Page 256 - A Knight of the White Cross

far more serious than the occasion warranted, and your promise to grant no
similar favour to another as long as he lived, surprised, and, I may almost

say, shocked me. You are, according to our custom here, considered almost
a woman, and had not Sir Gervaise belonged to a religious Order, and were

he of a presuming disposition, he might well have gathered a meaning from
your words far beyond what you intended, and have even entertained a
presumptuous hope that you were not indifferent to his merits. In the

present case, of course, no harm is done; still, methinks that it would be far
better had the words been unspoken. Your cousin here will, I am sure, agree

with me."

Caretto did not speak, but stood playing with his moustache, waiting for

Claudia's reply. The girl had stood with downcast eyes while her mother
was speaking.

"I only expressed what I felt, mother," she said, after a pause, "and I do not
think that Sir Gervaise Tresham is likely to misunderstand me. It seems to

me that never among those whom I have met have I seen one so worthy. No
praises can be higher than those with which my cousin has spoken of him.

He has rescued him, whom we dearly love, from slavery; he has saved
Genoa from great disaster, and many towns and villages from plunder and
ruin. I do indeed feel proud that such a knight should wear my gage, and,

were there no other reason, I should be unwilling that, so long as he carried
it, another should possess a similar one from me. I am sure that Sir

Gervaise will have felt that this was the meaning of my words; I wished
him to see that it was not a favour lightly given by a girl who might, a few
weeks hence, bestow a similar one upon another, but was a gage seriously

given of the honour in which I held him."

"Very well said, Claudia," Caretto broke in, before the countess could
reply. "I warrant me the young knight will not misunderstand your gift, and
that he will prize it highly and carry it nobly. He is not one of those who

will boast of a favour and display it all times, and, except perhaps to his
friend Sir Ralph Harcourt, I will wager he never tells a soul who was its

donor."