
101
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
how it was found that King and Queen were
missing, and how the hounds had been sent
out on all sides if they might track them,
and of the knights that rode hither and
thither to search them out and find if an
enemy had taken them.
" I have heard many tales," said the
Grandam, " but this is the strangest that
ever I heard. None knoweth whether
they be taken by friend or by mortal foe."
" Be they much missed ? " asked King
Sylvain.
" Yea," said the woman, " that be they."
Then the King was silent and his heart
smote him for that he had gone, and for
the first time since he was set free of the
castle he repented him of his flight.
" Yet 'tis not that we may not have a
better," said the Dame. " Men say if the
King be not found, his cousin Prince
102
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
Hughes shall come to the throne, and a
right brave lord he is and one glad to
rule."
" Was not King Sylvain ? " asked Queen
Aimee.
" Now what know I of the mind of a
king ? " asked the Dame. " But I have
heard tell that the King looked often
aweary and ware the face of one that
thought of other things. 'Tis not so with
Prince Hughes. Men say his hand is
ever at his sword and his eye on them
about him, also have I heard that he hath
a terrible look and a fierce, for his beard
is bushy and his eyebrows overhang."
" None was ever so brave in fight as
King Sylvain," said the Queen, and the
King laid his hand upon her for fear that
the colour risen in her cheeks might betray
them.
103
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" Of a truth I have heard that too,"
said the Grandam ; " but he loved not
fighting for the fight, nor stirred up wars
to bring him tribute, and all that shall
Prince Hughes do better than he."
"And what of the Queen?" asked
King Sylvain.
" How cometh it that ye know not ? "
said the woman. " She was King Luke's
daughter from overseas, and a right fair
lady, for I myself saw her in a gown of
scarlet richly sewn with pearls, and a
snood of gold thread with jewels therein.
Yet she had no child, and the throne must
have an heir. The lady of Prince Hughes
hath seven sons."
Then the woman went to look after her
pot that boiled over the fire, and the King
followed and lifted it down for her, for it
was full heavy.
104
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
" I warrant it is long since ye were at
court," said the woman, " an ye do such
service for one that is old and dwelleth
in a hut."
King Sylvain went back and sat with
Queen Aimee in the garden, and they
were silent. In the eaves of the cottage
were nests, and swallows flew about them
twittering, and over the plain came soft calls
of moor birds to their young. Anon the
Dame spake to them from the doorway.
" Whither go ye afoot ? " But afore she
could hear any answer she added thereto,
" Is it not to the fairing at Presville ? "
"Yea," said the King, "'tis there."
" 'Tis two days yet ere it beginneth,"
said the Dame. " Where rest ye for the
night ? "
"Where God inviteth," answered Queen
Aimee.
105
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
" If ye be honest folk and would bide
here, that ye may," said the Dame ; " but
my grass lieth yonder and waiteth raking,
for one cut it for me but might not stay.
An ye will gather it ye may sleep under
my roof, but enough must ye bring to
make ye a bed."
"That will we," said the King.
So, though the sun was set, King Syl-
vain and Queen Aimee raked the hay into
heaps, and the Queen gathered into her
lap the flowers that had been mown down
therewith, and well-nigh she wept to see
them there. Then the Dame bare to
them milk and cheese, and bread that she
had baked, and it was- dark of colour, and
they sat upon the threshold and ate thereof.
Enough was there for them and for the
hound that lay stretched at their feet, but
the Dame's cat came not nigh them for
1 06
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
food or for caress, but waited upon the
housetop and looked down, and her hair
stood up along her back. The air was
soft and sweet under the stars, and within,
by her taper, the Dame spread the bed of
grass, and anon she came to them in the
doorway.
" Now kissing have I done also in my
youth. I warrant ye be lovers," said the
Grandam, and so they went to rest.
107
CHAPTER IX
tfje gorging of tije king's £>tootf) at
CHAPTER IX
tty gorging of ttje fting'sf £>toor& at
OF all that followed, and how they
slept by blossoming hedgerows of sweet-
smelling hawthorn, and how they wandered
the paths by the water-ways may I not
tell, else were my tale too long, nor know
I all that happened, for much they kept
to themselves. Oft the nightingale sang
to their love, and the stars looked down
on it. Came a day when rain fell heavily,
and hedge and tree gave them no shelter.
Then the King bethought him of his
sword, and how he had no arms for the
defence of his lady save the stout oak stick
wherewith he slew the lion, so he found
in
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
a smithy which was within the town of
Presville, and one that worked therein
forging a suit of armour. Deftly he
wrought out the fine rings of steel, hold-
ing the molten metal at the end of his
iron rod and hammering thereon with all
his might. Now the King stood and
watched his right arm and the great
muscles thereof with envy, but the Queen
warmed her by the fire. All the walls
were hung about with armour. There were
swords and greaves and helmets and gaunt-
lets, also shields curiously wrought and of
great beauty with all manner of devices there-
on, as the lion rampant, the tiger couchant,
the broken spear of the house of Cairnguth,
and the single star of the house of Wanna-
mere with a hand reaching for it.
" "Pis the King's own device," said the
smith, as King Sylvain fingered it.
112
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
" Ay," he answered, " many times have
I followed it."
" Art a knight ? " asked the smith.
" That am I," answered the King, " and
would have me a sword, for mine own
have I left behind."
" Here be many," said the smith.
" Choose to thy liking."
" Nay," quoth King Sylvain, " I would
have one of my own forging."
Then the smith laughed loud and long,
and he stirred his fire and sprinkled water
thereon so that the sparks flew up and it
burned more fiercely than ever.
"Yon standeth my molten steel in the
crucible," said he. " An thou wilt fashion
thee a sword, it shall cost thee nothing,"
and ever and anon as he hammered his
armour he laughed again.
So King Sylvain gat him some of the
H 113
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
molten metal and spread it out on a
great anvil, and as it cooled he touched
it with his hammer, and then struck it
softly, and anon he beat it a great blow.
Then the sweat stood on his forehead, and
he leaned upon his hammer that rested on
the anvil.
"Tis all awry," said the King. " Of a
truth they have taught me nothing. These
hands, made by him that fashioned the
world, can fashion nothing for me," and
there was shame in his face. So he cast
the metal back into the crucible and sat
him down by the Queen.
" Didst weary of the sword of thine own
fashioning ? " asked the smith. " Again
I tell thee thou mayst have thy choice
of mine, save that yonder which I have
wrought for Prince Hughes, and which I
will give him with mine own hands on
114
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
the day of his crowning an he cometh to
the throne. Big is he and of dark coun-
tenance, and this great sword shall become
him well."
"Wouldst liefer have him on the throne
than King Sylvain that is lost ? " asked the
King.
" 'Tis all one to me," answered the smith,
" so that they leave me hammer and tongs."
Now the King said nothing, but sat long
with his head upon his hands, but anon he
rose again, and took from the pot more
metal and spread it out, and gently at first
and then harder did he beat it, and presently
fell great blows, so that the sparks rose in
the air. Then the smith stopped his work
and watched, and the Queen drew near with
her face all gladness, for she saw that her
love's joy was great in the blows that he
gave. On his face were the veins knotted,
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
and the muscles stood out on his shoulders,
but he stinted not nor rested, only now and
then drew a great breath. Neither dared
speak to him, for there was that in his eyes
that forbade them. Soon could the shape of
the blade be seen, and then the point was
beaten, and anon the edges by slow strokes
and long.
" Of a truth," said the man, as he watched
him, "whatever they have made of thee
they have spoiled a good smith, for never
saw I one of gentle blood take hold of this
work as thou."
Then the King paused for a while and
breathed heavily and spake not, but soon
lifted again the tool, and the sparks flew.
Now the work was long, and or ever it was
finished he was weary, but he said it not,
and toiled till the sword was done. Smooth-
wrought was the handle, and the blade was
116
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
keen and thin, and he took it and laid it at
the Queen's feet.
"Wilt not have thee a shield and a suit
of armour?" asked the smith. "Perchance
thou goest to tourney ? "
" Never again," said the King.
"Or to war?" said the man.
" As God will," answered King Sylvain.
" Thou wert of the King's household ? "
said the smith.
" Ay," answered the King, " but I go
not there again."
"God speed thee," said the smith, "and
send thee whatsoever foe thou wilt for thy
sword, for I see by the blows thou givest
that thou art a fighting man."
Then the King chose for himself certain
tools for to cut and to grave, for he weened
he might have need of them some day, and
with one of them he worked long, at the
n;
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
inn where they lodged, on the blade of his
sword, graving somewhat thereon. And
when the Queen would look at it, he said
her nay, for she might not see it until it
was finished. Then he bare it to her, and
on the blade she saw wrought a hand that
held a star.
" I have changed the device of my house
in changing my state," said the King.
" Hast grasped thy star ? " asked Queen
Aimee.
"Ay, that have I," said King Sylvain,
and he bent and kissed her face that was
upturned toward him.
118
CHAPTER X
in tlje
from tEljem tljat pursfueD, anti of tlje
betioeen ^>tr <S>tUesf ano
121
CHAPTER X
IjtO {Etjemaelbe* in tlje ®afe
from 1K\)tm. tljat pumteD, ana of tlje jfigtjt
brttoeen £>tr <8ii\t# anD
So they went to the fairing at Presville
and already had it lasted many days, and
gauds and trinkets without number were
spread out there, but none they purchased
for that they were weary of jewels and of
silk also, and asked naught but a bit of
homespun and quiet thereto. All that they
carried away was two vessels of copper to
set over the fire.
"For an hearth must we have, and that
speedily," said the King, " as becometh two
that be wed."
" And of the firing ? " asked Queen Aimee.
"That will I cut with stout blows of
123
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
mine axe," answered King Sylvain. "There
be trees enow in my kingdom."
The Queen ware a silver girdle about
her gown of blue, and a white kerchief on
her neck, and was fair to see, and a young
hind that was there was greatly taken with
her and stepped forward and would have
kissed her, but the King struck him a great
blow, so that he fell back, and there were
more like him there.
" Now what aileth thee," said the yokel,
" to lay thy blows on one that hath done
thee no harm ? "
Then the King drew out Stellifer, which
was the sword that he had forged, and light
flashed all its length.
" This waiteth for the next that layeth
finger on my lady," said the King.
"These be court manners," said the hind,
and was surly.
124
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" They be true manners, be they of cot
or of court," answered the King, " and I will
make it good upon the bodies of one or
of ten."
Then there was no more ado, but King
and Queen passed onward in peace, and all
made way for them, for there is that about
blood royal that maketh itself felt no mat-
ter what the clothes be.
Now their way led them through the
forest, for they followed where leaves were
green, and anon into the open where sun-
shine fell on them unchecked by the shadow
of leaf or stem, only afar where some river
flowed saw they tall poplars and willow trees.
Once as they journeyed were they ware on
a sudden of the beating of hoofs, and Cceur
d'Ami lifted up his voice in a long howl,
for he remembered him well of the scent
that the wind brought to him. Then they
125
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
knew that they were closely followed, and
how to escape they saw not. Right near
them grew a great oak tree so knotted and
gnarled that God wot whether it were as old
as the coming of our Lord or no, but men
say there be that are. Then the King lifted
Queen Aimee in his arms and swung her
lightly up, and she rested on a thick branch
that grew low and found her footing. Coeur
d'Ami whimpered to go also, and him the
King helped, and anon he sprang up after,
and they stepped from branch to branch and
were hidden from below by the leaves.
'Twas like a forest growing in air, and
the light was wondrous soft where it came
through the oak leaves, also were the branches
deep with moss, so that they had a full fair
cushion for to sit on. The hound stretched
himself on a branch, and laid his head be-
tween his paws, and whined not, but though
126
3£tng anfc (Quern tyl3t in tJ)£ ©afc 2TtEe.
127
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
he feigned sleeping he kept one eye ever
open and watched. The King laid his hand
on the hand of the Queen, and so they
waited.
" Surely they will find and take us,"
said Queen Aimee.
" That will they not," he made answer.
" No slave will I be again, for God's free-
man was I born, and none hath a right
to bind me in the fetters of a king."
Then the sound of hoofs came nearer,
and it was as they had thought, for Sir
Leodoric and Sir Gilles and Sir Bertrand
and Sir Geoffrey and the Archbishop rode
under the tree, but overhead saw they
nothing but mossy branches and God's
sunlight shining through the leaves of
May.
" I' faith, I am aweary," said Sir
Geoffrey.
129
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
"And I," said the Archbishop.
" 'Twere a shady place to rest in," said
Sir Leodoric.
Then lighted they all down and threw
the reins over their chargers' necks, and
the King drew Queen Aimee closer to
him, but Coeur d'Ami said nothing, only
held his right ear in the air.
"'Tis a bootless search," said the Arch-
bishop. " Ride we back to Wannamere
and greet Prince Hughes as King."
"Nay," said Sir Gilles, "for I know
that our liege and his lady have not per-
ished, but wait somewhere for our help."
"Then why find we them not?" asked
Sir Bertrand, "for we have searched the
earth through."
"They be hidden, mayhap," said Sir
Geoffrey.
" But wherefore hide they from us ? "
130
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
said the Archbishop. " Nay, I say they
have been slain by the hand of some enemy,
but a king we must have, so go we back
to crown Prince Hughes."
" Mayhap they wander somewhere and
are mad," said Sir Leodoric.
" Twain go not mad together," said Sir
Geoffrey.
" 'Tis a riddle hard to read," said Sir
Gilles, and he hove a great sigh, and the
hound in the tree above would have whim-
pered also, but that his master laid his hand
upon his head.
" Methinks Prince Hughes will make a
brave king," said Sir Bertrand. " Our
King Sylvain museth too much. Dame
Nature was thinking of a poet the day that
she made him."
" Now by my soul but I call thee
traitor," said Sir Gilles, with his hand on
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
his sword. " Leal and true was my lord
to me, and leal and true will I be to him,
for no ill word shall any say of him, and
Prince Hughes shall go uncrowned till I
touch my King's hand or else weep over
his grave."
"Traitor am I not named by no man,
were he my own brother," said Sir Bertrand,
and therewith he threw down his glove of
steel right afore the face of Sir Gilles.
" Fight we now or later ? " asked Sir
Gilles, taking up his helmet.
" Now," said Sir Bertrand, " and by the
issue of this combat will we abide. An I
come off victor, 'tis a judgment that Prince
Hughes shall come to the throne, and if
thou, then shall King Sylvain come back
to us."
So they laced their helms and gat them
ready and mounted their steeds and rode
132
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
at each other. Spear smote on shield and
loud the armour rang, and in the intervals
of the fight the chargers pawed the ground.
Sir Leodoric and Sir Geoffrey and the
Archbishop watched the combat from under
the tree, but they that were in it could see
nothing, only they heard always the noise
and the din. Then the King mounted
higher that he might look to see how the
fight went, and he found a place where
the leaves were thin, and there he stood
and watched. Ever he dread sore to see
the red shield of Sir Gilles with the lion
thereon go down, for he was his friend ;
and ever he dread to see him fell the other
to earth lest it should win him back to
the throne. So they fought till the sun
was two hours lower, and of a sudden there
was silence, and Sir Gilles lay on the grass.
And the King forgat his hiding and would
133
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
have gone to him for pity, but Sir Gilles
arose and undid his helmet.
" Now King Sylvain cometh not again,"
he said.
"Art wounded?" said Sir Bertrand, com-
ing to help him in friendly wise.
" Not in my body," answered Sir Gilles.
So they rode away, and the King and
the Queen and the hound alit safely from
the tree, but there was sorrow in the
King's laughter, for he thought of the
wound of Sir Gilles.
CHAPTER XI
fting £>£ltoam ana &ueen &imte toan-
ueren tlje toljole Rummer t^roug^ anu of
tty ^la^ of ^ar^ tfcat ®^e^ 0ato in t^e
spinster
CHAPTER XI
ana €iueen 0imfr toan*
Hereto tlje toljole Rummer tljrougl), ana of
of sparp ttjat f&fytv sfaiu in t^e
ALL that summer King and Queen wan-
dered free as the birds of the air. Ofttimes
they lodged on the greensward, and oft in
a shepherd's cot, and anon with a grandam
that told them tales of ancient wars and old
joustings, and of kings and queens long
dead, and lying in white or in grey, with
folded hands, upon their tombs. No two
nights bided they in the same spot, but
journeyed ever where desire led them, as
the down of the thistle goeth afore the wind;
and ever Coeur d'Ami guarded them as they
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
slept. Now it was milk that was given them
to drink by some lad that guarded kine in
the meadows, or curds and whey had they
at a cottage door, and again they plucked
for themselves berries and fruits of the
woods, and laid them on green leaves, and
ate thereof as gaily as the woodpecker
bird eateth of what he findeth in the tree,
and God knoweth what that may be.
Lusty and strong of limb were they, and
their faces waxed brown as his who work-
eth all day in the sun, and many a time
and oft raked they hay with the yokels, or
helped to harvest the golden wheat. Nor
once their joy abated, but ever they
waked of a morning with laughter on
their lips ; and once the King sang a
strain of glad song in his sleep, for not
even in dreams could he forget the happi-
ness that had come upon him. Gone
138
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
were cares and vexations, and the thought
of feast and of council, or if it came, 'twas
but as the light passing of a summer cloud
that leaveth the sun the brighter. Prince
Hughes was happy on the throne, and
King Sylvain by the wayside, and naught
more was there to be said.
Now that they saw oft the carter by the
wayside and the woman at her hearth and
the shepherd lad that watched his sheep
and spake with them, they found much
that they had not known afore.
" Meliketh my folk of homespun better
than my folk of silk," said the King once
and again. Wroth was he when he found
them that hungered because of a lord that
levied unjust tithes, or went unclad for
lack of pence. Many worshipful deeds he
did by the way, for once he heard a hind
making piteous cries and found him bound
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
fast hand and foot and left by the wayside
to perish for slight offence. Then the
King inquired the name of the lord that
had done the deed, and sought him out
and fought with him, and placed his sword
at his throat until he gave promise that
the hind should be forgiven and set at
service once more. And again he found
a woman that had been taken by a craven
knight, and forthwithal he undertook a
combat and won her and took her back to
her kin. But now is the time too short to
tell all the gentle deeds that he did.
Oft at eventide he sat at the door of
inn or of cottage with a child on either
knee, and told them tales, whereat their
eyes grew large, and when they gat down
they were loath to go as he was to have
them. Of Siegfried and the dragon he
told them, of Merlin and of Puck and all
140
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
their ways, of jotuns, and elves, and wizards,
and enchanters of the East ; and as they
listened he bethought him of the days
when he was but small, and he mourned
for the difference that there is atween a child
and a prince. Then Lisette ran from her
kitchen, and Jeannot from the spit, and
Robin from his horses, and gathered round
for to hear the tales, and none knew that
the story-teller was a king, but all wist
that he knew well the telling of a tale.
On a day when the harvest was well-
nigh done, they came by a river to a dim
grey city, and a row of poplars led to it,
and a bridge whereon now and then went
a long line of light as one crossed with a
torch, for it was nightfall. On the mor-
row they rose and went through the town
and came upon the minster, which was
monstrous large and high and stood in a
141
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
great square. Also it was grey of colour,
and richly carved at the portals, for many
saints wrought full fair in stone stood there
in the niches, with palm branch or with
harp, and with light about the hair. Then
they went in, and, in the shadow, light fell
on them of rose and of blue and of ame-
thyst, for the windows were passing rich in
colour and the sunshine fell through them.
Now the mass was being said, and one
robed in white censed the altar, and the
two fell on their knees, and bowed their
heads and prayed. There was a beggar
on one side and a palmer on the other,
and both King and Queen were glad to
kneel so, and the music and the sound of
voices were passing sweet.
That day at the mass they showed forth
the life of Mary, the mother of our Lord,
and by the altar she stood, as a little
142
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
child at the knee of Saint Anne, and
learned words of wisdom. Anon there was
another picture, and Mary sat alone, and
there was a nimbus about her head, but
she needed it not, for that the colours from
the window fell on face and hair. Blue
was her robe, and her head drooped down.
Right so came a sudden rush of wings and
one knelt to her, and men were ware that
there stood Gabriel of the Annunciation,
clad in white and in gold, and he held
out to the maiden branching lilies, and her
head drooped farther and her face prayed.
Then came sudden music from them that
chanted : —
«« tyV soul magnified tlje iloru, ana mp spirit
Ijatlj glaDfD in &oft, mine Ijealtij. jfor tie Ijatlj
beljolDen tlje meekness of #0 IjanDmaitu JLo, for
soott), all generations sljall call me blrssru, for
fjc tljat is mialjt^ Ijatlj Done great things to me,
H3
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
and lite name i& fcoty* #nD ijtsf merci? is from
kindred unto femdred, to men dreading Ijtm,
, » , tye put toion mig^t^ men from t&eir
0eat, anD enljanceD tlje meefe* J^e Ijatlj fi'lleU
Ijungvv men UJttij gooO tljings, and i;r Ijatlj left
ric|) men boid,"
And when mass was ended, King Sylvain
and Queen Aimee went forth from the
minster but said nothing, for they pondered
many things.
144
CHAPTER XII
@f tlje iloDge of Boughs tljat t&fytv maoe
tlje
CHAPTER XII
tlje ILoDge of Bougtjs tljat Qftjrp maDe
tlje
" I' FAITH," said King Sylvain to Queen
Aimee, " 'tis time that we began to build
our nest, now that the birds leave theirs."
" And where shall that be ? " asked the
Queen.
" That have we not found," said the
King.
That day as they walked, Coeur d'Ami
came to them, for he had been a while away,
and he took the King's doublet in his teeth
and drew him after, and anon loosed his
teeth and whimpered, as one that hath
something to show. Then King and Queen
followed through a narrow pass of rock, for
149
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
they were by the sea to southward, and
came upon a spot by the blue water and
knew it for home. There grass grew softly,
and here and there oak trees made a pleas-
ant shade, and others also whose names I
know not, for they be not of my country ;
and there was an old forest thereby. Fern
and brake grew there also, and deer fed in
the openings nor were afraid, and it was
high above the sea. Not far from the edge
of rock grew two apple trees together, and
there was a fair well near at hand, and the
King laid him down on the grass.
" Here build I, with mine own hands, a
home for us, that our joy may never have
end," said he, and he stroked the head of
Coeur d'Ami and praised him so that the
dog went well-nigh mad for pride.
Now were there clear days that followed,
and the air was sweet with the breath of
150
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
the sea. King Sylvain with an axe that
he had fetched cut down saplings and
large trees, and he digged holes and fitted
them therein, heaving them up with great
strength, and so he wrought the frame
of his house. Cunningly were the logs
fastened with spikes of wood driven
through, and cunningly along the top he
laid the saplings and pinned them to the
roof tree. And an hearth on one side he
fashioned out of flat stones that he carried
thither, and the Queen helped him, for
her arms were no longer faint of strength
as becometh a queen. Then Cceur d'Ami
begged with his eyes until gear was made
for him from strips of the King's doublet,
and he dragged stones for the hearth, none
guiding him. When the lodge was done,
there were two fair chambers therein, and
the walls were hung with branches of pine
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
and of oak for tapestry, and these the
Queen gathered with her own hands and
carried home in her arms. Then the King
wrought a great bed, and of split logs it
was made, deftly fastened at the ends, and
covered for sleeping with sweet-smelling
leaves and branches, and the lion skin lay
thereon, and never did king or queen sleep
so soundly as these twain. Also he made
a table and it stood afore the hearth, and
it was naught save a great flat stone raised
so that they might sit thereat.
Few folk they saw there, only now and
then a squire or a knight from the castle
that lay some leagues to eastward, or from
the town on the other side. Ever they
shared that they had with those that passed
that way, but none asked them whence
they came nor why they bided there, for
these were days when men followed each
152
Or &ing ant) (Queen cook tyeit Supper.
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
his own matter, nor meddled every man
with other as now. Oft saw they a vessel
with white sails far or near on the sea, and
marvelled whither it went, but yearned not
to go, for an if they were content when
they wandered with no abiding-place, they
were thousand fold more now. By day
Queen Aimee sat at her work in the sun,
for of reeds and rushes she wove for them
household stuff, and King Sylvain wielded
his axe hard by, and at eventide there was
fire on the hearth within the lodge, and
the sound of that cooking within the cop-
per vessels was sweet in the ears of the
King.
Once at evening, as they sat on two
stones afore the hearth and did eat from
one dish as became two that be wed, King
Sylvain hove a great sigh.
" What aileth thee ? " asked the Queen.
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
"By day 'tis very well," said he, "and
all is merry as the blows of the axe in my
hand ; but each night come troubled dreams,
and the same old fancy returneth to vex
me."
" Now what may it be ? " asked Queen
Aimee.
" Forsooth, that I be a King again," he
made answer, " and I may not bear it."
" Let trouble come when it cometh,"
said the Queen. " Now art thou a for-
ester and a brave one, and must take the
happiness that goeth therewith. But oft
am I too troubled."
"What vexeth thee?" said the King,
"for I will end it."
" I fear me that thou growest weary of
only me," said the Queen. " Oft art thou
silent, and I know not what it may mean."
" What need is there of speech, for-
156
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
sooth ? " said the King, and he took her in
his arms. " Deeper than the understanding
between my dog and myself, where no word
is spoken, is the understanding betwixt thee
and me. Naught else is there in all the
world for me, and left I not my kingdom
for that it gat atween us twain ? "
Then was the Queen content. So lived
they from day to day, and trouble came
not to them, and the breath that they drew
in was full of life, only they marvelled that
time sped so fast, for they found not hours
enough in the day ; but their joy could no
man comprehend save him to whom the
sound of summer rain is sweet as it falleth
on a low roof.
CHAPTER XIII
tljr Coming of
CHAPTER XIII
t\)t Coming of %>it
WHEN winter came and from many trees
the leaves were fallen, they had great cheer
by the fire, for though in this country snow
falleth never, oft at morn and at nightfall
the cold cometh in. At eventime by taper
light or torch the King sat and traced verses
on the bark of the birch tree, and he gave
them into the Queen's keeping, for they
were all of her. Therein she learned the
height and the depth of the love that a
man may bear to his lady, and by night
and by day was there deep gladness in her
eyes. When the King was over-weary with
the axe he had held in his hands all day,
he lay prone on the lion's skin with the
L 161
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
Queen's fingers on his face, and oft came
sleep and blissful dreams.
Now it was a right fair land in winter,
for there be no words that can tell the
look of brown branches small and great
against the sky when it is blue at noon-
tide, or golden at the setting of the sun.
Oft strayed they in the forest, and there
were green holly branches and brown leaves
that clung to the oaks, and oft by the
water that was many days soft and unruffled
and lay dusky with the shadow of trees
along the shore, or bright where the light
smote it beyond. It befell once at night-
fall that they stood at their doorway and
watched the moon that was great and round
and dull yellow like the beaten gold of an
old plate. Then were they ware that one
drew near them, for they heard the crackling
of boughs pressed underfoot, and a rustling
162
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
of dry leaves, also the hair of Coeur d'Ami
stood up along his back and he growled,
but his growling became unsure as of one
who knoweth not whether to bite or to wag
his tail. Then saw they a palmer standing
before them, for his staff and his sandals
they could see in the dim light, but his
face was hid by his cowl, and he said no
word, but stood, and watched the twain in
the doorway. So the King gave him greet-
ing and bade him enter, and the pilgrim
came on with troubled steps and slow, and
passed the threshold and seated himself by
the fire. Then the Queen bent to set the
copper kettle over the coals, but he gave a
cry and held out his hand to stay her,
and she stinted ; but much she marvelled
whether it were one that had taken a vow
not to speak again. Also the hound was
troubled and ran from his master to the
163
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
stranger and from the stranger back to the
King, and anon he laid his head upon
the palmer's knee. None heeded him, for
all were busy with their own thoughts, and
the face of the stranger was turned toward
the King. Of a sudden King Sylvain
spake and said, " These be the eyes of
Gilles," and then was the hood thrown
back, and a great sob came and Sir Gilles
knelt and took the King's hand and kissed
it, saying, " My Liege." After that there
was silence and darkness, save only for the
glowing of the coals and the flickering of
the torch in the corner.
" How couldst thou thus leave them
that loved thee ? " said Sir Gilles.
" Now by my crown I knew not that
there were any so," said the King. " An
thou didst love me, why didst thou not
tell me?"
164
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
" Thou wert the King," said Gilles.
Then the Queen fell a-weeping, and they
were the first tears she had shed since she
became a free woman, and the King raised
Sir Gilles up and kissed him on the cheek,
and they sat together on the settle.
" Was it an enemy that vexed thee ? "
asked Sir Gilles. " Why didst thou not
make it known, and my sword had laid
him low," and his hand went to his side.
" A palmer, and goest armed ? " said
the King, and he laughed out.
" My sword's point was for thy foe and
for him only," said Sir Gilles, "for I thought
some caitiff had taken thee. Did none
constrain thee to leave thy crown ? "
" None," said King Sylvain. " Naught
but mine own heart, and the lust for the
grass by the highway and free footsteps
thereon."
165
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
Then Sir Gilles' eyes were full of won-
der, for the King told him the tale of their
escape, and of the life in field and forest,
and of the home-coming, and of the build-
ing of the lodge.
"Here be my days all rain and shine,"
said the King, "nor hear I ever the crac-
kling of silk. Dost not comprehend ? "
Then Sir Gilles pondered long with his
hand upon his face.
"Yea and nay," he made answer at
length. " But now thou art refreshed and
wilt come back to thine own. Mine arm
fighteth for thee whenever that may be."
" Hath the land need of me ? " asked
the King. "Are not all content while
King Hughes sitteth upon the throne ? "
" Of a truth," the knight made answer.
" I have heard that men be for the most
part."
1 66
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" Is it not a brave man and one that
liketh well to reign ? "
"That it is," said Sir Gilles, "and I have
heard say that he is passing glad to wear
a crown."
" 'Tis the less grief to me," said King
Sylvain.
" Naught have I against Prince Hughes
save that he sitteth in thy place," said Sir
Gilles, " for all goeth well with the king-
dom."
" Now God be praised ! " said King Syl-
vain. " To my place is he welcome, for
that I have found my own ; and this thou
wilt keep secret, Gilles, and betray us not ? "
"Ay, that will I," said Sir Gilles.
" Said not the issue of the combat that
I was to bide away ? " asked the King.
" But how knowest thou that ? " said
the other.
167
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" For that I was in the tree and watched
thee," said the King, " and knew thee for
a brave knight, and the one nearest mine
own heart."
So they made great cheer, and Sir Gilles
told them of his wanderings to seek them
out, for in palmer's dress had he gone
northward to Wisterniss by the sea, and
eastward to Nemoland, and westward to
the water again as far as Villerme, and
nowhere could he find tidings of them.
"Then I vowed not to cut my hair
nor to doff my palmer's dress till I had
found ye," said Sir Gilles, " for I wist
well, though I know not why, that ye
were on life."
So in the morning Sir Gilles arose and
made as though he would go away.
" Bide with us," said the King.
" Nay, but I should miss the fighting
1 68
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
and the jousting," said Sir Gilles, "and
the straining of the muscles with lance
and sword."
" Here is enough of straining of muscle
with hammer and with axe," said the
King.
" Nay, but I must go farther," said Sir
Gilles, and he bent to kiss the hand of
the Queen. " My lady fared not forth
with me, else had I been content as
thou."
" Come to us again in the springtime,"
quoth King Sylvain, " for then make I my
garden."
"That will I," said Sir Gilles. So he
went his way in his palmer's weed of
brown, and they watched him pass betwixt
the blue water and the shore.
169
CHAPTER XIV
, anD Ijoto t^e
011 Banner of ^tngs; for
to use
'73
CHAPTER XIV
®f tlje Queen's; J?ou$eimferp, ana Ijoto tlje
Jking carted 011 spanner of things for
to use
Now the Queen did all manner of
things that never no queen afore her had
done, for I ween few of blood royal have
cooked over the coals. Merrily she went
about it, and skillet and basin were washen
by her hands, and all she did as became
a queen. Then the King stood in need
of a doublet and made great merriment
one day over the rags that he ware.
" What an if I fashion thee a new
one ? " asked the Queen.
" Faith, and wilt thou ? " said he.
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" Ay," she made answer, " an thou wilt
fetch me cloth thereto."
So the King went a day's journey to
the town that lay to westward and fetched
with him green cloth a plenty and gold
thread also, and the Queen fashioned him
a garment that was wondrous beautiful.
And for that it was a task she had not
done afore, she lay the cloth upon the
King's back and cut it so that the shape
was right, and for twelve days she broid-
ered it, and on the twelfth it was done.
Green it was and it fitted him bravely,
and by throat and sleeve and on the bosom
thereof were oak leaves wrought with gold
thread, "As becometh a forester," said
Queen Aimee. And a cap was with it of
green cloth also, and in it an eagle's feather.
" In token that I fly free," said King
Sylvain.
176
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
"And I with thee," answered the Queen.
" So must thou have a garment of the
same cloth," said the King.
" Nay, I am a-weary," said Queen
Aimee, and the King made great dole for
that he had set her to the task.
" But I liked it dearly," said the Queen ;
" yet ever in the days of our imprison-
ment my broidering wearied me, for me-
thought ever, f Here place I one stitch
and here another, and to what purpose
save to wear out the hours from matins
to the vesper bells ? ' But now with the
drawing of each thread did I say, f 'Tis
the clothing of a king.' '
After that she made of the same cloth a
garment for herself, and at the neck was
it open and cut squarely so that her white
throat showed, but the sleeves were flowing
and had inner ones of fine white lawn. And
M I77
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
ever, as she sewed it, the King watched the
copper vessels over the coals and washed
them after lest the Queen's strength fail.
But when the garments were done, the
King turned again to his axe, for all man-
ner of furnishings must he make for the
house. First of the chest. Of oak he
fashioned it, and he fitted back and sides
cunningly together, and when the frame-
work was done, and a cover wrought
thereto, he took a knife and a tool and
carved all manner of quaint devices on
the sides. There were angels going their
ways, and horses and riders, and Adam
and Eve he made among the trees of
the Garden, and the trees were patterned
after them he saw ; nor forgat he the ser-
pent, but made him good and long and
winding about the tree of knowledge ('twas
an oak tree) ; but the Voice in the Garden
178
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
could he not grave. On the cover thereof
he carved the arms of his house, and
then was it ready for use, and it stood
full on the floor so that they might sit
thereon.
" 'Tis thy marriage chest," said the King,
gaily. " In it thou shalt keep all thou
dost prize most highly, thy gowns and
thy jewels, as women use."
"There will I keep thy verses," said
Queen Aimee, " those that be writ and
those that be not yet made."
Now King Sylvain grew wondrous skil-
ful with his tools, and he carved two
chairs that be still kept, and their like
have I not seen. All over them runneth
twig and branch and leaf, so woven that
ye may not tell where one stoppeth and
another beginneth, but one looking would
think it were the forest itself and that his
179
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
eyes were lifted to the trees. Then he
fashioned beechen bowls for eating, and to
the outside still clung the faint grey moss
that groweth there, and he wrought plates
whereon the vines of the forest ran lightly
with flowers here and there. All manner
of things that he needed at table he made,
and all bore the look of one that joyed
in the task. After, when the tale was
known, the fame of them spread abroad
through the land, and if any man would
speak of something that showed skill, he
said, " 'Tis as the handiwork of King
Sylvain."
Once on a time in the winter the King
fell sick, for he had been much in wood
and in water, and the Queen feared greatly.
Drugs had she none, save only herbs that
a wise woman who dwelt not far in the
forest had given her, and these she min-
180
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfcE
istered, and on the third day the fever
abated and the King's eyes opened. Then
the Queen knelt beside him as he lay on
the bed that his own hands had fashioned.
" Sweetheart," said Queen Aimee, softly,
" thou comest back to me. Much I feared
me that thou wouldst die."
" Not while thou art on life," said King
Sylvain, " for then is there for me no dying.
Nor would I leave my life till I have
finished yon table, for there is good work
therein."
It befell the next day that the King
waxed better.
" Ah," said King Sylvain, as he rose
from his oaken bed, " but I breathe
lightly lest the joy of it slip away. Now
grey weather and pain and cold mean
naught to me, for sweet to my taste be
even the rough morsels of my life."
181
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
So King Sylvain went back to his
handiwork, and made many things fair to
see, and or ever spring came he was fash-
ioning a cradle.
182
CHAPTER XV
f tfce Cfmrlisty tonight tfcat atolr atoap tte
Quern, anD tjoU3 ttjr ^mg Hrs^rD tns
©tuoro fetrlltfrr
CHAPTER XV
tlje Clmrltel) ftnig&t tljat stole atoap tlje
anD Ijoto t^e fting flealjea
Now the Queen's gown worked trouble
for her, as ye shall see. It fell that on a
day she went into the forest when the sun
was high, and for that it was warm and the
air soft ; and no path was there, only dried
leaves that made a carpet, so that she lost
her way and was all for-wandered, and knew
not how to face toward home. Gone was
the sea that might serve for guidance, and
the trees about her were none that she
knew. So the Queen sat her down to
rest, for she was a-vveary, and was nothing
afraid, and slept, and her garment showed
185
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
green against the brown covering of the
earth, and her fair hair shone where it
rested against the trunk of a beech tree.
Right so as she slept she opened her eyes,
and was ware that one stood near her, and
looked down from his steed, and he was
armed from head to toe in black armour
that gave him a grisly look. Also he bare
a black shield, and on it an eagle volant,
and the motto above it was " None Else."
" Now, by Saint George, thou choosest
a strange place for thy sleeping," said the
Knight.
"And thou for thy gazing," said the
Queen, and she stood now upon her feet.
" What meanest thou by that ? " said the
Knight, and through his helmet she saw
his eyes glare like hot coals.
" An thou wert a knight courteous,
thou wouldst need no answer," said the
1 86
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
Queen, and she made as to go from
him. " Never yet saw I one that bare
shield that would do so ungentle a deed
as thou hast done in standing to watch a
lady sleeping."
Then the Knight swore a great oath,
and turned his steed toward her and spake.
" Or ever thou hast breathed thrice, thou
shalt answer for this to me."
" Dost fight women ? " asked the Queen,
and she stood to look, and though she
wore but a forest woman's dress, it seemed
her royal state had come back to her.
" Must thou wear armour therefor when
they wear none? Draw back thy steed
that I may pass."
Then the Knight gnashed his teeth for
rage, and the Queen heard the clicking
through the mouthpiece of the helmet, and
he rode at her, but the Queen gat behind
187
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
the beech tree, and her face looked at him
from behind its grey trunk.
" I will thrust thee through with my
sword," said the Knight, and he lighted
from his horse for to do it.
" Now, verily, I understand the motto
of thy house," said Queen Aimee.
" c None Else ' in Christendom doth such
unknightly deeds as thou."
Then the Knight's arm dropped, and his
charger went loose, and he gazed long at the
Queen's face, for never had he seen none
other like unto it, and at length he spake.
" I would have thee to my wife," said
the Churlish Knight.
" And I would have thee not to my
husband," said the Queen. " I know not
from what part of heathendom thou
comest, but in Christian land is a woman
ever asked if she will be wed."
188
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
Then the Knight seized her in his
arms.
" By fair means or foul will I have
thee," he said, and he bare her away and
caught the bridle of his steed. As he
made ready and looked not at her, the
Queen took from her bosom a whistle
that her lord had made for her. 'Twas
of a willow stem and curiously carved.
Thrice she blew it, and the call was as the
call of a bird. Then the Churlish Knight
looked up into the branches.
"There be strange birds in this forest,"
said he.
"Ay," said the Queen, "and that that
thou bearest is the strangest of all, for
never yet have I seen or heard tell of a
craven eagle."
"An thou stintest not I will strangle
thee," roared the Knight.
189
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
" I' faith," said Queen Aimee, sadly,
" that is the only hope I have left."
So he put her ahead of him on the
steed and rode away, and ever as they
went the Queen bethought her of her
dear lord and of the gladness they had
had of each other in the forest, and the
tears ran down her cheeks.
" Now was I ever afraid that our joy
was too great to last," said the Queen,
" for with happiness first cometh peril."
Far in the forest the King heard the
whistle and Cceur d'Ami also, and the hound
pricked up his ears, and it blew three times
as the King had said it should do if danger
came. So he dropped his axe and laid his
hand on his sword and the hound led him,
and anon, after much winding, they came
upon the spot where the Queen had lain
asleep. There the King saw the print of
190
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
the horse's hoofs and he gave a great cry
and stood, and there was death in his face.
Then the hound followed fast on the tracks
of the steed and the King ran after as one
mad ; and about the middle of the afternoon
they came upon an open space, and saw
the Caitiff Knight resting on the ground,
and his helmet was off, but his harness he
had on him. Not far the Queen sat
under a tree and watched him and he her.
Then the King took his sword Stellifer in
his hand and leaped forward, and Queen
Aimee gave a glad cry ; and the Churlish
Knight hastily donned his helmet and
took his sword, and the King said never a
word. No armour had he, but a brave
heart goeth ever well armed, and a craven
may not be safe behind any coat of mail
that ever was wrought. Now the Churl-
ish Knight came on and drave at the
191
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
King, but the King parried and the sword
missed its stroke. Then he came at the
Knight, but the stroke fell on his shield
and availed not.
" Soon will I hang thy limbs up on
yon tree for the birds," swore the Caitiff.
" Thou shouldst carry the device of the
cock and not the eagle," said the King,
"for he is the bird that boasteth."
So for an hour they fought and
stinted not, nor did the King's arm wax
weary, for not oft did he strike but waited
ever his chance and avoided the other's
strokes. And the Queen ran and gat the
spear of the churl and held it, for she was
minded if her lord fell to thrust it into
her own heart before the black Knight
could do her harm. All the while Cceur
d'Ami grieved mightily that he might not
partake of the fight, and he sat afore the
192
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
Queen for her safety. Now the Churlish
Knight waxed more and more wroth, and
his blows grew heavier and heavier, and
he took little heed for his defence, for
he knew that he ware the coat of mail.
Then the King saw that his time had
come, and he held his good sword Stelli-
fer in his hand, and with all his might
came on ; and or ever the other was ware
he had plunged his sword through his
armour, there where the heart was, and it
cut through the rings of steel as they had
been silk, so that the blood burst out and
the Knight lay dead. Then King Sylvain
went and took the Queen in his arms,
and they sat down together and reposed
them, for he was forspent. Anon came
*s»
the Knight's steed and watched them, and
soon stepped to them and laid his nose
on the King's hand, and the King knew
O '93
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
that the steed was glad of a new master.
So he rode toward home, and the Queen
afore him on the horse, and the shield
and armour of the dead knight behind,
and they made great joy of the issue of
the fight.
194
CHAPTER XVI
tlje spafeing of tfje fcing's
i97
CHAPTER XVI
<$f ttje tanking of ttjc king's 0avDrn
IT befell on a day that the grass began
to grow again, and young green shoots
sprang up in the forest and showed among
the brown leaves. Also the naked branches
and the twigs ware another colour where
they stood against the sky, and I know
not how to name it, yet was there faint
red therein of the kind the clouds to east-
ward have afore the dawn. Now the birds
came back with their singing and began
to make new nests, both merle and mavis
and song-sparrow and nightingale, and two
swallows came and builded on the eaves
of the King's roof. Then King Sylvain's
heart stirred within him, as hearts stir ever
199
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
in spring, and he used his axe no more,
but walked to and fro among the trees
when the buds were bursting into green
leaf, and his head was bent. Coeur d'Ami
watched him, and followed, but knew not
whether to be glad or sad, for ever the
dog's mood fitted his master's, and the King
bent down and stroked him on the head,
and spake : —
" Cceur d'Ami, now is my joy so great
that I may not bear it," and then was the
hound glad, for though he knew not the
words, he perceived that that lay behind
them.
Warm winds blew from the south, and
the sun shone, and they waited, and
behold ! the blossoming of the trees.
Almond and peach showed first on the
slopes to southward, and then the apple
trees about the house were as one flower,
200
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
and the fragrance made sweet all the air
as far as the sea.
Then the King knew that the lust of
the axe had left him, and the desire for
the spade had come, so he digged him a
garden facing the blue water, and set there
in the dark earth yellow daffodils and
such other plants as he could find in for-
est or in meadow. First came the crocus
that he planted in clusters, and it cared
not that its place was changed, but blos-
somed bravely into purple and white and
the colour of gold. Now in that country
be blood-red tulips that open in the earli-
est grass of spring, and these the King
put here and there in the sward before
the lodge, that the Queen might see one
whenever she passed, for she liked them
dearly. One was by the grey stone where
she was wont to sit, and one hard by the
201
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
door, but none in the shade, for they love
the sun. Also primroses grew there, and
the flowers that be hight anemone, of
full many colours, as purple and scarlet,
whereas, here by the north, they be but
pale, but there as here be they slender of
stem. King Sylvain worked mightily at
his gardening, and oft the sweat poured
from his face more than it had ever done
at the tourney. Far and wide he travelled
for to find his flowers, and some the gar-
dener at the castle gave him, to wit, lilies
that be small and white and wondrous
sweet and droop from a stem, and roses
many kinds. These open early in that
country, and or ever it was the month of
May there were golden and white and red
that made fair blooming in the garden,
but most the Queen loved the vine that
began to climb the wall of the house and
202
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
bare small roses a-many growing in a
cluster. Oft as the King wandered an old
wife gave him roots from her store, so
that he had in a corner rosemary and
lavender a-growing, and herbs that be good
for to heal.
Queen Aimee walked often in the garden
with him, nor could she tell whether her
lord's handiwork were liefer to her indoors
or out. And he had great joy of her
beauty as she stood among the flowers, for
though I have wrote tales of many fair
women, of none have I told that was so
fair as she. One light shone in her face
and one in her hair, and it may be her
great loveliness was because she was the
happiest of them all.
203
CHAPTER XVII
t\)t Heturn of ^tr (Sillea and totjat
befell thereafter
CHAPTER XVII
<$f tije Umirn of £>tr <Sille0 anD tofcat
befell thereafter
WHEN it was midsummer, Sir Gilles
returned again unto them, but this time
came he not as a palmer but bravely ap-
parelled and well armed. And he saw
the King's garden set with roses and red
summer lilies, and in it the wise woman
of the woods with the Prince upon her
knee, and he marvelled much of the sight.
" Ye be right welcome," said King Syl-
vain, going forth to meet him, so Sir
Gilles alit from his horse and turned him
away to graze.
" Thou wearest a favour that I have not
207
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
seen afore," said the King, for there was a
knot of blue on the arm of Sir Gilles.
" Ay," he made answer. " I be come
hither from the tourney, and now no
longer envy I thee thy lot."
Then the Queen came forth to greet
him, and Sir Gilles knelt before her, and
he thought in his mind that never no
queen like to this would sit again on the
throne.
" Hast seen my son ? " asked Queen
Aimee.
" Nay," answered Sir Gilles, " for I
feared me of the wise woman."
So the Queen took the child and gave
him to the knight, and he was not af-
frighted of the helmet nor of arms of
steel, but lay and smiled.
" So doth he ever," said the Queen,
" and for that we have called him Leon
208
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
the Glad, for well-nigh since the May day
when he was born hath he smiled, and
the name was given for that he lay first
on a lion's skin."
Then Sir Gilles bent and kissed the
child's hand and said : —
" I give thee greeting, Least Sovereign,
and may I be there the day that thou art
crowned."
Now he spake jestingly, but he looked
up and saw that the Queen's face was
clouded.
Then King Sylvain drew near and laid
his hand upon the child, and Coeur d'Ami
whined piteously.
" What aileth the hound ? " asked Sir
Gilles.
" He will not that I have a new friend,"
said the King. " Watch and ward keep-
eth he well over the babe when none else
o 209
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
is at hand, but if ever I draw near, he
grieveth sore."
Right so as they sat in the garden after
they had eaten, the King spake to Gilles. .
" How goeth my kingdom ? " he asked.
" Bravely," answered Sir Gilles.
" Is it peace or war ? " said King Syl-
vain.
" Now one and now another," said Sir
Gilles. " My Lord Hughes and his seven
sons have won Orcagnie, and the king
thereof sendeth tribute, and Prestenne also
hath been taken by arms."
Then was the King silent, but Sir Gilles
could see, for it was betwixt daylight and
dark, that his face was set and stern, and
he heard a great sigh.
" Art weary of thy lot ? " asked the
knight.
" Nay, so God me help ! " quoth the
«
210
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
King, in a passion. "Wit thou well,
Gilles, that I count out its minutes as
they were precious stones and I feared to
lose one and not find it again."
"Then what aileth thee ? " said Sir
Gilles.
" 'Tis my little son," answered the King
" Art not glad of him ? " said Gilles.
"Ay, that be I," said King Sylvain,
" even to the dividing asunder of soul and
body, but I fear me I have done him a
wrong. He was heir to a throne, and I
have taken it away."
Then was Sir Gilles silent, for he deemed
the King had spoken truth. Then the
Queen drew near them and said never a
word, but her face was sad also, and within
the lodge they heard the wise woman sing-
ing to the child afore it slept.
" He is thy son," said Sir Gilles, " and
21 I
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
perchance would liefer be without a
kingdom."
" We have left him no choice," said
Queen Aimee, "and it may be that the
measure of our joy is the measure of his
loss."
" Wouldst fain come to thine own
again ? " asked Sir Gilles.
" I could bear all," answered King Syl-
vain, "for the sake of the child. My roses
and my lilies be blooming, yet would I
go back within stone walls an it were well
for the lad."
" And thou ? " said Sir Gilles to the
Queen.
" I care not what pain may come to me
henceforward," said Queen Aimee, "an it
vantageth my son ; and wherever I dwell
hereafter in body, my soul will bide here
by the sea."
212
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
"'Tis but idle talk," said the King, "for
Hughes ruleth by mine own choice. The
boy shall bide here with me, and the use
of tools will I teach him, for my hand
hath grown cunning, Gilles."
" That have I seen," said the knight ;
" that and thy pride therein. But me-
thinks thou hast spoken truth, and it is
shame that the true prince should grow up
like a lion's cub in the forest nor know
the training to knightly deeds."
" Gentle deeds come where dwell gentle
hearts, Gilles," said Queen Aimee, "and I
ween I can teach the child manners that
become a king's son."
"Ay, that canst thou," answered Sir
Gilles, "but his birthright canst thou not
give him here in the forest."
" What wouldst thou have us to do ? "
asked the King.
213
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
" Go back to thy own," said Sir Gilles,
"thou and the Queen and the Prince thy
»
son.
" But 'tis no longer mine, for all longeth
to Hughes, and the people be content,"
said King Sylvain.
" 'Tis thine while thou art on life," said
Sir Gilles, stoutly, " for none can take away
aught from an anointed king. Go thou
back to Wannamere and say to Prince
Hughes thou wouldst have back thy king-
dom that was but lent him."
" And if he say nay ? " asked the King.
" Hast a sword ? " said Sir Gilles.
" Ay," said the King, " 'tis mine own
handiwork and passing sharp."
" A sword have I also," said the Knight,
" and henceforward as heretofore draw I it
for no man but thee. Canst get thee a
steed?"
214
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" A good steed have I," said King
Sylvain, " and I won him in fair fight."
" To-morrow fare we forth," said Sir
Gilles.
" So be it," said the King, " but I fear
me that we do wrong to Hughes, for
meseemeth now is all his by right."
That night was the fragrance of the roses
sweeter than ever before, and the Queen
/
wept for that she should not smell it
again.
215
CHAPTER XVIII
Ijoto &ing £>glbain and
bach to ttyit ^ingfiom, ano of prince
2I9
CHAPTER XVIII
f Ijoto &ing ^Itoain ana iiueen #imee
tornt bach to tljrir tungoom, and of prince
So the King and Queen and the Prince
and Sir Gilles went forth from the lodge
and journeyed to Wannamere. King and
Queen ware the forest suits of green that
Queen Aimee had wrought, and the King
rode on the steed of the Churlish Knight,
but the Queen had a white palfrey that
they purchased for a jewel of a knight
that they met by the way, for it had
longed to his lady and she was dead.
Sir Gilles would ever carry with him the
Prince, and the child lay on his left arm,
and he guided his charger with the other,
221
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM&E
and the folk that they met marvelled much
of the sight, for never yet saw they mailed
knight that journeyed with a babe on his
arm. Some weened that it was Merlin, and
that he bore Arthur again to them, for all
waited that King Arthur should come back
one day ; and a woman, when she saw these
pass, asked why he might not come as a
child, and all granted her that it might be
so, though they had looked for him as a
grown man. None knew them for what
they were, for Sir Gilles bare no shield,
and the King had with him the black
shield of the Churlish Knight, but the
device of the eagle had he rubbed away
with his tools. Both ware armour, for
themthought Prince Hughes might be of
hostile intent, and "it were well to be
ready," said Sir Gilles; so they halted at
the smithy where the King had forged
222
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
his sword, and gat armour for the King,
and the smith remembered him well.
" 'Tis the armour I was working while
ye were with me," said the smith.
" So much the better," said King
Sylvain, " for I know that it is well
made." Then he put it on, and it
became him bravely.
" Hast a spear ? " asked the smith.
" Nay," said the King.
" Then will I give thee one to thy
liking," said the man, " for thou art a
brave fellow and shouldst have been a
smith."
Then the King gave him thanks and
they went their way, and rode, what by
hill, what by dale, till they came to
Wannamere.
" Now go thou in," said Sir Gilles,
afore the castle gate, " and make thy
223
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
cause known to my Lord Hughes.
Keep thy sword by thee, for it may be
he will lay hand on thee even when the
lady and the child be with thee. I go
throughout the city to tell thy tale, and
within an hour am I here again and with
me many trusty blades that will make
good thy cause an thy Cousin Hughes
listen not to it."
So the Queen took her son in her
arms and they went to the castle gate,
and the warden met them, and he was a
stranger.
" Who reigneth here ? " asked King
Sylvain.
" King Hughes and his lady Isobel,"
said the warden.
" Marry, and is it so ? " quoth King
Sylvain, for he wist not what to say.
" Ay, and 'tis a good king and a war-
224
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
like," said the warden. " Wherever he
may be is deeds of arms a-doing. Men
say he hath a great stroke with his
weapon, and for mine own part should I
not be glad of finding myself at the point
of his spear. He loveth fighting more
than did King Sylvain."
"Ay, but I be a good gardener," said
King Sylvain, and the man looked at him
and weened that he was mad.
"And I be a good warden," he made an-
swer, " but that is neither here nor there."
Then King Sylvain made known his de-
sire, and the seneschal came and was one
that they knew not, for Sir Landis was
dead, and him they followed to the pres-
ence chamber of Prince Hughes. He sat
high on a dais, and he was richly clad in
purple and ware a crown of gold. Black
were hair and beard and red his face, and
p 225
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
many foes had found it terrible. Over him
was a canopy hung with cloth of silk, and
about him stood many in waiting.
Then King Sylvain and Queen Aimee
entered, and the Queen trembled as she
came, but they knelt not nor made obei-
sance, and Prince Hughes looked at them
and frowned, and his face was frightful to
see.
" What be ye that bend not the knee to
the true king ? " he asked, and his voice
was as thunder. Then looked he again, and
the blood rushed to face and eyes.
" So God me help," he said, " 'tis my
cousin Sylvain, the King," and he rose and
came hastily down from the dais toward
them. Then King Sylvain laid his hand
on his sword, for he knew not what might
befall, and the Queen gathered her child in
her arms and bent to shield it with her
226
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
bosom, but Prince Hughes came and laid
his hands on King Sylvain, and kissed him
on either cheek.
" But an if thou be a living man and
no sprite," he said, " tell me where thou
hast been since the day that we lost thee."
" I' the forest," said King Sylvain.
"Mad, I trow," said Prince Hughes.
" Many run mad in the forest."
"Ay," said the King, "that was I."
"And the Queen?" said Prince Hughes,
and he bent to kiss her hand.
" Mad was I also, Hughes," said Queen
Aimee. " See, 'tis my son," and she gave
the child into his arms, and it smiled up
at him. Then Prince Hughes looked from
one to another, and of a sudden he took
the babe, and King and Queen started, for
they feared some harm ; but Prince Hughes
mounted up on the dais and laid him
227
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMEE
lengthwise upon the throne and bent the
knee afore him. Then were the eyes of
King Sylvain wet, and all them in waiting
stood and watched and breathed not.
" Wit thou well, Sylvain, that I am
glad of thy coming," said Prince Hughes.
" Far and wide have we sought thee, and
I have but held thine own until thou came,
and now will I give thee back thy crown."
" Nay," said King Sylvain, " that would
I not have at no price, but I have a son."
" He shall sit there," said Prince Hughes,
"where he now lieth."
" But thou hast seven sons," said King
Sylvain.
" Now what be my seven sons in the
presence of the true King," said Prince
Hughes, " save loyal subjects ? Call them
hither all, that I may see them bend afore
the child and thee, and if any hath a mind
228
KING SYLVAIN AND OUEEN AIMfiE
•"•w
to wear a crown that longeth to another,
let him deal with me," and his hand went
to his sword, but he had none.
So King Sylvain and Queen Aimee stood
side by side on the dais and the Prince lay
atween them, and the seven sons of Prince
Hughes came and kneeled afore them, and
they were goodly youths all, each taller than
other. Anon came Sir Gilles, for he was
troubled in mind and thought the mat-
ter had gone wrong, so he entered and
twelve trusty knights with him, all armed.
Then Prince Hughes looked at them and
at the King and knew their purpose.
" That was the first unknightly thought
that thou hast had, Sylvain," said Prince
Hughes. " Didst think I would lay hand
on mine own anointed King?"
" Now I crave thee right heartily of thy
pardon, Cousin," said King Sylvain, "for
229
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIiMEE
I should have known that no knight in
Christendom would deal so courteously as
thou." Then spake Sir Gilles : —
" 'Twas my thought and not the King's,"
and all was forgotten.
That night was there great cheer and
rejoicing at the castle, and harpers made
music, and the feet of many dancers moved
thereto. Then came one with a torch to
guide King Sylvain and Oueen Aimee to
their chamber.
" I have done thee wrong in my flight
and my return," said King Sylvain to Prince
Hughes.
" Nay, and that hast thou not," said the
other, " for I have had good righting."
230
CHAPTER XIX
<$f tjouj lung &vUwin ana €}ueen iltmrf
rrtumrD to tlj* jforr0t for to
233
CHAPTER XIX
®f Ijoto fcing £>£toain ana
murnea to tlje jform for to
THE next day when they came together,
Prince Hughes said to King Sylvain: —
"In what part of the forest wast thou ? "
" In Paradise," answered King Sylvain.
Then Prince Hughes laughed loud and
long.
" Hadst a serpent ? " he inquired.
" Nay, none," said King Sylvain, " and
here may I not bide longer, for I have need
of the place that I return."
" But thy throne and thy sceptre and thy
crown ? " said Prince Hughes.
"Them mayst thou have an thou wilt
leave me axe and spade," said King Sylvain.
235
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIMfiE
" My roses be in need of water and I must
back."
" Then leave here the Prince, thy son,"
said Prince Hughes. "Him will we rear
and train, and when the time is come he shall
sit upon thy throne, Till then will I hold
it in trust, an thou dost wish, for thou art
my sovereign and thy will is my law."
" Nay, but the lad needeth the forest,"
said King Sylvain, " for he was born where
there was fresh air for his nostrils, and un-
less he have it he may not thrive."
Queen Aimee said nothing, but her face
was wan with longing for the lodge in the
wood.
" Then take the babe and go back to the
forest," said Prince Hughes, " and when
he is grown, send him hither, and the Arch-
bishop shall crown him and he shall sit on
the throne."
236
anto i\)t Prince
237
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
So he called his sons and his lords, and
they all sware on the Holy Book that the
day wherein Leon the Glad came to them
from the forest he should be anointed and
wear the King's crown. Then King Sylvain
and Queen Aimee made much ado for
the gentleness and courtesy of their cousin,
Prince Hughes, and each kissed other many
times.
Now they of the court went out with
the King and the Queen to speed them on
their way. By them rode Sir Gilles with
the Prince upon his arm as afore, and
after them came knights a-many in shining
armour and with waving plumes, and there
were many ladies richly clad in cloth of
silk, as rose-coloured and yellow and blue.
There was one on a black jennet that looked
long after Sir Gilles, and he turned his eyes
many times to her and smiled. So at the
239
KING SYLVAIN AND QUEEN AIM£E
brow of the hill they all halted, and saw
King and Queen and Sir Gilles and the child
with the great hound after them go forward
on the road atween green fields that led to
the forest, and all were half minded to follow.
240
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